I have outlined below the 8 steps to buying designer items on a budget. I am sharing with you what my first step planning is. These are the designer items I am currently coveting for this year and as much as I can afford or find good deals on them, I will be purchasing some of these items throughout the year. For each item I cross of the list; I will share with you how I followed the steps I highlighted below to buy the designer item on a budget. If I don’t get a deal, I will also share that and share why the steps below faltered.
READER APPRECIATION NOTE : As part of reader appreciation, I am offering to guide or help with purchase to 3 readers who have narrowed down designer items that they want to buy. All interested readers should leave a comment below on items are on your list. If you are comment shy, you can contact me directly through the contact page.
- Preplan: This is the first step. You need to plan what designer items you are going to want to purchase for the year. Never impulse buy a designer item; you either pay more than you should have or end up having buyers remorse. Be patient to save more.
- Prioritize: Once you have your list of items prioritize according to Fashion seasons. If you have a pair of boots on your list, plan to buy these end off winter as most boots will be on sale to give space for upcoming spring shoes. If you need to buy that pair of sandals, plan to buy them as summer comes to and end.
- Know your designer stores sale seasons: these usually coincide with end of Fashion seasons or are usually during National Holidays. Think Thanksgiving and Christmas mega sales. In addition to buying off season you capture additional discounts by also buying during the sales season. Double discount!
- Research: Now that you have your items and time to buy narrowed down, it’s time to start the pre-purchase research; price comparison. Type it google the name of the item you are looking to buy and under google shopping the list of all retailers selling that product pops up. You can also do the search in Polyvore because sometimes Google shopping doesn’t list all the sellers. Pick the retailer with the lowest price.
- Find your coupons or promotional code. I almost always never buy an item with googling coupons + promotions + name of the store. Usually if there are any coupons for that retailer they always come up on Retailmenot. If it’s not on Retailmenot it’s not legit. Trust me have proven this to be true. Sign up your email/emails to receive promotional codes related to your email address. I know Saks and Neiman Marcus send you a 10% email for signing up for their newsletter. Take advantage of this, there is no limitations to how many emails a person can sign up…wink wink. I have to mention that some certain designer items are excluded from this promotion so you have to read the fine print. Big designer retailers like Neiman Marcus, Saks, Barneys and Bergdorff goodman offer gift cards with purchase every few months. Signing up for this mail list will help you know when that is so you can purchase items on your wishlist. When you get the Gift card make sure you use if to purchase an item that is on sale therefore doubling your discounted amount.
- Look overseas: One other secret I will let you in on is to buy overseas, especially from countries that use the Euro. Right now the Euro is down compared the USD so you will have significant savings from the conversion plus there is no VAT. You might get charged a boatload of shipping charges but even so you will still come out ahead. Take a look at an example I will highlight below; same item different prices.
- Be relentless: The last one which is the hardest to do is to be a Troll. Troll the items you are looking to buy; troll it online, in the store and everywhere. If you have access to an Designer outlet mall the better. Go there every weekend if you have to until you find what you are looking for at the best price for your budget. I will share with you my trolling ways and how far I would go to get what I am looking for. When I was pregnant, I knew I wanted Restoration hardware/Baby and Child furniture for my daughter. We had a Restoration Hardware outlet store about 45 minutes from where we lived. I knew that they get new items in on Thursday so every Friday after work I would just continue driving to the outlet mall instead of going home. I knew if I go home first I might get lazy or decide to nap, you know the pregnant women’s problems.I’d find something to it first and then troll the RH store. All this payed off because my daughter’s room is furnished with RH furniture all which I got for at least 60% off. So if a pregnant women can troll, no one else is allowed to have an excuse.
- Post Purchase: The savings process doesn’t have to end after you make your purchase. If you have no immediate use for the item you have purchased continue to troll it online from the retailer you bought from. Most retailer has a policy whereby if they reduce the price of an item within 30days from the time you bought it, they can adjust the price for you. I guess they do this to avoid returns and re-buys which makes sense. They won’t do it without you calling them about it so make sure you are aware of the 30day price trend of the item you purchased and contact them if the price is reduced.
Turn on your JavaScript to view content
