Jan Loves... "Online Sample Sales"

I love to save money.  Catch me at a sale anywhere and I'll be checking out the sale rack to see what I can score at a ridiculously low price.  These days, the stigma of sales has gone to the waist side.  With designer strongholds like Coach, Prada, BCBGMAXAXRIA, and Armani offering up their goods at discount, not only at their outlet stores, but to sample sale vendors, people like myself can pick up a $88 coach 15 in' laptop case for more than 50% off or a $175 toki doki backpack for more than 75% off.

These aren't fantasy, once-in-a-blue-moon buys, this is a regular occurrence (if you know where to look).
Here's a list of some of the ones we love.  Click on the name to join them for free.

HauteLook:  Catering to both men and women's fashion, this sample sale site also offers home furnishings, children's wear, make-up and accessories, and (like many other sites recently) discount vacation packages.  Their site is easy to navigate through and generally their sales start at 8AM PT/11AM ET.  The sales generally last for 3 days or until they run out of product, whichever comes first.

Ideeli: Although a somewhat smaller site that HauteLook, Ideeli does offer more of the lesser publicly known high end brands with the occasional Michael Kors or Donna Karen thrown in.  Although they do offer getaway packages, Ideeli and Jetsetter (parent company "Gilt Groupe") offer far better locations, in our opinion.  They also offer an option to buy into a preview tier, where you get first crack at sales before the general memberships do.

Beyond The Rack: Similar to the feel of HauteLook, Beyond the Rack offers mostly women's apparel and accessories (heavy on the footwear).  Their prices swing from reasonable to sometimes out of the ballpark, so it's good to catch their sales once they hit market.  Their sales generally don't last as long as the others.  Sometimes only lasting for 24 - 48 hours from release.

RueLala: Rue's set up is slightly similar to Ideeli, with a limited offering, but Rue is picking up some speed.  Their events also generally last for 3 days or until they've sold out.  They cater mostly to women and offering some home goods and travel getaways as well.

GiltGroupe (AKA Gilt):  Perhaps one of the better know of the group, Gilt has widened their net, creating Jetsetter (specifically for getaway discounts), and Gilt City (for local discounts - catering to Boston, LA, Miami, NY, Chicago and SF).  Although they offer a great variety of sale items, their focuses on local and getaway packages have been increasing while their fashion site hasn't.  A good thing about their local sales is they offer a wait list for offerings that have sold out.  Their escapes on Jetsetter are also envious.  Vacation anyone?

So if you're one of the millions of people who find it better to stay in your pajamas and shop online, check out these sites.  All of the ones we've listed are free to join and offer some incredible sales in the process.

Let us know what you think.  E-mail us at media.mind.candy@gmail.com or respond to this post.

Happy shopping!