I'm impressed the guy in the beginning told the truth and said the quality was a bit different at j.crew

I went to a Coach outlet and asked and the sales associate at the outlet told me that the outlet merchandise was not the same quality as the retail store. She was very honest.

The lesson to be learned here is if an item is priced at $19.99, it's worth $19.99. Retailers aren't giving you enormous deals. They are giving you the illusion of a one. So ignore comparison pricing and know that the ticket price is the item's value and go from there.

I'd be curious to know about the Nike outlet vs retail.

I shop at Outlets all the time. I know it's not the same quality..but I can't afford to shop retail all the time. The stuff I have bought at the outlet lasts long enough for me..just take care of it and it shouldn't be an issue. If someone spots I have an outlet Kate Spade purse..kudos to them. I don't care. I buy what I like and what I can afford.

I don't understand why people care about something being retail or think they are getting some sale. Look at the item and determine what it is worth to YOU.

Summed it all up :

After working at an outlet store in high school I told everyone the truth. Every once in a while we’d get a sweater or something from retail and the quality and style was much better than the outlet stuff.

so companies make their own knock offs

At least j crew was honest

I'm disappointed that I'm paying less and getting a lesser quality product.

I often shop at Walmart, so the outlet is a step up for me.

I thought everyone knew this? Actually, even the quality in retail stores these days is low. I'm speaking to you Banana Republic!

you get what you pay for, but if you're getting a good deal for slightly lesser quality what's the big deal? for example i got a $40 Kate Spade wallet at an outlet store and the "original higher quality" one was $250. I've been using for 4 years, its still in great condition and i get many compliments on it to this day. my taste in style will change before it'll ware down.

The question here is, "Do brands really matter?"

Was going to share this with my mom who loves outlets but then I thought, why???

You dont have to be smart to know this.Why would the same retailer sell the same product for less in one store and expensive in another?

I just buy what I like. I don't buy stuff just to have a brand name. I am not obsessed with buying expensive stuff for its sake.

I miss Sears Outlet, they were one of the only ones that actually had decent stuff. I got so much stuff there as a kid and teen. Some things you could tell were cheaper, but a lot of stuff was still good, just hard to find sizes as each item was more unique, not all items were in all sizes. But I think that made it fun.

Big deal 🙄🙄, what the fuss is about? I have been using this coach outlet bag from past 4 years everyday and it’s still in excellent condition and got that on sale. The quality is awesome and I don’t see any major difference with it when compared to a retail one. I would still love ❤️ to purchase all branded stuff from outlet rather than retail.