Online shopping: my tips

Hi sweethearts!

A blogpost about online shopping, just because haha!

I’ve been a LOT on the computer lately with work. For me, during sales this also means: being totally distracted and starting to shop online. Yes, I'm guilty.

About my fave online stores

Here’s my story. So I wanted to buy a specific book for work. When I’m looking for a specific book or present, I love to use Bol.com. Bol.com is an online store that sells anything you can dream of. It's a bit like Amazon. Why do I love it? You can just search at the website by title for books. Works super handy if you’re looking for a specific book. I also buy all my phonecases at bol.com, because then you can just search for the exact type of phone... So, the book is called “little volcanoes”, it’s a book/ tool for working with toddlers with anger issues. Super interesting, I think. So I was shopping the book online…. and then the shoppingrush kicked in haha! Totally me…

So I thought, oooh it’s the greatest time of the year again (sales-time) so maybe at the bol.com site there’s a great deal to score? And yes, so I ended up shopping online for the next hour (oops!).

(actual footage of me...working... And the sad part here is: I actually DO love my job!)

Okay, since I was already distracted, I wanted to check the Hollister-sale out. As you might have seen on my social media, I really adore Hollister. As I’m subscribed by e-mail, I get e-mails daily with their clothes. I always check these mails out, to find out if I’m going to like some of their stuff, as a pre-shopping excuse or something like that.

Some online shopping tips, tested by a pro

1) Buying your normal size. A little tip for online clothes shopping: if you shop on the website of your fave store, buy clothes with the same size as you’re used to. I know my size in Hollister clothes (not going to mention it here), so I always buy only my own size. And another tip: if you’re not sure what size to buy, then just go to the physical store and try the clothes out. I do this sometimes, because I found out that some clothes may be cheaper online than in stores (when you have a coupon or something). Then you can make sure to by the cheapest items, but you know that it's going to fit.

2) Buy more items. If you’re buying stuff online but you’re indecisive about which items to select (if there are more items that catched your eyes), I have another tip for you! Go to stores like Zalando.be or Zalando-lounge.be. They have free delivery AND return, so if you try the clothes on and they don’t look good on you in person, you can just easily send them back. For tight clothes like sportswear, I think this is a great tip! I found this out by coupon site Deals.be (a new website with great deals to find out).

3) Check the deals and sites. Then tips about safety: If you’re not buying stuff from an online store that you already know the actual stores from… I always check the deals out, to find out if this deal is an actual deal. Sometimes, these fake deals are actually more expensive than on the original webshop.

Also: make sure that it’s an official website. Don’t buy from those weird-looking stores, with no contact link. So if there’s anything wrong with the product, that you can’t contact them. How to check this: I just use Google! Search for the brandname and then “scam”… If it’s a scam, someone will probably have mentioned it before. Also by this: make sure to ALWAYS use a virus scanner, and a good one! Most of the times, the scanner will check the fake websites for you (and hopefully block them). If you’re smart, you only give your cardnumber etc. but NEVER codes! Never ever!

And now my final tips: watch Confessions of a shopaholic, to stay a mentally healthy shopper!!

Online shopping inspo

Where to find shopping inspo? I’m obsessed with the new “swipe up” link on Instastories. By just swiping up, you can find out where the fashionblogger has found this item (if they’ve linked it).

Also: stores can link the shoppable items to their photos. I found out some brands that have tried this yet. Brands such as Abercrombie and Hollister, Guess, Zalando,… You can click on their posted photo and directly see the prices and items to buy. So if you liked the outfit they've posted, you can actually buy it for yourself. Great update, thanks Instagram.

There are also a lot of apps from the stores you like, that you probably didn't know about. But hey, there's always time to download them, right? For me, this would be too addictive so I haven't downloaded one yet. I think that I'd be selecting a billion outfits each time I'm online. And it would make me unhappy that I won't be able to buy them all.

So, have I helped you a bit with these shopping tips and stories about online shopping? Or have I just convinced you to go shopping.. in your couch... on your computer.. with a nice cup of tea... in your sweatpants... after a breakup... Sorry- not sorry!

Thanks for reading this blog,

X Steph