Online Shopping Guide: How I Always Find Epic Fashion Dupes

Hey there, you’ve just stumbled upon my online shopping guide – Lucky you!

As a millennial, I’ve had internet access since I was in elementary school and thus began a long love affair with the internet and all the wonders online shopping has brought us.

Sure, it’s made shopping for clothes somewhat more convenient, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s easy wading through the noise to find exactly what you want…

And worse yet, finding the right fit can become a burden in itself!

That’s why I decided to whip up this handy online shopping guide, where I’ve drawn on my over 10 years of experience buying clothes on the internet with a shoestring budget.

It’ll show you everything I’ve learned about how to make the most of your mobile shopping experience:

Top 3 Best Retailers for Online & Mobile Shopping in 2018

My Online Shopping Guide: Secrets, Tips, & Sneaky Tricks

My Favorite Sources for Trend Inspiration

Ensuring you always order the right product, in the right size, at the best possible price.

I’m also including a section at the end with links to ALL my favorite online fashion brands that I use for style inspiration (and sometimes even buy from!)

But first, let’s go over the three best and biggest online retailers I buy from and, more importantly, why I buy from them.

Best Online Retailers for Mobile Shopping in 2018

Amazon

Yes, you read that correctly.

Don’t laugh, you can actually find some really great things for very cheap on Amazon!

But you do need to make it a habit to read through the Amazon customer reviews (which I’ll go into later.)

True, it’s a lot of simplistic styles, but there are virtually endless options and items rarely go out of stock for very long.

It is a veritable goldmine of office-friendly attire in particular, so if you are looking for ways to supplement your work wardrobe without maxing out your credit card, this is the hack for you.

Not to mention, Amazon’s shopping recommendation engine is unbeatable – I can get lost in an Amazon shopping hole for several happy hours just continuously clicking through the products it suggests.

With an Amazon Prime membership, you also get the added benefit of free 2-day shipping on literally millions of products.

In fact, according to an article released by Barron’s Next:

The company has grown its Prime selection by 174% in the past year, according to estimates from Baird’s Colin Sebastian, reaching more than 100 million Prime-eligible items for the first time in the latest quarter.

Of the items available for sale via Prime, Sebastian notes that more than half are clothing or accessories.

This “reflects Amazon’s ongoing investments in the category, particularly in its own private label clothing lines,” he writes.

Macys.com

Macy’s may not be the coolest retailer, nor do they have as wide a selection as some of the others on this list.

However, what they lack in ‘cool-factor’ and variety, they make up for in huge, frequent sales and high inventory turnover.

What this means for you is that there are lots of opportunities to score a deal online or in-store, and they’re always pushing fresh product.

The trick to saving money is to stay in the loop with Macy’s many sales and discount codes as well as understanding their rewards programs and shipping policies.

Here’s an overview:

Sale Events

Macy’s One Day Sales, which are fairly random, typically occur on a Saturday. They are announced just a few days beforehand, and can happen several times throughout the year.
Semi-Annual Sales, as with other retailers, occur twice a year to make room for new inventory. These are storewide sales, so they may include apparel, jewelry, and shoes as well as bedroom furniture and home decor.
Black Friday is one of the most infamous sale events in modern society, and Macy’s is an eager participant. Head to Macy’s.com to scope out the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals directly following Thanksgiving.
Major Holidays like Fourth of July, Easter, and Christmas are a given, but did you know Macy’s also has large sales for Labor Day, Memorial Day, and President’s Day as well? Any holiday is a good time to snag savings with Macys.com.
Miscellaneous Sales also seem to happen at random. For example, at the time I wrote this article, Macy’s was currently running a VIP Sale from March 18 – March 25.Why? Probably just to push more of it’s Winter inventory out and make room for Spring and Summer styles. In any case, 30% off is nothing to scoff at.

I’d challenge you to log on to Macys.com and NOT encounter a sale of some kind!

Coupons

Another way to save with Macy’s is by keeping an eye on their various coupons and discount codes.

Do your regular shopping, but before you check out, head over to their coupons page to see if you could save a few bucks.

Easy peezy!

Shipping vs. In-Store Pickup

Another benefit of shopping online with Macys.com is that you’ll often have the option at checkout to pick up your purchase in the store!

If you live in a major city or suburb, there’s almost surely a Macy’s nearby, so this is a great way to save on shipping costs.

Target.com

Oh, Target.

It’s so easy to get swept up in the energy of that place.

You could spend hours filling your shopping cart in Target and still leave without what you originally went in there for

And if there’s a Starbucks in there? God help us all.

But it’s a shame to miss out on all the cute stuff and great deals just because you lack impulse control, which is why I much prefer doing my shopping online where I can keep an eye on my total cost.

Like Macy’s, Target will offer a healthy number of holiday sales events throughout the year, most of which can be accessed via their online store.

