In This Economy?

ATTENTION SHOPPERS!

I don’t want to be misunderstood. I know a previous post of mine hated pretty viciously on the likes of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte, but truth be told I do admire some of their fashion-forward frocks and over-priced accessories. Lots of people do. And it turns out being in a recession doesn’t make us want stuff any less. Sure, it’s good to be sensible, cut back, deny yourself the shopping and spending you desire in favor of saving money. But what’s way better than sensible? Getting what you want—for less. At a considerable savings. That way you can save and spend — at the same time.

Makes perfect sense to me!

Without further ado I’ll go ahead and present 10 sites to help you buy yourself some champagne stuff on …let’s say an expensive beer budget. Online.

#10 Shop It To Me

With perhaps the lamest name of all the first stop on our tour, Shop It To Me, hits you with photos of items you might like based on a survey you fill out when you sign up. You tell them what stores and designers you like, and they send you an email (called a Salemail) containing pics and links to stuff that’s on sale from those sites or brands. Then I assume they get a little somethin’ somethin’ when you click through to the retailers selling the swag. Win-win.

#9 Billion Dollar Babes

What I love about this site is how it looks like something dirty has arrived for you when it arrives at work. Billion Dollar Babes. Sounds sounds sort of like a high-dollar prostitute, which causes admins to look at you like you’ve got a brand new dildo in there or something. Whatever. They’ve recently undergone a “makeover” of sorts, where they’ve changed their primary color to a bright orange, and changed the way the site is laid out a bit. They’ve got brands like Nautica and Skaagen, but then they’ve got some themed sales, like “Inspired Styles from Twilight Eclipse,” which could not interest me less, but I’m not on either team when it comes to those pasty, brooding vampires. It’s certainly an angle though, and with the sheer number of sale sites that are out there these days, you’ve gotta set yourself apart. Moving on…

#8 Swirl by Daily Candy

This site is an odd bird, because it’s the first one I know of that spun off of an already popular site people look to for trendy advice, cheeky quips, drawings of skinny chicks with tiny dogs, new places to eat and shop and other various musings locally or nationwide. Daily Candy is like Internet gold for an online purveyor. Get your brand in there, maybe sweeten the deal with a little discount, and your site will likely shut down from the number of loyal DC followers flocking there to check it out and buy. So when they launched Swirl, I figured the sales would be wildly popular and sell out quickly. But even though the number of items for sale are limited and the discounts are deep, you don’t have to rush to your computer quick to snag these sales. I’ve bought a few things from Swirl and have been happy with the outcome. Most of the brands’ prices start out pretty steep, so even a 60% discount ends up being pricey, unfortunately. But not everything starts out high. I bought a pair of rain boots for about $30. Haven’t worn those yet…Anyway, they’re offering free shipping through July 5th right now, which will save you roughly a ten-spot. Bonus: it’s in Beta and that sounds exclusive!

#7 Editor’s Closet

Well folks, Editor’s Closet has fallen off the radar a bit for me. It’s kinda almost exactly like a site called Ivory Trunk, only creamier in color palate. In fact, they are likely the from the same company, come to think of it. Anyway, Editor’s Closet has undergone a recent change in branding, which has improved ever so slightly their not-so-well-designed user experience. Both sites host only a couple new sales every day, sometimes even less often. The quality of the sales they host aren’t quite up to par with the brands features in numbers 6-8, but they do have some occasional gems, so they’re certainly worth a look. Especially if you like watches and sunglasses. Editor’s has also launched a new brand recently called Beauty Story, where they now put all their beauty-themed sales, which only served to splice their sparse sales even further, in my opinion. And offering me relatively unknown beauty brands really doesn’t blow my shopping skirt up. Editor’s does, however, offer a Daily Deal, which includes one low-priced item and a clock that ticks down while you click past…because it’s an ugly bracelet. Meh.

#6 One Kings Lane

If you’re all into home decor and whatnot, this site is for you. Its classy logo adorned with elephants and a topiary, the stuff on here ranges from a $10 ZAGAT book to a $9600 (regularly twice the) set of twin chairs hand-picked by an interior designer the site has crowned as a “tastemaker.” I’ve personally scored a great BUILT laptop bag, some great candles and the aforementioned ZAGAT book (I had a credit). There’s quite a range of items on this site, in all sorts of styles. There’s art, furniture, photograph collections, stationery, dinnerware, linens, towels, things for dogs, sports memorabilia…the list goes on and on. What you won’t find, is beauty or clothing, which puts this site into a league of its own.

#5 Hautelook

Hautelook is a good basic shopping sale site. I’ve been known to receive a box or two from them from time to time. With women, men, children, home and beauty sales, the site is quite diverse. But at times the taste level of the clothing for sale there is questionable, so my advice is to be sure you know the brand before buying. Their jewelry sales, however, are frequent and full of pretty great deals, so be sure to check those out for sure. There is altogether too much Christian Audigier and Ed Hardy present on the site, but that’s another rant for another day.

#4 ideeli

Out of all the sites I troll daily for deals, I think ideeli has brought me the most happiness. After my house was broken into and my favorite black leather handbag was stolen, ideeli gave me the opportunity to purchase another at over 50% off retail! What more can you ask for? They’ve just had a redesign that didn’t exactly do the trick, and they’re supposedly coming out with an iPhone app soon, but I’m giving this site a prime spot on my list because they offer a lot of great sales at really good prices.

#3 Rue-la-la

Ooh-la-la! With a handy iPhone app and a pretty pink and black look, Rue-la-la is, well, another sale site. It’s clean and well-designed, and the iPhone app is very functional, allowing you to contact a representative directly should you have any complaints. Example sales might include BCBG MAXAZRIA, Kenneth Cole for men and ladies, and a sale with some sort of decorative plates and whatnot.

#2 Gilt

I’m going to go ahead and say that Gilt is my favorite online shopping site at the moment. They’ve got a great iPhone app, a sexy, fantastic-looking iPad app, and they have multiple sales per day that interest me. On the iPhone app, they have a men and children section, as well as a few home items thrown in to the mix. But there are more options online at their main site. Home, gifts, even a sister site that offers travel deals called Jetsetter. Most of the items are out of the average ITE reader’s price range, sure. But they’re pretty to look at, and not altogether completely unreasonable.

#1 RetailMeNot.com and Dealhunting.com

If you’re not into luxury shopping for less but you still can’t bear paying full price for regular crap online, head to one of these sites to easily find credible coupons for an ungodly number of the Internet’s shops. Sure it’s a little hit or miss, but then again, you might score free shipping, 10% off or even more. It’s like a final gut check before you hit “purchase” to make sure you couldn’t possibly save just a little bit more. Visit dealhunting.com or retailmenot.com next time you’re in the middle of checking out online and you might just luck out.

FULL DISCLOSURE ALERT: The links you see above may or may not give me credit for your signing up and subsequent purchasing. These credits range from $10 to $20 bucks per referral. Hey—in this economy, every bit helps. I’m just showing you the way to save, and in return, I might save a few bucks off my next pair of peep toe pumps or whatever. Thank you, and you’re welcome. And by the way, if any of these sites require you to “request an invite” or “apply for membership,” feel free to email me and I’ll send you a personal invite to avoid those delays. Also, I am sorry that this post is more informative than humorous, but honestly, shopping is serious business.

Tags: billion dollar babes, cheap, deals, discounts, economy, editors closet, gilt, hautelook, ideeli, neiman marcus, online, recession, shopping, swirl

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 8:27 PM and is filed under Deals & Free Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.