You Get What You Pay For

I’m sure you have seen the FB ads pop into your feed from a company with beautiful vibrant pictures selling things at unbelievably low prices. The company starts with a “T” and seems to sell hats, shirts, dresses, etc. The first time the ad caught my attention was a dress was being sold for $1.79 and that included shipping. The time that I really looked into it was the hat that popped up on my screen and it was $.79 which included shipping. Now, I ship a lot. I understand shipping fees. We all know these items are coming from China and they are going to ship something for such a low price? I remember when I posted a shirt on a FB page and it was on a mannequin that happened to be wearing a hat. Someone commented if the hat was for sale. Of course. When you are in retail EVERYTHING is for sale. Then the next question came: “Do you ship to Canada.” Now, we have looked into shipping to Canada in the past. It’s not cheap nor economical, to say the least. We have learned to ask for the shipping address so we can package the item, weigh and measure it and give an exact quote to the customer. That hat retailed for $62 and shipping was $40. The customer paid it. We have learned that Canadians are used to high shipping. Ok, back to the $.79 said hat from this pop up ad. How is this company making a profit?

I now seem to get a lot of posts from this company. I am analyzing things more. Those lines on some of those dresses seem much too perfect. It’s like a painted picture and not fabric that has been made into a garment. Is this the actual item or is it a photoshop picture?

Part of me would like to order just to see if it arrives and the quality but THEN…. I have read stories about this company and the tracking it does on your phone when you download the app which is required when ordering. The company somehow monitors your activity on other apps, tracks your notifications and locations and changes settings. It gets full access to all of your contacts, calendars and photos along with all of your social media accounts. Basically everything on your phone. This can all happen because you thought something was cute and cheap.

The moral of the story is: shop smart and be safe. Know who you are buying from. Know where your money is going. Keep track of your accounts. Be aware of scammers and spammers. Some people need to get real jobs rather than scamming those of us who work for what we have.

So in end, support those in your community and the businesses that you have come to trust and they have earned your business. Not everyone is trustworthy. Know who you are doing business with.