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Blogs – I ❤ thee
I love reading blogs. It’s so much fun to read, and I learn so much.
Before reading fashion blogs, I was never really interested in online shopping. I am the type of girl who likes to try things on before I make the commitment, and unfortunately, online shopping doesn’t let me do that. Until…
I realized that many bloggers buy things online – from sales, stacking coupon codes, etc, and then they try on the items in the comfort of their own home, and they can return the items if they don’t fit/like it.
Can I get a Hallelujah? 🙂
Shopping Online
I felt like I got a free pass with shopping online, whenever I had the option of getting a full refund for whatever it is I am buying. It took the guess work out of ordering something online, and truly made the shopping process more enjoyable for me.
See a good sale and hate to rummage through piles of discarded clothes, only to find the only shirt in your size is ripped? Why not shop online and have access to the store’s entire warehouse inventory?
Return Policies
In my small venture into the online shopping world, it is very important to understand the return policies of the stores you are shopping at. Some stores have final sales on clearance/sale items, or perhaps you can only return for a store credit, as opposed to a full refund.
Make sure you read carefully and understand the return policy before checking out!
My 10 Pairs of Shoes
A couple weeks ago when I saw Red Flag Deals tweet an awesome shoe sale at MySpringShoes.com, I couldn’t help but take a peak. They still had quite a selection left of shoes marked at 50 – 70% off regular price, with a coupon code for an additional 15% off. Some of the shoes I got came to under $10 after taxes!!
I quickly checked Spring’s return policy, and it was exactly what I hoped for. Full refund in the original form of payment for ALL items, including clearance items. A few clicks, and $225 later, 10 pairs of shoes were enroute to me.
Of course, I didn’t keep all 10 pairs (what? Did you think I was crazy?!). I ended up keeping 2 pairs which I really liked. These are the two I kept. Cute, eh? And the best part, they cost ~$65 total 🙂
Crazy?
Maybe buying 10 pairs of shoes was crazy of me. I know that when BF saw my backseat full of shoe boxes, he thought I might have gone insane but I reassured him that I had a plan!
My plan also included parking at the mall entrance closest to the Spring shoe store, and him helping me carry back the 8 boxes of shoes to be returned. 😉
Conclusion
Next time, I may be more selective in ordering, since it was a pain to carry all the shoes back to the store. But I did score a great deal on 2 pairs of shoes!
Readers, do you shop online? And have you bought a lot of things, only to try them on and return the ones you don’t want?
Cheers,
fabulously fru-girl 
I use e-bay a lot for this. I can buy clothes I would never be able to afford. If it does not fit, it can be resold.
I haven’t purchased a lot of things online but, I will say that I love the convenience of the return labels. I was always leery of buying clothing online, thinking it would be a hassle to return. I bought a dress from Victoria’s Secret once. It was too big. When I called wanting to exchange for a smaller size, they sent out the dress before I was required to return it!
I would do that too, except I find return shipping unbelievably expensive. I returned a pair of shoes once and it cost $22 just for the shipping. This is probably because I was shipping from Canada to the states.
Not crazy — the deals are amazing!! Unfortunately, I just spent about 30m looking for cute shoes, on sale, in my size. Impossible it seems 😛
Holy crap I love those those lace up boots. I am drooling.
I’ve been hesitant to buy clothes online – because of sizing and the possibility of having to return items. I have bought a few items (a dress, jacket, and t-shirts) though. I am warming a bit more to the idea as more stores are starting to offer free shipping and better return policies.
I haven’t tried the buy to try and return, but I have purchased clothes online before. I would take the brand, style and size I wanted and buy it at a discount on Bluefly.com. Aside from the occasional Christmas gift, I usually buy my stuff in store.
I’m a returnaholic haha. I definitely prefer to try things on in store and to touch, feel, and try things on. But I definitely resort to online shopping all the time, and I return things ALL the time! I have saved a ton of money by shopping online – rebates, coupons, sales, extra discounts, price matching, etc. I will be writing a post on online shopping soon!
