Outlets vs retail, and Winners prices: Sale fail? (CBC Marketplace)

this is your market place attention outlet shoppers a shopping outlet if I get do what deals think I'm getting a better deal but when is a deal not a deal ones from retail once from the outlet can you spot the difference you're not really often getting anything that's a big ballgame very informative I'm glad I met you yeah plus winners or losers totally betrayed it was it was out-and-out false advertising and get ready get set it's a fashion timebomb marketplace always in step with the time we're taking you on a road trip to one of the largest outdoor outlet malls in the country Oh like collection at Niagara shopping for the truth bargain hunting and outlet malls is all the rage these days why do you shop at outlets I shuffle pointless because they get you good deals the selection and the brands that are here big names and popular brands promising high fashion looks for less so do you think you're getting a good deal at what shopping think I'm getting a better deal yeah I know we're getting a good deal sounds good but is there something you're not being told we're going to let you in on some fashion industry secrets that will help you score a real deal so what do you think about the quality of the stuff that you're getting here at the outlet compared to the retail location pretty much the same oh I don't think there's any difference whatsoever so are we getting a better deal are we getting screwed so this is recording to find out we're taking you undercover heading into four popular outlet stores coach Kate Spade j.crew and Banana Republic Turner you're shopping first off coach so many sales in here there's markdowns everywhere a household name when it comes to purses this is the Kelty and it's 295 we pick one up from the outlet and pick up a similar purse from a coach retail store yeah I'm gonna take this one so are you getting the same retail quality from popular brands just at a lower price we take our purses to someone who knows fashion inside out clothing designer Hilary McMillan okay let's start with these red coach purses ones from retail once from the outlet can you spot the difference I'm looking at the quality of the zippers and looking at the lining that they've chosen stitch work around the seams as well same label two different bags that's because one of them was made just for the outlets and I'm also noticing how this inside of this bag actually has the coach monogrammed on the lining whereas this one destin'd which kind of leads me to think that this is a little bit more higher quality than this one well they're made for retail or outlet coach insists all of its products are made from the finest quality leathers and fabrics what's the number one difference would you say I would say the leather really this one is heavier it's a little bit better this one is a little bit lighter so that's kind of it's gonna weather better and this one won't as much last longer yep her verdict this one's retail and this one bail is well you are correct okay are they the only ones pulling a fashion fast one to find out we're off to outlet number two j.crew a popular preppy label will they fess up to the differences hi hi doing we pick up this men's merino wool sweater and track down a sales clerk you also find anything from the retail in here the factory sir we all exclusively own oh so it's all made it's all be any of the retails leftover none of that stuff so not the same as retail buy what about the quality if there are difference in the quality a slight difference the quality is still great really still great quality to find out if that's true I'm going to one of the fashion capitals of the world New York City to meet up with a bargain shopping expert who's going to reveal what the stores would rather you didn't know meet mark Elwood what do you make of the quality of the products that you're getting at Outlet stores versus a retail location this stock was largely made just to be sold cheaply so they're gonna cut corners so how can you spot the difference it's really really really simple and you see that there is one of those labels has two diamonds on it nice yeah says this was made for the outlet do you think that most people know that when they're going into an outlet they're not getting the same retail merchandise this is the trick of the outlet almost no one realizes all wants to realize that when you walk into an outlet store you're not really often getting anything that's a big bargain I think that's really unfair j.crew doesn't think so they say they make sure they're out light products preserve the quality and design you expect from their brand all right I'm going this one is retail and this one's output but fashion designer Hilary McMillan isn't fooled tags tell you where things are made a little more intricately see on this one this one's kind of has a lot more information than this one here Hilary says the retail sweater a better buy softer so has a softer hand so the feeling a little bit better will it last longer yeah under percent if you take care of it the last longer we break the news about our findings the quality of what you're getting at the outlet is not the same as a retail location oh that's sad no I would I was thinking I was getting the same the same quality well that's best you know no actually I didn't why the family ripped off right now me too I see those two diamonds okay yeah that's how you can tell Oh factory outlet only has those two diamonds oh wow good to know okay so there you go see ya you're something while I shop you sugar head next stop Kate Spade a fashion icon with over 450 stores around the world then back to I'll get the PNX sure plenty to sell lots of deals here too we pick up a wallet here at the outlet and one from the retail store first of all I want you to look at this table can you see that the logos are not the same yes clearly yes one is larger and one has a little button yeah with Kate Spade this gem tells you it was made for retail the stamp version you're only gonna find that at the