Just saw an old video in youtube on how DFO tricks people into thinking that they are getting a bargain on world famous products…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8cyvpJYZlk
Though the video is by a Canadian News Program on Canadian Market, i believe it should be the same for Australia as well.
What are your thoughts people?
Thanks!
There's a chain of outlet shops that sell makeup etc. most are on their way out or old stock. Perfumes are great imports. That is certainly inferior.
Though there are great outlets too, though rare. I love Review but there's no way I'm paying $300 for a dress! At their outlets if we're lucky they're $100, usually because they made more than they thought would sell.
You mean 'grey' rather than 'great'?
Grey imports aren't always inferior. I could go overseas and purchase a product then bring it to Australia and it would technically be a grey import, it is still the original product.
I think it comes down to if you think the quality is there with what you are buying. The most important thing is bang for buck and buying something that is fit for purpose. The biggest bargain in the world is not worth it if you don't use the product. It must be kept in mind that the Outlet places are huge businesses in America/Canada with a large co-population so making special product lines is worth it; not sure it would be worth it for Australian owned businesses. However, it would be interesting to do a comparison like this with the DFO outlets we have in Australia to see if the American owned ones ship in the same outlet merchandise. In my case I would just photograph the products rather than buying them; who wants to pay retail prices for the comparison:) I have bought products from outlet stores in the US, and I have always been impressed by the quality - then again I usually don't look for any particular brand, just what I like. It is a case of knowing what you are buying, but this will make me more vigilant in the future. Thanks for the link, it was very interesting.
I wouldn't say that the quality is inferior but the goods are mostly outgoing models/styles.
Most of the stores I've been to at DFO are just retail outlets, the same you'd find anywhere else
Yes in North America and in Europe, outlet and retail stores often have a "special edition" of their best selling clothes so they can sell those items at 50-70% off: different rate of cotton/wool, thinner, less fancy buttons, different type of lining -> it's cheaper and easier to made.
i.e the classic black ck polo: the full price polo is heavier and thicker than the polo at 50% off.
When I searched "secrets of outlet stores" on youtube, I found a french video https://youtu.be/LoVtsge8vA8?t=554
black polo RL (famous US brand) at full price from a french reseller vs the same polo with 30% off from a RL store, with no further informations…
-> the (legit dupe) polo with a nice 30% off is lighter (200g vs 255g) so it's also thinner.
Well, selling clothes specially made for outlet stores is another issue. They want to attract more customers and we want to buy a cloth with their brands on it ;)
Because in North America and in Europe, last season stock aren't enough to last 1 season so they need to make clothes at a lower cost to keep their outlet stores full.
The idea is to sell new clothes almost as cheap as the last season clothes (on sales) without lowering their margins.
not sure about the States and Canada but in Australia, Outlet store sell last season/old stock. same quality/products as the actual retail stores.
How i know? i work for one of the retail company.
Is that what they told you?
That's what they told me to do.
Direct factory outlets are a way to sell lower quality items at lower prices.
That means the consumer buys something almost worthless at a vastly inflated prices due purely to the consumer being able to display a brand name on themselves.
Your information is based on?
If we're talking about clothing, the DFOs here just sell the same thing as their regular non-DFO stores, as well as old / last season stock at further reduced prices.
I know for a fact that with one major Australian clothing retailer, they simply send out boxes of clothing from their regular stores off to their DFO stores after they become last-season stock.
So they're not inferior quality. They're just old.
The new / current season stock the DFO stores have is exactly the same as what you'd find in the regular stores.
Correct, the outlets in australia, are different to other countries. Basically anything that is prior season would be sent to an outlet. And the ones which are 2 seasons ago, would be sent to their warehouse for some brands, then they would hold a massive pop-up outlet store to sell the 2 seasons ago stock at a super cheap price.
Not necessarily inferior. Just a different range of products.
Part of the reason they do that is to not devalue their original product line.
(The other part: to convince you that you are getting a discount.)