Howdy,
We all love a good shopping trip and you
can't beat the excitment of going to an outlet, the excitement of going
round your favourite shops in hope to get a good bargain.
Well.....
you might not be getting so much of a bargain as you may think. It's
wise to keep your wits about you and if you have things in mind you
would like to purchase from previous seasons, take a picture or two of
these items in order to compare them.
What I don't think
some people know is, many of the shops in the outlets don't always sell
what is sold in their high street stores. You may find a very similar
product and they may look roughly the same but when your get up close
you can notice differences.
For example, Michael Kors, a
bag purchased in the high street or from online will quite often come
with leather straps, a zip closure, a dust bag and quite often a michael
kors tag on their larger bags. When you look at a very similar bag in
the outlet some of the straps are plastic, there is no zip, dust bag or
MK tag on the bag. So overall you are still getting a genuine MK bag it
just might not be up to the same quality as you can see on the high
street. So when you are thinking to yourself excellent this bag is half
price compared to the high street, that is quite often because the
quality of "leathers" used are not the same.
One thing you
can do is ask the sales assistant which products are end of season
stock and which have been made just for the outlet!
I
myself have purchased a MK bag from the outlet and the leather is
amazing, the bag has worn very well, it just shows signs of wear on the
handles. Which is a shame but they do take the strain of the bag
especially as I seem to quite often fill my bags up. I didn't get a dust
bag as I said earlier I guess this is to keep down costs in an outlet
too. I do think if you are spending £150 + on a bag I would like a dust
bag to keep it protected in when I am not using it! So me being me on my
next trip to London I went down to the huge Michael Kors shop on regent
street, whilst wearing my MK bag and asked the lady in the shop if I
could please have a dust bag to protect my bag as I didn't get one. I
just had to show my receipt of my purchase and the lady kindly got me
one from the back of the shop. Yay to asking and getting one. Ask and ye
shall recieve!
Another key thing to look out for when
purchasing clothes, lets say a pair of GAP jeans, is the quality of the
jeans themselves. There is a difference in quality, from outlet made
jeans, these have the design stamped around the inside of the waitband
and on the shop bought ones you have a white sown in label. Outlet jeans
do not have many rivets on the pockets and you wont see the infamous
1969 GAP info found printed on the inside of a front pocket. I have used
GAP as an example as I have experienced both buying them from an outlet
and from a GAP store on the high street, so I can see these differences
for myself. The jeans are also not as thick, it is a more relaxed
softer feel of denim, so if you prefer that then maybe the outlet
version are perfect for you. They don't last as long but I loved the fit
and comfort and would buy another pair for sure.
Just remember when you go into a shop, think to yourself, are you are getting the same
quality as you can on the high street for every item? Just be a bit more
observant and check the labels. Not everything in an outlet is value for money and making you a saving.
Even
with everything I have mentioned above, I still LOVE going to outlets
and I will continue to go, you just need to be aware that if a pair of
trousers are £30 in the outlet and on the high street they cost £35 and
are better quality and will last longer, then I'd suggest going for the
high street version. The moral of this blog post in three words is "do
your research!"
Some shops are very crafty with how they
promote and sell their items in the shops, just be aware and outsmart
them before they take your money and outsmart you.
Thanks for reading
Kara xx
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