outlets our fashion expert can easily tell the difference in quality all right so what I'm looking here is at the leather um that's kind of a big dead giveaway for me this leather is nicer than this leather in my opinion I have decided I think that this one is retail and this one's Outlands right again in terms of longevity and lasting this one's a better bang for your buck we've got one more stop banana republics Factory Outlet they promise the brands look for less so what do we find here we pick up this pair of men's pants and buy a similar pair from one of their retail stores but when we ask them about the difference it's like if it doesn't so it'll oh they're say we had a coat that wasn't selling well but all the leftovers would go to the outlet so the leftover is probably like a really our fashion expert says there are obvious differences between the OLED and retail pants we bought so these are plastic button and that is a metal clasp they are different zippers though this one has the label on it on the actual zipper tag it says Banana Republic and this one just says why--what YKK which is a brand of zippers that anyone can buy Oki leads me to think that this is a more high quality product they spent more time and money on the little things in here so Hilary what's your answer these are retail and these are outlets she's right again and Banana Republic confirms the products in its Outlet stores are never sold at its retail stores but you don't have to be an expert to see the difference if you look a little closer you'll see these three diamonds on their label similar to j.crew this means they're made just for the Banana Republic outlet that's a tip we want to share with shoppers that means its factory only oh is that right very informative I'm glad I met you yeah next time I'd be looking for those diamonds now that's overall go to marketplace I think's a ripoff then that's it's just not being fair to their consumers in the US banana republics parent company is being sued for misleading customers into thinking they're getting retail quality at a discount I'm not surprised that practices like this have resulted in lawsuits because I think people feel ripped off it may not be illegal but it feels kind of unfair some outlets do sell retail for less but chances are what you're gonna find at most outlet stores is made just for them some of the estimates between 60 and 70 percent up to 85 percent of items in an outlet saw were never seen anywhere else but our expert says that might not stop people from trying to find a great deal I call it viagra because by agra agra what is by we have a chemical response to a sale sign our brains are pre-programmed to go crazy when we see a sale the problem is you're probably going to get a better deal shopping the sale at a department store than spending the day browsing an outlet mall but if you're still planning on taking a road trip to the outlets pack this advice if you see a price in an outlet store that's 20 bucks that product was developed to sell at 20 bucks it was costed that way the raw materials the labor that tells you that it could be really cute but is it gonna last forever I doubt it think you're a bargain hunter you may be the target it was out-and-out false advertising and we take a retro shopping trip and step on some toes Deal or No Deal spot the differences between outlet and retail products at facebook.com slash CBC Marketplace this is your marketplace Ready Set it's a marketplace time bomb circa 1975 fashion-forward retro style high heels platforms boots if they're popular there's bound to be controversy and experts who'll predict dire things like will be a dangerous driver negative heels shoes they're called the first ones earth shoes were designed by a Danish yoga teacher on a cow so they were to make walking more natural like walking barefoot in the sand I was looking for something helping people to breathing better and this is a posture for breathing and when you take this on you are standing in a lotus posture and I feel a lightness get less tired and are better off in getting rid of the pollution with a brilliant because of breathing is much improved how about earth shoes for children we are started for making a special soul for children but it is a big responsibility any adult they can probably do very little in the way of harm in a child however with growing bones and growing tens muscles regrettably there's a lot of harm that can be done they like their negative heel shoes but we hope their shoes like them the hunt for the latest fashion continues with stores promising the latest looks for low prices so are you getting a good deal or just getting duped hi marketplace I'm Jennifer Johnson from Oshawa Ontario and I feel totally betrayed and misled by winners Jennifer used to love shopping there what is it about where is that first attracted you to the store I'm always in for a bargain I don't like to pay full price for my clothing but I still like to be able to have a good selection and winners does have a good selection of clothing all of the love all up to 60% less winners find fabulous for less fabulous for less sounds good Jennifer thought so too when she went shopping for a pair of pants the winners tag said was 29.99 and on their tag it said compared at $80 yep take a closer look there are two prices on their tags the winners price and something called the compare a price that price tells you how much you're supposedly saving by shopping at winners but that's not what Jennifer found right next to that tag was the manufacturers pre-printed tag and the price on that tag was $29.99 so where's the discount in that that experience made me very indignant very angry very frustrated and totally betrayed totally betrayed it was it was out-and-out false advertising there's the camera there he's Pro really to test winners compare at pricing we're sending in some secret shoppers Chelsea Darrell and Melissa work for us and today they're going undercover to do a little price comparison okay guys here we are outside of winners now here's your mission