When you see a bargain online that seems too good to be true, it probably is.
That’s a lesson many of us have to learn the hard way. Whether you find a cheap chair only to receive one designed for a doll’s house or the wedding dress you bought online doesn’t look the way you expected, you’ll learn that a lot of people and brands out there have no issue with failing to meet your expectations.
If you need a reminder to be skeptical of the bargains you spot online, take note from Mikala, 23.
Mikala was scrolling through Instagram when she spotted a promoted post for a delightful coat.
The coat she ordered was meant to be long, made of thick and cosy pink (faux, we hope) fur, and printed with red hearts – all for the bargain price of just $50.25 (£39).
The coat she received was… well, not like the one in the picture.
Describing it as ‘a piece of paper with sleeves’, Mikala tells Metro.co.uk that rather than a snuggly faux fur design, the coat she received was made of 95% polyester and 5% spandex. Cosy.
‘It’s so thin you can see through it,’ Mikala said. ‘It’s so sh*t. It feels so flammable.
‘I don’t know why I thought it would be okay.’
Mikala tried to get in touch with the brand Soleila to complain, using the customer service email she found on the website. She received an email saying her message couldn’t be delivered as the address was not found.
We tried to get in touch with Soleila for comment, and received the same automated email.
Unsurprisingly, there was no guide to returning the items and getting a refund in the packaging, so Mikala plans to wear the coat at least once so she doesn’t feel so bad about buying it.
‘It’s so cheap oh lord save me,’ she told us. ‘I’ll attempt to wear it once just to make it worth it, for my sanity.’
It turns out the image used to advertise the coat isn’t of a design by Soleila, but is from the autumn 2018 runway show of designer Simonetta Ravizza.
An image search reveals that dupes of this coat are sold by a load of different cheap fashion sites, including Bessyou for $75 and Kikimc, also for $75.
The original coat doesn’t appear to be available online right now, but looking at the prices of similar Simonetta Ravizza coats, the authentic heart print design would have cost in the thousands.
The fluffy Ginny coat, for example, costs £3,584.
So yes, that $50 price tag was a bit of a giveaway that the coat Mikala received wouldn’t quite be up to the standard of the one in the picture.
While the 23-year-old may be a few quid poorer, at least this experience has taught her (and all of us) a lesson: be wary of those dreamy bits of promoted content selling you incredible clothing at a super low price.
It’s always worth having a search of the brand to see if there are any customer reviews or if people have shared their experiences on social media, then doing an image search to see where else an item pops up.
And if your gut is telling you something’s off, trust it.
Mikala says she won’t be ordering clothes or anything else from Instagram-promoted brands again.
‘I’m so frightened of insta brands,’ she said. ‘And now I have every reason.
‘Never again.’
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