That “local” shop is shipping from China

Spotted a slick online shop with a South African-sounding name and great prices? Look twice. A lot of them aren’t local at all. They are fronts for sellers shipping from China. And those appealing pics are all AI. So, your “three-day delivery” becomes three weeks, the quality often disappoints, and you can return them – to China, at a massive cost. So, before you order from an unfamiliar site, check for a real local address and phone number, read independent reviews and not just the glowing ones on the site itself, and be wary of prices that look too good to be true. If there is no proper South African contact, assume your parcel has a very long way to travel, and that the quality of the products won’t be what you’re expecting.