Flash sale sites are members-only websites that feature specific designer sales for a certain duration of time. Spoiler: Anyone can be a member–you just need to sell your soul. Just kidding, but actually you just need to make an account with a working email address. These sales often offer huge discounts (up to 80% on some websites) on clothing, accessories, makeup and other beauty products, as well as home goods and even electronics.
Now that flash sale sites are becoming more popular, or “mainstream,” we can see them playing a larger part in the e-commerce industry itself, forcing some retailers, like Saks, to host their own “flash sales” in an attempt to compete with these larger discount powerhouses. Say goodbye to your latest paycheck, as well as next month’s paycheck, because flash sale sites are more accessible than ever–they even have their own iPhone apps so that you can shop when you’re bored at work or in class.
So, without further ado, here is a list of my favorite flash sale websites with a short list of pros & cons.
P.S. Click on the sites’ logo pictures below for an invite!
1. Hautelook
+ Consistently stellar designers on sale.
+ Consistently low prices with huge reductions.
+ Amazing selection of beauty & hair products for killer prices.
+ I always find new clothing, shoes, and makeup brands on the site that later become my go-to favorites!
+ Invite your friends & get a $10 credit to the store.
– Shipping costs are annoying. I want FREE shipping! Is that too much to ask for? Probably.
2. Ideeli
+ Consistently low prices with huge reductions.
+ A HUGE amount of sales at the same time.
+ Pretty good selection of brands, although Hautelook has a better selection.
+ Pay $9.95 & get one free month of shipping. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good if you plan on buying more than one thing from Ideeli within the next month because you do actually save money on shipping. It’s bad because if you only plan on buying one thing from Ideeli, $9.95 for shipping is completely overpriced.
+ Invite friends & get a $25!! credit to the store.
+ Ideeli has “Treasure Hunt” sales with amazing prices that are fun to look through.
– Don’t have an amazing selection of top designer brands, but rather mostly lesser-known or less popular brands.
3. Modnique
+ Top designer brands.
+ Consistently huge selection of jewelry and bags, which not all the others sites have.
+ “Make an Offer” Sales where you can actually make a lower offer on an item of clothing you are interested in and it will get accepted or rejected almost instantly.
+ Amazing price reductions
+ Share Modnique with friends & get a 10% off credit for your next purchase.
+ Sells gently used high-fashion products, such as the Hermes Birkin Bag, which allows much lower prices for the customer.
+ Has a “daily deal.” Today’s daily deal is a freshwater pearl bracelet for $8 marked down from $85. Limited quantities available, though!
– I, personally, cannot afford most of the high-fashion brands that Modnique offers, so although they do have amazing deals on these items, a $25,000 Hermes Birkin bag for $12,000 just doesn’t do it for me.
4. Gilt
+ Probably the largest & most extensive of these sites.
+ Has it’s own vacation deal website, Jetsetter, that features deals for luxury vacations around the world.
+ Amazing selections of popular designer brands.
+ Gilt “City” gives “insider pricing” to exclusive deals in major cities all over the country. These deals can include coupons for spas, restaurants, shows, parties, etc.
+Invite friends, get $25 credit to the store.
– Mark-downs are not as dramatic as on the other sites. What annoys me is that before Gilt became popular (2-3 years ago), they had much better deals, but now they don’t feel the need to be as price-competitive with the other flash sale sites.
– The designers featured in these sales are usually pretty expensive to begin with, and this fact paired with only a slight reduction in pricing makes most of the items too expensive for me to even want to purchase.
5. Ruelala.com
+ “Today’s Fix” is a one-day deal on one item. Today’s item is a sweater for men. Ugh.
+ Has a travel section that features deals for vacations to luxury spots around the world. Today’s is for a “Nightly Getaway at PGA National Resort & Spa” in Palm Beach, FL. Yum.
+ Pretty good deals and mark-downs.
– You have to pay $9.95 for shipping. Yes, you then get free shipping for 30 days after this, but what if I only want to buy a bracelet that weighs next to nothing and probably costs 45 cents to ship? I mean, come on. There should at least be an option.
– I feel like they mostly have brands that I don’t recognize and are for “older” adults. No offense, mom.
–Vacation deals only apply during certain 3-5 days time periods during the year.
