5 Tips for scoring an “Out of Stock” Item

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Black floral dress: Exact here (looks like they have a size L still available!); Similar here |Pointed-toe flats: Buy here |Black booties: Still available here, here and here | Pink heels: Exact here; Same heel different color here; Similar color here | Black and white lace-up heels: Exact here (on sale!); Similar here, here and here | Pale blue floral swing dress: Buy here | Yellow midi dress: Exact here (on sale!); similar here and here | Floral sandals: Exact here (on sale!); similar here and here | Striped skirt: Exact here; Similar here and here | White top: buy here (on sale!) | Lilac lace-up heels: Exact here; Different colors here and here | Floral top body-con dress: Buy here

Happy Hump Day lovers and friends! Sorry for my empty promise of having this post up yesterday. I should just learn my lesson that unless the post is already done or close, I should keep my mouth shut! K well anywaaaaaays – let’s get to it. Today’s post is serious stuff you guys. Let’s be honest: is there any woman in the world who hasn’t had the experience of finding something you’re absolutely in love with, and you look at it and look at it – you may even put it in your cart – but for whatever you reason, you hesitate to actually pull the trigger and buy it? And then, when you go back again to look, suddenly it’s gone? Wait, what?! Sold out?! Out of stock?! Nooooooooooooo! Yes, you guys. Oh yes. It happens. Things sell out. ‘Why didn’t I just buy it when I first saw it?!’ you lament. But you didn’t. You didn’t buy it, and now you’ve missed your chance.

Or have you? 

K, that was all a little dramatic, but seriously I’ve been in the situation described above so many times I’ve lost count. And yet despite that, I have wound up purchasing butt-loads of items that had gone ‘out of stock’, i.e. all the items in the pic in this post. How have I done it? I’ll tell you! (or do we suddenly feel like we’re watching an annoying infomercial? My bad. )

Here are my top tips for scoring items that have gone ‘out of stock’:

For the record: as far as these tips are concerned, I’m referring almost exclusively to online shopping – which is basically the only kind of shopping I do any more. Momma ain’t got time for that in-store stuff puhleeeease.)

• Tip #1: Check back! Check back, check back, check back! I can’t tell you how many times something I desperately wanted went ‘out of stock’ in my size, and I still ended up with it in my hot little hands. Why? How? Because I check up on it like a creepy ex-girlfriend – that’s how. Seriously though – I have a list in my email called ‘Stuff to Check Back On’. It lives in the drafts section and I’m adding to that sucker all zee time (ok Materialistic Matilda – we see you). You’d be shocked at the number of times that an item which went out of stock ends up becoming available again – even if it hasn’t been restocked as a whole. Stuff gets returned all the time and then 1 or 2 sizes of an item will become available. If you’re on top of it, you can snag it. Good example: these amaze-balls J.Crew heels sold out at lightning speed, but I put them in my ‘check back’ email and checked most days. For the past month or so, the shoe has oscillated between being completely ‘Out of stock’ in all sizes, to having 1 or 2 of several different sizes. A couple days ago, one of those available sizes ended up being my size, and you best believe I purchased those babies just as quickly as I could. Boom! They’re all mine now. Point being: stuff gets returned, and a lot of items get restocked, so if it’s something you want so badly it hurts, for the love CHECK BACK! And for best chances of success, check back often. I’m a daily check-backer, sometimes even multiple times a day. Obnoxious? Probs. Effective? Absolutely. Just remember that if an item sold out, it means that lots of people loved it and there are probably others hoping to get their greedy little paws on a stray return or a restock. So don’t let them beat you to it!

• Tip #2: Find out who made the item and google for the brand or designer. Unless it’s the shop’s own brand, most designers and brands sell their merchandise in multiple places. So if the thing you love is sold out in your size in the first place you looked, google the brand or designer OR the name of the item and see if it’s being sold elsewhere. Example: I found these amazing Steve Madden heels on one website but they were sold out in my size. I googled ‘Steve Madden Presidnt’ (the name of the shoe) and discovered that they were also being sold HERE – and they had my size! Snatched those babies right up.

• Tip #3: When in doubt, buy it and return if necessary. Here’s the thing guys – there IS such a thing as something being gone gone gone for good. It’s happened to me, and I’ve found that it’s the purchases I didn’t make that haunt me for years after the fact (a.k.a I’m pathetic). Make sure you check the shop’s return policy before following this tip, but if the coast is clear and you’re crushing hard, buy that baby and then return later if you end up changing your mind. (Side note: return policy safety is one of the main reasons that Nordstrom is basically my favorite place to shop. Best return policy EVER.) (P.S. – Speaking of Nordstrom, their Anniversary Sale starts tomorrow for card holders. Eeeeee! You guys – this is THE best sale of the year. It’s when they pull out the new Fall stuff for a couple weeks and put it all on MEGA SALE. After the sale the new merchandise will still be available, but at full price. The first week of the sale is for card holders only (2nd week is open access but stuff can be picked over by then), so if you’ve ever considered getting a Nordy’s card and haven’t yet, now would be the time so you can shop the sale early! They even have debit versions of the card so it’s not running up a credit card. You can apply for a Nordstrom card HERE!)

• Tip #4: Sign up to be notified when an item gets restocked. If an item has gone out of stock in your size, lots of sites have an option where you can be notified when the item comes back in stock (like Modcloth and Ruche, to name a couple). This notification thing is how I was able to nab these killer heels, which have literally become one of my very favorites (which is why I also got them in black). One thing to know though: if you use Gmail, it often auto-filters these notification emails into your junk mail or ‘promotions’ folder, so make sure you reassign where that email goes so that it hits your inbox. That or just be prepared to have to search for it.

• Tip #5: Check the ‘Back in Stock’ tab. Lots of sites have these. I always take a peak just to see what’s in there, but I obvi especially look when there’s an ‘out of stock’ item I’m trying to get my paws on.

 So what do you think peeps? Were any of those helpful? Will you use any of these tips? 

Probably no one is crazy/materialistic/vain enough to care about any of these tips besides ME! Haha! Oh well. If they’re helpful, hooray. If not, better luck next time Shanaynay (I call myself that sometimes. Is that weird?).

Come back tomorrow for more info about the Nordstrom Anniversary sale. Woot!

Have a Wednesday!

Thanks for reading. xo

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