Sourcing & Transparency

We don't run an open platform. You can't sign up to sell on Top Brand Outlet the way you can on a general marketplace. Every seller here is on the site because we went out and asked them.

That's a deliberate choice. Open sign-up is how fake stock gets onto a marketplace in the first place, and once it's in, it is very hard to get back out. Keeping the door shut is far easier than policing what has already walked through it.

So the sellers you'll find here are established retailers and brand partners with a real trading history behind them, not accounts that appeared last week.

Before anyone lists a single product with us, we go through:

• Who they are. Registered company details, trading address, how long they have been going.
• Where their stock comes from. Supplier invoices, documented origin for the goods, and brand authorisation where the brand asks for it.
• What they have done before. Trading history and service record, on other platforms and with other retailers.
• The goods themselves. We look at samples before we approve the account, not after.

If a seller can't show us where their stock came from, they don't get on. We'd rather have fewer sellers than ones we can't vouch for.

Checking someone once isn't much use. Once a seller is live, we keep an eye on them.

We place test orders through the site like any other customer, and check what turns up against what that brand's stock should look like: labels, tags, product codes, packaging, finish. Where something raises a question we can't settle ourselves, we go to the brand or to an independent authenticator.

We also read the complaints. Patterns show up in customer messages long before they show up anywhere else, so a run of them will trigger a review. Sellers can be suspended, and they can be removed.

When you buy something here, the seller is named on the product page and on your order confirmation, so you always know whose stock you are getting.

They're responsible for the goods and for getting them to you. We run the marketplace, handle the checkout, set the standards they agree to work within, and step in when something goes wrong. If you'd rather talk to us than to a seller, talk to us. That's what we are here for.

A discount is only worth anything if the original price was real.

Where a listing shows a recommended retail price, that is the brand's own UK RRP for the product, and our sellers have to be able to back it up. If it can't be evidenced, it doesn't appear, and you simply see the price you are being asked to pay. Nobody gets to invent a higher “was” price to make a saving look better than it is.

UK delivery is free on every order, from every seller. That is a condition of being here, not something you have to check listing by listing.

• We don't let sellers sign themselves up.
• We don't run affiliate listings that hand you off to another site to pay.
• We don't sell placement. What appears on our homepage and in our edits is chosen by our team because it's good and it's relevant, not because someone paid for the slot.

Your legal rights sit underneath all of this, and nothing in our policies or a seller's replaces them.

• Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, you have 14 days from the day your order arrives to change your mind, and another 14 to send it back.
• Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, everything sold through the site has to be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose.
• If you pay by credit card and the order comes to more than £100, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 gives you extra protection.

Those rights are against the seller you bought from, and that seller is named on your order. But you don't have to work it out on your own. Come to us and we will take it up with them. How returns and refunds work in practice is set out in our returns policy.

Being straight about how a marketplace works means owning the rough edges too.

• Sizing is patchy on clearance lines, because sellers list what is actually left rather than a full run.
• Delivery times vary between sellers, and we are working on making that clearer before you order rather than after.
• We are adding more detail to listings about packaging and tag condition, so there is less guesswork when the parcel arrives.

If something on the site reads unclearly, tell us. That is usually how it gets fixed.

Who am I actually buying from?

One of our vetted sellers, named on the product page and on your order confirmation. They supply the goods and send them to you. We run the marketplace, take the payment, and step in if there is a problem.

Can anyone sell on Top Brand Outlet?

No. Sellers are invited, not signed up. We approach established retailers and brand partners, check their company details, trading history and stock documentation, and look at samples before approving anyone.

How do you know the products are genuine?

Because we know where they came from before they are listed, and we keep checking afterwards. Sellers have to evidence stock origin, we place test orders, and anything questionable goes to the brand or an independent authenticator.

What if something arrives and I don't think it's genuine?

Get in touch with your order number and a few photos. We will take it up with the seller, trace the stock back, and have it checked independently if we need to. You will be refunded, and it tells us something we need to know about that seller.

Why is it cheaper than the brand's own site?

Because of what our sellers are clearing. Last season's lines, discontinued colours and what is left of a size run get sold on at lower prices. Same product, just further along its life.