Shein Vs Cider: A Head To Head Comparison [2024]

When we talk about Shein — it is the top fashion retail brand in the market globally and is popular for thousands of options and everything available at cheap rates.

For a good while, it has had many competitors, and now, Cider has entered the list and seems to be offering similar goods and services as Shein, confusing several customers.

Is the quality the same? What about pricing? Who’s better at customer service? Many are asking these questions, and if you are one of them, then continue reading this head-to-head comparison between Shein VS Cider.  

Shein VS Cider: Quality: A Comparison Analysis 

Shein

As much as we love Shein for its options and low prices, quality has to leave the room. Many ask questions about why products are so cheap at Shein, and the main reason behind it is that the quality is not guaranteed.

With Shein, the materials used are of low quality and do not offer durability and comfort to clothes, and you can clearly witness this after a couple of months, when the shirt or skirt you bought from Shein starts to fade its color or get torn. 

Additionally, many reviews state that sizing is not appropriate at all, and you might have a hard time finding the correct size, especially since she only offers online services. 

Cider

Now, Cider is almost in the same lane as Shein, like, that is the main reason why we are currently comparing them, but when it comes to quality, you can trust Cider a bit more than Shein. 

Now, Cider has also received several bad quality and sizing issues, comments, and reviews, but when people compared the products from both brands, Cider’s seemed just a little bit better than Shein’s.

The above analysis included the durability and comfort of the clothes along with sizing, you have a low chance of receiving smaller or bigger sizes than you have ordered. 

Winner: Cider, but remember that quality is still not guaranteed and you can get it worse than Shein at times. 

Shein VS Cider: Ethics – An Ethical Dilemma

Both Shein and Cider are popular brands in the fashion and shopping industries, but they also have a bad reputation and are accused of several ill practices.

Labor Practices 

When we talk about Shein’s bad reputation, labor exploitation, and labor practices are the top topics on the list. For many years now, Shein has been accused of labor exploitation with many articles and resources claiming to prove the same.

However, Shein has always denied such claims and accusations, and to date has paid no attention to all the rumors and speculation about its work style and practices. 

Now, Cider is kind of in the same boat, and has been similarly accused of labor exploitation, and the list goes on with low wages, forced labor, and even unsafe working conditions.

Yet, again, even though many resources claimed to offer evidence to support such claims, nothing has been proven to date, and Cider, as expected, has denied all the claims and speculations. 

Additionally, Shein has been accused of tax evasion and intellectual property rights issues, while Cider has been accused of design theft and cultural appropriation. 

Environmental Impact

As expected from the top fashion model, Shein has impacted the environment in more than just a couple of ways — starting with overproduction and waste, since Shein relies on large quantities of clothes that can easily go to waste, and create a lot of waste. 

Additionally, the list includes water pollution since textile dyeing is a crucial step in clothing production for Shein, usage of synthetic fabrics like Polyester that can lead to microplastics and more.

Now, compared to Shein, Cider has taken a step towards reducing its negative impact on the environment, but it is a very tiny step, which, to date, has not resulted in anything significant.

To justify the above statement – Cider is still using synthetic materials like spandex and polyester which can lead to microplastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to that, it relies on cheap manufacturing methods that can lead to water, pollution, and air pollution through chemical dies and treatments and the brand also supports overconsumption, which can lead to textile waste.

Winner: None, because although Cider has taken a step towards reducing its negative impact on the environment, it has not done anything consistently nor significant to be highlighted, so it is still just as bad as Shein. 

Shein VS Cider: Who’s Cheaper?

Now, both Shein and Cider are best known for offering a low and affordable range for all products and categories they offer, making them an ideal option for those having a tied budget while shopping.

Yet, we came across some subtle differences in their pricing strategies, and they are mentioned below. 

Shein

• Shein always offers lower prices than almost all the similar brands in the market.
• It offers significant discount sales and promotions all the time of the year, which only increase in number at the time of the seasons, festivals, and occasions.
• Not all the time, but Shein offers deals like bulk discounts, where, if you buy more than one in quantity for one item, then you can save a small amount behind each. 

Cider

• Compared to Shein, it generally offers a bit higher prices, but that is because it offers a little bit better quality.
• It does offer sales, promotions, and discounts often, but they are not as frequent as you see at Shein’s. 

Winner: Shein, since it offers lower prices than Cider, and if you are only interested in cheap shopping. 

Customer Experience & Service

Shein

Shein is pretty good at some things, but when it comes to other serious stuff like customer service, it has either received a direct minus point or mixed opinions from customers.

Similarly, although many customers have had a good customer experience with Shein, others have complained about it, like how they have to wait for hours or even days to get responses to their complaints and inquiries.

In addition to that, some customers complained of receiving refunds and replacements, even parcels for some, much later than they anticipated and mentioned in Shein’s policies.

Cider

Cider has a few pros and cons — a balanced and mixed opinion by customers when it comes to its customer service, well some found the customer service helpful, and others expressed how frustrating it is to receive slow responses.

In addition to that, many complained about the lack of clarity by the customer service team, where they did not bother explaining things like they’re supposed to the customer, and it did not help with the details.

Moreover, some also complained about how it took the customer service team a lot of hours and a good few days for some to resolve their issues, and to make it worse, some customers did not receive any response at all.

Winner: Tie, because both the brands have received mixed opinions for their customer service quality. 

Which Is Better: Shein Or Cider

Since we did not talk about options, let’s start with that – both Shein and Cider are popular for offering hundreds of options to choose from, but compared to Shein, Cider’s inventory is smaller, while Shein’s inventory is almost never-ending. 

Talking about trends, both are popular fast-fashion brands, but since Shein is ahead of Cider, it lives up to its reputation and name in the market and is the first to offer the trendiest clothes, always sooner than Cider. 

Now, when we talk about bad reputation, both the titles we are talking about are included in the list, and although there is no perfectly proven accusation on either of the labels, we cannot ignore the fact that some resources did offer some evidence. 

Moreover, we have always seen Shein and Cider denying accusations, and they are not paying attention to all this negativity, so, we are assuming that they are playing safe, but you always have the option of choosing otherwise. 

Moving ahead with the pricing and deals, we have both our brands offering multiple deals, promotions, and offers, you name it, throughout the year, but as expected from the one at the top, Shein offers more deals and lower prices than Cider. 

As for customer service, we genuinely think that neither of the two wins or loses, and it has to be a tie since you can have different experiences based on who is charged to serve you from the customer service team. 

In the end, who is saying that both Shein and Cider have equal pros and cons to display, so it is your call whether you want to go for cheaper pricing and more options with Shein, or pay a little extra for quality at Cider.

Final Words

In conclusion, Shein is the best option for you if you want to ignore everything and just focus on the affordability of goods and having never-ending options to choose from, but, if you value quality more, then try Cider.

With that, we have reached the end of this article and we hope you enjoyed our comparison battle between Shein VS Cider. 

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