adventures with ava elise: Proud to be an Online Bargain Shopper

So... a couple weeks ago, I found the dress I saw in Portland and ended up paying even less for it! I couldn't stop thinking about that dress, and regretted not swooping it up since I desperately need dresses for all the events we have coming up, and I don't find things I love enough to own every day. So I actually called the Portland store to see if they could maybe ship it to me, and they gave me the style number and checked some of the stores closer to me, and they actually had it less than two miles away from my house!

I will refrain from showing the dress as it will make its debut soon enough... but let's retrospect on what brought me to make this purchase, shall we?

I do almost all of my shopping online these days (even, and especially, my groceries, an expectant friend was horrified to learn recently... she'll soon understand).

Caution: Online shopping often creates the tendency to overspend. Seriously. It's common enough that the April 2011 issue of Glamour, p.145 (yes, I finally just got around to reading this during some me time on the elliptical a few weeks ago; don't judge) talks about how to overcome this trap. It's so easy to get click-happy and end up with stuff you don't really want or need. Then, even if you actually ever get around to returning it, you're still out shipping costs, both ways.

Being cautious of this trap, I am careful to factor shipping here and back into my cost-benefit analysis. With so many free shipping promotions out there, it's rare that I pay shipping at all, and I always make sure I can get free return shipping as well or am able to return in-store so I'm never out anything if a product doesn't work out.

This online shopping methodology means you have to be prepared for constant returns.

So here is my formula for successful online shopping:

Price-shop online to find the best deal. It is so much easier to bargain hunt when you literally have every store in the world at your fingertips. Be sure to pin your top choices for easy comparison.
Go in to check the item out in person. Besides not paying for shipping, I admit, there is something nice about actually going to a store and seeing the quality and even trying something on before calling it your own.

Disclaimer: I rarely have the luxury to actually go into a store to see something in person (which is why Portland was such a treat for me), so sometimes I take chances and make a purchase without seeing it in person first, but only if I'm able to return it at no financial loss.

Buy it on the spot if you can get the same deal or better without shipping charges (since you already know you've found the best price). If not, place the order online when you return home. (This is where the pinboards will come in handy.)

I'm sure this process has saved me hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. It's rare that I will still want something after putting it under this microscope (or keep it after seeing the dent it's put in my checking account).

Side note: It's not that I'm such a penny-pincher. I'm totally willing to spend money, sometimes even on things that others would consider frivolous, but preferably under the following circumstances:

It's on sale at a huge discount. Almost everything goes on sale eventually and I don't usually mind waiting until it's out of season. I'm in this for the long run.
I'm not able to get the same thing for less somewhere else. It's worth it to me to shop around.
I'm not able to make it myself for less. Whether or not I think I'll actually have the time or patience to do it; I just can't justify it.

Example: Here are a few items from the J. Crew spring sale that passed my criteria and found themselves on my doorstep last week: