It's probably a good thing if you don't know what Wish.com is, but if you're like me and my friend Rachel, and you spend an unhealthy amount of time procrastinating on the Internet and scrolling through social media, you may have seen an ad or two for this company.

Famous for their suspiciously low prices and extremely extensive inventory, Wish.com, both a website and an app, may have an incredulous set-up, but they still managed to attract millions of customers in 2017. According to their website, they are, "the sixth largest eCommerce company in the world and shooting for #1", and as we recently learned from Parmy Olson's report for Forbes.com in September of last year, they've developed a flourishing multi-billion dollar business whose value is only increasing.

Anyways, their ads seem to pop-up everywhere, especially on Instagram and Facebook, two social media platforms beneficially tailored towards a demographic of online consumers, and it is through their annoying, yet effective, marketing that they catch your attention. We'd seen ads for $6 jackets, $30 smart phones, $2 earrings, or the $1 headphones in the ad above, but it was the 50 cent socks that really hooked us. We decided we had to see what this was all about.

You have to understand, first and foremost, our decision to venture into this online mega-store was prompted by pure amusement. Obviously, if we really needed socks, wish.com would probably not be the logical choice, but sometimes you gotta take a little bit of a financial risk in the name of fun. We agreed that as long as we didn't let ourselves get carried away on the site, we would each buy a few things, all under $10, just to see what would happen. It was, for all practical purposes, like a mini-science experiment.

Now, I can't speak on behalf of the mobile app because we both only used the online version, but when you first load the website you're greeted with seemingly incessant rows and rows of product, all marked by their unusually low prices, how significantly cheaper they are as compared to their standard values (although these 'standard' sources are anonymous on the site), and a large picture of the item itself (or at least what the item's supposed to be).

It's a little overwhelming in sheer quantity, but at the same time incredibly user-friendly, making the overall shopping process a relative breeze. The company combats its sketchy stigma by showing and racking up the number of buyers for each product and keeping the mostly positive reviews from these customers easily accessible to potential clientele.

It's hard to argue against appraising feedback and the fact that allegedly you are not alone in 'wishing' to make this same purchase. It actually became difficult to keep yourself from overfilling your virtual cart, as embarrassing as that might sound, but nonetheless, she ended up getting two pairs of socks, and I purchased two pairs of socks, a jacket, and two pairs of shorts. We made these transactions all on the same day, November 6th, and our orders were all confirmed within the next four days.

So these are the original images from the website of what my investments were supposed to look like (there was an additional pair of socks not pictured, but you'll still get the idea from my experience without them). I don't have the original images from what Rachel's socks were supposed to look like, but they were both depicted as being plain rainbow-colored socks on the website. The socks were labeled 'free except for the shipping', which was $3 (minimal considering they hailed from China), the jacket was $6, and the shorts were both around $4. Rachel's were a dollar per pair. The products were all supposed to take around 2-3 weeks to ship, which again, wasn't bad considering their location in some remote warehouse half-way across the world.

So here's what actually happened. All of our purchases showed up in our P.O. Box at Fordham University at different times, despite all the orders being confirmed by the company within the same four days. The first item to arrive, the black and gray jacket, came in November 21st, relatively on time. It's in similar condition to the jacket in the picture, but a little less pristine, and with a few small design altercations, which was significantly better than I had anticipated.

. The rest of the products came in much later, all but my jacket and one of Rachel's orders within the time allotted by the company for their shipping, most in mid to late December. I will say this, in the spirit of a silver lining, the pure joy and excitement that filled your heart when you got those random notifications alerting you of a new package in the mailroom is certainly comparable to that of a child on Christmas morning. Opening up the ambiguously-sized-shaped-and-labeled wrapping was always an adventure because you genuinely had no idea what was going to be inside.

Example A. Remember when I said Rachel ordered two pairs of socks? Here's what she got.

Do those look like socks? No, no they do not. Are they rainbow? I mean...I guess. But they certainly weren't what she ordered. I'm not even sure what 'Leng' means or why that person's hand appears to be dripping...However, on the bright side, she got something from the company, and she only pain a dollar for a sweat shirt and a t-shirt (both of which she'll never wear, but still...). The first sweatshirt did come with sleeves, but we cut them off because they were so small they could barely fit over either one of our arms. Although Rachel unfortunately was down two pairs of sock, we got a great laughs and great memories out of it, so overall: not a total failure.

The butt socks turned out perfectly. They looked practically identical to the socks in the original advertisement, they have yet to grow holes (despite the almost embarrassing amount of times I've worn them by now), and I've gotten lots of compliments...and side-comments that might be compliments, but also might have been judgmental mockery, I'm not sure. (There's only one sock pictured because I'm a typical college student and the other one is still in the laundry).

The red shorts were also pretty close to how the website pictured them. The fabric was admittedly much lower quality than I would have hoped, but then again, they were $4, so I guess I can't be too lofty with my expectations. They are comfortable and don't fit too awkwardly, so honestly, I got away with a pretty solid deal with this one.

The black shorts were a disappointment. I took a risk with these because right off the bat I could tell the picture on Wish was photoshopped; however, as with anything in life, sometimes the odds are in your favor, and sometimes they aren't.

The picture doesn't do justice for just how uncomfortable these shorts are. They are completely see-through, I wanted to take a picture with them on so I could show you just how thin and lacking this fabric is, but it would've been too inappropriate considering just how revealing these bad-boys are. They fit like spandex that have been shrunk in some parts and stretched out in others over time. The netting material is scratchy and the band on top is not as flexible as it may look. So I struck out with this one, but that doesn't mean the entire experiment was a flop.

So what are my takeaways from my experience with Wish.com? That's what you read this article to find out, right? Well, obviously, it took a little longer than what you might prefer from companies like Amazon or online versions of your favorite department stores like Target, Walmart, Macy's, or Belk, but, taking just Rachel and I's experience into account, the products do eventually come (or at least some 'thing' comes, even if it's not exactly what you bought).

The prices are certainly hard to beat, and even the shipping isn't too expensive. What you must remember is, with those low prices, you're sacrificing a guarantee in quality. It's hard to know from a picture and a few biased opinions online whether or not what you're buying is what you think it is. But, honestly, to me that is part of the Wish experience.

And with that I'll leave you with this recommendation. You don't activate your membership or splurge in random crap on Wish.com because you're looking for 'the best'. It's exactly what I've repeated several times now: an experience. You're risking a few dollars on the chance that you'll get something worth using or wearing from some remote foreign country on a website that does allow you the option to request a refund (you can read more about this here).

You'd be amazed at the extent and variety of what you can find on this website and you'd be even more impressed by the prices that accommodate these goods. Do I regret Rachel and I's little experiment? Hell no. Would I do it again?

Eh...I wish I could claim the sensible thing and say no, but I'm pretty sure I'd shop there in the future if I ever get bored enough or I see an interesting enough ad as I refresh my social media pages for the two-thousand-thirtieth time. Should you try it? Absolutely. Start with something small like us, maybe a pair of socks, a bracelet, or a t-shirt, but hey, why not have some fun? Who knows, maybe you too will be the proud owner of a rainbow-vomit colored shirt with a dripping Shaka sign on the front.