Zaful is a household name in e-commerce. It is renowned for its highly diverse clothing collections and fair prices. Lately, however, it appears to have become more famous for its controversies than shirts and skirts.
Consequently, most entrepreneurs, dropshippers, and retail shoppers have become apprehensive about shopping on Zaful.
So, on this blog, we take a deep dive into how Zaful works and its failures to ultimately answer the question: Is Zaful legit?
What Is Zaful?
Founded in 2014, Zaful is an e-commerce clothing retailer and wholesaler. It mainly sells a plethora of women’s clothing ranging from dresses and tops to swimwear, shorts, and pants. However, its catalog also offers some shoes and fashion accessories.
The Zaful is based in China. The brand is owned by Shenzhen Globalegrow E-commerce which also owns other popular clothing websites such as:
- DressLily
- Nasty Dress
- RoseGal
- SammyDress
- TwinkleDeals
- TrendsGal
- Rose Wholesale
How Does Zaful Work?
Zaful works pretty much like any other e-commerce website. You only need to:
- Register an account on the Zaful website.
- Log in.
- Identify the items you would like to buy.
- Use the size guide to choose the right size.
- Add the items to your cart.
- Provide your shipping details.
- Pay.
Payment Options
Zaful accepts payments through:
- PayPal or PayPal credit
- Credit/debit cards
- Wire transfer (recommended for payments exceeding $500)
Note that all these payment options are traceable and thus make it possible for you to seek redress if you face any challenges with your purchase.
Shipping
Zaful offers standard and express shipping options. However, express shipping is only available to buyers in the US.
Shipping timelines vary depending on your location. Zaful, however, indicates estimated shipping times alongside each item to give buyers an idea of how long they may have to wait.
The average estimate for express shipping is 7-12 business days while that of standard shipping is 2 to 3 weeks.
Also, keep in mind that Zaful ships on DDU (Duty Delivery Unpaid) terms. This means that you may have to pay custom duty fees for your parcel to be cleared upon arrival.
Returns
Zaful allows customers to return their purchases within 30 days of receiving their order.
Intimate or sensitive clothing items such as bikinis, lingerie, masks, and PPEs are non-returnable. All other items must be unworn, unwashed, unaltered, and have the original packaging to qualify for a refund.
The first return is free but you would have to incur the shipping costs for all subsequent returns.
Zaful Affiliate Program
Zaful uses its affiliate program to reach customers that may not know of the website and generally appeal to shoppers to buy from the platform.
The affiliate program offers applicants three earning options. You can choose to:
- Promote Zaful products on your social media accounts and earn a commission.
- Create and share promotional links of Zaful products with friends or family and earn commissions if they buy using your link.
- Share promotional links of Zaful products on your website and earn commissions from purchases made from that link.
Members of the affiliate program can claim their rewards in cash, coupons, or apply for free clothing in exchange for photos and articles in favor of Zaful.
Advantages of Zaful
Affordability
Zaful offers very pocket-friendly prices compared to other clothing suppliers. More so for wholesale buyers that get discounted prices.
Variety
Zaful’s catalog comprises an extensive selection of clothing items for women. It also includes menswear items such as shirts, hoodies, t-shirts, shorts, and pants.
Both collections are further complemented by an assortment of shoes and accessories like sunglasses, jewelry, hats, socks, and bags.
A Review System
Zaful allows customers to leave reviews about products that they have bought. This is a priceless resource because it gives other buyers some insight into the quality of the product.
Helpful Size Guides
Most Zaful clothing items are true to size. Moreover, the sizing guide is detailed and, therefore, helps buyers choose the right fit.
Discounts
Zaful regularly holds sales that allow retail buyers to buy their most coveted items at a discount. Buyers also get coupons for free or discounted shipping if they make purchases exceeding certain amounts.
Wholesale buyers, on the other hand, can negotiate better discounts based on the size of their purchases.
Disadvantages of Zaful
Long Shipping Durations
It often takes 2 weeks or more for Zaful to deliver orders and express shipping is only available for the US. These timelines are longer compared to those of platforms like Shein that have more efficient shipping systems.
Failed Deliveries
A fair number of customers attest to not receiving their orders or having to cancel their orders because they took much longer than expected. While this is not the case for all orders, it is still a risk that shoppers have to contend with.
Quality Inconsistencies
Lots of items on Zaful receive good reviews. However, some items delivered to buyers hardly resemble the photos displayed on the website and are generally of poor quality.
Low Durability
Like most fast-fashion brands, Zaful prioritizes affordability and strives to keep up with fashion trends.
As a result, clothing items are made using affordable fabrics which are not necessarily of great quality. The race to keep up with fashion trends and fulfill orders also puts Zaful suppliers under pressure and makes it difficult to execute designs meticulously.
Zaful fashion items, therefore, only offer short-term utility.
Subpar Customer Service
Zaful has a customer service department but its performance is wanting. This could be because the website is quite popular and thus generates a very high number of inquiries, requests for refunds, and complaints.
Still, Zaful is at fault for this because it has not made adequate arrangements to ensure its customers are well attended to.
Cost of Returns
Zaful customers have to incur the shipping costs of returns. In some cases, the charges may be equivalent to or more than the value of the item thereby making the whole process counter-productive.