I do most of my shopping on-line. I despise shopping malls. I just like the see, like, click and purchase ease of on-line shopping. I typically only go to the mall when I want to check out my favorite stores sale section. I park as close as possible to the store entrance, hit my target and then leave.
Anyway, all of that is not applicable to me as I cannot buy any clothing this year. Basically, I have enough and anything I buy certainly is much more of a want than a need at this point. No clothes or shoes for me so I live vicariously through your purchase of 10 pairs of shoes, even if you only kept two. 🙂
One thing to keep in mind for online shopping novices is to remember is shipping. Some have free shipping but others don’t. Does the sale price plus the cost of shipping still equate to a good value? Something to think about if you’re just getting a $20 top but have to pay $10 for shipping.
I bought a couple of dresses from dress911.com for some weddings we’re going to this year, and since I had never ordered from them before I got two different sizes in each dress so I could make sure they fit! And they come with a free return label in the package. My total charges were $300 but I’m probably going to return 2-3 dresses, which will bring my cost down. I especially like stores that allow you to return online purchases in store (as long as you don’t mind forfeiting the shipping fees). I think it’s a really good strategy to order online since you don’t have to deal with actually getting dressed and leaving the house to fight the mobs at the mall.
Funny story – the last time I ordered from Spring I got a box with two left shoes in it!
I’m that way with pants from the Gap, but they’re around $60 each so I’ve never bought more than 3 pairs at a time. but usually only one of them fits. Yay for free returns! I just placed a $100 order at Victoria’s Secret on different underwear/bras/sale items. They tried to deliver it 3x while I was at work and then it was sent back. I said please just give me a refund. Saves me the trouble 🙂
I would love to do it more but I tend to not return the items that don’t fit. I know, it’s so bad. 😦
I used to do that, but I’ve gotten a lot better (obviously)! You just gotta remind yourself that everything is not over just because you bought it – if you’re not happy, you should definitely return it and get your money back for something you’d love! 🙂
Post pictures of the shoes you keep! I love shopping online, and I really appreciate stores that let me return items in-store instead of having to send them back.
The above two boots are the ones I kept! 🙂
I am trying to avoid shoe shopping. Spring shoes are my kryptonite. Ps. I really like the boots, and $65 is a killer deal for 2 pairs.
I’ve been wary of shopping for clothes and shoes on-line in case they don’t fit. Clothes in the U.S. are usually a lot cheaper than here in Australia, but if they don’t fit it would cost a fair bit to ship them back. I enjoyed hearing your shoes tale, thanks for sharing 🙂
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I do shop online but not really shoes because the probability I will have to return them is too high. Brands have so different shapes and sizings, I can never settle on a particular size, I always need to try them on.
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FabulouslyFrugirl
Thanks so much for the absolutely fantastic online shopping tips!
You’re certainly showing the way, so there is no excuse for anyone to hold back from shopping online just because they think there is no way to try shoes before they buy.
There is nothing wrong with ordering 10 (or more!) shoes from an online retailer and just keeping a couple of them. That’s exactly what a shopper would normally do in a brick-and-mortar shopping mall, wouldn’t she?
With such a big number of web shops waiving shipping costs over a specific amount of purchases, buying a large number of pairs in order to try them in the comfort of your home has the added benefit of getting free shipping, when the total amount of purchase exceeds a set limit.
I do this all the time and love it! It’s great because I loathe trying on shoes and Aldo and Spring usually have free shipping and free returns. I do this with GAP too. Lately they’ve been having lots of sales for free shipping plus 30% discount of your entire order. So I just order what I think I want, then return the items I don’t like/don’t fit. Glad I’m not the only one!
I love re-selling things! You do have to be careful, though, because some sights (like Amazon) have a re-stocking fee unless there’s a defect in the merchandise.
These are wonderful! I love that they’re proving once and for all that you don’t have to damage the environment to have the perfect fashion.