SHEIN Free Trial Center: How Applications, Reviews and Points Work

What the Free Trial Center is

SHEIN describes Free Trial as a platform where customers try out new clothes for free and post honest, accurate reviews. You have a chance to receive an item if you are selected, and SHEIN asks for a detailed review of the quality, style, fit, fabric and construction.^[1]

The reviews serve SHEIN's product pages. Once your review is approved, SHEIN says your words and images will be used on its product review page.^[1]

• Up to 3 applications a week.
• Processing takes about 1 week.
• Winners are chosen at random and announced on the Free Trial Center page.
• A review is due within 10 days of receiving the item.
• An approved review earns 20 SHEIN Points; a Quality Review earns 100 more.

Sources^[1]

Who can apply, and who it suits

SHEIN says all active SHEIN user accounts are eligible, as long as the account is not blacklisted and you are 18 or older. You cannot take part where doing so is prohibited by law.^[1]

Your delivery address must match the country of the SHEIN site you are using; otherwise you cannot submit the application. For US readers, that means applying on SHEIN's US site or app with a US address.^[1]

• Our view of a good fit: you already shop on SHEIN, you are happy to photograph yourself wearing the item, and you would write the review anyway.
• Our view of a poor fit: you want a sure way to get clothes without paying, you do not want your photos published, or you are unlikely to meet a 10-day deadline.

How to apply, step by step

• Log in to your SHEIN account, open More Services in your Personal Center, then Other Services, then Free Trial Center.
• Browse the available items and tap Free Trial on the one you want.
• Choose your size and the Trial Delivery shipping address, then tap Submit.
• Check your status under My Applications in My Free Trial. It shows Pending while SHEIN decides.

Sources^[1]

You get 3 application chances a week, and SHEIN says these do not aggregate, so unused chances do not carry over to the next week.^[1]

How participants are chosen

SHEIN says participants are chosen at random through an automated system, and the odds depend on the number of applicants for a particular item. Its FAQ adds that the system may consider your SHEIN account's and your Free Trial participation's integrity history, and that the number of participants each week is limited.^[1]

Processing takes about a week. SHEIN says you can check your result in the Free Trial Center on the second Tuesday after you apply, and selected participants also get an email and an app notification. Your status then shows Approved, and the item ships to the address you gave, or Failed if you were not picked.^[1]

SHEIN does not describe any way to raise your odds beyond keeping a clean record and applying again next week. Treat each application as a draw, not an order.

What you must do if you are picked

• Try the item on and pay attention to quality, style, fit, fabric and construction.
• Write a detailed, honest and accurate review and submit it with photos through your SHEIN account, within 10 days of receiving the item.
• Include a full-body shot and two detailed photos of the item.
• Upload it with the Post Report button in the order list, or the Upload Review button next to the approved item under My Applications.
• If your review does not meet the requirements, SHEIN may, at its discretion, give you one more chance to fix and resubmit it.

Sources^[1]

SHEIN's general review guidance says written reviews should be at least 20 words and no more than 1,000 words, with 75 to 500 words as the ideal length. Reviews that are not about the product, or that contain offensive content, other people's material, phone numbers or addresses, may be rejected.^[2]

Photos must be your own: no website photos or other customers' photos, only photos of yourself, and no photos of anyone under 18.^[1]

The US help page describes reviews submitted through your SHEIN account and does not mention posting on social media. If you choose to post about a trial item on your own accounts, the FTC's guidance for influencers says to make a disclosure when a brand gives you free or discounted products and you then mention its products.^[1][5]

SHEIN Points for trial reviews

A Free Trial review that meets SHEIN's length and community guidelines earns 20 SHEIN Points. If it is rated a Quality Review, it earns an additional 100 points.^[1]

SHEIN defines a Quality Review as one that gives your opinion with both pros and cons, not only positive remarks. It recommends four clear photos of your own: a full-body view, detail shots, and how you styled the item or what you like most about it.^[1]

• Points have no cash value and cannot be exchanged for cash or Wallet credit.
• They can be used only toward products on SHEIN's US site and app, not toward shipping, taxes or fees, and not on certain third-party sellers' products.
• Points can cover at most 50% of an order's total price, excluding shipping, taxes and fees.
• Each set of points has an expiration date, and points cannot be transferred to anyone else.

Sources^[3]

The US points terms we read do not state a dollar value per point, so check the discount shown at checkout before you count on it.

Costs, bans and fine print

• Shipping is covered by SHEIN, but if the item is held by customs or charged any customs duty, clearing customs and paying the duty is up to you. If you do not pay, the item may be forfeited and SHEIN will not send a replacement.
• You cannot receive more than one of the same trial item, and creating multiple accounts breaks SHEIN's terms.
• Using a fake account to get more trials leads to canceled trials, a ban from Free Trials and possibly termination of your SHEIN account.
• Plagiarized reviews, stolen, fake or inappropriate photos can be removed and flagged, and can lead to a ban and account termination.
• If a trial item is out of stock, or there is a quality, shipping or other problem, contact SHEIN Customer Service. If a trial order has not arrived after 30 days, SHEIN also says to contact Customer Service.

Sources^[1]

Other ways to judge or save on SHEIN clothes

You can also earn points by reviewing items you bought. SHEIN's US points terms list up to 17 points per purchased item: 5 for a review, 10 more for a photo of the product and 2 more for size information.^[3]

• Read reviews with customer photos before buying, especially for fit and fabric.
• Be wary of outside sites or messages promising guaranteed free SHEIN clothes or asking you to pay to unlock them. SHEIN describes Free Trial as something you apply for inside your own SHEIN account.
• Count the time a detailed review with several photos takes; for some people a regular purchase at a sale price is simply easier.