Online Shopping Roundup, Part 5: Membership Only Fashion Sales
The online shopping guide rolls on, and this week we’ve arrived at one of my favorites — the membership only sites. I have to admit, the membership site sales are a BIG weakness of mine. I hesitate to specify how much money I’ve spent on Gilt, but let’s just say that my wardrobe is a whole bunch nicer than it was before I joined, and I have a few really fabulous handbags. The great thing about the membership sales is that while you can’t rely on getting the season’s latest offerings, you can get some really great items at discounts way beyond what you’re likely to see in the online or physical stores on a regular basis. The online membership sites are the perfect place for opportunistic shopping; if you keep your eye out for, say, a dress to wear to a wedding, and give it a little extra time, you’re likely to see something going by at one of these sales that you’ll love and that won’t cost you anything like retail.
A discussion of the various sale sites follows after the jump!
Gilt Groupe. Gilt is probably my favorite, in part because I’ve been a member of Gilt from very near the start and have gotten a lot of fantastic stuff from their sales. Gilt has daily sales during the week and frequent Saturday sales that offer designer clothing, handbags, housewares, accessories, and even occasionally beauty products at huge discounts. $450 Vivienne Tam dress for $130? Hell, yes. There’s at least one sale daily for men and for women, sometimes more, and frequently also a children’s or housewares sale. The sales cover high end ready-to-wear lines like Valentino and Nina Ricci (still pricey but vaguely reasonable on sale) and more affordable but trendy lines like Rich & Skinny denim and Mint by Jodi Arnold, which become irresistibly cheap on sale. The selection of items for any given sale is always relatively limited, but the heavily slashed prices, virtually always well over 50% off, make them well worth checking. Sales begin at noon sharp, and if you want to snap up your size at the popular sales, you’d be well advised to be ready to pounce at noon. Shipping is a flat $10 for regular shipping, and if you’re too slow picking something up, you can wait list it and be notified if it becomes available. I generally get my Gilt purchases within a day or two after the sale, but those who live on the West Coast will probably have longer shipping times.
The drawback of shopping on Gilt (as with the other sites) is the return policy. Returns on normal clothing and shoes are accepted if received within 14 days of shipment to you for store credit, no refunds. Great policy for them, no doubt — whenever I do this, I end up stalking their sales on a daily basis until I find something else I need to use the credit on — and frequently also several other things. If you need to return something, you can go onto Gilt’s website and generate a return form and a return UPS shipping label. They will, however, cover the freight of return shipping. While by the time you return something that’s the wrong size, the sale will certain be over, Gilt has recently added a feature allowing you to waitlist an alternative size if it’s available. Pretty much any other item is final sale, including jewelry, intimates, sunglasses, etc. Membership is by invitation only (members get a $25 credit when their invitees place their first order), but if you don’t know a member, you can put your name on their waiting list and be e-mailed when space is available.
Rue La La. Rue La La is also a great place to snap up fashionable additions to your wardrobe at a reasonable price. Like Gilt, Rue La La puts limited selections of men and women’s clothing and accessories and home goods on massive sales so that you can snap up a gorgeous Elie Tahari dress for 65% off. (Completely random example, you understand!) Rue La La seems to lean a little more toward the fashionable mid-range lines like 7 For All Mankind and Ted Baker. I’ve seen less in the way of very high end lines on Rue La La than on Gilt, but admittedly I’ve been a member of Rue La La for a much shorter period of time. Sales start at 11:00 am, so you don’t need to panic and shop Rue La La and Gilt in separate windows if there’s more than one sale you want in the same day.
Standard shipping is $9.95; second and next day air are available for $16.95 and $18.95 respectively with an adjustment for package weight. Oversized items are subject to special shipping charges. Like Gilt, returns are only accepted for store credit, but returns are accepted for up to 30 days from your receipt of the item, rather better than Gilt’s policy. The “final date” for returns is printed on the packing slip for the merchandise. A UPS return label is included with your purchase; an unspecified discounted shipping charge will be deducted from your credit if you use it. Some items are specified as final sale, but the categories are not as comprehensive as Gilt’s. Like Gilt, Rue La La is by invitation only, but you can be asked to be put on the waiting list even if you don’t know anyone to send you an invite. Members get a $10 credit when someone they’ve invited places their first order.
Ideeli. Ideeli also provides daily online sales offering sharp discounts on clothing, accessories, and even luggage. Recent sales have included Ed Hardy watches, Tateossian cufflinks, and summery Nancy Rose tops and dresses. Ideeli has two membership levels; paying members get access to the sales at 11:00 and regular members don’t get access until noon. I have to admit that I’m a little resistant to paying for shopping access, but if you do a lot of shopping, that hour’s worth of lead time can make a huge difference in getting the items you want. There are also “1st Row Only” sales that non-paying members don’t have access to. Ideeli also does regular high-fashion giveaways; upcoming giveaways include items from Jimmy Choo, Miu Miu, and Longchamp. Standard shipping is “generally” $10 for the first item and $5 for each additional item, but shipping costs may be adjusted for the size or the weight of the purchase.
One major drawback of Ideeli is their return policy. According to the website, “[i]n most cases, Ideeli does not accept returns; however, for certain items, and in certain cases, we do.” Not too inviting. To see if an item you’re interested in is returnable, you can click the “Return Policy” link on that item’s detail page. If the item you’ve bought is returnable, they’ll accept it for store credit only if you initiate the return process within 14 days of the shipment date to you. Return shipment labels are printable from their website.
HauteLook. HauteLook also offers men and women’s clothing and accessories, homegoods, and beauty products at 50 to 75% discounts. The sales include mid-range to high end lines ranging from Edun sustainable clothing and Elizabeth Showers jewelry to Waterford Crystal. Unlike the other membership only sites, you can sign up for HauteLook without an invitation and get instant access to the sales. Sales start at 8 am PST (11 am for those of us on the East Coast). Standard ground shipping is $7.95, and your order is expected to arrive in 10 to 14 days.
It’s worth noting that you can’t shop from more than one sale at a time as you can on Gilt; if you put items from one sale into your cart you’ll have to check out before you can add anything from another sale. HauteLook serves as an intermediary between the member and the brand itself, so items have to be shipped from the brand to HauteLook before they can be shipped to you. As a result, overnight or two-day shipping aren’t available, and occasionally the manufacturer will ship fewer items to HauteLook than they promised, and someone who thinks they’ve scored an item will be out of luck. (In that event, you’ve obviously not charged, and HauteLook issues you a small credit to make up for it.) Like Gilt, HauteLook accepts returns for store credit only within 14 days of shipment to you, but for regular apparel only. (In other words, hosiery, swimwear, and intimates, along with anything that’s not a garment, are nonreturnable.) In order to return an item, you can log into their site and print a return authorization along with a UPS shipping label. You’ll be charged a relatively humane $4.95 against your return credit if you use the shipping label.
[...] is this going to end up being one of them? Back when we did our membership only sale site roundup, I had experience with only four fashion-oriented sale sites. Now? Gilt alone has four [...]