Online shopping has become an indispensable part of our lives – whether ordering household items, electronics or gifts, we can comfortably shop and find the best offers, without having to leave our home.
But when it comes to shopping for clothes, it’s a different story.
People still seem reluctant to order clothing online, and there are valid reasons to be doubtful – when shopping online, you can’t try anything on, so you’re not sure if the size fits, how it feels, looks, or even what the material is like.
However, if you follow a few simple principles you can have a great shopping experience and find that it can be just as easy as ordering a book or a DVD.
Always Measure Yourself Beforehand
When clothes shopping online, perhaps the most important thing is to measure yourself, so that you know exactly what size clothes you need.
The main difference between shopping online and in the mall is that when you’re in a clothing store, you can put on a piece of clothing to make sure it fits. When shopping online, you don’t have this opportunity, so you have to always be sure what your size is.
Check the Size Charts
After you have your measurements, you should always check them with the size charts, to get an idea of what size you should order.
These may differ from one piece of clothing to another, meaning that you should check the size chart with every piece of clothing, because no two size charts are the same – you may find to be different sizes for the same type of clothing, depending on its place of production, intended distribution region and so forth.
Shop Around
If you want to find the best offer, then you have to be willing to look for it.
Even with brand names, if you look thoroughly, you can often find much better deals on the same item, which can save you a lot of money in the long run.
Don’t think that hot sales only happen in malls – in fact, since you have so many options when shopping online, you can usually find better deals than in any local mall.
Buy From Trusted Sellers Only
Although shopping online has many rewards, there are things you have to be aware of if you don’t want to get scammed. That’s why you should always keep your eye out for signs that a seller might not be trustworthy and not hesitate to look elsewhere, if you have doubts about buying from him.
There are a couple of things you should look for in a seller – firstly, you should check the reviews of the site, what feedback is it getting, are there complaints, and, if so, do they point to suspicious activity?
Also, if a site sells counterfeit items, it is already engaging in illegal activity and should definitely not be trusted.
Always look for sites that are encrypted, which means that the information you provide can’t be shared with a third party and is secure. You can tell if a page is secure by looking at the beginning of the address – on a normal site it’s “http”, while an encrypted page starts with the letters “https”.
Check for a Return Policy
When shopping for clothes online, it is especially important to be able to return an item, so you should always check the sellers return policy.
Since you can’t be absolutely sure if a piece of clothing will be right for you, there has to be a return policy that you can use if it turns out to be different than you expected.
Check if the seller has a free returns policy, which means that if you’re not happy with your purchase, you can return the item, given it is undamaged, and get a full refund. If the seller provides this, you will not even have to pay for the return shipping.
The seller may also provide a refund if the size does not fit you, which is also good, since that is the main drawback of shopping for clothes online anyway.
Find Out the Shipping Costs
When you’re shopping around for an item, always take into consideration not only the listing price, but also what will be the total price with shipping.
Sometimes you can actually end up paying more, if the item is shipped from further away, or if it is more expensive for other reasons.
Find out how much the shipping will cost for you and only then decide where to buy.
Shopping online can be just as easy, if not easier, than going out shopping for clothes, as long as you know how to make the most of it and do the proper research before making a purchase.
When you do it properly, you save time and energy that you’d otherwise spend shopping in stores.
Really, the only real downside to shopping for clothes online is a garbage can full of boxes and packaging materials, which probably isn’t the biggest problem in the world, when you think about it.
Michelle Forsyth is a self-employed writer and blogger with a BA from Melbourne University. When Michelle is not writing or blogging she spends time with her two kids and spends time online shopping for the best deals!