Real Tips To Authenticating Luxury E-Commerce Sites
A trip to the mall is so 2000! Thanks to online shopping, to don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home for Balenciaga! Now the downside to online is all of the unofficial retailers flooding the world wide web selling fake goods to shoppers pretending to be authentic. To nip all of the “ is farfetch” real or “can you trust net-a-porter” questions in a bud we’re giving you a few tips to authenticating luxury e-commerce sites.
DOES THE SITE GUARANTEE AUTHENTICITY?
This is cut and dry with most e-commerce only platforms. Find the sites FAQ page to see if they’ve addressed this. Language is critical with these statements. We’ll link you to the examples below but you’ll notice all the guarentees use words that originate from, “authentic." If the site you’re shopping on uses words like “legit” and “real," you might want to do some further investigating. Take farfetch.com for example:
“Are Farfetch items authentic?
Our offering is expertly curated from the best luxury fashion around the globe and we guarantee all items are authentic. Authenticity cards and serial numbers may not always be included with your item if the designer has not supplied them.”
or HBX.com:
“Are your products authentic?
All of our products are 100% authentic and come directly from the brand. Feel free to contact us if you have any concerns and we'll be happy to help.”
Below we’re linking you to a few more of our favorite retailers to view their statements on authenticity below.
DOES THE E-COMMERCE SITE HAVE A BRICK & MORTER LOCATIONS
The best part about department stores from Macy's to Bergdorf Goodman is they have physical locations you can pull up on and see the merchandise in person. These trusted stores sold designer goods before the digital age and online shopping and have extended their businesses online to sell luxury fashion worldwide. Below we’ve listed some of the most famous luxury department stores with their official websites.
Bergdorf Goodman
https://www.bergdorfgoodman.com
Lord & Taylor
https://www.lordandtaylor.com/
Macy’s
Nordstroms
Nordstrom Rack
Barney’s Warehouse
Saks Fifth Avenue
https://www.saksfifthavenue.com/
Barney’s New York
Neiman Marcus
Bloomingdales
Neiman Marcus Last Call
Saks Off Fifth
CAN YOU FIND CUSTOMER REVIEWS?
You can google a website’s reviews, that’s easy enough. Our advice: head to youtube and look for unboxing/shopping haul videos from fashion vloggers. Fashion influencers love to share their shopping experiences good or bad. By watching these videos you can see a retailers packaging, the vlogger may share information like how long the delivery took, did they shop the items on sale or full price, would they shop with that particular retailer again. All of this information and more gives you the inside scoop on what to expect if or when you decide to make a purchase. Watch these unboxing from our homegirl and favorite fashion blogger Monroe Steele!
IS THE RETAILER VERIFIED ON INSTAGRAM
Of course, you need social media’s approval! Instagram’s blue check stamp of approval isn’t the end all, be all, but it doesn't hurt, especially when except for Eastdane.com, all of the retailers listed above have verified checks from the social media platform.
These are just a few things to check for the next time you’re online shopping on a site you’re unsure of.
