Ask A South Florida Expert: Tips On Finding Deals Shopping Online
Annie Vazquez
Online Fashion Blogger
Miami, FL
www.thefashionpoet.com
Miami truly rivals the other fashion hot spots of the nation with its tropical climate but also homegrown talent. Miami Beach is the fashion capital of Miami with its modeling agencies (Wilhelmina Models, Elite Model Management, William Morris) and Miami's Design District has high-end boutiques (Maison Martin Margiela, En Avance, Nektar De Stagni). Designer Lazaro Hernandez (Proenza Schouler) is a Miami native and Annie Vazquez, "The Fashion Poet," also hails from Miami. She has been featured in Vogue Brazil, NBC, "The Today Show," New York Times, Elle Magazine and has contributed her reports to IMG's Mercedes Benz Fashion Week where she has also been a spokesperson. Annie knows how to "shop" (active verb) and uses her budget effectively to look her best.
Online shoppers have to work to find great deals
An internet search for a specific item will net hundreds of online retailers, but the search has to be for a specific item. Online shoppers can also find discounts and coupon codes on items--a trick is to put an item in the shopping cart and on another tab look for a coupon code of that retailer, i.e. retailmenot.com. The shopper can also call the retailer to ask for a discount because retailers want to make sales on these items. Most price matching is done for online items and they might not be in the actual brick and mortar store. It is easier to ship the items to a shopper's house than have it laying in the stockroom. Sites like Zappos, eBay and Amazon are great because shoppers can find good prices for mint condition shoes and usually at a better deal than the same shoes on the brand's website. For example, an Allex Fit and Flare dress on the Kenneth Cole website is priced at $149.98 and on Zappos.com it is at $98.
End of July and holidays offer shoppers great deals
Retailers, towards the end of July, will be offering great deals on swimwear to unload their inventory in preparation for back-to-school items. Holidays give the shopper a great amount of promotions to choose from on items also. They can sign up on the site to receive promotional emails on items and "hot" days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
(Source: www.thefashionpoet.com)Keep receipt for 30 days to look for price matches
It is important when an online shopper makes a purchase to hold onto the receipt and not stash it away in hopes to find an online retailer that offers a better price. They can then go back to the retailer where the purchase was made and ask for a price match, which will be honored.
Avoid buying trendy items
When online shopping, it is best to buy classic staple wardrobe items and not to buy trendy items. Some examples are black pants, jean jackets and leather jackets that are timeless pieces that can go together with anything. If a shopper does want a trendy item, they should look for a site that offers an affordable, similar product. An example are Birkenstocks which are trending but are very expensive. An online site called Birkenstock Express sells the same shoes for less (Black Oiled Leather, $110 on Birkenstock.com, $83.95 on outlet site).
