Thousands of online shoppers and fashionistas want answers to the same question: Is SheIn legit? While plenty of online reviews say otherwise, the short answer is: Yes. SheIn is a legit clothing brand, but you should always shop with caution. I dug into the facts, studied reviews, and even ordered from SheIn myself to give you an honest, unbiased answer.
Where is SheIn actually located? Should you feel safe shopping on SheIn.com? Why are people suspicious of SheIn in the first place? I’ll cover all the details here and explain why SheIn is ultimately a legit business. You’ll also get tips for how to successfully shop and save money at SheIn, so stick with me to the end.
A Little About SheIn
SheIn (pronounced SHE-in) is an affordable online clothing retailer for women, men, and kids. The company got started in 2008, but it really blew up after success with social media promos. Millions of users flocked to the trendy dresses, swimwear, and other fast-fashion pieces in SheIn’s Insta-worthy ad photos.
SheIn doesn’t have any physical store locations, but the company is based out of China. They ship to over 200 countries worldwide, partnering with third-party manufacturers, material suppliers, and finished product vendors around the world.
Why is SheIn so cheap?
Not only are their prices super low, but you can also use or stack SheIn coupon codes to get things for as cheap as under $1.00.
SheIn clothes are so cheap for two main reasons:
It’s much cheaper to manufacture clothes in China than it is in the U.S. This is why SheIn can afford to set lower price points than other clothing brands can.
At SheIn, you get what you pay for. SheIn uses lower-quality materials to make their clothing, which keeps costs down and prices low.
Is SheIn ethical?
SheIn is a fast-fashion retailer, meaning they rapidly produce tons of clothing to keep up with the latest fashion trends. People have a lot of ethical concerns with fast fashion as a whole because of its harmful impact on the environment. Since clothes are made from lower-quality materials, their shelf life is very short. Realistically, you can only wear clothes from sites like SheIn a few times before they start to show noticeable wear and tear. Unfortunately, people rarely recycle or donate these items — and the cheap materials are far from biodegradable.
People have accused SheIn of other unethical practices, like violating child labor laws in China. However, these theories are largely unproven, and SheIn claims they take supply chain issues seriously. However, a recent investigation showed that SheIn clothing and other products contain harmful chemicals. This definitely implies some not-so-ethical practices on SheIn’s part, but we’ll talk about that in a bit.
Why Do People Think SheIn Is a Scam?
For one, SheIn reviews are very bad.
SheIn has its fair share of superfans, from fashion influencers to teens and young adults alike. But you can’t ignore the number of 1-star reviews left by extremely unhappy customers. It almost seems like SheIn exceeds expectations for some customers and fails miserably for others.
I dove deep into online SheIn reviews and wow, they were scary to read. One user claimed that SheIn sent her a used dress covered in dog hair — ew.
Overall, these were the most common complaints from SheIn customer reviews:
Order never arrived / not all items arrived
No response from customer service
Items are cheap in quality
Wrong items were delivered
My personal experience with SheIn was actually a good one, but the bad reviews definitely had me worried. In my opinion, reviews can be just as damaging as they are helpful. I like to take them with a grain of salt and remember that most people leave reviews after bad experiences.
Experts found high levels of toxic chemicals in SheIn clothing.
In 2021, Scientists found that a toddler’s jacket from SheIn contained almost 20 times the amount of lead that’s safe for children. They also found a red purse sold by SheIn contained more than five times the normal levels of lead. This raised a lot of concerns for parents and everyday shoppers, especially because children absorb chemicals through their skin more easily than adults do. Lead poisoning side effects include high blood pressure, abdominal pain, mood disorders, and miscarriage or stillbirth in pregnant women.
Since then, other shoppers have turned to social media to share allergic reactions and similar poisoning incidents from SheIn products. One TikTok user claimed a SheIn nail art product melted into her skin and made her whole arm numb. During a visit to Urgent Care, she was told she had chemical poisoning and had to go on steroids to recover.
SheIn was caught faking positive reviews.
Trustpilot, a leading review site, removed 1.8 million fake reviews from their site last year — and a chunk of them traced back to SheIn. Audits from Trustpilot revealed many of SheIn’s 5-star reviews came from SheIn employees themselves. They sent SheIn multiple cease and desist orders asking them to end the deception.
Trustpilot continues to crack down on security measures and fraud detection to make sure reviews are real, honest, and come only from customers. This will help prevent fakes moving forward, but it’s worth noting as you scroll through SheIn’s reviews.
SheIn isn’t accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Even though SheIn has its own page on the BBB website, that’s not because it’s an accredited business. After so many angry SheIn customers complained to the BBB, they had to make it clear that they don’t accept complaints from foreign companies.
Here’s what the BBB SheIn page says:
SheIn has a customer rating of 1.46/5
1,222 customer complaints were closed in the last three years
206 complaints were closed in the last 12 months
62 filed complaints were not resolved
Even though SheIn isn’t BBB-accredited, they gave SheIn an “F” rating because of all the customer complaints. So not a great look for the online-only clothing brand.
So … Is SheIn Legit or Not?
Overall, SheIn is legit — but shop with caution.
