Our shopping habits have seen a very drastic change in the last few years. With the evolution of devices and internet connectivity, e-commerce has developed worldwide.
E-commerce made it easy to sell and buy goods from the comfort of our home or another place over the internet with just a click. As a result, almost all the products we use in our day-to-day life are available on online platforms.
E-commerce shopping platforms have a lot of benefits over conventional offline shopping. For example, we can choose from a variety of products delivered at our doorstep, easy comparison of the price of any product, attractive offers provided by the e-commerce platform, and the list goes on.
Since the Covid 19 pandemic hit, almost everyone has started to rely on e-commerce platforms. Online buyers and sellers have increased quickly in the last two years. Almost everyone wants to buy a product at the lowest price possible with convenience.
Moreover, when talking about cheap and affordable products, an e-commerce platform, WISH pops into everyone’s mind.
WISH is an online e-commerce platform that allows buyers to buy products directly from merchants or sellers. Wish was founded in 2010 by Piotr Szulczewski (CEO) and Danny Zhang (former CTO).
Wish is a widely used e-commerce platform and generates total revenue of $1.7 billion. Wish claims to be one of the fastest-growing e-commerce platforms, with customers in more than 130 countries. In addition, it only takes a commission for every product sold through the platform.
What is available on Wish?
The e-commerce platform Wish does justice to the meaning of the word ‘Wish’ because the catalog of Wish has every product that you can ever wish for! Ranging from smartphones and television to forks and spoons, jewelry and dresses, to shoes and perfumes, one can get any item at Wish in just a click.
Wish has a vast catalog of products and provides every product at a very low price compared to other e-commerce platforms. Apart from it, Wish also has regular offers and discounts for its users. Apart from it, Wish also received a lot of hilarious comments for selling goods like plastic human tongues, etc.
Why Are Items Available on Wish so Cheap?
The first thing that comes to our mind when we see a product that’s too cheap is if the product is real or is it fake? In that case, there can be a lot of reasons why products are so cheap on Wish.
- Wish products are shipped directly from manufacturers or sellers. Thus dealers or manufacturers save a lot of money they would have required to maintain a physical store. This also decreases the presence of a middleman in the complete buying-selling process.
- The products sold by Wish might seem similar to those available on other e-commerce platforms, but there might be a huge price difference. It might be that the products available on Wish are made from the cheapest materials available. Using cheap material decreases the price of the product and degrades the quality of the product.
- Most of the products available on Wish are refurbished or fake, thus making the product’s price very cheap.
- Most of the product available on Wish is shipped from China, making it evident that the seller or merchant is from China. China’s lenient labor policies allow Chinese retailers to produce a large volume of products at very little cost.
Are Wish Products Safe and real? Or are Products Fake?
The e-commerce platform Wish is real and has no intention to scam its users. Thus, the e-commerce platform is as safe as other renowned e-commerce platforms like Amazon and eBay.
However, one minor inconvenience you may face while shopping from Wish is that the site displays full usernames on the profiles linked to Wishlist. Thus making your username and wishlist both public for anyone to see.
The only major problem that can be faced while shopping from wish is that the sellers or manufacturers selling their product through Wish might seem to be a little fishy and turn out to be fake.
Let’s look into this in a little more depth
- Wish does not sell goods but only offers a platform to manufacturers, buyers and sellers. Wish only takes a commission for working as the platform. So, if you order something from Wish, your item might be delivered or not. You may also receive an empty package. Though wish has a refund/return policy, there are a lot of terms and conditions that come with it.
- According to Wish’s policy, if a product does not arrive, customers can request a refund within 30 days of the latest estimated delivery date. The policy further says that if an item is in transit and delayed, it may offer a partial refund.
- Products available on wish are mostly made of cheap quality materials to be sold at a low price. Therefore, products delivered might not fulfill the desired requirements. For example – Dresses might be too loose or too tight or made of poor quality material. Electronics might be nonfunctional.
- Sellers are delivering counterfeit electronic devices.
- The product delivered might be the replica of the product ordered.
According to Wish, it states that it has a “zero-tolerance policy against counterfeit, dangerous or inappropriate product listings.” In addition, it provides customers with an email for reporting any listing that appears suspicious.
So, shopping for a wish is based on you. Because no designer bag would ever be available at $3, whenever you see a product priced as low as nothing, you should not consider buying it.
Also, in addition to it, electronic products listed at a price as low as $2 or $10 must be avoided as they might turn out unsafe for use. And might end up doing a lot of harm or not work at all.
Features of Shopping on Wish
The features of shopping on Wish include both pros and cons.
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Products listed on Wish are available at a very low price
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A very wide variety of products are available.
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The catalog of products listed on Wish is very vast
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The Wish shopping platform is very easy and user-friendly.
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High discounts are available
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Shipping of products bought from Wish might take forever because the seller is not genuine.
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Electrical goods ordered from wish might be unsafe for use.
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Fake products might get delivered
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Wish does not take major steps to look after quality control.
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The customer service of Wish is very poor and takes a lifetime to revert or reply. So, your will to complain might die when a customer service provider from wish would connect back to you.
How to Shop Smartly from Wish?
Wish is surely a safe place to shop from; it is legit and not a scam. But what concerns me more is the product that you choose. So here are a few key points one must keep in mind while shopping from Wish.
Read Reviews
Reading reviews is a must when you order from Wish. Most buyers review products when they get frustrated about what they have received and when their expectation is hurt. Thus, if a product has no reviews or negative reviews, you must reconsider it.
Misleading Descriptions
Wish has a major problem with misleading and incorrect descriptions provided for a product. In many instances, the product image is also fake and misleading. So, in that case, going through the reviews is the best option.
Choose the right Size
Buying clothes on Wish might be tricky as the cloth material or quality might differ from the product description and image. There is also another major problem, and that is the fit issue. So, if you are buying a cloth, first check the review and check the size chart properly.
Keep Tabs on Orders Placed
Sometimes wish products might take months to be delivered. So, you might lose track of what you have ordered. In that case, do keep a check on your orders and delivery time.
Check Shipping Time and Cost
Before placing an order on a wish, check the shipping time and shipping cost, as the seller might charge you a little extra than the actual amount. Also, the shipping time of a product gets delayed, and sometimes the product does not get delivered at all. In that case, you must keep a continuous check on your order.
The Conclusion
So, think twice before you Wish because one wrong Wish can make a lot of change. From the above points, we can conclude that shopping from Wish has many pros and Cons. So think twice when you place an order from Wish.
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