Outlet Stores: Shop At Your Own Risk
By Amy E. Feldman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - What's the legal definition of an "outlet store"?
Let's say you needed a peach colored man purse, you might visit the Hermes outlet and get one for the low low price of $661. While the merchandise at the Hermes outlet may be luxurious and genuine, a class action lawsuit was just filed against a different luxury retailer - Neiman Marcus - claiming that the company labels clothes for sale at its Last Call discount stores with tags comparing prices at its traditional stores - without mentioning that the clothes were never for sale there.
The problem for consumers is that the Federal Trade Commission has no standardized definition for "factory outlet" or "outlet store". So, many of the products you may find there were made for the outlet.
In some cases, that means that the merchandise is of lesser quality than you'd find in the retail store, in other cases the prices may not be less than what a consumer could get at the retailer on sale. So you need know the value of what you're buying regardless of the name of the store.
And, if the price of your peach colored murse seems too good to be true, it probably is.
