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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Wedding Gowns Scams From China







So you found the PERFECT wedding dress and you went online
to find a better price than your local bridal salon. The dress
you've been drooling over is way over your budget but you
just gotta have it. And you find it from a web site in China,
direct from the factory for a hundred bucks and
free shipping and NO tax. Woo Hoo! Score? Not a chance
in hell, baby. Its a scam.

Go ahead and spend your hundred bucks and see what you get.
You aren't going to get that Stephen Yearick that sells for
$2400. You aren't even going to get close. What you will
get is a poorly made dress out of cheap fabric and a bad fit
that doesn't look like the pictue. I've seen the knock off's,
I wouldn't let my dog sleep on them.

Yes, most wedding dress factories are in China. Most Chinese
manufacturer an excellent quality dress. But like any
other business, there are superior companies, and there are
inferior companies. There are factories in the cities and
there are small factories in the rural areas. The major
factories are contracted to the major bridal manufacturers
worldwide and they aren't going to sell to
you or even me. They have all the work they can handle turning
out a superior product. They aren't marketing to the public.
They don't have to.

The small factories are out trolling for business. There
isn't a day that goes by where I don't get hit on by a
Skype call from China or an email promising me the moon if
I import their dresses. They don't own the rights to
produce the dress in the picture. They don't
own the rights to the picture. They don't have the pattern
for the dress. They are breaking every copyright rule know
in the world. The manufacturers will shut them down, but they
pop right back up using another name. My friend who owns a
major bridal manufacturer said that they have people working
around the clock to keep these dresses out of the market.
Why? They don't want a bride who thinks she is buying his
brand of dress to be disappointed whens she receives
a piece of crap. And, they have a reputation to honor.
They don't want their name on inferior dresses that they
don't manufacturer. They've designed the dresses,
photographed the dresses, manufactured the dress
and marketed the dress in their own image. Someone comes along
and steals all their work...not quite fair, is it?

What the inferior manufacturer will produce is a similar
looking dress in a color that you request. Or maybe not.
I've met a bride who ordered an ivory dress and got
something along the line of a light dirty
brown. Will ithe dress be exact? No way. Will it
have the same fit? No way. Will it be the same quality?
No way. Will I be happy? No way. Will I be shopping for
another dress? Guaranteed.

These dresses are hard to alter because they don't have the
cut and the inside boning to keep the dresses up and in place.
Without boning, the dress won't stay up, it will droop down.
The beading you love on the original may be glued on appliques
or cheap hot pressed caviar beading, which are like dots that
come off when you get warm. You can't put this under a sewing
machine because they gum up the machine and snag the dress fabric.
Most seamstresses won't touch one of these dresses.

The costs from shipping from China has escalated 5 times
in the past year due to the cost of oil. It is reflected
in the cost of the dress. Say you are spending a hundred bucks
and shipping costs $75.00. You are buying a $25 wedding dress.
That will barely cover the cost
of the zippers, thread and buttons on the dress.

You CAN buy a great dress for a hundred bucks through sales at
a bridal salon or on clearance from Ebay. My bridal salon is
currently running a clearance sale for wedding dresses at $99
with dresses that retail up to $1500. I need to clear them out
to make room for new merchandise. That's a real deal and
you can see what you are getting in person. And there is a big
difference between a cheap wedding dress and a bargain
wedding dress. Learn the difference.

If you are the gambling type, then go ahead, order the dress.
But prepare for major disappointment! If its too good to be
true, then it usually is. Take my advice, there's nothing
I hate more than an upset bride.

1 comment:

  1. Good Advice! Thanks!

    Shannon
    The Virtual Bridesmaid
    http://blog.viddia.com
    www.viddia.com

    ReplyDelete