By Claudeene Sacan (St. John’s University)
Shopaholism is every man’s nightmare and every girl’s internal struggle. However, women like me don’t ask to become these intensive shoppers, the women you see acting like it’s black Friday everyday: We receive it through the struggles of the ones we love – my influence being my mother. Living with her shows me the battles fought with my father and the rewards achieved that are brought back home in big brown bags.
As the economy has been a financial burden for the last couple years, price tags remain the same, while people’s wallets deflate. People trying to keep up with the latest trends find going shopping to become an enormous problem, and consider the latest fad; “shopping rehab.”
However, where there’s a will there’s a way. Becoming a geek, well versed in surfing the web, has allowed me to explore countless numbers of sites all designed for shopaholics. We all know we cannot get the shopper out of us, but what if we could continue doing what we obsess over but without damaging our piggy bank?
Therefore, I’ve done the hard part of locating these five impressive discount websites so you can do the fun part by typing in your credit card number and waiting for the FedEx truck to arrive. You do not have to believe me, but why not take a look on these sites and see for yourself. Enjoy!
Remember to never judge a book by its cover. When you first approach this website you are greeted with a bland white screen with some pictures that leaves you unsure of whether you’re shopping for clothing or about to read the latest “Home & Garden” magazine. Becoming a member on this website is free and ultra exclusive and you might have also heard about it in the Oprah magazine, Cosmopolitan, or InStyle. I must say that, as a young adult, the site does not offer too many options in younger trends. Their target market is all about business savvy women or stay-at-home moms. They offer a wide variety of clothes, shoes, home goods and even vacation deals. I ordered a pair of expensive boots here a year ago for a friend’s birthday and thankfully I ordered a month in advance because they take a while to ship their goods. All in all they are a good website to become a member of, always sending email alerts of their new sales and offering “tell a friend” discounts.
Every month BeyondtheRack likes to change up their website look and place a new model looking at you when you sign in – It’s good to know that there’s a website that likes to keep up with the customers attention. It seems to me that through all five websites I will mention, this one has been the best in variety and discounts. They offer designer brands in clothing, jewelry, shoes, accessories and home goods that can meet every demographic and their respective wallets. This site is a little better at sending out their items after purchased, but don’t rely on their opinion of the “expecting” date.
Gilt
Gilt is a VERY exclusive site that only sells high end designer brands at discount prices that still don’t seem to associate well with my wallet. It’s always good to become a member of this site and get great ideas of the latest ins and outs, but sometimes Gilt likes to sell certain items that seem fair priced. I recommend this website for anybody who’s a serious fashionista; only into wearing Marc Jacobs, Versace, Prada etc, or someone whose interest is in buying and selling items to make profit. The coolest thing about Gilt is their Jetsetter page. This website offers the best deals for top notch vacation locations and shows the most indulging pictures that sell.
Hautelook
This website is another one that’s highly recognized in the magazines I stated before for Ideeli.com. Hautelook sells designer brands fit more for a younger generation, however, sometimes they have brands that even I never heard of before. Some of the items do look cheap and not worth it, but their Jessica Simpson items are always on super sales (her heeled shoes are the most comfortable ever!) Because of all the other reliable sites I stated, I haven’t given this one a real chance that I feel has been worth buying off of.
This website is a little different than the ones above. I actually just came across this website a couple nights ago and have fallen in love with all their selections for sale. Majority of the items on here are so adorable and at a cheaper price then in stores that why would you even want to step into a mall near this upcoming Christmas season. This site is for very trendy teenage girls, especially in the New York area – who are constantly in a fight for the trendiest style.
