These online sales sites gather new designer goods every day and sell them for 24-48 hours, Â marked down by at least 50%. Â Mostly womens, but also men, children, home, travel. Â It’s the thrill of the hunt without waiting in lines, the the deal you don’t have to dig for. Â We adore shopping these sites from the comfort of our desk. Â Some days it’s mostly accessories, and some days the clothes are so TO DIE they’re sold out in minutes. Â Each site has several, like up to 10, different brands on sale each day. And the items are only up for a day or two, unless they sell out first. Â Which happens, believe me.
You do have to do a little more legwork to access the buys…you  have to be “invited” by a current member or sign yourself up.  Don’t be intimidated….it only seems exclusive.  Just visit the website, sign up with your email and wait, sometimes a day, sometimes a couple of hours, for your invitation to join.
What’s the catch?  Well, returns for one.  Most sites accept returns only for store credit, and some categories of items are not returnable at all.  The deeper the discount, the more likely it will be “Final Sale, non-returnable.”  Also, the good stuff goes faaaasssst.  Often in minutes after the sale opens.  And you have a limited time to keep items in your cart while you peruse.  A snooze-you-lose function so that the hoarders don’t keep all the good stuff in their carts for hours.
You can save serious money if you shop wisely. Â I buy many of the gifts I need to give, getting something really nice for less than half the price. Â The shopping experience is smooth and painless, Â except when what you want is “already in another member’s cart.” Â And you will get $10-$25 in store credit every time you refer a friend and they buy something. Â That helps when you find yourself stalking your inbox waiting for the next sale reminder.
We usually list our favorite designers on sale at these sites each week, and try to update and let you know via Facebook or Twitter when something really great pops up last minute. Â So you don’t HAVE to sign up for emails from all sites to be in the loop. Â You should pick your favorite one or two (Rue La La is a universal fave) and sign up for the daily updates for a while.
Who’s Who is the Online Sample Sales?  If they were magazines, here’s who they’d be:
Gilt Groupe is Vogue/Elle/Town & Country.
RueLaLa is Lucky/Instyle/MarieClaire.
Ideeli is Glamour/Lucky/Redbook.
Hautelook is Instyle/Allure/Self/Shape.
Editor’s Closet is……well, hard to pin down. Â Kind of Cosmo, kind of Self. Â Lot’s of accessories.
If you want to speed things up, you can use the link below and/or put in “scoopcharlotte” as your referral for some of my favorite sites below:
ideeli: Â link here
hautelook: Â link here
giltgroupe: Â link here
ruelala: Â link here
editor’s closet: link here
billiondollarbabes: Â link here
SWIRL by Daily Candy: link here
