You’re going to hear it from me: most items at outlet stores today are not former retail merchandise marked down at significant discounts. They are not failed seconds that didn’t quite make the cut at a brand’s full-price stores. Instead, they are intentionally-made-for-outlet items that are produced in lower-cost factories with cheaper materials to hit specific price points. This news is probably going to upset some people. But as one who very slowly learned this truth years ago through painstaking trial and error – and spent way too much money as a result – I feel it’s my duty to share what I know.
Let me take you back to when I first discovered the difference between what I thought outlet shopping was, and what it actually is.
I was six months into my first professional job out of college living in Chicago. My girlfriend at the time – we’ll call her Sarah – convinced me we should take a day trip to the Premium Outlets about an hour outside the city. I was stil lacking a lot of essentials for adulting, as my college wardrobe primarily consisted of whatever wasn’t wrinkled from my parent’s closet. We would make a day of it, she said. Loads of brands I’d drooled over for years were waiting to be discovered at rock bottom prices. Ralph Lauren, J.Crew, Banana Republic, etc., etc.
We threw some clothes in my car and drove up to Downers Grove. My heart raced as I pushed open the glossy Ralph Lauren shirt polo warehouse – outlet stores have always had a visceral effect on me. Polo polos everywhere. Great colors! Awesome little tags that said things like “Compare at $89. Our Price $39.99.” I immediately broke out in a sweat, calculating how much I would be saving – dang finance guys and their hobbies.
Excitedly, I grabbed three polo shirts in varying colors, thinking I had struck gold. Sarah grabbed some garments as well, and we started walking around the store high-fiving ourselves over our amazing shopping prowess.
It wasn’t until I went back to my apartment that day, polo still draped over my shoulder, that I noticed something. My roommate had an almost identical polo he purchased at full-price at Polo. The material felt different on mine. Lighter. The stitching along the collar wasn’t as tight. The polo player logo embroidered on my polo looked – cheaper? Warper?
I nervously laughed this off in conversation with my roommate. “Oh yeah man, thats how the outlet stuff is. Made specifically for outlets. Completely different.”
WHAT? !
My brain immediately exploded into a million questions. My girlfriend and I had spent hours researching deals ahead of time, comparing app prices to Instacart prices so we could bring our phones into stores and walk out with the biggest “savings.” That polo was probably one of the first things I purchased upon entering the Ralph Lauren store that afternoon. If what my roommate said was true, I had been unknowingly duped my entire life.
More diving deep into forums and guidebooks ensued. I read John Raspails’ seminal “The Outlets Revolution” cover-to-cover, absorbing every word. What I learned would change my shopping habits forever.
There are actually two totally separate lines of merchandise flowing through the country’s outlet stores today – the mainline stuff (read: stuff you would typically find at full priced retail stores) and made-for-outlet merchandise. The mfo line is specifically engineered to be manufactured at much lower costs (hello, cheap Chinese factories we all love to hate), with quality specs that target certain price points. This is obviously not inherently bad – you simply aren’t paying as much for that Ralph Lauren brand label stuck on your garment if it comes from an outlet-specific factory.
But here’s the thing: brands aren’t exactly advertising that trick. Again, the tags will say something like “compare at $89,” which is almost never what that item actually retailed for. It may be what a similarly styled item retailed for, but likely not what that specific garment was ever sold for previously. Marketing departments at brands have studied the most effective ways to get you to buy – and that “compare at” anchor price is just a way to drive home how good of a deal you are getting.
Here at MMD, we’ve done some digging into how outlet stores work behind the scenes, and there are some legitimately great deals to be had if you know what you’re looking for. Around 85-90% of items you’ll find at outlets today are made for outlet merchandise. That means 10-15% is real estate for possible savings on truly-overstock retail merchandise.
That being said, let’s dive into how to spot the difference.
As I’ve already mentioned, the easiest way to spot real from fake at the outlets is to become intimately familiar with the brands you plan on shopping for. Every single person who’s taught me this trick swore by it. When brands release new product lines each season, the styles, fabrics, and price points are published online for everyone to see. Once you’re aware of these price points and product details, it becomes glaringly obvious when something is of different quality than its retail counterpart.
