My Honest Review on Shopping at Shein

Is Shein legit or is it a sketchy website that threatens to steal your credit card information and ruin your week?

If you’re asking yourself this question, you’ve come to the right place. I know the feeling of being hesitant to pull the trigger on an online purchase from a website you haven’t yet built trust with.

I’m dedicating today’s post to everything YOU need to know about shopping at this popular clothing company.

Let me start out by saying that this post is in no way sponsored and I have never worked with Shein or received gifted products from them. I purchased all of the items from Shein with my own money because I was curious about the company and wanted to share an unfiltered, honest review. If you’ve been following along for awhile now, you know that I never share or recommend a brand unless I have tried them myself first.

Over the years, I have come across Shein many times while searching for different things, but I always felt like their website seemed a little shady. Plus, those prices! When something seems too good to be true, it usually is (that’s what my mama taught me at least).

Needless to say, I had avoided purchasing from Shein until I was up in the middle of the night with London (nursing every 2 hours will inspire some pretty spontaneous purchases) a few months ago. I decided to place my bet and order a few, inexpensive items with the hopes of hitting the jackpot, or at the very least reporting back to you ladies on whether I could recommend this brand or not.

Fast forward to now and I have placed 2 separate orders with Shein. I’m recapping both experiences below with a more in-depth breakdown covering price, quality, delivery, fit, and style following that.

In short, my first order I would describe as “meh”. I ended up ordering 6 pieces, returning half of them, and out of the 3 that I kept, I wear 2 of the pieces often (both athletic wear).

The items I returned were a pair of sandals (ran 1/2 a size too big), a cut-out dress (cheap fabric, unflattering silhouette), and a shacket (cheap fabric, color didn't quite match as advertised).

HOWEVER, I decided to give them a second chance a couple weeks later (mainly because I had online credit from my returns). This time, I spent much more time looking through their selection and really reading the reviews. I cannot emphasize this enough: READ THE REVIEWS. This is 100% what saved me the 2nd time around.

I only ordered items that had mostly positive reviews with photos of the actual item. That’s why I wasn’t all that surprised when my 2nd order came and I ended up keeping 5/5 of the items ordered.

In case you missed it: I shared a try-on of the 5 items I bought through Shein in an Instagram Reel and linked the full looks in a blog post.

So, without further ado, scroll down for everything YOU need to know about shopping at Shein (from fit to delivery), along with my favorite Fall finds at the moment:

My order (items I kept):

My current wishlist:

Price

Most items are between $10 and $20, with the lowest being $1 and the highest being $92. The pricier pieces are thick, full-length Winter jackets which makes total sense. The cheapest pieces are accessories like headbands and jewelry which I did not test out myself.

The thing that I find strange about Shein is how they offer discount codes. They have promotions at the top of their website (ex. 10% off on orders of $29+), but at checkout they also have some kind of confusing point system and VIP program. I’ll be honest - I’m not entirely sure how all of that works, but while checking out, I applied the discount code and points shown and got $14 off.

For my first order, I spent $109 on 6 items, and my second order I spent $4 on 5 items (due to returning 1/2 of my first order). All in all, I would say that if you’re comparing this to shopping at somewhere like Revolve or Nordstrom, you obviously get more quantity than quality for your money.

Quality

I’m not going to lie, some of the products they have listed on their website are straight up garbage (in my opinion, of course). Bright, cheap looking plastic rings and hair clips just don’t do it for me. That’s the thing about this brand though, they literally have thousands of products online and seem to try to satisfy everyone.

I didn't even dive into the kids, men, and beauty categories because it is so time-consuming simply trying to see all of the options for women alone.

The quality is certainly not designer, however neither are the price tags. I would compare the quality of the pieces to brands like Forever21 and ChicWish.

However, I will say that the difference between those brands and Shein is that Shein’s quality is NOT consistent. As I mentioned above, I returned a couple pieces that had horribly scratchy, cheap fabric and I’ve also read reviews of products missing buttons, having sewing mistakes, etc. The pieces that I kept, on the other hand, were great quality. So, not all products are created equal when it comes to this brand.

How to avoid ordering bad quality products: read the reviews and look at the photos.

Delivery

Shein is an overseas brand which has its benefits in regards to price, but if you are searching for a 2-day delivery situation, this is not your best bet. For example, I would not personally order a dress for an event coming up at the end of the week and expect to get my order in time.

In both instances, my package arrived between 8-10 days from the date ordered. When I returned items from my first order, the refund was deposited back into my Shein account within 4 days of receiving at their warehouse. The return was extremely simple, all I had to do was leave the items in the same bag they were delivered in, print out a return label, and drop it off at our local post office.

They give you the option to get store credit or a refund to your credit card, but I chose store credit so I could swap out the pieces and try my luck again.

Fit

In my personal experience, the fit of the clothing and shoes both run a bit large. As I said previously, the sandals I ordered were 1/2 a size too big, and the dresses and tops I ordered are a little oversized (but in a way that I like).

For reference I am 5’1 and 105lbs and I ordered a size Small in this midi dress and this button-down shirt (I wear this at least 3x week) because I wanted them each a little loose. I ordered a size Extra-Small in this bodycon dress and this corset top because they are both made of stretchy material and are meant to be tight-fitting.

With this being said, I still recommend checking the sizing charts and reading through any reviews left on the items’ page, especially for your first order.

Style

Shein is ideal for snagging trendy clothes at a fraction of the price. They have similar pieces to online retailers like Revolve and Nordstrom and they do a decent job of mimicking high-end designers with a much more affordable price tag. Obviously, the quality isn’t as good, but if you’re just looking for a piece to wear a couple times or for a special occasion and don’t want to spend a lot of money, Shein is your answer.

The most shocking for me was seeing their stunning handbags and how close they appear to mimic well-known designers like Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel. I have linked some of my favorites above in “my current wishlist”.

In regards to the demographic, I would say that it is definitely geared toward millennials and GenZ. Most of their new arrivals are casual, flirty, and on trend with the season.

From muted crewneck sweatshirts to cut-out dresses, corset tops, pleated mini skirts, and matching loungewear, they have everything you would typically see while scrolling your Instagram feed.

Overall

All in all, I will be keeping Shein on my rotation of affordable shopping options, with the caveat of only ordering products that have positive reviews, or running the risk of returning items and swapping them out for something better.

In case you missed it: My Honest Review on Shopping at Chicwish

Want more fashion inspiration? Shop my Reel: 8 Outfit Ideas for Summer

Have you ever shopped at Shein? What piece has been your favorite so far? Comment on the last photo on my Instagram feed and tell me, or tag me in your favorite #OOTD!

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xo Anna Elizabeth