Prices, Item Quality, Shipping, and More — Shein vs. Fashion Nova

With both brands having a wide collection of fashion items, consumers are wondering which one offers the better buy.

This brings us to the million-dollar question: Which brand should you buy from — Shein or Fashion Nova?

This article will discuss the differences between the two brands, including item prices and quality, special offers, shipping policies, and more, so that you can make a more informed choice.

• History and growth
• Prices
• Item design and quality
• Cash-saving features
• Shipping
• Return Policies

History and growth of Shein and Fashion Nova

Let’s walk through some more details about the history and the growth of the two brands within the ever-evolving fashion industry.

Shein

Shein was founded in 2008 in Nanjing, China, by Chris Xu.

The brand focuses on women’s fashion — though it also sells children’s clothing, men’s clothing, fashion accessories, purses, and homeware — and has since become among the most popular fast fashion brands in the world.

Shein’s site traffic grew by 45% from 2020 to 2021, making it the second-fastest-growing fashion retail site. In 2021, the brand reached an estimated $3.1 billion in sales in the U.S. market.

Shein predominantly sells its items online as there’s currently no physical store in America. However, from time to time throughout the year, Shein installs pop-up stores in popular city retailers where you can purchase your items.

With Shein shipping its items worldwide to more than 230 countries, online shopping remains a great choice if you miss a pop-up or want to shop the whole range.

Discover over 35 fascinating online shopping statistics.

Fashion Nova

Then again, Fashion Nova is an American fast-fashion brand launched by its CEO Richard Saghian in 2006.

The brand prides itself on being the one-stop-shop for trending women's fashion with a wide variety of women's apparel for different body shapes and sizes. This includes jeans, tops, jumpsuits, bathing suits, a huge selection of dresses, activewear, and more.

Though the brand also mainly focuses on online sales, it has five brick-and-mortar stores scattered around Southern California.

Shein vs. Fashion Nova prices

Both online retailers are known for their affordability — with Fashion Nova being slightly more costly. The gap between the two brands’ prices isn’t that wide, with both retailers’ prices ranging from $1 – $160 (depending on the type of item).

Along with the items listed in the table, Shein also sells Shein X Artist clothes which are designed by independent designers, for $1.75 – $32, along with New in Trends clothes for $8 – $120.

Similarly, Fashion Nova also sells extra items, including:

• Shoes for $2.98 – $118.99
• Sets for $6.98 – $107.99
• Rompers and jumpsuits for $5.98 – $127.50
• Graphic tees for $1.98 – $44.99
• Sweaters for $1.98 – $57.99
• Bottoms for $0.98 – $118.50
• Coats and jackets for $5.98 – $167.50

Shein vs. Fashion Nova item design and quality

Item quality is extremely key to consumers. Actually, per a study conducted by ResearchGate, 63.9% of consumers either “very often” or “always” consider the quality of a clothing item before making a purchase.

Here’s details regarding the quality and design of the two brands’ items.

Shein

Shein strives to provide stylish, trending clothes for all budgets. It stays up-to-date with current trends and offers fashion for women, men, and children in a broad mix of exciting styles.

The business produces all of its items at low-cost overseas factories to keep its costs at a minimum. In turn, this allows its shoppers to buy low-cost items while still keeping up with the times. Because of that, the quality of certain items may not always be great.

Some items may survive a long time, while others lose color after only a few washes. We suggest that you read the reviews of each item to see what other shoppers have to say.

Fashion Nova

Fashion Nova wants women to feel flirty, sexy, and confident with its wide selection of fashionable clothing. The brand strives to keep up with fashion trends, releasing over 600 new styles every week.

It allows you to shop for clothes that’ll make you look fabulous for any occasion — whether it be a pool day or an extravagant event.

Most of its items are of good quality since the business places bulk orders at higher quality businesses primarily based in the U.S., as opposed to making use of low-cost factories like Shein.

