Instagram Ads: Can You Trust Them?

Every time I scroll through Instagram, which really isn’t very often because it’s my least favorite social media app, I get ads for cheap online clothing stores. I’m sure that if you know what I’m talking about you also know that it’s not just like one ad for the same store. It’s multiple ads for multiple stores that basically offer the same clothing choices. I think the clothes these stores advertise are always pretty cute, too, so I have considered buying from them, but I’ve always wondered how trustworthy they really are. Are their clothes of high quality? Will I actually receive what I order in a timely manner? Is it all just a scam? Lucky for you, I am here to provide you with a guide to multiple Instagram clothing ad stores about whether or not you can trust them based on reviews on trustpilot.com from people who have already bought from them. This will save you time looking up the reviews yourself, as well as, scrolling through them to formulate an overall opinion; instead, they will all be summarized right here in one post!

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I decided to start with this one because it is the first store I highly considered buying from. I believe it was the fall season a year or so ago that I saw the ads for new sweaters. I am an absolute sucker for a good cute sweater, so I obviously HAD to swipe through to see all of the ones available. I saw multiple that I thought I might want, and I actually went through the process of putting them into my cart on their website and everything. I changed my mind quite quickly, though, when I realized I knew nothing about this company. Here is what I’ve learned about Zaful since that fateful day:

The Good: Many reviewers talked about how Zaful offered large discounts and constant sales. They said that the company offers student discounts, which is great for college students (let’s be honest, we’re all pretty poor). The reviewers also said Zaful is constantly updating their styles to stay in trend. Quality expectations overall seemed to be met rather than not. There were a couple negative reviews about quality (holes in clothes or rough fabric), but the majority of the reviews said the clothes met the expectation. There were varying degrees of customer service reviews, but the good reviews said that the customer service was very helpful and supportive. I did notice that Zaful had replied to all the bad reviews offering support and guidance on how to fix the issues that people wrote about, which shows that they do look at what people complain about and try to resolve their issues.

The Bad: Many of the bad reviews had to do with refunds and delivery times. Refund experience varied overall. There were a couple reviews that said they received refunds multiple times in different ways (PayPal or Zaful account refund), but there were more reviews that said they never received their refund and that customer service was no help to them whatsoever. Another money issue a few people complained about was that the website or app took money out of their accounts when they did not actually place an order (they just had items in their cart). Information disclosure also seemed to be an issue in a few cases. Zaful didn’t let some customers know that they would be charged an import fee until after the customer placed an order. They also don’t clearly disclose their return policy at the time of sale. For example, bathing suits are final sale, and that is stated in their return policy but the customer is not reminded this at the time of sale (it would just be a little more ethical to remind customers of this, knowing that no one ever actually reads the return policy). Finally, delivery times tended to vary within all the reviews. Some said they got their order within 2 days; others said their order has yet to arrive after 3 months. The overall trend for delivery time, though, was 1 to 2 weeks.

My Take: I would be pretty cautious when ordering from this website. Although their quality seems to be up-to-par, their issues with their customers’ money make me pretty wary. If I were to order from them, I definitely would not leave items in my cart unpaid in fear that they may charge me for those items anyway. I would also make sure to triple check the sizing measurements they provide so I don’t even have to worry about the return or refund policies.

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I decided to do this company next because I actually personally know some people who have ordered from them online. They have told me about their experiences, all of which are good, but I think it’s important to look at the reviews of other people as well. Here is my take on SHEIN:

The Good: The first thing I noticed about the reviews was that SHEIN recently had a pop-up store in Dallas, Texas. This shows me they already have a good following since they were able to create a physical store, even if it was just a pop-up. However, this did create a problem within the good reviews because they were all reviewing the pop-up rather than the online store. Nonetheless, I was able to sift through the reviews, and I found that a lot of people actually liked their customer service (although there are bad parts to it as well). Someone explained a time they ironed through a shirt, completely ruining it, and SHEIN sent them a replacement at no charge. Not many people spoke of bad delivery times – the times ranged from 2 to 3 weeks. Quality reviews did vary, but I found a lot of reviews that ordered tops or simple accessories were satisfied with the quality given the low price.

The Bad: The first downfall of these reviews was that a pop-up on trustpilot.com came up and said this store has been caught with fraudulent reviews, meaning they are reviewing themselves or incentivizing people to give them good reviews. I saw this in one Excellent review that said, “Good review with at least 10 characters.” Clearly this is not a real review, so I had to do more digging than I had to on Zaful. A lot of people, even the ones who gave it an overall good review, said that shipping costs were high (and everyone hates that). The bad part about the quality is with the jeans, dresses, and gold jewelry. Although nobody said the clothes were unwearable from the quality, they did say that you get what you pay for – cheap price means cheap clothes. One part of customer service people also seemed to have problems with was getting an actual person to talk to. Many people said they talked mostly to robots or were directed to a simple FAQs page.

