At the beginning of the fall semester of my junior year of college, my roommate's older sister sent her an online invitation to join a sample sale group called Ruelala. Lindsay trustingly accepted the invitation. I remember all 8 of the roommates curiously peering over her shoulder as we examined the website and digested how sample sales exactly worked. Lindsay quickly sent out an invitation to the rest of the roommates of 734 Greenwood and we've all been hooked on sample sales ever since.
Online Sample Sale sites are exclusive shopping communities that offer their members private access to high-end designer brands at incredibly discounted prices, normally around 60% off. These sample sales feature designers that regularly fill the racks at Nordstrom’s, Bloomingdales and high-end boutiques. Each day opens with a new sale, featuring a handful of luxury designer at a time. The designers are always changing and the sales are known to sell out very quickly.
It’s absolutely free to join. But due to high demand, insider prices and the many perks and privileges that come with membership, access can be extremely limited. Each sample sale website is invitation only. Like I mentioned earlier, in order to join one of these exclusive shopping communities, you will first need to be invited by someone who is already a member to the site or sign up to be put on a waiting list.
The sample sales that I am recommending to try out are the websites that I am personally a member of. I have made multiple purchases from all three of these websites and have obsessively shopped with each site for over a year now. I am a member of Hautelook, Gilt and Ruelala
At the beginning of each week, each website shows upcoming designer sales for the week. And since there are a limited amount of items and sizes of each item, if there is a specific designer sale that is coming up that you adore but can’t normally afford, it is important to make note of the sale so that you can log in right as the sale is about to open and hopefully get your desired item in your size.
For example, I have always loved to own a Kooba Jaylin bag, which can be regularly seen hanging on the arms of celebrities like Gossip Girl star, Blake Lively, and would cost $485 on expensive designer shopping websites like ShopBop.com. However, sample sale websites, Hautelook and Ruelala, both have had Kooba handbag sales within the last year, selling the coveted bag for over 60% at a price of $150. I missed my first opportunity to own a Kooba bag because Ruelala had sold out of Kooba Jaylin bags within 15 minutes of the sale first opening. But when I saw Hautelook was having a Kooba sale, I made it a priority to “win” my dream bag. So in order to beat out all the other online shopaholics, I may or may not have taken a break from taking notes during Chemistry 105 to claim my prize as soon as the sale opened up during my 9am class.
So hurry up and get on the waitlist, found at the homepage of any of these websites by clicking on the links above. Or if you’re too impatient to remain on the outside looking in, send out a mass email to all the shopaholics closest to you requesting an invitation to a sample sale. So you can continue to fuel your shopping addiction by becoming a member to these exclusive circles of people who appreciate high-end fashion but are unfortunately restricted to an ordinary budget.
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