Shein vs. Fashion Nova special offers and cash-saving features

Along with having special offers within its app, like saving up to $3 on your first purchase, Shein also has other cash-saving features, including:

Shein coupons

Shein coupons can save you plenty of money on many of your online orders. Nearly 50% of U.S. consumers discover coupons through emails from brands or by searching online.

However, you can find coupons through a range of basic and advanced methods.

Use our Shein coupons for great discounts.

Shein points

You can earn points on the Shein app when you complete certain tasks. For every 100 points, you’ll get $1. This might not seem like much, but your points can grow as time passes, which can result in massive savings.

Then again, Fashion Nova doesn’t offer loyalty points like Shein. However, it does offer coupons and gift cards.

Fashion Nova coupons

A Fashion Nova discount code can save you a significant amount of money on your orders when you buy items online. Depending on the type of coupon that you use, you can expect to get anywhere from 10% to 50% off.

Take advantage of our Fashion Nova coupon codes here.

Signing up for the Fashion Nova email newsletter can save you 10% on your first purchase. This is only offered the first time you shop with Fashion Nova, so it’s worth getting everything you want in this initial order rather than spreading out your orders.

Shein vs. Fashion Nova shipping

In 2020, global parcel shipping volume amounted to over 131 billion parcels — with the number predicted to grow to 266 billion in 2026. This indicates that more people are having their items shipped to them than ever before.

Generally, online shoppers’ main concerns are the delivery timeline, delivery cost, and delivery packaging.

Both Shein and Fashion Nova offer several different delivery choices to their shoppers to accommodate their preferences.

Here’s everything you need to know about Shein and Fashion Nova’s shipping methods, costs, and delivery time.

Shein

Shein has three delivery choices. Note that these prices apply to U.S. orders:

• Standard shipping: This choice is free if your order is $49 and above. If not, you’ll have to pay a $3.99 shipping fee, and delivery will take 10 to 12 days.
• Express shipping: This choice will cost you $12.90 and will take 6 to 8 days to arrive.
• Economy shipping: This choice will cost you $2 – $4, and delivery will take 30 to 32 days.

Fashion Nova

Fashion Nova also has three delivery choices. Note that these prices apply to U.S. orders:

• Standard shipping: This choice is free if your order is $75 and above. If not, you’ll have to pay a $4.99 shipping fee, and delivery will take 3 to 7 days.
• Express shipping: This choice will cost you $9.99 and will take 2 to 4 days to arrive.
• Rush shipping: This choice will cost you $19.99 and will take 1 to 2 days to arrive.

Both Shein and Fashion Nova’s apps provide shoppers with tracking features that enable shoppers to know where their orders are at all times and when they’re expected to arrive.

Shein vs. Fashion Nova returns window

Here’s more details about Shein and Fashion Nova’s returns window.

Shein

With Shein, you have a maximum of 45 days to return eligible items. You can only return the item if it’s unwashed, unworn, has the original tag attached, and has the hygiene label intact.

If it’s your first return, return shipping is free. If not, you’ll need to pay a $7.99 return shipping fee which will be deducted from your refund.

Fashion Nova

With Fashion Nova, you have 60 days to return your purchase. You will receive your refund as store credit on a Fashion Nova gift card. You can get a refund to your original payment method in the following cases:

• If an item you order sells out before the order can be processed.
• When your item was damaged during delivery. This could happen because of an error from the delivery team if they didn’t package or transport it properly. Often, the refund takes two to five business days, but it can take as long as ten days if there are technical issues.

Are you team Shein or Fashion Nova?

Now that you’ve seen the differences between Shein and Fashion Nova regarding their items, prices, shipping, and cash-saving features, which one will you choose?

When the receipt is in, both brands are considered top-runners, and it all comes down to your style, budget, and shipping preferences.

Want to start applying coupons more often to spend less on your future orders? Head over to our beginner’s briefing on online couponing that’ll show you the ins and outs of applying coupons.

Topics Delivery