They also offer free 2-day shipping on orders over $35, and free same-day store pick up for online orders.

Another perk?

Online returns can be shipped back for free using one of Target’s prepaid shipping labels or returned in-store.

All you need to know is when you shop online with Target, it’s pretty much risk-free!

But what does all this mean for those of you that want to shop alternative trends from niche fashion brands?

Read on to discover how I find fashion dupes that keep my style fresh and my bank account positive.

Online Shopping Guide Secrets: Shop The Trend, Not The Brand

If you’re a cool girl, and I think you probably are, I’ll bet you love what you see popping up on your social feed from cool-girl brands like Dolls Kill, Boohoo, Revolve, and Missguided (just to name a few.)

I know they make, like, the cutest shit ever, but they are still a business and you can be sure they spend heavily on market research to ensure that the clothes they come out with each season will be appealing to rebellious young women in their teens and twenties.

I’m not judging though!

The point I’m trying to make though is that these brands are not just responding to trends…

With their huge followings on social media, they are also helping to shape trends.

It doesn’t take long for copy-cat clothing manufacturers to come out with a cheaper version of the popular trends of the moment.

Here’s how I find them…

Sneaky Online Shopping Guide Method 1:

If you see something you like from a fast fashion retailer, go ahead and check it out.

You can browse the whole site and everything new they have to offer, or if you really have your heart set on a certain thing, just stop there.

The funny thing about fashion, and art in general, is nothing is really new – It’s all been done before, and fashion trends are easy to replicate.

So what I’ll have you do from here is save the link to the product page of the piece you really love in an excel spreadsheet, word document, or even just email it to yourself.

Go ahead and do the same with the product image – if it’s really specific, you may need this later to do an image search.

Usually, however, that won’t be necessary.

The first place you should head with your fashion inspiration in mind is Amazon.com.

These days, Amazon has a surprisingly huge selection of clothes and accessories, along with some of the most trusted customer reviews on the internet.

Here, you’ll search for products that match the description of the inspiration piece you picked out on that trendy retailer website.

You may have to do some tweaking of your search query and filtering based on review, but I’m willing to bet you’ll something very cool on Amazon for the half the price of the inspiration product.

If not, you can repeat this process with any of the major online retailers listed above.

Just be sure to thoroughly examine the sizing guide, reviews, and color/description before committing to the purchase (more on that below.)

If this online shopping guide hack fails you, there is still one last thing you can do to side-step the mainstream fashion retailers and score a deal.

Sneaky Online Shopping Guide Method 2:

Remember when I suggested you save the product image?

Well, here’s why.

If your item is very unique and you’re having trouble finding or describing something similar on one of those shopping search engines, you can still try an image search to pull up some alternatives.

Google image search is ideal for this, but don’t doubt the power of Pinterest either.

As a social platform, Pinterest practically revolves around shopping activities, so it’ll probably return more small name brands, Poshmark sellers, and Etsy retailers that don’t have enough authority with Google to show up in the first few SERPs.

Whether you find your guilt-free fashion alternative using the keyword search method or the image search method, the next step of this online shopping guide is to inspect the product fully to ensure it’s actually what you think it is so you don’t become a victim of an infamous Amazon fail.

I like to start with the reviews…

Customer Reviews

First of all, if a product has no reviews on Amazon, I would be very wary.

With other sites, like Macys.com, I’d still prefer to see some reviews, but there is the expectation that a certain level of quality is required for Macy’s to be carrying it in the first place.

This is not so with Amazon, so I’m extra thorough about vetting the products I consider buying there.

Although you can usually discern real reviews from fake reviews, you can even go so far as to check whether the reviews are real or not using FakeSpot.com. (My friend May swears by it!)

The reason I start with reviews is because they can save you a lot of time due to the fact that people will usually cover sizing and quality to some degree.

You can also learn things that you weren’t even thinking to check for, like whether the garment is see-through in the sunlight, how much stretch it has, or how soft the material is.

But shopping for clothes online inspires anxiety in women everywhere due to sizing inconsistencies across brands, and that’s why I’ve devoted a whole section to the topic.

Sizing

“What’s your size?”

You might as well ask a woman her age.

And yet, the question inevitably comes up in any shopping scenario, forcing us to stop and think about what our size might be for this particular garment and whether it will ‘fit true to size’ or not.

Inconsistencies in sizing across designers, retailers, countries, and units of measure all combine to make a scientific experiment out of buying the right size clothing online.

Like, don’t even get me started, this post doesn’t have room for me to do a full-on rant on the sad topic of women’s clothing sizes.

The point I do want to make is this:

Knowing your approximate size is not enough.

If you want to be successful shopping online, you need to take your measurements with a tape measure and read the reviews thoroughly.

I’ve found that a lot of clothing retailers on Amazon are manufacturing in China, where the average woman is significantly shorter and smaller than the average American woman.