Does SheIn sell high-quality clothes? No. Does SheIn have questionable ethics? Yes. Is it safe to shop at SheIn? It depends on your definition of “safe.”
I’m not saying the horror stories from SheIn reviews aren’t true. I’m just saying they didn’t happen to me, and a lot of other shoppers say they’ve had positive experiences, too. I didn’t have any allergic reactions to my SheIn clothing, so I can’t say whether the materials are safe. But after hearing the news of dangerous chemicals in SheIn clothing, my perception of the fast fashion brand definitely shifted for the worse.
my best advice is to shop with caution. Don’t buy SheIn clothing for children and avoid wearing it altogether if you’re pregnant. If you’re cautious and mindful about shopping, you’ll save yourself some headaches down the road.
Delivery took 11 days in total, but my Shein order arrived without issue.
I purchased two SheIn maxi dresses (this one for $22 and this one for $30) for the purpose of writing this post. Though I hadn’t shopped there before, I thought, what the heck?
I placed my order on July 25. The first dress arrived four days later on July 29, and the second dress arrived seven days after that, on Aug. 5.
SheIn sends you an email to let you know when each item in your order arrives. They also ask you to confirm its delivery online or in the SheIn app (iOS / Android).
To be honest, I had no intention of keeping these SheIn dresses. But after trying them on, I decided both were worth taking up the little space I had left in my closet. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked them and how little I spent in total.
My experience with SheIn Customer Service was above average.
I reached out with some SheIn return policy questions. I’ll do anything to avoid talking to customer service on the phone — mostly because of the painful on-hold elevator music. Since I prefer to get help through email or chat, that’s what I did.
You can easily connect to live chat from SheIn’s Customer Service page, and yes … you’ll get to speak with a real person. Within seconds, I connected with a rep who was happy to answer my super-specific questions. She even answered each question in the same order I sent them and numbered each one so I could easily digest the info.
After so many bad customer service experiences, I almost expect to be disappointed these days. But my experience with SheIn Customer Service was quick, easy, and satisfactory.
You can view SheIn’s Supply Chain Transparency Statement online.
If you have ethical concerns about SheIn, this might give you some peace of mind. SheIn’s Supply Chain Transparency Statement describes their policies against forced labor and human trafficking. This includes their Supplier Code of Conduct, which lists all their requirements for protecting employee rights and work conditions. According to SheIn, suppliers who violate the Code of Conduct are subject to termination.
According to SheIn’s Code of Conduct, these are the main requirements for suppliers:
Compliance with all legal requirements and regulatory rules is mandatory
Employment must be voluntary
Employees must be over the age of 16
Harassment, abuse, and discrimination are strictly forbidden
Workers must receive their salaries on time
Workers must have reasonable working hours that comply with legal standards
Suppliers must provide a safe and healthy work environment and strive to prevent accidents and injuries
Suppliers must minimize their impact on the environment and strictly comply with applicable environmental protection laws
Before they posted this statement, SheIn didn’t talk about their business practices at all, with anyone. So this type of transparency is a step in the right direction.
Tips for Shopping at SheIn
1. Set the right expectations.
SheIn clothing is made from cheap material. This isn’t really a secret — it’s the main reason SheIn prices are so low. If you’re looking for budget-friendly pieces to wear with more expensive items, SheIn could be great for you. If you expect high-quality items that will stand the test of time, prepare to be disappointed.
Remember to set the right expectations before you place an order with SheIn. You’re paying for items you’ll only wear a few times — not for items you’ll have forever.
2. Know your measurements and always check the size guide.
According to shoppers, SheIn sizes aren’t totally reliable and tend to change from product to product.
Before you default to your regular size, check the size guide on the product listing to see where your measurements line up. You’ll make sure you get the right size every time and avoid the returns process altogether.
Note: I ordered two SheIn dresses in a medium, which is my regular size. Both dresses fit me perfectly, so I guess I lucked out.
3. Order trendy pieces, not everyday staples.
SheIn is a great place to buy trendy pieces you won’t be sad to lose. We’re talking faux leather, fringe, florals, ruffles, and more. These styles are far from timeless but work great when they’re trending in the fashion world.
Everyday items like plain tanks, tees, jeans, and underwear are worth the splurge from non-SheIn retailers. Buying high-quality staples that last and work with multiple outfits will pay off in the long run.
Related: SheIn recently launched SheIn Exchange, a site that lets you resell your used SheIn clothing to make money.
4. Don’t put your SheIn clothes in the dryer.
Cheap materials don’t mix well with heat. If you want your SheIn clothing to last longer, hang them up to air dry instead of throwing them in the dryer. You should also wash them on a low-heat cycle just to be safe.
5. Read up on SheIn’s return policy before you shop.
Don’t get stuck with something you don’t love. Before you place an order with SheIn, be sure to read up on the return process. You’ll know which steps to take and what to do if an item doesn’t work out. Our easy guide to the SheIn return policy has everything you need to know.
Related: We dig some digging and found the stores like SheIn with slightly better perks.
If you shopped at SheIn and want to share your experience, tell us all about it in the comments below!
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