Dear Budget Fashionista,

I love fashion, but live in the boondocks. What are some good, budget friendly, online shops that sell REAL discount designer fashion items? 

Overstock.com

SmartBargains.com

Answer: There’s a couple of great places on the web that sale designer fashion at a discount. Here’s a few of my favorite ones:

Amazon.com Apparel
Amazon should be your first stop when shopping for designer goods. When you search for a particular brand or item on the site, the search isn’t just limited to what Amazon carries itself. The system also searches the thousands of third-party vendors who sell their items through the site as well. Plus Amazon offers a 30 day price guarantee.
Overstock
Overstock.com, recently launched an new section of the site featuring shoes, sunglasses, apparel, and handbags from big designers like Armani, Prada, Gucci , etc. While an online designer stores is nothing new (hello, Bluefly), Overstock arguably has the best prices on the net and you can almost always find a coupon for an additional percentage off, to use on the site. Plus shipping is usually a flat $3.  Personally, I’ve made several, designer purchases from Overstock, including a very pricey Movado watch for Tobias that cost over 60% less than the retail price. Tobias loves that watch more than Star Trek the Next Generation.

Bluefy
Bluefly is a great stop for affordable designer goods. Unlike a majority of budget sites on the Web, Bluefly has top designers such as Prada, Fendi , Michael Kors and Calvin Klein at 30% to 80% off retail prices.  Bluefly also has a solid selection of shoes from designers like Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, Gucci and more. The online outlet is one of the only sites that has an impressive assortment of men’s fashions from designers such as Hugo Boss, Diesel, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Versace and more. 

Smartbargains.com
This bargain site has a cheesy, K-mart like design. However, what it lacks in design, it more than makes up in discounts.  Smart Bargains is a great site to pick up end-of-the-season and Overstock items from designers like Tod’s, Fendi , Prada, and Isaac Mizrahi. They also have plus size and petite sections, although the selection is limited. The bargain and last chance sections are great for finding fashion for men such as Zegna silk ties for $29.97, Armani wool suits from $799.99.  While you are there, pick up a little something for yourself like a Versace nylon tote for $179.00.

The Snob
One of the first and largest online consignment and vintage retailers, the Snob is Florida based company with a large collection of vintage Chanel. This store has a comprehensive, searchable, online database of fashions from designers like Versace, gently worn authentic Hermes handbags (including vintage), Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Prada, Valentino, Missoni, Malo, Fendi , Jil Sander, Manolo Blahnik, Gucci , Chanel and Prada shoes and bags. All merchandise is authentic and in excellent condition (some items in mint, unworn condition).  Also carried plus size fashions.

Fendi trapeze bag. It helps to be very clear of your goals when shopping eBay. For example.  if your goal is to get a Louis Vuitton monogram bag because Scarlett is in the ads, then you may not care whether the bag is real or not. However if your goal is to get a Louis Vuitton bag, because you have always wanted the bag, then you need to head online to eluxury.com (where it will not be on sale)  Before spending any money with an Ebay store, check it sellers ratings and view their buyer comments. In addition, always purchase items from e-bay using a credit card with buyer protection. That way if the item is fake (which happens more often than not), you may be able to get your money back via the credit you used to purchase the item.

Shop Goodwill Our Favorite thrift store now has an online auction site. The nicely designed site is not quite Ebay, but you can find items at a cheaper price than its for-profit competitor.  Shop Goodwill is the best place for cheap costume jewelry on the web.  There is a major downside- few postings have pictures.

Ifashionmall
A fellow fashionista once described this site as the “alternative to Bluefly”, which is a bit of a stretch. The site does have a limited selection of discounted designer fashions like Heatherette tees for $19. 

You can also try sites like eluxury.com, neimanmarcus.com, saksfifthavenue.com when they are having their big online sales. Sometimes you can find items at the sales for less than the items cost on the discount shopping sites.