Get yourself on over to Rue La La because a Rue Associate Sample Sale just went live.

Rue Associate sales tend to be cheaper than the Final Sales, and the associate sales are also known to crash their website as everyone tries to race each other to get the best deals.

The sale opened about 5 minutes ago now. I’d hurry over if I was you!

Click here to head to Rue La La now!!!

Hurry! A Rue La La Associate Sample Sale Just Opened! is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

Heck, even if you don’t intend to buy anything from them you might be inspired by a few of their picks!

Here are my favorite graduation gifts included in the sale:

Hillside Leather Briefcase in Orange – $139.95

Bodhi Pebble iPhone Wallet – $42.95

MBA Degree in a Box – $23.95

Apartment Therapy’s Big Book of Small, Cool Places – $38.95

Click here to check out the entire graduation sale at Joss & Main!

Joss & Main Has a Fab Selection of Graduation Gifts On Sale Today is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

A couple years back Erica Anenberg was THE go-to casual jeweler for celebrities. Erica Anenberg was constantly in the press. I haven’t been hearing as much about this brand lately, but it’s still a favorite of mine!

If you, too, are a fan, check out the Erica Anenberg Blowout Sale at HauteLook. They’ve got a bunch of fab designs at a fraction of the original retail cost.

Here’s a behind the scenes blogging story: I get pitched TONS of stories. People want coverage, which I understand. One story that I didn’t write about but that intrigued me was a brand that had developed a line of infinity necklaces like the one above, because that’s the symbol associated with the television show Revenge. They saw an opening, I suppose, and ran with it. Those necklaces were hella expensive, which is why I didn’t write about them, but you can get the Erica Anenberg Infinity Necklace for $36 {originally $120}.

I’m a sucker for gemstone stacking rings. Snag this set of 3 Paragon Stacking Rings for $48, as opposed to the original $160!

Click here to check out the Erica Anenberg Blowout Sale now!!!

Erica Anenberg Blowout Sale Today at HauteLook is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

If you’ve been resisting the urge, now’s the time to finally register for Rue La La! Register anytime before May 14, 2012 and you’ll get a FREE $10 account credit!

It has been awhile since Rue La La has offered free credits, so take advantage of this offer while you can.

And no worries – Rue La La has no way of knowing if you’re a mom or not, so feel free to get the free $10 credit either way!

Click here to register for Rue La La now!!!

Register Now for Rue La La to get a $10 Account Credit! is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

I was doing a little bit of shopping at Fab.com this weekend when I found a neat little perk that SHOULD be open to everyone. If you activate social shopping on Fab.com you can get a FREE $10 account credit each month through July 31, 2012.

That means you’ll AT LEAST be able to amass $30 worth of credits, and maybe more if April still counts.

Social shopping, of course, means that Fab.com wants access to your Facebook wall so that they can share any items you like or purchase with your friends. Annoying yes, but here’s another way of looking at it: The promotion doesn’t say you have to be ACTIVE on Fab.com to receive the credits. So even if you don’t normally shop the site or like things on the site you should still be able to earn the monthly credits just for having social sharing activated.

Follow these steps to start earning FREE credits:

1. Log-in or register for Fab.com {It’s free, of course!}

2. Look along the top of the page for the “FEED” tab

3. Look at the top right of that page where you will be able to turn “on” social shopping.

4. If you check out the image from my account above, be sure to turn on both #1 and #2 to get the full $10 account credit. You will receive a $5 credit for each sharing feature that has been activated.

5. Want to earn more credits? Invite your friends to join Fab.com and you’ll earn a $25 account credit each time a friend makes his or her first purchase!

Woo Hoo! Free credits {and free shopping!} for all!

Click here to head over to Fab.com now to get started! 

Activate Social Shopping at Fab.com & Get a FREE $10 Credit Each Month is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

Rush on over to Rue La La because a Rue Associate Sample Sale just opened up.

Actually – I take that back – THE SITE IS DOWN.

This is, I believe, the third Rue Associate Sale and the second time the sale has broken Rue La La’s website.

So, monitor Rue La La like a hawk and wait for this sale to reappear because I consider the Rue Associate Sale to be better than any of their final sales. The prices are so good and there’s generally a great selection. The only problem is their website inevitably breaks and they sell out of everything at breakneck speed.

Click here to head to Rue La La now!!!

Hurry to the Rue Associate Sample Sale is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

Racked’s post was about how Brian Atwood has launched a line of full-price clutches that will ONLY be available at Gilt. The price of the Carla Watersnake Triangle Clutch above is $1,385 … definitely not a “discount” item by any means.

Here’s a great quote from the Racked post that gives a peek into where Gilt may be heading in the future:

It’s fair to say that Gilt is courting a more luxury-oriented customer than their original online sample sale concept drew. “I think brands are realizing that our customer base is not a discount shopper,” Gilt’s General Manager of Women’s Jyothi Rao told us last night. “We have a lot of products for customers that are under $150. But we also sell, on a weekly basis, several pieces of fine jewelry that are over $5000.”