Take it from me: Just because you’re a small, doesn’t mean a Chinese small will fit.

Incidentally, the Chinese manufacturers and retailers also tend to have the cheapest products available, so sometimes it’s worth buying a size or two up to score the deal, like I did with this yellow crop top.

So the moral of the story is that it pays to take your actual measurements and compare them to the measurements of the product you’re eyeing.

It would also behoove you to note the country of origin for your purchase, because that could give you another clue as to the way the item will fit.

Color & Detailing

A picture is worth a thousand words, but product image photography is a sneaky game.

Although it’s not always intentionally misleading, very often the product photos you see online don’t tell the full story of what you’re about to purchase.

Again, this is why I rely on customer reviews so heavily…

Customers will say when the color or quality of the product is different from what they expected, and on Amazon some will even provide their own images to prove it.

Buying black clothes on the internet is another mysterious game because you can’t really make out the texture of a black garment just by looking at it.

When I’m considering buying something in black, I always examine the item in lighter colors (if they’re available) so I can better gauge the texture and quality.

You’ll also want to read the product description thoroughly, of course, in case it mentions any details not visible from the photos.

Coupons & Savings

With the cost of shipping, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to buy 1 item at time.

This is why most retailers offer free shipping on purchases of $50 or more to offset the cost and give consumers the illusion of savings.

Unless you’ve got an Amazon prime membership, it really does benefit you to do all your online shopping in large orders.

Not only is it more cost effective, but let’s be honest, it’s more fun that way!

Rewards

When it comes to earning rewards, a shopaholic can actually benefit from her addiction.

While you shouldn’t spend money just to earn rewards, it goes make sense to use reward-earning cards for purchases that you’re gonna make anyway.

If you have multiple credit cards to choose from, this could take some practice and planning to do with small fashion retailers, but it’s totally worth it to maximize your returns on credit purchases.

But if you find you do a lot of shopping with Amazon, Target, or Macy’s anyway, you should absolutely be taking advantage of their rewards programs!

Since I started this post talking about the three big online retailers I use to find fashion dupes, I’ll just briefly go over the kinds of rewards each of them offer.

Amazon Prime Rewards

For example, the Amazon Prime Rewards Card gives you 5% back on all Amazon purchase charges… and you get the same rewards at Whole Foods now too!

In order to qualify for the Amazon Prime Rewards Card, you first need an Amazon Prime account which you can try risk-free.

Start your free trial.

After your free trial expires, your Prime membership will cost $12.99/month (charged annually) but it comes with tons of benefits:

Free 2-day shipping on all Prime eligible products
Free streaming of all included Prime Video & Music media (It’s no Netflix, but it’s still pretty great.)
Exclusive shopping deals
& more random perks as detailed here.

Get Amazon Prime!

Macy’s Rewards Credit Cards

Macy’s offers two credit cards:

The Macy’s store credit card which can only be used at Macy’s
Or the Macy’s American Express card which can be used outside the popular department store

The rewards aren’t very exciting unless you first put in the time as a loyal customer and card swiper and work your way up the rewards tiers as shown below:

Courtesy of creditdonkey.com

Macy’s AMEX cardholders get some additional benefits regardless of which tier they fall into:

Plenti members get 3 points per $1 at restaurants, 2 points per $1 at gas stations and supermarkets, & 1 point per $1 on qualifying purchases
Exclusive discounts on dining out and shopping with Macy’s partner merchants
Exclusive deals on travel for flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and vacation packages

All things considered, if you’re a huge Macy’s fan there’s really no downside since none of the Macy’s Credit Cards have an annual fee to worry about.

The Target REDcard

There are actually three different REDcard products to consider, and none of them have an annual fee:

The Target credit card: This is a store card, accepted only at Target and Target.com.
The Target debit card: This card is linked to your checking account, and your purchases are deducted each time you use the card. It’s accepted only at Target and Target.com.
The Target MasterCard. This is accepted anywhere that takes MasterCard, but you have to be invited to apply after having one of the cards above for a while.

As with Amazon Prime, Target REDcard product customers enjoy 5% off all qualifying purchases, free shipping on online purchases, and extended returns.

Online shoppers rejoice: This is an easy way to make Target shopping sprees work for you!

So what have we learned?

With this online shopping guide, your endeavor to find cute clothes at a fair price need not be complicated.

You have the tools and the information at your fingertips to bargain-hunt like no generation before!

If you read through my online shopping guide thoroughly, you know all my tried-and-true tricks for saving on your purchases and ordering the right size the first time.

It’s also not necessary to spend beyond your means to take advantage of daring trends and seasonal styles – shop the sales, take advantage of rewards programs, and always look around for cheap fashion dupes.

All it takes is a little extra effort to find low-cost alternatives for the seasons hottest looks.