In addition, even if you do pay the cost of returning the product, Zaful only refunds the product cost. You will thus still suffer the loss of paying for shipping twice and the disappointment of not getting what you wanted.
Tips on How to Shop on Zaful Safely
Pay Attention to Reviews
One of the risks of shopping on Zaful is that you could choose an item based on the photo on the website and receive an item that does not match the quality of what you saw. This can be quite disheartening.
To avoid this mishap, take time to read the reviews posted under a product before adding it to your cart. The feedback from other customers could help you make a more informed decision.
Manage Your Expectations
Zaful may serve you well if you are looking for pieces that you can wear from time to time. It may not be the ideal go-to supplier for staple or statement pieces that you would like to keep for a while.
Going in with this mindset will save you from getting disappointed in the long run. However, this does not mean that you should not raise complaints if the items you receive are poorly manufactured. That is an entirely different scenario.
Measurements Work Better Than General Sizes
Zaful provides sizing guides for every product. However, for a better fit, it is advisable to read through the specified body measurements for each size and ensure that they would work for you.
Develop Quality Control Measures
Dropshipping through Zaful means that you would not have the chance to confirm the quality of products that your customers receive. This could be risky for your business given how inconsistent the quality of Zaful items can be.
As such, it would be prudent to hire a China dropshipping agent to:
- Receive your orders
- Perform thorough quality inspections
- Arrange custom packaging
- Process your dropshipping orders
Hiring a dropshipping agent may also help you overcome Zaful’s slow shipping. You only need to ask your agent to use a faster shipping partner or courier to fulfill your orders more efficiently.
This approach would work just as well if you plan to source wholesale clothing from Zaful. The only difference is that instead of hiring a dropshipping agent, you would hire a sourcing agent. They would:
- Receive the orders
- Perform quality checks
- Return any defective items
- Warehouse or ship your orders to you
Zaful Reviews
A quick online search reveals countless Zaful blog reviews as well as reviews on independent review sites.
Given that Zaful has an affiliate program that rewards influencers, it is advisable to take blog reviews with a pinch of salt.
Reviews on independent sites, on the other hand, can be more informative as they are often from everyday customers just looking to share their experiences. A few of the top review websites rank Zaful as follows:
ProductReview
The overall star rating for Zaful is 3.5 stars. This is based on 563 reviews.
Poor service and poor product quality are the most common complaints among shoppers on this site. Poor service incidents include failed deliveries which Zaful barely compensated customers for and difficulty getting help from the Zaful support team.
Interestingly though, almost half of the reviewers gave Zaful a 5-star rating. So it may be safe to say that Zaful does not fail everyone.
Trustpilot
Zaful has a 2.6-star rating on Trustpilot. This is from a much larger pool of 11,267 reviewers.
Complaints about failed orders, shipping delays, and no customer support feedback are easily the most common. They are closely followed by the poor product quality and the poor returns system.
Notably, only 43% ranked Zaful as average, poor, or bad. The remaining 57% ranked it as great or excellent stating that they were impressed by their orders and received them fairly fast.
Sitejabber
Sitejabber reviews about Zaful show a similar pattern to those on other sites.
The overall rating is 3.89 stars based on reviews from 5,941 people.
Unsurprisingly, deliveries that never arrived and poor customer support are widespread complaints here too.
Is Zaful Legit?
So, all things considered, is Zaful legit?
Yes, Zaful is a legitimate e-commerce clothing supplier. It is not a scam site.
However, Zaful’s reliability and efficiency are quite low. One batch of items from the website could turn out to be satisfactory and the next could be disappointing. Shipping can also take much longer than is desirable and the returns policy is wanting.
FAQs about Zaful’s Legitimacy
Are Shein and Zaful the Same Company?
No, they are not.
It may seem so because they are both Chinese fast fashion companies and generally have the same business concept.
However, their similarities end there. They belong to separate brand entities and have no ties whatsoever.
How Long Does It Take Zaful to Deliver?
Zaful promises delivery within 3 to 12 business days.
Nevertheless, this varies based on your location. Other factors such as order processing, import clearances, and general shipping delays could also prolong delivery timelines to 2 to 3 weeks.
That said, it is important to note that estimated shipping timelines only include business days. You should, therefore, exclude weekends and public holidays when estimating your parcel’s delivery date.
Is Zaful Based in China?
Yes. It is one of the brands owned by Shenzhen Globalegrow E-commerce.
What Couriers Does Zaful Use?
Zaful uses standard and express couriers. It does not outrightly disclose all the company names but couriers such as UPS and FedEx often handle express orders.
Does Zaful Have Free Returns?
Only the first return is free. Customers have to pay for the cost of shipping any other returns after that.
In Conclusion
Shopping on Zaful is undoubtedly appealing due to its affordable prices, trendy fashion items, and easy-to-use app and website. Still, the negative reviews can be hard to ignore, especially if you are looking for a clothing supplier for your business.
As a reputable sourcing company, we understand the importance of maintaining high-quality standards and only offering the best to your customers.
So, you can count on us to thoroughly inspect all your orders and we also ship worldwide through fast and trusted carriers.
Do send us your sourcing requirements and request a free quote at any time, to get started.