My Take: I would probably buy from SHEIN, given the chance. There were no reviews about the company stealing customers’ money or people not getting what the paid for, so it really doesn’t seem like a scam. I would probably only order tops from them, though. I am pretty picky about my jeans, so if people in the reviews said the jeans were low quality, that definitely deters me from purchasing them at SHEIN. Overall, SHEIN seems like a trustworthy company that just needs to work on customer service and standardized quality.

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This company doesn’t pop up on my news feed too often, but when it does, I always scroll through the options they present me. I haven’t heard of anyone ordering from this website, but their clothes always look very similar to those advertised for Zaful and SHEIN. Here’s what the reviews say:

The Good: The people that were happy with Romwe really enjoyed the prices and the quality (not exceptional by any means, but definitely worth the price to them). I also didn’t see any reviews about shipping times being of issue. Most shipments seemed to arrive within 2 to 3 weeks, which seems pretty standard at this point. The good reviews also boasted an easy to navigate website, which was not mentioned on the previous two companies, so I thought that was interesting. Easy to navigate websites are very important to me personally because I lose all interest if it’s difficult to find what I need on a website. Lastly, the reviews seemed to compete with each other. Many of the good reviews said they were written because they don’t feel like the bad reviews gave enough credit to Romwe, but this could just be another case of fraudulent reviews on both sides of the spectrum.

The Bad: A lot of people who wrote good reviews did complain of some sizing issues; they suggested looking at the sizing reviews under each product to see if people said the fit was large or small. Many people also complained about the cheap jewelry. They said it turned their skin green only after a few uses or it broke even before they were able to wear it. The biggest issue people had with this company, though, was by far customer service. Some people complained that the workers were hard to understand because they were foreign. More people talked about issues arising when they tried to return a product or get a refund. They explained how they contacted customer service through the email the company provided them, but they would receive back a default email saying their question could not be answered right now and to try again later. They said they were not provided an alternate means of communication, and they basically seemed pretty helpless.

My Take: The good and bad reviews were almost the same percentage wise, which makes me pretty wary of using Romwe. If I were to order from them and have an issue, I would definitely be afraid of their lack of customer service. Although their shipping times are good, the fact that people have sizing issues AND issues returning their order makes me not want to bother risking my money for some cheap clothes. Overall, I would not buy from Romwe.

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I think this company has only popped up on my feed one time, but I had it written down and it has enough reviews on trustpilot.com for me to give it a good take. The company is based out of Los Angeles, which is something new because Zaful, SHEIN, and Romwe are all based in China. This company is also more of a special event kind of clothing company. A lot of their products are dresses you’d wear to a Greek formal or a high school homecoming, but they also offer two pieces, rompers, and separate tops and bottoms. That being said, most of the reviews I read are about their dresses. Here’s what I learned:

The Good: A lot of the good reviews mentioned how people loved the quality and the price point that Lucy in the Sky provides for its clothing (as I said, most of the clothing being reviewed are the dresses). They explained how there were many color options for the same dress, which is very appealing because people love options. The good reviews also boasted good customer service. People explained how the company was willing to go above and beyond to get their dress to them on time for whatever special event they needed it for. Reviewers said the email services were very helpful, informative, and supportive. Also, the company provided some people with special deals for any issues they encountered.

The Bad: Many people, good reviewers and bad reviewers, complained of the dresses running too small. A dress that is too small is much worse than a dress that is too big because you can’t tailor a small dress to fit a bigger person, but you can do the opposite. Shipping times also seemed to vary. The good reviewers liked their shipping, but almost all of the bad reviewers wrote their reviews only because they failed to receive their order in a timely manner. This is especially important for the type of clothing Lucy in the Sky seems to specialize in – special event clothing.

My Take: I would definitely order from Lucy in the Sky if I needed clothing for a special event. The only drawback I saw was the varying shipping times, but if I were to know about a special event awhile before the event actually occurs, Lucy in the Sky would definitely be a good option for me.

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I hope my takes on these common Instagram clothing ads help you in deciding whether or not these companies are for you. Personally, I am always wary of online shopping in general because I ALWAYS try on my clothes before purchasing them in a regular brick and mortar store. However, after reading these reviews and giving my take on them, there are a couple of companies I would definitely be willing to buy from.