Is This A Legit Website?

[wolf63]

I am almost certain that this is a scam website but the clothes are really nice and I need someone to check it out for me. My judgement is not always reliable.

https://www.focili.com/collections/womens-clothing

[Bobbisox1]

it doesn't appear to have any reviews Wolfie, good or bad

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/focili.com

[wolf63]

Bobbi - it all looks too good, there aren't many reviews on the site either. Most of the nice clothing seems to come from dodgy sites.

[Barmaid]

I would be very wary. Domain is a Go-Daddy one which was only registered in February. Chances are it is a pop up one to replace one that has had loads of crap reviews.

[Bobbisox1]

I must say I agree, the clothing does look very nice, perhaps paying via paypal you would feel more confident?, I think I would

[Buenchico]

Barmaid has beaten me to it with an ICANN 'Whois' lookup.

However she omitted to mention that the person who registered the domain name (most of whose details have been 'redacted for privacy') has a mailing address in Guizhou, China. While there are plenty of legitimate traders based in China, there are also plenty of dodgy ones too.

Further, people who've ordered goods from Chinese sellers frequently report that the items they receive don't fit (with Chinese sizing apparently far smaller than UK sizing) and/or are of very poor quality (often not matching the items pictured online).

I'm always worried about websites which let you change the currency from GBP to almost any other currency in the world, such as the one you've drawn our attention to.

I'm further worried by websites where there's no postal address provided and those which make a 'restocking charge' for returns (both of which are illegal for UK traders), as Focili.com does.

The website is 'powered by Shoplazza', which is a Chinese firm (somewhat similar to Shopify in the UK), which allows anyone to set up a business very easily via their portal. While legitimate traders may choose to use such platforms, they're also very attractive to fraudsters.

The only contact detail provided is an email address, with the operating hours for customer service (which would seem to be largely irrelevant without a phone number anyway) being cited in US Eastern Standard Time.

There are cross-currency inconsistencies too, with free shipping being offered in one place on all purchases over $39.99 but in another on purchases over £19.99.

If I was looking to buy items of clothing, I'd usually choose to do so from a specialist clothing company. Focili initially looks like one (because, for example, of indicating that their clothes all carry the 'Focili' trade mark) but clicking on 'All Collections' shows that they also offer pet toys, garden decorations and all sorts of other oddities for sale.

I doubt that I'd buy from that site!

[Bobbisox1]

Chris, you’re very handy to know, thanks

[barry1010]

How did you come across that website, wolf?

[ummmm]

If you like those types of clothes then try airycloth.com.

I've ordered quite a few things from them and they've always turned up. Just be warned that the fabric is much thinner than they look in the pictures. Still decent quality though.

[wolf63]

Barry it was an ad on this site.

Ummmm, airy and the lacy bra company are failed to pass the AB authentication check

The thunder has just arrived.

[wolf63]

Forgot to say thanks to all of you. I will have to stick to Simply Be for clothes.

[Buenchico]

^^^ Too many negative reviews for my liking, Ummmm:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/airycloth.com

I also worry about them proudly displaying an address on the Champs Elysees on their home page (as if they're a major Paris fashion house) but only revealing that they're based in Hong Kong elsewhere on their site.

I further wonder why they find it necessary to trade using two different websites (see https://www.floryday.com ), especially when the domain name for that second website was registered using 'Domains By Proxy' (which is a privacy service designed to hide the registrant's details).

Mind you, I can see that customers might well expect thin material from a company calling itself 'airy cloth' ;-)

[rowanwitch]

Loads of sites with different names all selling identical stock. I know bigger sizes are hard to get at reasonable prices I check out the clearance section on the Bon Prix site, also marisota. I have also used a company called Zanzea who do some nice stuff. Just buy a size up from your normal. Can't say what they are like for returns as I have kept everything I have sent for.

[wolf63]

I decided to try - I ordered a top and I paid by Paypal. I wasn't too sure about the sizes so I just got the largest size.

I'll return with an update if it ever arrives.

[ummmm]

Chris - too many people expect too much for the price they are paying.

I've seen so many bad reviews. Holidays for example, people expecting the quality of a 4* or 5* for the price of a 1*

You get what you pay for.

[pixie374]

BM, "Go Daddy" is a nightmare- we constantly get spam to our work email address from them, to "Adrienne" (us neither). And we had never heard of them before.

[barry1010]

And too many sellers aren't honest and upfront on their websites, pretending to be in the UK when they're not; misrepresenting the goods they are selling - even stealing photos from legitimate websites and sending very nasty copies; falsely stating goods are massively reduced; not making clear how much it is going to cost to return the items.
Makes my blood boil.

[William51]

It may be genuine. I have Googled them and it came up, so try them with a modest price order first.