Here’s what I look for now when I walk into an outlet store today, with 100% made-for-outlet-knowing eyes:
Fabric: Look at the weight. Feel how the garment is stitched together and where those stitches are placed. Are they dense? Single needle stitch? Flat seams? Cheap shirts have chain stitching that looks like little jagged zigzags. Real leather feels and smells like leather. Faux stuff is plastic.
Tags: Irregular items redirected from retail stores to outlet stores will usually have small marks on their labels. A dot from a Sharpie, cut corner, or an “irregular” stamp. Some brands like J.Crew Factory add a star to the label to differentiate Factory (outlet) stuff from “regular” J.Crew merchandise.
Details: Check hardware, buttons, stitching density. Are they cheap? Do they feel cheap? Brands will use durable buttons on retail goods that are synonymous with their sewing patterns. Flimsy metal zippers? Fake leather. Plastic buttons. Patch pockets instead of kangaroo.
I wasted so much money learning these lessons. About a year into my new job, I got really into this whole idea of only wearing “high-quality” clothing. Like an idiot I thought the outlets were going to be my jam. I ended up spending somewhere close to $800 over the course of maybe 8 months on clothes I thought were amazing deals.
Sure, I was saving money compared to retail price. But I could have found the same (if not better) merchandise elsewhere on regular retail sale for much cheaper. Buying well at the outlets takes effort and dedication. If your shopping trip doesn’t take up an entire day, you’re probably rushing through and missing real deals.
Outlet stores also play mind games with you. Step inside and you’re immediately assaulted with yellow banners telling you you’re saving XX%. We get dopamine hits when we save money, even if we weren’t going to spend that money elsewhere. I’ve left outlets in the past feeling ecstatic about how much money I “saved” only to look at my bank account a week later and wonder where it all went.
Outlets are designed to suck you in and make you spend. At most stores, you park far away from store entrances and have to walk between stores to reach them all. That hike from your car feels like dollars in your head. There’s usually nowhere to sit and you’re starved of food options, so most outlet malls force you to eat overpriced gelato from the food court. You’ve already spent so much money and time getting there, you might as well buy that sweater, right? Jason Taylor, who worked at an outlet mall in the Midwest for eight years told me that most customers’ price sensitivity significantly decreased the longer they spent at the outlets. “It wasn’t unusual to watch people buy things they didn’t want or need after they’d been there for hours,” he said. “They felt like they had to do something with their carts.”
The moral of the story here? Know what you’re looking for when you go to the outlets. Enjoy the purchases you find. Accept that you probably won’t score outrageous deals. But don’t quit your day job hoping to find a mint-condition Michael Kors bag for $10. You’ll be sorely disappointed.
Shopping at outlets can actually be a lot of fun if you go in with the right mindset. Personally, I like to create a list of specific things I want before I leave my house and check online pricing for those exact items. Department stores have seasonal sales that often rival outlet prices on authentic, formerly-retailed merchandise. Planning your trip around these sales and visiting during off-peak hours ( weekday mornings are usually best) can help you navigate the stores more freely and discover the overstock diamonds in the rough.
Returns are also something to look out for. Many outlets have strict return policies that don’t align with their stated policies online. Many outlet malls don’t allow returns at all outside of the specific store you purchased from, meaning if that J.Crew Factory shirt doesn’t fit at the outlet, you’re stuck with it. Make sure you understand a store’s return policy before committing to a purchase.
When it comes to actually finding good deals, my experience has been that simple, timeless pieces are often the ones worth buying. We all love a trendy shirt, but throw it in the washing machine once and you’ll likely regret it. That won’t be the case for basic sweater, simple button down, classic-cut chinos, or slim-fitting wool trousers. You know, staples.
The best find I’ve made at an outlet? Probably this navy Brooks Brothers peacoat I found two winters ago. Same quality and construction as their much-more-expensive mainline coats, just marked as an irregular. Sold at upwards of 70% off retail, it’s now one of my favorite things to wear all winter.
I can’t tell you how many times I thought I was finding deals at outlets only to come home and realize I could have found the same thing for less at full retail six months earlier. It happens. Accept the ones that slide through, and learn from your mistakes. Armed with patience and knowledge, you too can navigate the outlet malls of America like a pro.
