How to Shop Smartly on DHGate
In the realm of online shopping, finding affordable alternatives to high-end designer items has become a popular trend. DHGate has been my newest go-to shopping site for designer inspired anything! In this post, I’m going to go over what I’ve learned and how to shop smartly on DHGate.
DHGate, a leading e-commerce platform, has emerged as a go-to destination for those seeking designer-inspired products and replicas.
What is DHGate?
DHGate is an online marketplace that connects buyers with sellers, primarily based in China. Launched in 2004, the platform has gained popularity for offering a wide range of products at competitive prices, including clothing, electronics, accessories, and more. While it hosts a diverse array of items, DHGate has become particularly renowned for its selection of designer-inspired and replica products.
Navigating the DHGate Marketplace
Create an Account: To begin your shopping journey on DHGate, create a user account. This will allow you to track orders, communicate with sellers, and take advantage of personalized recommendations.
Browse Categories: DHGate categorizes products into various sections, making it easy to navigate. For designer-inspired items, explore categories such as “Fashion Accessories,” “Clothing,” and “Bags & Shoes.”
How to Find the Top-Notch, Best, Designer-Inspired Items
If you’re new to DHGate, you’ll notice that prices vary widely for the same product. So how do you know whether a product that is described as “mirror quality” or “top quality”, really just that? And does the price in fact, reflect the quality?
Let’s go over a few things first. When searching for a specific item, especially if it is designer, you’re not going to find it by searching for its exact name, This is because of IP infringement, so you’ll have to be a little creative in your search. Here’s a few steps I like to take to drill down and find good, reliable sellers and top quality items.
Keyword Search
Start by searching with keywords like “10A quality designer”, “top quality luxury designer” or “mirror quality luxury designer”. If you’re looking for purses, tack on the word “bag” in your search. Same with “jewelry” for accessories and jewelry, “shoes” for boots and any other footwear, “top” for clothes, etc. This will get you a search result of sellers that sell quality items.
In this post I mainly focus on finding the top quality items. If you’re looking for middle of the road or quality isn’t as important for you then this informative post may not be useful for you. Otherwise, if you want something that is essentially made of the exact same materials, same craftmanship, has the labels, logos, boxes and dust bags, then you’ll need to pay attention to the price point.
Let’s take a look at an example below. Here my keyword search was “top quality luxury designer bag 10A”. Many sellers on DHGate use terms like “10A” or “7A” or “5A” to give you a sense of the level of quality. For example a “5A” means 5 stars and is great craftmanship with hardly any differences. A “10A” is a nearly identical item. In the results below, I immediately crossed off 3 of the 5 items. This is because the prices are just too low for the item (think about it, would a highly crafted designer inspired really be priced at $83 and some change? Don’t be fooled!)
Depending on the item, its size, the brand and materials, you’re looking at spending $100 and up for something as small as a wallet and several hundred dollars for a genuine leather purse. This really comes down to using your judgement and vetting the seller.
Research Seller
After scrolling through your search results, click on a bag that you feel is realistically priced that will be of high quality. You may not necessarily want that particular bag – but don’t worry! This is just a way for you to find a seller that will likely have other options and items you are specifically looking for.
You’ll want to look at the seller’s reviews and feedback score. You can do this by hovering over their username. In the pop-up you can see that they’ve got 100% positive feedback on 412 purchases. This seller seems very reliable as they’ve got an above average on-time delivery rate and an above average repurchase rate (meaning they’re got repeat buyers).
Perfect! So you’ve now found a promising seller! Let’s take a look at their review for this particular item, and for other items that they’ve sold. At the top of the item, this shows as having 14 reviews. Click on this to go to the review section. The more reviews the better, If an item is fairly priced, and the seller looks promising, but there are no reviews, I would proceed with some caution and maybe check out a few more of their items in their store to see if they have reviews elsewhere.
In this example, not only are there reviews, but buyers have left photos of the products they received. Take some time to read a few of the reviews, especially the ones that are from the USA. Are there grammatical errors in the reviews? Do they sound like they were written by someone from the USA? Sometimes these reviews can be faked, with fake photos, in order to make the seller more reputable. Be wary of fake reviews read carefully.
Contact the seller
Now that you’ve solidified a promising seller, it’s time to send them a message via DHGate’s chat feature. Each seller has a chat feature. If you’re on the website, you’ll get a new webpage popup. Here are a few example questions I would ask to get started:
- Do you have more photos of this item?
- Does it come with the original box and dustbag?
- What materials is this made of?
- Is this your highest quality version?
These questions are important to ask because sometimes what is listed on the Item’s description is not an accurate reflection. For example, if the product states the item is made of leather under the Specifications tab, but the seller says “PVC leather”, this is a contradiction of information and I’d personally move on to another seller.
Sometimes the seller may offer an even higher quality version. So in the same example above, if the seller states “PVC leather”, they may also state that they have another version of genuine leather materials but for a higher price.
These questions help give you a sense on how responsive they are and what their inentory looks like. Once you get your questions answered for this particular product, ask if they have a full catalog to look through. Otherwise, send them photos of the particular item you wish to buy if it is not listed in their store. Oftentimes, these sellers work with large suppliers or have a factory of their own. They’ll be able to look through their internal catalog and reply back with photos of the product they have in stock, along with price and a description.
Success!
Congratulations! Using these steps, you’ve found a potentially reliable seller that sells high quality goods.
Shopping on DHGate is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t be so quick to make a purchase especially if you’re buying an expensive item. You’ll end up with buyer’s remorse or doubting yourself on whether you actually made the right decision. Research, ask lots of questions and ask for photos, and read their reviews! Make a small purchase if you must and wait to get the item. Observe the quality of your purchase once you do receive it. If you’re happy with your purchase you’ve found a great seller to buy your designer inspired items from!
Have you heard of Aliexpress? Check out my post on why I love shopping on Aliexpress!
DHGate opens the door to a world of affordable designer-inspired and replica products, allowing fashion enthusiasts to stay on-trend without breaking the bank. By following these tips and guidelines, you can navigate the platform with confidence, making informed choices to enhance your shopping experience. Happy shopping!
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