tips for shopping at online shopping clubs

in the last year, there has been an explosion of

"private" or invitation only shopping clubs/outlets like:

eziba, 

the foundary,

and joss & main.

one kings lane. 

i think these are fantastic resources for finding

interesting and unique items at a fraction of the

cost that you might find them boutique stores

or other places online.

here are a few things that you can do to better
 prepare yourself to find some amazing items 
at great prices:

check often.

most of these stores highlight several 

vendors/"events" a day, and the sales last anywhere from

 24 hours to 4 days, and once they are gone, they are gone.

most will send out a daily e-mail, alerting you to

the new daily deals. be sure to at least look at the

vendor lineup to see if there is anything that

piques your interest. most of the time there will
be an "intro" picture that represent what is
being sold...don't judge the entire inventory
based on that one picture. i have found some
pretty amazing items in "events" that
have pictures of something that i thought was...
um...kinda ugly. don't be afraid to click around.

know what's "out there".

in order to know if the deals that you are seeing

at these online shopping outlets are really

GOOD deals, you need to look around. spend some time

looking at local and online stores to get a sense

of what you like, and what they COST.
for instance, i have been wanting a "driftwood"
looking lamp for a while now. every time i 
visit a new-to-me site, i would always check out the
lamp section to see if they had a driftwood lamp, 
and to see how much it cost. (usually,
these lamps cost between $100 and $400.)

which leads me to my next tip...

be prepared to pounce.

sometimes, items sell out within minutes of the
store/event "opening". at many of these sites, the items are
one of a kind, and acting quickly can make
all the difference between getting the item you
want, and getting left with empty dreams of 
that perfect pillow/lamp/poster/treasure.
remember that driftwood lamp i have been hunting for?

last week, at the foundary, i spotted one for $72.
(it's not this exact lamp, but pretty close!)
since i have been doing some looking around, 
i knew this was a great deal and 
acted quickly. i must have gotten the last one,
because as soon as i completed the checkout 
process, a big "sold out" tag went 
across the lamp. good for me, but not
so good for anyone else who might have wanted one. 
***

if you haven't already signed up,

click below, and come shop with me:

the foundary

one kings lane, 

eziba 

joss and main
and, if you know of any others, 
please let me know!