"Ghost" stores on Instagram

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22745054/instagram-boutique-drop-shipping-ghost-stores

There are many stores and boutiques popping up on Instagram these days. Many of them show up on my feed as sponsored content. I recently found out that many of these stores were "drop-shipping" which is when they don't actually have the item on hand and they order it through another website as soon as you place your order. These stores purchase from popular fast fashion websites like Shein, Aliexpress, and Amazon. 

The Vox article states, "To be clear, reselling and drop shipping are not illegal or inherently nefarious practices, although factors like product quality and authentication come into question. Drop shipping is actually a decades-old fulfillment model initially used by furniture and appliance sellers. Merchants list products for sale without having any of the inventory on hand. The merchant is in agreement with manufacturers to purchase the products at lower wholesale prices, which allows them to mark up the cost for profit. When an item is sold, the drop shipper coordinates with the supplier to send the goods directly to the customer. It’s often a process the merchant has no control over, and items can take weeks or months to arrive." 

Although it is not illegal, it is very much false advertising. Most of the times the quality of the items aren't great and the description doesn't match what you actually receive. By reaching out to influencers and giving them free products in return for a shoutout and a good review, they are misleading many shoppers.