As you may be able to tell from my blog, I like to shop. My obsession since my baby arrived three years ago has turned from the in store shopping experience to the online shopping arena. And no, this is not a New Year’s resolution post to give up shopping. Instead, I want to share with you the lessons I have learned over the years, the best places to shop for what, the hidden ugliness to online returns, and other online shopping lessons.
Buying fashion online can be a little tricky. To be effective, you should know a few things in advance.
- Cultivate specific brand stores for basics that have reliable fit. Yes, this will lead you to mall stores - JCrew, Banana Republic, Madewell, Loft, Gap, All Saints are good examples. After you know your fit/ sizes for a particular brand you will never have to stop in a mall again! Alternatively, cultivate specific brands you can rely on that are sold across multiple stores – James Jeans, Splendid, Frye as examples. This will allow you to shop multiple sites for the same brand. And don’t get hung up on size. I rang from a size 2 to a size 12 depending on the brand. The question is not the size, but the fit.
- Sign up for the emails. These places have sales so frequently online that it feels like robbery to pay full price. Yes, that means you will have to clear out your inbox every morning until 9 AM with the sales news, but once you get the rhythm you won’t buy full price again.
- Read the fine print. Some online stores are better than others on general returns, but even stores with the best return policies have final sale items. This means you can’t return it at all – no exchanges, credits or refunds. If you are unsure on a product, you don’t want to buy final sale (unless the deal is so good you don’t care if you lose the money to your curiosity).
- Shop the competition. Once you have a specific item you want to buy, if it sells across multiple sites, be sure to check out the competition. This ensures that you will get the best deal. There are some sites like shopstyle.com that do an amazing job helping you with this research. No need to go site to site.
Now that you’ve prepared yourself, lets talk about some of the major players.
Gap/ Banana/ Piperlime – On the positive side, when you shop at these sites, you can have one shopping cart. Piperlime is definitely the more fashion forward of the three in the family and there are a range of price points across these families. Sizes, however, are not consistent. A Gap 6 does not equate to a Banana 6 to a Piperlime 6. You must know your size in the brand. Items are eligible for returns from 30-45 days. They make it easy to print off a UPS label to return from the site. Returns take about 2-3 weeks to credit your account. They are usually pretty good about getting your order right. The challenge with these guys is if the mess up something about your order, it is very hard to get it back on track.
J. Crew / Madewell – These are in the same company family. Sizes are cut pretty similarly for both stores. Both companies provide pre-printed labels for returns. I have even returned items that said “final sale” that they credit my card for. I have had no problem returning in store or online. Returns are credited within two weeks to my card.
Anthropologie/ Urban Outfitters – These are the same company family. Since they stock a variety of labels, sizes are all over the place. Anthro has a very loyal set of customer reviewers so it is pretty easy to get good information from fellow shoppers. People even provide pictures of themselves with height/ weight measurements. The sad news is I have consistently had problems returning online items in the store. My husband doesn’t like me shopping here anymore since it takes two or three more follow ups to get returns resolved.
All Saints – You might not have this store in your city yet. It is a London based shop. A little bit steam punk. I like it to punch up my basics. My husband is a rabid All Saints shopper. He can’t say no to a sale. And returns are easy breezy. Labels are provided.
Ok. That’s all I have the energy for tonight. Next post, department stores and Amazon.com…
Yours truly,
Style Illiterate
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