SHOPPERS are paying up to three times more to buy items from certain online vendors compared to buying them from the original stores, an investigation by The Sun has found.
Thanks to the rise in internet algorithms, you can now type an item into Google and be served a number of retailers offering similar pieces.
But many shoppers may not realise that many of these sellers are actually selling the exact same item for a huge range of different prices.
As a result, shoppers may be being hugely overcharged for buying items from certain brands when they could bag the exact same item far cheaper from a different seller.
For example, the below denim co-ord set, which has been modelled all across TikTok, is one of the first products to show up when you search this design online.
One online fashion website, Kafiloe, is selling the trendy two-piece for £52, which is similar to what shoppers might pay at the likes of high street retailers such as Zara or Mango.
But if you dig a little deeper, you will find the exact same product, with the same thumbnail, on Amazon for £29.67.
But the disparity doesn’t end there. If you keep scrolling, you’ll find another vendor on Amazon is selling it for as little as £13.99.
And Chinese-owned AliExpress has sellers flogging the exact same matching outfit at four different prices, with the cheapest being £10.99.
Many entrepreneurs use AliExpress as a source for products resold at higher prices on Amazon or other platforms
Andrew Priobrazhenskiy
The Sun spotted the below knitted jumper with a colourful smiley face, retailing for £45.00 on clothing site called Belezza.uk.
But you can pay over £20 less for the exact same jumper on Amazon.
Meanwhile, AliExpress is charging just £18 for the knitted item.
Huge disparities in prices on Amazon is not unusual, as independent sellers usually buy their stock from the same manufacturer and then raise the price.
Andrew Priobrazhenskiy, shopping and savings expert at DiscountReactor, said it is not uncommon for businesses to buy products from places like AliExpress and then mark up the price elsewhere.
“Many entrepreneurs use AliExpress as a source for products resold at higher prices on Amazon or other platforms,” he told The Sun.
“They utilise the low prices on AliExpress, which they then resell with a markup after further re-branding or re-purposing.
“This is a subset of a greater business model of dropshipping, where the vendor never handles the product physically but has it shipped directly from the supplier to the customer,” he added.
There is nothing wrong with this practice and it is not uncommon.
But many shoppers may not realise all these sellers all flogging the exact same item.
AliExpress is available for anyone to shop on, so shoppers should be aware that when you buy something you could be getting it for a much cheaper price from the original source.
However, Andew said shopping through websites such as AliExpress requires “a more careful eye when purchasing clothing”.
“There are a lot of sellers on these sites who sell products at very low prices, sometimes creating a red flag that it could either be counterfeit or poor quality,” he explained.
“While there are those who sell real and high-quality items, one is very likely to come across a knock-off or something that never resembles the image and description shown.”
He added: “I always tell them to check the seller rating and reviews from other customers for whatever product they’re looking to buy.”
“Plus, I would love to say that with a lot of really good deals comes a lot of caution—two things are real. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Similar to rival website Temu, questions have been raised about the legitimacy of some of the items sold on AliExpress and how the mass production of goods will impact the planet in years to come.
But in a cash crunch we have seen more households seek out affordable avenues to buy clothes.
Alison Lowe MBE, fashion consultant and Course Leader, MBA Fashion Entrepreneurship, explained why prices can vary so much.
There are many reasons why retail websites sell the same products but at different prices.
It can be due to purely geographical differences, that the price can be based on the country the website operates in and then duties, taxes and shipping costs lead to price variations.
Varying prices are also more common with marketplace websites, which allow multiple sellers to list the same products, but each seller can set their own price, and this can also be affected by certain sellers offering promotions or discounts for multiple purchases.
If the marketplace or seller is using dynamic pricing algorithms, they will adjust prices to respond to demand and competition.
Finally, in fashion, there is always the chance that the cheaper products are dupes of an original design, produced more cheaply by manufacturers which can then be sold at a lower price due to the scale of production.
Just because something is very cheap it does not mean it is worth buying or of good quality.
This is especially true when shopping on obscure websites that you may have never head of before.
If you are keen to buy from a website that you do not use, it may be worth reading reviews from consumer websites such as Trust Pilot.
To find the best price, there are plenty of comparison websites out there that’ll check prices for you – so don’t be left paying more than you have to.
Most of them work by comparing the prices across hundreds of retailers.
Here are some that we recommend:
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
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