I have no doubt that Gilt’s customers may be more well-to-do than the shoppers on other sample sale sites. After all, Gilt was the first to introduce their “secret” high-end site, Gilt Noir, which boasted customers such as Gwyneth Paltrow. Jetsetter, a site dedicated to vacationing followed, and then Gilt Taste, which caters to those with gourmet food tastes. Most recently, Gilt dipped their toes into full-on retail by launching men’s shopping site Park & Bond, which is by no means cheap. I would compare their prices to Barney’s or Saks.

While Gilt’s introduction of full-priced Brian Atwood clutches to their site doesn’t immediately signify the end of sample sale sites in their current format, it is interesting that the site most open to format changes has again introduced another layer to their business. The trajectory in which Gilt Groupe is headed certainly begs the question as to the future of all sample sale sites and whether all of the sites can continue to exist without changing their own models. Remember, Gilt is one of – if not the MOST – successful of the sample sale sites and they’re constantly changing their own model. From all indications, Gilt is doing quite well {though they’ve yet to turn a profit}, but would anyone really be surprised if they were to fully switch to a more traditional retail format like Park & Bond in the coming years?

As for the other sample sale sites, it definitely feels like their heyday has come and gone. New sites are still opening up, but some of them are just downright silly. I received a press release about a new site a few weeks back and every item on the site was priced exactly $1 below retail. With the exorbitant shipping prices that nearly every sample sale site charges {and this site charged $9.99}, what’s the point?

Beyond the Rack, a well-established site, has some of the highest prices in the industry.

They’re currently hosting a Tory Burch sale, and some of the prices are laughable. They list the original price of this Tory Burch Reva Clutch as $325, but they’re selling it for $319.99. A sale of 5 whopping dollars on an outdated item? No, thank you. A quick web search shows that Neiman Marcus, of all places, last sold this clutch for just $146. {Find it now on Ebay for $267.30.} Price escalation at Beyond the Rack is by no means limited to this sale. A few months ago I wrote about ridiculously priced Keurigs. The basis of sample sales was to provide access to items at discounted prices, so the format seems redundant when there aren’t any discounts to be found.

Another problem facing sample sale sites is that, thanks to the recession, retailers have realized that people LOVE shopping sales. Thus, they can have their own sales and they no longer need to sell off excess items to sample sale sites. I’ve read numerous reports stating that brands just don’t have enough leftover items to sell on sample sale sites. This creates more competition, and fewer good brands at good prices are available to spread across the sites. Rumors have long existed that not all of the items sold at Gilt Groupe are even true sample sale items, and that they have instead worked with designers to create items specifically to appear on Gilt. The Business of Fashion has a great post about this as it relates directly to the history and future of Gilt Groupe.

Some sample sale sites are able to evade the issue of finding merchandise to sell because they are the offshoots of traditional retail companies. Take for instance Joss & Main, whose parent company is Wayfair, which just so happens to be one of the largest online sources for home goods. My long-held suspicious is that Joss & Main basically works as a sale site for Wayfair, providing a way for them to get rid of excess merchandise in boutiques frequently curated by some of the internet’s most influential lifestyle bloggers {the bloggers bring instant customers with them}. Privee recently shut their doors, but they were owned and run by Canadian-based online retailer Ssense. Perhaps the most well-known instance of a large company opening its own sample sale site is Amazon’s launch of My Habit.

The reason I have long been a fan of sample sale sites is because they offered access to brands I had previously only dreamed about at prices I could actually afford. Add in the thrill of purchasing something quickly before it was claimed by internet strangers and I was smitten. I don’t mean to sound entirely like Debbie Downer because sites like Ideeli are still rocking it out each day, but it’s clear the online sample sale landscape is quickly changing.

With constant changes to the sample sale market and sites regularly shutting down, I’ll be curious to see how things look at the end of the year. Will sample sale sites continue to exist in their current format or will they be forced to embrace a more traditional retail format? If I was a betting person, my chips would be on the latter option.

Are Sample Sale Sites a Thing of the Past? is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

Isn’t this Perch Orange Stripe Tie Tunic with Rosette adorable? {And the perfect color for spring/summer!} Ideeli has it for $29.99.

I’m also loving this Jessica Simpson Navy Plus Printed Short Sleeve Dress with Belt! The belt makes it uber flattering, but I’m really digging the shoulder-length sleeves. Originally $148, Ideeli has it for $69.99!

The sales at Ideeli are currently open to Front Row Members and will open to everyone else at noon ET.

Click here to head to Ideeli now!!!

Fab Plus-Sized Sale at Ideeli is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

This Bassike Striped Tank originally sold for $126 {can you imagine?!} but is now on sale for $17.

Snag these Current/Elliott The Ankle Legging Jeans for just $26 … marked down from $178!

Click here to check out the blowout sales at Modnique now!!!

Clothing, Shoes, Accessories Blowout Sales Happening Now at Modnique is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

Head on over to Google Offers where you can pick up a voucher for sample sale site One Kings Lane! With said voucher $20 will get you $40 to spend at the home-centric site.

The catch is that you cannot already be a member of One Kings Lane. Sad.

Click here to get your voucher from Google Offers.

If you’re not yet a member of One Kings Lane, please click here to register.

$20 Gets You $40 at One Kings Lane is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.