we are testing compare our prices so we'd like for you to go in and do a little bit of price checking for us up for the challenge let's do it okay here's your allowance one for you and you thank you all right get to it and good luck our testers are looking for big savings dance sets coloring stamps that the markers Doug so it's 999 and the compare at prices for two dollars from clothing perfume even toys they're buying it all like energy so 29.99 seven there and compared at $60 well they are in store I'm in New York City getting the fashion for one line from shopping expert mark Elwood the idea of this compare at pricing what do you make of it compare pricing is one of those tricks that works on the way our brains are structured when we see two numbers we instantly look at the higher one and take notice of it it's called anchor pricing we see a hundred and the minute we see a hundred and then 20 we see the difference can you trust the numbers you see on the price tags in Toronto products in hand our secret shoppers cash out and bring all their shopping bags back to CBC to do a little digging so now that you're here let's look these products up online and see how much they cost our price Geek Squad gets clicking when you learn the truth you're gonna want answers nobody in this great big building and talk to us today get our newsletter your cheat sheet to the news you need this is your marketplace we're taking a close look at winners price tags to see if you're getting the savings they promised our secret shoppers have finished their undercover shopping trip and now they're looking online to see how accurate compare at prices really are so you're searching for the wallet yeah I'm trying to but I haven't been able to find this model at all I'm just looking for this shaver here just having able to find the specific one-play yet in many cases we can't seem to find the products for sale at other retailers so we have no idea these compared at prices or legit we do find some products selling at this same price or more expensive from the compare at price so I've got the Nautica life-energy cologne here so I found it on Sears Sears Canada and it's $60 and compare out with $60 as well hey Charles II I have found that risk board game so we paid $49.99 and winners had their compare at at $100 and I found it here at FG Bradley's for $74.99 I found another one it's a Bally Total Fitness ball and it is 1997 at Walmart dot CA and we paid 1999 at winners and the compare at price was 30 over and over our team find similar products they bought for sale at other retailers cheaper than the winners compare at price winner says the compare at price is a fair assessment but given our findings makes you wonder how much you can rely on it tonight we're shopping and we see a compare at price how much trust should we be putting in that tag absolutely zero no trust at all in that compare our price that could have been popped from thin air so it's a clear tactic no doubt about it there is a complete tactic to most of the labels in off-price stores those words could be elephant cupcake they mean nothing but those words meant a lot to Jennifer Johnston the winners price on a pair of pants was $29.99 the compare at price $80 making her believe she was saving big but she soon realized that wasn't the case health care now she's calling winners to share her frustration can you help explain how you come up with the compare at pricing on your tags um no actually I not I would be able to compare at I guess that's the buyers that would do that not odd okay but it's on your tag so where were some where does that price come from moment up at home when the customer service agent comes back yes okay I've been told on our buyers a will contact other vendors and that's still the same product and compare the prices and that's how we reach our price well it's just unfortunate that this is happening and I feel totally lied to a few days later in an email to Jennifer winner says it was an error compared at pricing has landed winners parent company TJ acts in hot water turns out in the u.s. they're being sued for using deceptive comparative prices to trick customers into believing they're saving money on brand-name items we asked winners to come on camera to talk about their compare at pricing several times but they say no so we're going to their head office to see if they'll reconsider hello I'm fancy Agri from CBT marketplace I'm here to see president Doug Mizzy hi sure is crazy I had CBC marketplace here I was gonna be right down great thank you so much Doug Mizzy is TJX Canada's president but he's a no-show I'm a reporter literally we are I'm Charles tiara from CBC marketplace the only thing I could suggest is to get in touch with Shannon she'll have some answers for you we've tried Shannon several times shooting spree big building and talk to us today the only person I'm aware of that can help the Shannon we get referred to communications but they're not taking our call Canadians are feeling misled by your compare at pricing and we'd really liked to hear what you have to say about that no answer in an email winners tells us they stand by their compare at prices but say sometimes errors can occur after sharing our findings with winners they say they're going to retake it a few of the products we bought and remove the compare odd price makes you wonder why they can't get rid of compare at prices on all of their products when you see the words compared at ignore them put your hand over that higher price and focus just on the cost of the goods chances are if it's too cheap to be true than it probably is chances are if it's too cheap it was made to be cheap so it can be cute but it's not a bargain oh my god what could be lurking in that bling we go all the way to China find out he uses cadmium and why Hey cheap and asked Canadian stores why they are selling toxic jewelry to teens yeah we heard you we heard you I just have to say though as a consumer and I read all right did you understand actually so I'd like to finish my thought and then I'll go up size

Channel: CBC News

Views: 2,149,909

Rating: 4.7438898 out of 5

Keywords: CBC News, CBCNews, CBC broadcasting media, public broadcasting news, Canadian News, Canadian Broadcasting Corportation (TV network), CBC News Network, shopping, deals, bargains, bargain hunting, winners, tjx, marshalls, kate spade, banana republic, gap, coach, j crew, outlet shopping, outlets, cbc marketplace, marketplace cbc, marketplace, cheap, fashion

Id: f8cyvpJYZlk

Length: 22min 21sec (1341 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 08 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/Empire_]

You know you are in a real outlet when there is no M/L sizes of anything.

[u/heybro1080p]

i’m a supervisor at an outlet store for a luxury retailer. just ask the employees and they should be more than happy to tell you exactly which items in the store are outlet or retail because those are the only products they buy themselves. our outlet items often only cost $20-$40 less than the retail product but are significantly less quality.

[u/obi_matt_kenobi]

GAP does this. You can see three little squares or diamonds (I can't remember which) under the brand name GAP on the tags of the outlet clothes. The outlet stores will also get regular GAP clothes, but they mostly (at least the one near me) sell the clothing made specifically for the outlet store. It is a lower quality for sure.

[u/nelf4life]

The best outlet store is the thrift store.

[u/gunghogary]

Fashion designer here. If you want to get specific, here’s the differences:

•Outlet brands usually have completely different Design, Merchandising and Production teams. They do this because they are catering to a different customer, and build to hit an aggressive price point, not to tell a story. So there isn’t as many design details or seams.

•They usually don’t match stripes / checks / prints. This is a huge pet peeve of mine as a designer and triggers my OCD

•They are built with cheaper, often ready-stock fabrics (as opposed to being woven and dyed special for the brand, as the designer sees fit). You’ll notice how sheer everything is, so definitely try things on and watch out for visible nipples, underwear, cameltoe/mooseknuckle

•The seam types are often different and less topstitching is used (overlock/serge vs felled or bound seams)

•The buttons and trim, incl. thread is thinner, and of cheaper materials. My pet peeve: The threads almost always look cheap as they don’t take dye the same, and are scratchy against the skin because they aren’t cotton coated.

•The fabric has fewer treatments (like peaching or distressing, or enzyme washing to soften) so it’s usually rougher and, if denim, looks super fake and contrasty.

•Fit wise, mfg tolerances are often more generous, so there might be bigger variance from one size M to another size M. This is because cutters stack fabric much higher when cutting (25-50 layers for main line, up to 300 layers in outlet lines), and that means it shifts around more.

•The fit is often the same as main brand, but I have heard of some brands that have a wider, straighter cut in their outlets to fit more bodies and save fabric when cutting

•The factories used by both are often on par with each other when it comes to brands that already manufacture in cheap locales, but for made in Italy / japan / USA / England etc, their outlet brand will outsource to a cheaper country. Even if it says made in Italy on the outlet label, it’s mostly just finished in Italy, with the bulk of the production happening overseas and shipped in pieces to skirt the labeling laws. Although a lot of main label brands do this too. Rule of thumb: if the price is too good to be true, it is.

Having said all that, I want to stress that there’s nothing bad about outlet brands per-se (H&M, Everlane, and Uniqlo are basically just outlet brands without the main line) but just know that you’re not getting a deal, and all the promotions and sales are total mindgames. It’s all built into the price, and if you notice, it’s almost never at full price anyway. It’s the high-margin money-maker that bankrolls brands that allow them to play with and grow their main labels.

All the differences in quality mentioned above affect style, durability and comfort, but with everything so trend driven and disposable these days, it’s not much of an issue for the customer, and it’s great financially for the brand and all involved in making it. However it’s super depressing from an ecological standpoint.

The only reason these outlet brands exist is because the modern consumer does not value clothing anymore (harsh but true). They are not willing to pay full price for quality garments, so there isn’t enough margin to fuel growth and creativity in the main line, and brands have adapted.

[u/Itzr]

Shopping at Under Amour outlets has never disappointed me and has always saved me money.

[u/Stumpy_Lump]

CBC Marketplace is the best

[u/FandomMenace]

Is there a master lost of all the markings that reveal factory outlet products vs overstock?

[u/henriettaroxs]

Coach outlet does this. There are a few pieces that our legit but 99% are made for the outlet store. There is a difference in the tags and the serial numbers.