Is it too good to be true?

If you Google “Is Wish a scam site”, it returns over 73 million results. Everyone wants to know if the bargain-basement shopping site and app is for real.

Everyone is looking for a bargain and online shopping makes it easy to find them. I started seeing quite a lot of ads on both TV and on social media for a company called “Wish” that claims it has the ‘lowest prices in the world’.  

When I visited the site and downloaded the app I found that I could not see the items for sale unless I opened an account with either my email address or Facebook login. That may be enough to keep most consumers away, but I joined anyway just to show you what it’s like.

Most items come from and are shipped from China. Thousands of American customers have complained that the items they ordered are cheaply made, which makes sense since they’re cheaply priced. “Wish” lists items for home decor, clothing, gadgets and sports and outdoors. I found a leather jacket that’s advertised as retailing for $1,000 on sale for $29 at Wish. I ordered a wallet marked down from $40 to just $1 and a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag for $2.

I didn’t expect much.

Since the items shipped from China, it took a month for them to arrive. The wallet was what I expected for $1 and the same with the flag, although it was large and had grommets to hold it up. I paid $4 for shipping for a grand total of $7. Probably a little more than what I’d spend if I saw these at Amazon or in a nearby discount store.

Reading the reviews raised my suspicion even more as most reviews read the same way; “excellent product”, “Just what I expected”, “Just what I wanted”. The original prices raised suspicion as well since there is no way that wallet sold anywhere for $40.

After our original story, I did hear from several people who say they shop at “Wish” frequently and have never been disappointed, but there are over 1200 customer complaints listed on the Better Business Bureau website.  Most of the negative reviews were from shoppers who say their items were of poor quality while others report that their items never arrived. There were also a few complaints from people who claim they were charged for items they never ordered.

Shipping prices are very expensive. When I added 7 items to my cart the shipping charge was $32 which was more than the total amount for the items themselves.

Is “Wish” a scam, as some people suggest? I don’t believe so. I got what I paid for: Cheap items at cheap prices.

I cannot recommend shopping at “Wish” because of the bad reviews I’ve seen online but many people do love to shop there. If you do shop on the “Wish” website or with their app, I suggest paying with Paypal. If you’re unhappy with the purchase or if your items never arrive, Paypal will work with the seller to refund your money.

 

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