This is what I do before shopping online from a new-to-me company.

One of the most popular questions in the Wardrobe Oxygen Community on Facebook is folks asking about the reputation of brands they learned about on social media. It's a super cute sweater or dress, maybe even their favorite influencer wore it and raved about it. But is it worth their hard-earned money? This is what I do before shopping any new-to-me business online.

Case Study: True Tailor Pants Advertised on Instagram

My husband has learned to ask me before shopping online. And just the other day, he asked me about a brand of pants that kept being advertised to him on Instagram. I will use it as an example, and I encourage you to use these tactics before clicking “buy” on any online site you haven't personally shopped before. And if you have additional tips on how to safely shop a new brand online, do share in the comments!

While on a snowy vacation over the winter break, the hitch on our car loosened and the rack carrying our cooler ended up hanging dangerously low to the ground. With 45MPH winds, snow, and below-0 temperatures, my husband had to lie on the ground below the car to replace bolts and remedy the situation before our road trip home. He wore his trusty fleece-lined canvas pants and found them cold, stiff, and miserable once they got wet. The Internet knew, because just that evening, he was served his first of many ads for True Tailor pants.

Durable, waterproof, fleece-lined, 4-way stretch, True Tailor pants are seen on tough-looking guys who are at job sites and sportsmen. Their solid thighs squat to show comfortable stretch and they scrape sharp hunting knives against their groin to show the tough durability of the tactical fabric. Voiceover talks about how canvas pants were the default for the military and outdoorsmen for decades because that was all that was available. But now, in modern days, we have technical tactical fabrics that are better for hardworking men.

I heard that voiceover enough times that when my husband came to me and said, “Can you investigate True Tailor pants for me?” that I knew what True Tailor was. Based on the hard sale alone, I was excited to do a deep dive and felt this would be a great tutorial for all of you, whether you are shopping for tactical trousers, the sweetest sweater, a product to improve your skin, a gadget to simplify kitchen tasks, or most anything else sold online.

Using specific Google keywords to find honest product reviews

For this tutorial, I will use Google, as I know it is the most popular search engine and I want what I see to best match what you see. I will be sharing screenshots from my laptop as that is where I am writing this, but you should see similar results from your phone or iPad browser.

Just by typing in True Tailor, I see it has been popular for folks to search Google for True Tailor pants, True Tailor work pants, and reviews for True Tailor. The brand's marketing push has been STRONG and we are not alone in wanting to know more.

The first things offered to you when you search are sponsored links. This will be the brand's website, Amazon, and other brands that compete with this one selling similar products. Ignore all of these links, what you want is unfiltered reviews, which will take a bit of scrolling.

Visiting forums like Reddit for honest and detailed reviews

After the sponsored links, there are often links to sites like Quora and Reddit. I ignore Quora as is seems to attract the lowest common denominator of human and you need an account to read full reviews. However, I find Reddit to be useful, and you don't need an account or the app to read reviews. Ignore the Google summary (AI is notoriously inaccurate and biased), and open any relevant Reddit link in another tab so you don't lose your place in Google.

Reading this Reddit review, I find that while some folks find the fabric good, there are a lot of issues with the pants running small, snug in the crotch, and breaking seams. I also learn that the company is very new and dropship, which means they do not manufacture the pants, they get them from someone else. That means these pants are just like the kinds of clothing you find on Amazon or Temu.

Checking out Trustpilot for feedback on retail websites

That being said, the people most likely to share their thoughts online are those who are frustrated, so it makes sense to find additional feedback. If your Google search doesn't bring up TrustPilot, you can put in the company name and “TrustPilot” in your search engine and find reviews there. TrustPilot was founded in 2007 and is a place to get reputable reviews from true consumers.

And TrustPilot gives True Tailor a poor score. Similar to the Reddit feedback, TrustPilot reviews report issues with size, quality, and struggles with getting refunds approved or getting their money back after returning the faulty purchase. After this feedback, my husband decided not to purchase the pants.

Case Study: The Travel Scarf by Zesst Organics

Not all searches are so clear. Let's take another example. In the Wardrobe Oxygen community on Facebook, a member asked for feedback on the The Travel Scarf by Zestt Organics. As they stated in their query, “It has too many 5 star reviews for me to completely trust them.” I get that, and I appreciate the Community is there to offer honest feedback. But if I didn't have this community or wanted to do additional research, this is how I would go about it.

Putting The Travel Scarf by Zestt Organics in Google won't bring the same results as was found for True Tailor. You have to scroll pretty far down to get beyond Zestt links and links to YouTube and TikTok videos. But once you do, you see that this product is sold not just at Zestt, but retailers like Nest Organics, Macy's, and Nordstrom. This is a very good sign for quality. While Amazon will sell most anything, small boutiques and reputable department stores are more discerning as their reputation is on the line.

Checking out reviews on reputable sites that also carry this brand

Also, on non-brand sites, you can get more reviews that are less filtered. Nordstrom, for example, has over 60 reviews averaging 4.4 stars out of 5 with the more negative reviews saying the scarf wasn't as soft as expected and that it is cheaper on the Zestt site than Nordstrom. I always read the negative reviews first, you often get the best intel (price), can filter out the negative Nancies (personal issues versus valid feedback), and find information that will help your specific need for the item (how quickly it ships, color matching, how it launders, how it fits, etc.).

Additional Google keywords to help find information on a brand

Based on what I found, I feel confident buying a Zestt Organics Travel Wrap. I don't need one, but based on all this now I want one, LOL! However, if you want more data, some search suggestions:

• Zestt Organics trustpilot
• Zestt Organics travel review scarf negative (again, negative reviews can give you the intel you need to know it's actually good for you)
• zestt travel wrap reddit (will bring up more Reddit threads mentioning it)
• zestt organics history (find out how long the company has been in business, why the company started, etc.)
• Zestt Organics LinkedIn (find out who works for the company, how many employees, do they work where they say the company is located, do the employees match the History info on the site)

Again, this helped me really like Zestt Organics. If you are searching a different brand or product, these are some of the other search keywords I use to research the validity of a business:

• [brand name] OpenSecrets (find out the brand's political leanings)
• [product name] blog review honest (may have to scroll a bit but can find detailed reviews not on a shopping site)
• [product name] negative review
• [product name] scam
• [product name] returns (will find Reddit and blog posts sharing experiences with and reasons for returns)

A quick Google search can save you time and money

Now more than ever, it is imperative as consumers that we do some homework before we click, “buy.” Do not rely on a single review, and never rely on the reviews on the product website. It is so easy to shop these days, taking the time to do this research can save you from buying a poor quality product and from impulse shopping, too!