I can't help but share how knowledge helps you save money.
Something possessed me to click on a cycling shorts ad on Instagram. I almost never click on ads because I just scroll past them. But lately I've started riding a lot again (goodbye, knees!), and so I decided to check out what these magical cycling shorts were all about.
The company is called winxwheels.com.
**What immediately tipped me off
**1. The site looks suspicious, too generic. No distinctive features of its own, everything is so cookie-cutter, and there are only three products
2. Googling doesn't turn up any reviews or info about the company from other sources
3. The user reviews are also way too formulaic
4. Right off the bat they hit you with a promo - buy two and get a gift. Cool cycling brands don't do that
5. No company logo on the shorts themselves, instead - loud lettering in typical Chinese fashion
6. They ship worldwide on the cheap
7. The price is only 27 euros, which isn't all that much for cycling shorts
This is dropshipping! - guessed Stirlitz, I mean, me. The distinguishing feature of the pants was a massive "9D Gel" print. After searching for these words on Ali, I quickly found the original.
**Ta-da!
**Results: on the little site the shorts cost 27 euros, on Ali - 14 (quoting from memory).
If I didn't know what dropshipping was, and was in a hurry, I could have fallen for this, since the price is pretty low compared to Western brands. I think now you've figured out what it is too, if you didn't know before.
P.S. It's curious how the Chinese used to copy Western brands. And now you supposedly buy from a "Western" store, but they send you a Chinese product. Truly, simulacra all around and a labyrinth of reflections, copies of copies without an original. The Chinese are already taking the next step - they don't actually manufacture the clothes themselves (too expensive), but order them in Vietnam and Cambodia.