I think we have all gotten better at online shopping in the last year in a half or so, but I think most people have had online shopping fails during their lifetimes. I, for one, have had many unsuccessful online shopping purchases. However, I have gotten a little bit better shopping online because of these 11 tips that I have collected from experience and from other wise beings on the internet or in the real world.

Before I get started with the tips, I want to say that clothes are meant to fit your body. Bodies are not made to fit clothes! Something not fitting is never, ever your fault. And that’s that on that.

(Pictured below are two of my best online purchases ever from Target, my wide leg jeans and my stretchy pants.)

  • Always consult the size chart. Just do it, friends. Don’t depend on the idea of knowing your size. Just take a gander at each brand’s size chart.
  • Take your measurements and use those measurements to choose the appropriate size for you. Get your mom, your man, your lady or your bestie, or whoever to help you take your measurements. Record them on your phone and shop accordingly. There are so many tutorials on how to do your own measurements or how to measure someone else online, so do some googling and get to measuring. Story Time: My sweet angel husband bought me leggings from a sustainable brand from Australia last year for my birthday and he bought me an XL. Needless to say, that was not my size. I certainly would not have chosen that size, but surprisingly they fit! If I bought my actual size, these leggings would have fallen right off my ass.
  • Read about the item’s fabric contents. If you do this with all your clothes, ones you like and don’t like the feel of, you can make educated decisions about what you are buying online.
  • Read the reviews! People who already bought this item should have good insights into whether or not you should buy said item.
  • Look into the company’s return policies before you buy something. You want to know if you can return something if you don’t like it, right? If you can’t return something, make sure you will 100% like that thing before you buy it. Story Time: I ordered some period underwear last year that ended up not fitting me because I didn’t consult the size chart and ordered the wrong size, albeit the biggest size, and I reached out to the company and they sent me a refund without asking me to ship the item back to them. I will probably shop from them again because their customer service was so on point.
  • Consult your most trusted influencers and friends before purchasing something. Some influencers won’t tell you the truth about a product because they are making money off of it. Maybe don’t take their advice to heart. In regards to the recommendation of friends, make sure you are of similar size and opinions of said friend before you follow their advice.
  • Order more than one item at a time if you can so you don’t have to pay shipping multiple times. This one is pretty self-explanatory because shipping costs are absolutely outrageous.
  • Use the Honey plug-in to get the best bang for your buck. Honey searches the whole internet for discount codes for what applies to the items in your cart and gets you the best deal.
  • When shopping secondhand, do not be afraid to ask questions. Any good reseller will be open to questions about the items you are selling.
  • If you are able to, make bids and offers on secondhand items. Many resellers are open to offers and it is always worth asking if you can get a better deal.
  • Before purchasing something secondhand online, do your research. Try to find the original listing on the retailer website so that you can read reviews, check the size chart, see model photos and read about fabric contents. I say that you should do extra research when shopping secondhand online because you usually can’t return stuff when buying from private resellers.

Do with these tips what you may, my friends. I need to follow these more often as well, so don’t feel bad if you make a mistake when shopping online. Taking these tips to heart is good for everyone in the long run. You save money and your returns don’t end up in the landfill, which is typically where returned items end up.

Happy shopping and let me know if you have any other secrets to successful online shopping that I missed.