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The old rule about ‘if it looks too good to be true, it probably is’ definitely applies in tough economic times, but many people are being caught out by counterfeit goods, especially clothing.
Until recently, counterfeiting wasn’t as prevalent in casual clothing as in high-end designer and fashion garments, but the global recession means that almost every brand and clothing line is being targeted by unscrupulous cheats, many of whom chose to sell their knock-off clothing online.
You can protect yourself against fake clothing vendors by following a few simple rules:
1. Buying clothing online can be a fantastic way to save money – but make sure you buy through a reputable online retailer. Counterfeiters choose to sell this way because it allows them to stay anonymous and the set-up costs of business online are low, so look for a company with a long history in retail and a good range of the kind of clothing you want to buy. While some retailers specialise in a single brand – especially of more expensive garments such as high quality jackets, shoes and trainers – and are perfectly genuine, an online store selling only one brand can also be a sign that a counterfeiter is using that website to offload fake goods, so be doubly careful.
2. Look at the details – detailing can often separate real goods from fake ones. On brand T-shirts, for example, look at what the company in question describes as its ‘signature’ or ‘classic’ styling, such as where brand labels are located, stitching styles and cut. Often, even online, you can see where a picture of the goods doesn’t match up to the company’s signature style, such as a garment looking skinny when the cut is supposed to relaxed or roomy, or a label being slightly different in colour, size or shape. Counterfeiters can produce garments that are almost identical to the real thing, but most are just trying to sell similar looking garments as quickly as possible and don’t pay as much attention to detail so you can catch them out by examining photographs carefully.
3. Ask for references – all good online shops have references and testimonials, but counterfeiters have become good at faking those too! Try googling the company and seeing what comes up: disappointed buyers often vent their fury on consumer sites or in online forums, while satisfied customers of online shops will also tend to enthuse about the good quality of their clothing, the excellence of the service and the speedy delivery. Use these online clues to help you decide where it’s safe to buy.
Why not do a lot of your Christmas shopping online this year? You can grab some bargains as well as making your friends and family happy, and with the time you save trawling around the shops you can put your feet up and have some ‘me’ time.
While money is still tight and the recession still looms over us like a big black cloud, buying clothing online for family and friends is a brilliant idea for Xmas.
Why not get your allotment-loving father, or rugby-mad son a quality, comfortable fleece? You can choose one with sleeves for the man who spends all winter outdoors walking the dog or digging up his garden, while the sleeveless variety is great for standing on the touchline, especially if you’re hoping to be asked to play, as it keeps the core muscles warm while allowing plenty of body movement during the warm-up while you wait to be called onto the pitch.
If you’ve ever worried that your fashion mad daughter or wife doesn’t dress properly for the winter, then buy them a really good winter jacket, one that’s designed for performance, but also has enough style to be fashionable. Look out for the latest hoodies, which are incredibly popular with younger women and that are warm and comfortable enough for a winter walk or a few hours spent wandering around the High Street looking at the New Year Sales.
While you might not think young children would welcome clothing, if you get them all a nice plain white T-shirt or sweatshirt, and some fabric pens so that they can spend Christmas afternoon ‘designing’ their own clothing – it’ll give the grown-ups a bit of peace and quiet, allow the children to express their creativity and – who knows – you might find you’ve got the next Banksy or Armani in the family!
All these gifts can be purchased from polo-shirts.co.uk – they’ll be delivered to your door and you can stop worrying about Christmas before most people have even started.
We have been advised by Paypal that they will be performing a scheduled upgrade to PayPal’s data centre on Tuesday, 19 June 2007. This upgrade is scheduled to begin at 05:00 am and should be completed by 0.700 am. During this time the PayPal site will be unavailable and we will not be able to process payments on the site through Paypal.
Payments made by credit card or debit card directly on the site or Google Checkout will be unaffected.
Following comments from overseas buyers. We have improved our export service. We are now able to accept credit card payments from buyers in the following countries:
Eire
France
Spain
Holland
Belgium
Buyers in these countries can now benefit from our low prices on quality T-shirts, Polo-shirts and Sweatshirts.
Google Checkout makes it quicker and easier to shop across the web. You use the same user name and password for all merchants that accept Google Checkout. This means that you select your products and order with just one or two clicks. If you are using Google Checkout for the first time, you only have to fill out a single page of information to make your first purchase. After that, you just need to enter your Google Checkout login to make a purchase. There is no need to re-enter your purchase information or create multiple user names and passwords each time that you buy from different sites. Payments are processed by Google meaning that consumers don’t share credit card details with merchants using the system. When you buy with Google Checkout, you can track all orders from all merchants in one place and shop with confidence knowing that Google protects you from unauthorised purchases. For more information click here 
How Long Does a Cheque take to clear.
There tends to be a commonly held misconception that once a cheque has been paid into a bank account and funds have been received that the cheque has cleared. Cheques currently take 3-4 days to clear. The funds can then be withdrawn but there is no certainty that the bank will not contact the account holder several days later to say that the cheque has been returned unpaid.
Despite this at www.polo-shirts.co.uk the vast majority of cheques are processed on the same day they are received, so that there is no delay in getting orders dispatched. We do this by using Transax’s automated system to clear cheques. Personal cheques need to have the guarantee card number written on the back of the cheque.
Occasionally Transax will not be able to clear a cheque immediately. In this case
- Customers can contact Transax directly and confirm the transaction details.
- We have to wait 10 working days for the cheque to clear.
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