I know I know, where have I been? I still have chicken pox… well, it’s kinda’ going but really really slowly. I’m finding it hard to blog posts because I want to use my lens but I don’t have it with me yet so that’s why there has been a HUGE gap between posts. I will make it up to you though, I promise! 😉 A week or so a go, I asked on Twitter if you would like a post on telling whether items are wholesale, or like… really cheap things from China… and you said you wanted it so… here you go!
What is Wholesale? Wholesale is where a company or person sells a vast quantity of produce for another company to sell. It’s like me buying hundreds of tote bags from a shop and selling them to you guys, I would be buying them in a wholesale quantity. The sort of wholesale I’m talking about today is online because obviously in store is quite a bit harder to notice!
What are the negatives of Wholesale fashion? When you buy something which is from a wholesale retailer (a shop which has bought from a wholesale company), it’s usually not such a great quality, it’s usually made from the cheapest materials, and you’re probably buying something which hundreds of other people have, so you’re not buying something that unique.
What are the positives of Wholesale fashion? The good things are obviously the price. You can get something which you might have seen in Topshop, which looks really similar and will probably last quite well, but just isn’t as great quality.
How to tell if you are buying items which are from Wholesale? With clothing it is really easy to tell whether you are buying wholesale. There are certain things to look out for.
1 – Clothes hanger: Seems weird, but if you see a wooden clothes hanger on an item which says ‘Bernard Lafond’ you know it’s wholesale. Bernard Lafond is not a cool chic designer, it’s a wholesale brand, it’s your choice to buy from the brand selling it of course, but just tell yourself that it’s only from a cheap place originally.
2 – Backgrounds: If you go on a store and all the backgrounds to the items are different, and all the models seem to be completely different, then it’s most probably because they are using the wholesale images.
3 – Style & Varieties: Some online stores might have quite a similar variety of items. For example, the necklaces might all be quite similar styles, and there might be lots of different colour versions of each style. This is usually a tell tale sign of wholesale items.
Should I still buy these pieces then? I don’t think that you should stop buying from these places necessarily, but it’s not like you are getting anything that special. I think it’s best to shop around and support local shops rather than spend your money on cheap things. Although I say this… I am a sucker for a cheap bargain, so I guess it’s up to you!
