Coupon Codes
A few minutes of searching for coupon codes can save you serious $$ when shopping online. You can often find %off or free shipping codes to your favorite retailers! Three of the best sites to try are couponcodes.com, retailmenot.com, and redplum.com. A quick Google search of store's name + coupon codes can yield additional results. Make sure to enter your code before your payment info.
Another smart savings tool to apply before you pay is Ebates. Ebates is a completely free site where you earn a percentage of cash back on your purchaces at thousands of stores! You receive a check every few months of all the cash you saved. If you are interested in signing up for Ebates, please use my referal link and and follow the instructions. http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=goxMMJaM7xJibbldiY6hOg%3D%3D
For weekly list of sales at popular stores, check out Collegefashion.net. Don't be deterred by the name; CF has fashion resources for that ladies of any station in life can utilize. Besides using the convenient links to in the weekly sales posts to shop your favorite stores, CF also has many outfit inspiration collages made with clothing currently in stores. This leads me to discuss our next surprisingly money saving category: outfit inspiration websites.
Outfit Inspiration
First of all, I cannot say enough about Pinterest! If you're not familiar with Pinterest, it's an online pinboard site where you can collect pictures with links to all sorts of topics. I find the search feature particularly helpful for getting outfit ideas to style pieces I already own, and new pieces I buy. You can type in a search terms like "black maxi skirt outfit" and save all the outits you like to a conventient fashion themed board. This can help you save a lot of cash by helping you "shop your closet" for fun new ways to style garments you already own. It can also help prevent impulse buys by helping you figure out how many outfits you can incorporate an item into before you buy it.
If you want to get creative, you can design your own clothing inspiration collages with Polyvore.com. Polyvore is a fun online community where you can get very artistic with your outfit ideas and even enter them into fun contests! Some of the clothing pics also have links to where you can buy them; yet another easy way to try before you buy.
I'm sure many of you are familiar with Instagram, but did you know that this photo app can be used as a great source of fashion inspiration? You can share photos of your outfits (OOTD's) if you feel so inclined, and the more fashion related hashtags (#) you use, the more people will see and like your outfits. By searching and exploring other people's photos, you can also find great outfit ideas and fun fashion related photo challenges and giveaways to participate in too! Feel free to follow me on Instagram @morningviewangel99.
Fashion blogs can provide an incredible wealth of info on shopping for deals and putting together outfits. There are thousands of blogs out there, so it make take some time to find ones that you enjoy reading and that suit your style, but here's a list of some of the blogs I enjoy.
Refashionista
Uber Chic For Cheap
Thrift And Shout
Tales From The Thrift
Putting Me Together
Greater Than Rubies
Already Pretty
Fashion For Giants
Outfit Posts
Grown And Curvy Woman
My Curves And Curls
Canadian Fashionista
AJ Wears Clothes
Goodwillista
Mrs. Looking Good
A Fashion Love Affair
Goodwillista
Seersucker And Saddles
The Honeybee
La Mariposa
Curvy Girl On The Run
Looks Good From The Back
Garner Style
Cella Jane
Walking In Memphis In High Heels
Fizz And Frosting
Blue Collar Red Lipstick
Kelly In The City
Flattery
Kendi Everyday
Kacie's Kloset
J's Everyday Fashion
Shades of Tangerine
Bramblewood Fashion
Makeupalley.com is kind of a hidden gem of the internet. Like Fight Club, those who frequent it don't usually discuss it with the outside world, haha. It has discussion forums for fashion topics, as well as a wide range of other topics. Other great features include reviews of beauty products and the ability to swap items with other members. This leads me to my next topic: Clothing Swaps.
Clothing Swapping
The concept of online swapping is generally that you become a member of a site (many are free) and you can browse photos of items that you would like to receive in trade, and post photos of your own items that you would like to trade to others. Use disgression when entering into a swap agreement, as everyone is on the honor system to fulfill their end of the bargain by mailing their item, and making sure it is in the condition agreed upon. Most swap sites have systems in place such as member feedback to give you the best swap experience possible. Also be aware that you will be responsible for paying postage to mail your item. I have had great success in the past with swapping cosmetics on makeupalley.com and clothing on bigwardrobe.com, although that site now appears to be closed. Another popular clothing swapping website that I've heard good things about is Swapstyle.com. A quick Google search will reveal more options if you are interested in clothing swapping online.
Perhaps a safer, cheaper, and quicker method of swapping clothing and other items is to organize a swapping event in your community with friends and aquaintances, or find an existing event in your area. The more people and the wider variety of sizes and styles, the better!
Auction And Thrift Sites
Yet another way to get new and used clothing at a fraction of the original retail price is through online bidding and discount/thrift websites.
Thredup.com is an online retailer specializing in new and gently used name brand clothes at 50-90% off! There are so many ways to save and earn money with this site. If you have some items sitting around in your closet that you never wear, you can request a free bag from Thredup to fill and mail to them. They will pay you for the items they accept. They have a convenient price calculator feature to let you know what brands they accept, and estimated price they pay for each type of item. Thredup also has an excellent referal program. For each person you sign up using your referal link that places an order, you receive a $10 credit, as do the new members! If you are interested in Thredup, check it out using my referal link:
http://www.thredup.com/r/RCE2AD
I almost hate to give this next secret away, but Shopgoodwillonline.com is where I do get many of my best deals!
It is similar to shopping at a Goodwill thrift store in person in that you need a lot of time and patience to sift through thousands of items to find gems. It is set up bidding style with a time limit, so the last and highest bid before the time expires wins the item. Make sure to also use the shipping cost calculator for each item you are interested in, so you don't end up paying more than you want to in shipping costs. I find this site to be a safer alternative to other auction sites like Ebay and Craigslist because the items are coming from Goodwill stores rather than private listers. The Goodwill retailers represent their items very accurately and mail them within 7 business days after payment.
Ebay does receive an honorable mention in my list of tips however. Even though I've never used it myself, I've heard of many people paying a tiny fraction of retail price for fashion items on Ebay. I think the key is to familiarize yourself with how the site works and do tons of reasearch on the specific items you want before bidding. If you don't want to deal with the hassle of auctions, Ebay also has a buy now feature for many items, a lot of them being new, trendy goods manufactured in China.
Etsy.com is neither an auction website nor a thrift shop, but is certainly worth mentioning because it specializes in unique handmade and vintage goods. If you are looking for a custom item, fashion or otherwise, odds are you can find it here. As with any website, buyer beware: not all of the good sold on this site are handmade or vintage, though they are supposed to be, but many of them are an excellent value!
If you prefer to save money on entirely new goods, rather than purchacing used items, this next category is for you!
Online Outlet and Factory Stores
Did you know that many of your favorite brands like J Crew, Ann Taylor, and Old Navy have online outlet stores? Outlet and factory stores feature similar but sometimes lesser quality items as their full price counterparts. I personally find the quality of mosr outlet garments to be perfectly fine, and you can get designer looks at a fraction of the cost! If you prefer to shop the outlets in person, you can do that too. Some great outlets in Central CA are located in Tracy and Gilroy.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed part one of my online shopping tips, and coming shortly, Part 2: How to Dress for Your Body Type and Lifestyle!
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