the good, the bad, and the ugly -- members only discount sites

Limited access shopping sites have proliferated over the last couple years.  They generally have items for sale for a limited time period, such as 2-3 days.  I have joined several with varying degrees of success.  Here are the sites where I've had luck shopping with invitations to join:

Sites Focused on Children's Products

The Mini Social
The Mini Social has sales starting at 11:00 am EST during the week.  The Mini Social tends to get some of the edgier brands that the other sites don't get.  For the brands that all the sites carry at one time or another, the Mini Social's prices also tend to be a little higher. 

Totsy
Totsy has sales featuring various brands starting each night at 9pm EST Monday-Friday.  Totsy occasionally carries brands I like (such as North American Bear, Mudpie, Imagiplay, and Elegant Baby) and tends to have the best prices.  The downside is that orders can take a *long* time to arrive and its customer service can take a while to respond if there's an issue.  With those caveats, I'd recommend checking it out for items you don't need immediately.  Brands that have sales coming up on Totsy within the next week include Small World Toys and Baby Star.

Zulily
Zulily is my favorite of the children's product sales sites.  Zulily gets great brands, has reasonable prices, and also sometimes carries women's clothing and housewares.   Zulily's sales start each morning during the work week and on Saturdays.  Brands currently on Zulily include Sigg and Wonderworld toys.  Zulily also has awesome Blowout sales from time to time, but you have to be quick to score the deals.

General Sites

Gilt 
Gilt has sales Monday through Saturday beginning at 12:00pm  EST and 9:00pm on Sundays.  I love Gilt.  It has some great sales for women, men, children, the home, travel, and gifts and is reliable.  You will receive the items you ordered within a reasonable time frame, and Gilt has good customer service.  That said, some of the things end up there for a reason and can be hideous.  You have to be prepared to look and know that some sales just aren't going to be that good.  However, I have scored BlaBla, Olive Juice kids, Bambino cashmere sweaters, Pediped shoes, and a whole host of other great products for my son there. 

HauteLook
HauteLook is a lot like Gilt, with sales starting at 11:00 am EST Monday through Saturday.  HauteLook is also reliable, and I've been happy with my experience with HL's customer service for returns, etc.  Like Gilt, some of the items end up on HL for a reason.  HL tends to have at least 1 children's sale going on at a time.


One King's Lane
One King's Lane is a home goods/decor site.  It does, however, have children's sales from time to time (including Moncalin and BlaBla) and also has a "Gifts We Love" shop that carries a few children's items.  I love OKL.  The customer service is great, and the presentation of the items is also good.  However, the prices aren't always the most reasonable, and while some items truly are deals, others are not.

a few favorite things -- #1 BlaBla

I can't say enough about how much I and my son love BlaBla.  He still loves his giraffe rattle, one of his first toys.  His favorite BlaBla buddy of the moment is Wink the Owl, but I'm still partial to his mini-Berry the Bear.  BlaBla also makes lust-worthy mobiles, hats and booties, blankets, and backpacks.

BlaBla has a pick of the month, where they offer monthly discounts, and also a good sale page, where I have scored some beautiful sweaters, cute t-shirts, and other assorted items.  Another good place to find lower priced BlaBla is eBay.  Chasing Fireflies also occasionally has retired BlaBlas on sale.

a blog is born

Since I spend way too much time scouring the internet for assorted sundry children's items and my 2-year old son's closet, playroom, etc. are overflowing, my husband suggested that I start a blog to share the wealth.  So, here I am.  I am a wife/mom/lawyer/shopaholic. 

Along with shopping in brick and mortar stores (and I highly recommend supporting local businesses), I scour the internet on a daily basis for finds.  I tend to prefer classic children's clothing and toys and handmade items.  I hope you enjoy my finds.