It is true. I would rather creep on clothes and accessories more than people any day of the week. When you’re scrolling your self-curated feed, I’m scrolling the Anthropologie sale section, sorted by size, color, and garment type. When you're going through stories that recap the daily, I’m on the homepage of Altar’d State seeing what recent photo shoots they did to advertise their new sales. Some call it addiction, others call it a hobby. My mission: to help you save money and fill your closet by bargain shopping as much as you want!
How to Stalk Clothing: If you ever catch me taking a picture of a tag or a picture of my screen, odds are it is to gather more info on a garment so I can find it again later. This is like asking someone for their digits after a first meeting. I see items on store shelves, from Hermes to Target, that I know are overpriced. When in stores, the tag will have a style# and a manufacturer and label. When searching online, jot down the item# info and if the product has an official title, that will also help your search go quicker.
Or...an even easier way to return to fave items online is to add them to your cart and watch the prices drop! Sometimes just by leaving merchandise in your virtual cart, retailers will send you coupon codes, to get you across the buying finish line.
My boss and I both do this and brag about the discounts we get as experienced shoppers. My boss and I are 20 years apart, proving stalking clothes is not just for the young and the poor.
jenny8675309@shopper.net: So everyone has their favorite stores - the ones that they have credit cards for and the ones they have been on the email list for years. It is certainly valuable to sign up for all email lists of places you’ve shopped in the past because, if you bought something there before, odds are you can find something for yourself or someone else, if the price is right. An informed shopper, is a smart shopper.
By giving your email to a retailer you are allowing two-way communication to occur. If you have a shipping issue, complaint, etc. having the company’s email makes life easier. On the flipside, most retailers’ email chains primarily revolve around advertising sales and distributing coupon codes. Retailers also reward loyalty; something to think about.
Another program you can pop your email into is: Honey. Bargain Babe, Isabel Tague uses Honey religiously. She says once you enter your email into the free program (like I would suggest something that costs money. Ha!) Honey checks the internet for discounts and codes.
When the Stalker becomes the Stalkee: Don’t want to be too tempted to buy everytime there’s a sale? I hear you. I am not on Anthro’s email list and yet, I have searched their webpage so frequent I get alerts on my phone and laptop for all their promotions; and honestly, I’m not mad about it.
Bigger Selection: Something a lot of people don’t think about: sale items are actually more plentiful online (blessed be the fruit)! If a retailer has limited pieces of an item - four random larges and no other sizes, they will often pull it from shelves and make it an online only find. A lot of retailers also pull out of season clearance items out of stores and into online only in order to make room for new goods. See below for when this happens...
Know your Retail Szn: Retail seasons are essentially the direct opposite of our season-less, global warming induced reality. (Don’t know what to wear? Read about 40-80 degree outfits in Season-All Pieces.) There is Fall from Aug.-Jan. and Spring from Feb.-July. So, if you are looking for new sweaters it is best for your wallet to not get too caught up in the BTS craze, and to wait until October (OMG that’s now!!!)
When bathing suit shopping, you don’t have to dive right into the racks at the start of spring (this means February.) By waiting until midseason - May and June you will get a better price and still have a wide selection. Buying later in the season=lower prices. But also, lower selection. Has anyone ever tried to buy a bathing suit after Fourth of July? It’s all mixed-matched clearance hell.
Timing is Everything: When is too late to buy? How do you tell when an item is about to go out of stock completely? If only I had a crystal ball...or access to the stores inventory levels! This is a problem I run into all the time when waiting for Anthropologie online to lower their prices. When there is an extra discount running on the sale section: Act. Fast. My. Friends.
I missed out on this sick Notre Dame t-shirt for only $15 because I was in the mountains with no service for Labor Day weekend. RIP.
It is much more rewarding when you get a package in the mail knowing you waited to get the most bang for your buck and knowing you liked this special piece of clothing so much to wait for it! Money well spent!
My Favorite Online Shops to Stalk:
Great blog very informative. Im glad being a cheapo has become an art form for you. I hope I had something to do with you bring a bargain hunter!