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Buying Online - The Bad

SCAMS & FAKES

HOW TO SPOT THE SCAMMERS AND FAKES!

 

First of all, big brand names like Mori Lee, Maggie Sottero, Aire Barcelona, Pronovias, Alfred Angelo and many others don't allow their garments to be sold at "knock down" prices so if you see amazing bargain prices, it's a fake! Simple as that!

 

Some scammer are so brazen as to use the designers brand name as if to suggest it's a genuine dress to encourage you to buy wedding dress online. Most don't use the name but they do steal the images and in most cases they put their own watermark on it. If you see the same high quality images on site after site you really should be asking questions.

 

What to watch out for:

 

  • same high quality images on site after site

  • images with "blurred" out faces

  • images with heads cut off

 

If you see the above, these images are stolen and the dresses you are looking at were NOT made by that site and if you are foolish enough to "risk it", the image below will give you an idea of what you could receive. To see more examples of online disasters, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are unlikely to receive a dress that is well made with good fabric or that looks like that beautiful image you saw online. If they are difficult to contact or customer service does not respond quickly, walk away. If possible we suggest to SPEAK with them before you proceed.

 

If the SELLER is based in China, you would find it almost impossible to get any satisfaction if something goes wrong and legal action is simply not an option.

 

Stick with sellers in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia etc. but beware as some Chinese sites use domains or "virtual offices" that make them look like they are based in the USA, Canada, UK etc. Some have a toll free USA number.

 

Don't be fooled as these calls can be diverted to any phone anywhere in the world and for a few dollars, anybody can get a USA telephone number and contact address.

 

Before you buy wedding dress online, check their customer support hours to get a better idea of where they are based.

There are thousands of sites incl. Tidebuy, TBDress, DinoDirect, LightinTheBox, JJsHouse, Milanoo, Peridress and very many more that should be avoided - Click here to see the list. 

 

WHAT YOU SEE IS NOT WHAT YOU WILL GET

 

As many as 90% to 100% of the images you see on these sites are stolen from designers and cheap rip-off copies of the dresses are made. Some are ok but most are a disaster so it's a big risk.

 

IS IT A FACTORY or IS IT AN IT COMPANY?

 

There are 3,000+ wedding dress factories in China ranging range from single a room with a few untrained staff making poor quality right up to top international standard facilities producing stunning consistent quality for many top international brands.

 

The top factories simply don't sell rip-offs online as they are too busy with genuine garments for big brands to bother with individual sales. So if you see a site selling rip offs, you can be sure it's from a small poor factory with untrained staff and the quality will be very poor. See the image on the left as an example.

 

Some of the web sites are top quality so surely they must be ok. Not true! The reality is that most of these "factories" as they present themselves are not factories. They are highly skilled IT and Web Design companies who built state of the art web sites with all the bells and whistles. They use every marketing trick in the book. Most have a common theme like a "countdown" timer to encourage you to "buy now" before the offer ends.  

 

Most of the sites have multiple mirror versions with different names to catch more customers and many of them can suddenly vanish and reappear under a different name overnight. As we said above, these are not factories. They are like eBay in some ways. All you see is the front end of the web site. There is a "back end" where only registered "vendors" (thousands of small factories) can see what has been ordered.

 

When you order a dress, their "registered vendors" will bid to get your order. The lowest bidder will win the right to make your dress and you have no idea as to the standard of the work they produce and you know nothing about them.

 

Would you allow construction work on your home to be done by the lowest bidder without knowing the standard of their work or anything about them?

 

We didn't think so but yet thousands of people buy wedding dress online from these sites and they virtually buy "blind". When you understand the system, you will see why the quality varies from almost acceptable to un-wearable and only fit for the trash.

 

When you shop on eBay, you are not buying from eBay but from a vendor and you have some idea who the vendor is. Sites like Ali Express, AliBaba, DH Gate, Tidebuy, Dino Direct etc. sell dresses, household, gardening, electronics and more and when you buy on one of these sites you have no idea who the vendor is. 

 

 

LISTEN TO YOUR HEAD

 

Not all sites are bad and there are bargains but remember ...

 

If it seems too good to be true, it IS too good to be true!

 

Walk away and don't become a victim!

 

 

The dress on the left is a real example of a Jovani rip-off dress bought from Tidebuy. Judge for yourself. 

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