Top 5 Lessons From An Online Shopping Addict

.... and free shoes at the end!  Stay tuned.

Hi, my name is Tiffany, the guest editor, and I'm an online shopaholic. ;)

I went to boarding school, now I'm at a lovely university thats seems to believe fashion is Adidas shower slippers and free t-shirts, and did I mention I don't have a car?

Full disclosure: my online shopping mania led me to find StyleSays on a friend's Facebook wall and then bother them until they let me get involved with the site. :) 

So yeah.  I shop online a lot, and I've learned a few things along the way!

5. Free returns: rarer than you think!

In my experience, less than 1/5 of online stores offer free returns.  Can you imagine getting fined $5-15 for buying something from a local boutique and then returning it??  Stores even deduct the cost of pre-paid shipping labels from your refund, so don't be fooled.

Wanna know if you can get free returns on that item you're thinking about? Use StyleSays ... but          more on that below!

4. Try a smaller merchant!

Don't be afraid to try a new site!

Small stores, especially Etsy and eBay merchants, are often spectacularly good about answering questions. You can ask them to hold items, to measure dimensions, or even for more pics.

3. Shop around, but not too much!

Comparison shopping can be addictive and 10 options is not always better than 1.

If it is indeed an item you only want to purchase on-sale, find a way to save it so you can come back to it later.  Or better, spare yourself from having to remember and angst and just get a sale alert with StyleSays :)

2. Don't shop after 2 AM!

You're delirious!  You're gonna regret this in the morning!  Get back to bed, silly.

1. Friends don't let friends shop alone!

I know online shopping seems like an inherently solitary activity (cue image of blank eyed girl scrolling page by deadening page) but it doesn't have to be!

Friends offer a good reality check when you're going crazy and they often know your style better than you!

Bonus Round!

Final tip?  StyleSays  Try it.  It's the best way to shop online with your friends.

Throw out that first image.  Picture instead you and your friend strolling down Rue de la You made of all your favorite stores, and everything your friends have picked out.

With a magic wave of your hand everything that catches your eye but that you aren't ready to buy is put away for later, never to be lost, and if it goes on sale your personal shopping concierge will let you know.

So get in line and for goodness' sake, be generous and share the invites with your friends!  You'll need someone to shop with, after all!

Invite 3 friends and you might win any pair of Yotam Solomon shoes you like; we're talkin' handmade leather pumps.  After all, we're all about sharing ;)