You have come to the internet to search for your next designer clothing item, but there's just one problem. You can't figure out which sites are legitimate and which are duping you out of lots of money.

Whether you're shopping for designer dresses, prom dresses, or any other high-end clothing, you should know how to spot fakes. Follow these guidelines to instantly spot cheap dupes of designer clothing.

“Too Good to Be True” Pricing

We all love a good bargain for designer dresses and other quality clothing. However, if the price of a supposed “designer” item seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Designer dresses are made using slow fashion techniques. Unlike fast fashion, designer clothing is made using pricy materials that withstand the test of time.

This is part of the reason designer clothing has to be more expensive than mainstream fashion. Many designer dresses are hand-sewn and completely unique to the market.

To get this exclusivity from a dress or other clothing item, you usually have to pay a higher price. Stay away from suspiciously low-priced designer items online.

Suspicious Domain Names

When you buy designer clothing online, it should always come from a reputable, well-known website.

Many online advertisements for designer clothing are misleading and will take you to strange domains when you click on them.

A good way to evaluate the site is to check the URL of the website. If the URL has nothing to do with clothing or doesn't make sense, it's probably a scam.

Unverified Sellers on Buy/Sell/Trade Sites

Even well-established buy/sell/trade websites, like eBay, can con you out of your hard-earned money. Unverified sellers can easily use stock images of designer clothing to lure you in.

We highly recommend avoiding these types of websites when searching for designer clothing. You never know what you are going to receive in the mail, and you may not be able to get your money back afterward.

How Fake Designer Clothing Ads Lure You In

You might think that you would never fall for the scam ads that promise designer clothing for a significantly discounted price. Unfortunately, the shoddy businesses that partake in these scams have several ways to appear convincing to buyers.

Stolen Product Images

Anyone can go online and download an image of a designer pageant dress or evening gown. Fake designer clothing retailers often use the same high-quality images that designer brands post on their own websites.

It's always a good idea to reverse image search any product photos you come across. Reputable sellers will often use their own models to display designer dresses.

Duplicate Descriptions and Advertisements

Many scam artists selling fake designer clothing will copy and paste the product descriptions from designer brand websites. They may even put up advertisements that look identical to the brand's popular ads.

This is why double-checking the URL of any advertisement you click on is a good idea. You can spot shady sellers in an instant if the URL doesn't match up with the products they claim to be selling.

High Advertising Budgets

Since scam artists make so much profit selling cheap, low-quality items in place of designer garments, they have nearly unlimited advertising budgets.

This means you will likely see false advertisements for designer clothing everywhere you look. These businesses use a large portion of their income (scam profit) to pay for ad space on popular websites.

Even if you've seen an ad for a particular designer clothing reseller multiple times, it doesn't mean it's legit. Always vet the website.

Real Designer Dresses: Z Couture

At Z Couture, we only provide the highest-quality designer dresses on the market. Check out our wide selection of designer prom and homecoming dresses today!