- Our Take: The Price Reflects Quality
- Pros and Cons of Shein Products
- Shein Compared
- Shein In-Depth
- Who is Shein For?
Shein is the latest fashion site taking over the internet. Founded in 2008, Shein has, in recent years, become a darling of social media. By partnering with Instagram and TikTok influencers, along with being able to churn out in-demand clothes quickly, Shein became the number one downloaded fashion app in the Apple app store in 2021. Shein is known for its trendy clothing at discount prices—although, based on Shein reviews, some may also know it for low-quality fashion.
Our Take: The Price Reflects Quality
Shein is a super-cheap option for in-demand fashions that has quickly become incredibly popular. However, reviews mention poor quality clothing, inconsistent refunds, and customer service, so it should not be someone’s main source of clothing. For folks looking for a few cheaper items, though, it may be an option.
Pros and Cons of Shein Products
It's rare that any retailer will please everybody. Some may not like the price, some may take issue with the quality, while others may disagree with refund policies. Shein reviews show that the brand is no different, with many customers having very different experiences and opinions.
Pros (Based on Shein Reviews)
- Fast service: As a so-called fast-fashion brand, Shein offers great deals on tons of clothing items. "Fast fashion" refers to the practice of getting new, hot styles onto the market as fast as possible. The idea is to get shoppers to buy them while the items are on the top of people’s minds. There are countless stories of people—teens and young adults in particular—getting all their clothing from Shein.
- Tons of options: Shein has tons of inventory, ranging from shirts to shorts, dresses to jackets. Whatever you’re looking for, you can find it. There are so many options, and there’s always something new, including as many as 2,000 new items a day. That means it can be effortless to find a great option. In fact, that’s one of the best things about Shein. If you want to change up your look or grab something you’re only planning on wearing once or twice, you can find it on Shein.
- Very affordable: Shein is perhaps most well known for its low prices. You can find plenty of clothing and accessories for under $10.
- Shipping: There’s a free shipping option if you spend over $49 and free returns within 45 days of purchase.
Cons (Based on Shein Reviews)
- Shipping costs: Shipments come from China, meaning that shipping prices can be high. (You can, however, get free shipping if you spend $49.)
- Shipping time: It can take a while for shipments to arrive from China. Some say that it can take about two weeks.
- Quality: Quality can be hit or miss. Some items are great, but others not so much. Some customers have had issues with items not lasting long and materials that feel substandard.
- Customer service: Shein’s customer service has significant issues, including difficulty getting a real person on the phone or even finding contact information. When someone does get on the line with customer service, they don’t return calls or messages or otherwise answer questions.
- Returns: Though there are free returns, there are limits. Shipping is only free on the first return of a single item from an order. For any additional returns from that same order, the cost is $7.99.
Shein Compared
There are plenty of sites that are pretty similar to Shein. All of the sites are of the fast-fashion variety, meaning they bring the latest fashion cheap, though it can be of suspect quality.
Romwe
Romwe is owned by the same company as Shein, and there are many similar items. Romwe differs in that shipping is slightly cheaper, and you can get free shipping starting at $15, not $49, like Shein.
Missguided
Though the clothing is similar to Shein, Missguided tends to have more sizes available. Missguided pairs with influencers to promote their clothing. Missguided tends to have a wider selection of clothing, including wedding dresses.
PrettyLittleThing
Like Shein, PrettyLittleThing specializes in cheap clothing. Unlike Shein, shipping is more expensive; however, their customer service gets better ratings. In addition, PrettyLittleThing has a ton of cool celebrity collaborations.
Shein In-Depth
Shein was founded in 2008 in China. It was expressly designed for the Gen Z generation. An acquisition in 2012 by American-born Chris Xu took the site to new heights. He focused on selling internationally, made several acquisitions, and has turned Shein into a $15 billion company.
Ease of Use
Shein is an easy-to-use site. There are tons of ways to find the clothing you want. You can search by date released, size, type of clothing, color, even pattern type, and material. Once you select an item, it’s a reasonably straightforward purchasing process.
One thing that can be improved is that it can be hard to narrow down your choices. Three are so many things to choose from that it’s very easy to miss potential items that you would want in your wardrobe.
Shein Reviews
Shein does not get the best ratings. On Trustpilot, 48% of the reviews are either “poor” or “bad.” Worse, TrustPilot found that many good reviews were written by employees, though it’s important to know that’s not the case for all.
In general, negative reviews pretty much cover everything. There have been complaints about poor packaging, delays in shipments arriving, and others have said the clothing itself isn’t made from the best materials.
There are still some who love the brand, however. In fact, in May of 2021, Shein surpassed Amazon as the most downloaded shopping app on the iPhone app store. Shein also had its biggest year of sales in 2020.
Quality
Shein’s quality can be a mixed bag. Ratings will vary from the highest quality to the lowest of the low. Because of their fast-fashion ethos, products are churned out quickly, which can mean quality is sacrificed. However, given the low prices, higher quality is not always expected.
Returns
Shein offers free returns with some limits. Let's say you order two items of clothing—a shirt and pants. If you return the shirt, return shipping is free. If you return the pants, you have to pay $7.99 for shipping.
Who is Shein For?
Shein is geared towards anyone in the market for women’s clothing. Though the quality can be suspect, and there are some issues with customer service and returns, Shein is perfect for those on a budget looking to update their wardrobe with fun items.
Expansion of Products
Shein is expanding into menswear, kids' clothing and also offers beauty and home products.
It’s also perfect if you’re looking to make changes to your wardrobe without breaking the bank or if you need an item for one event and don’t want to spend a lot of money on it.
With many hot items loved by influencers, it’s a great and affordable way to stay on-trend.
It’s a site worth exploring; however, it’s important to enter knowing the risks and knowing it may be challenging to get the exact item you want.
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