Training Manual: Online Shopping Sites You Need to Know

I shop online enough to guarantee lifelong job security for my local UPS deliveryman, which is a testament to A) my extreme laziness and B) hatred of driving in LA.

So when you simply can’t be bothered with traffic, inclement weather, long lines, or putting on makeup, then online shopping is your knight in shining armor. Get thee to your nearest computing device and start browsing.

But before you click the “Buy Now” button, check out our roundup of online shopping sites you need to know:

1. Gilt Groupe / Hautelook / Rue La La / Billion Dollar Babes
   These online sale sites host limited-time sales on designer apparel and accessories.  There’s even a Gilt iPhone app so you can shop mobile-ly.
2. ShopStyle.com
   This shopping search engine makes it easy to find any site that is carrying the item you’re looking for.  Perfect for comparing prices, or looking for your size when another site has sold out of it.
3. RetailMeNot.com
   An online bargain shopper’s best friend, you’ll find coupon codes from a huge range of e-commerce retailers.
4. Piperlime.com / Zappos.com / Endless.com / Shoes.com
   Buying shoes online can be difficult, but you can find (brutally honest) user-contributed reviews on all of these sites and benefit from other shoe shoppers’ experiences.
5. Ebates.com / Bing.com Cashback / FatWallet.com
   I can’t think of any reason why not to use one of these cashback websites.  Search for the site you want to shop at, click on it, and you’ll get a percentage of whatever you spend back in cash.  This can range from 1% to 15%, but even if it’s not much, it can certainly add up.
6. Polyvore.com
   It’s possible to spend hours on this interactive fashion collage website, which allows users to create their own outfits by pulling images of clothes and accessories from the internet.  It’s a great place to get a feel for current trends and discover cool outfit ideas (despite the excess of Twilight-inspired collages).
   

Fellow online shoppers – feel free to share your own online shopping tips with us in the comments below.