Which brands stock 'knock off' products in outlet stores?

Many of us turn to outlet stores such as those at DFO in search of quality brands at heavy discounts. Most of these brands would have us believe that these outlets stock last season or overstocked items from other retail stores that we would be happy to buy. However, what we're often not told is that sometimes the stock of outlets has been manufactured specifically for sale in an outlet store. This means that some products from outlet stores will be of inferior quality to those purchased at retail level, as they were never intended to be sold at retail, despite what the "original" price on the tag would have you believe. I find this to be outrageously misleading.

To those who work/have worked at outlet stores:
Which brands stock only legitimate items from retail stores and which brands make knock offs? Also, for the brands which make knock offs, what sort of markings are present on tags etc. to differentiate these products?

Comments

  • Call me naive but some stores dont seem to be the likely choices e.g. Oakley… I cant see them sacrificing their loyal followers for selling inferior products.

    • -1

      I actually think most brands do have items made specifically for outlet stores that are of inferior quality.
      What the brands do is to release these items as "factory seconds", "sample stock", "pre-production run" or something similar. So, usually such 'inferior' products will be clearly labelled so that consumer will know what to expect of the quality.

      However, that being said, if the goods are of "good enough" quality, they would sell it as if it was their regular product.

    • I assumed that reputable brands wouldn't risk their reputation as well but apparently this isn't an uncommon practice. I guess what helps is that people aren't exactly aware that they're not getting the real deal. Gap, for example, makes stock specifically for outlets. If you look at this picture of a tag on an item, you'll notice 3 squares indicating that it's an "outlet" product. Retail products don't have this.

      • Ooh thanks for the pic ascorbic. nice to know! but then again its made in hk… shouldnt it be in a normal store?

  • Interesting! Wouldn't surprise me if this occurred, would be smart business.

  • Selling items under the guise of quality that is truly a lesser quality product would taint brand image … more so if the "knock offs" were coming from a "legitimate" source. I'm inclined to believe that while this surely occurs, it would occur far less frequently than people mention it. Did you recently buy an "Armani" suit for $100 or something only to be disappointed?

    • A video actually popped up on my FB news feed about this and I was quite surprised because naturally I assumed that brands would only sell authentic products under their own label but I did a quick search and it seems to come up quite a bit. For example, this video by Channel 4 in the UK (sorry about the Daily Mail article) shows undercover reporters asking staff at outlet stores about the stock and surprisingly, a lot of them admit that the items are different! Now this has me thinking of all the possible stuff I've bought from DFO…

  • Sheridan sell items specifically for Outlet.

    • Is there a way to tell which ones are specifically made or is the stock 100% knock off in outlets?

  • I have a feeling a fair bit of catch of the day stock is made specifically for them. I recall some branded makes been inferior quality to the local David Jones.

  • None of it is "knock off", but they're specific styles and designs that you won't see in the full price stores.

    I know Coach do this in the USA. Does my wife care? no. Still good quality bags, but not the same colour ranges and styles as available in the full price stores.

    • Kate Spade does this too - outlet only lines.

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