TIPS & TRICKS FOR SHOPPING ON THE REALREAL

FIRST IMAGE: Prada Bag via The RealReal // SECOND IMAGE: Ashish Dress via The RealReal // THIRD IMAGE: Gucci Blazer and cape via The RealReal

The RealReal is one of my favorite sites to shop on the web – a true treasure hunt! While you can score amazing deals on designer fashion all over the site it can be completely overwhelming for newcomers! Today I am going to walk you through step-by-step how I shop the site in order to save time, remove obstacles, and find the best deals on designer goods! I’m also highlighting all of my RealReal purchases from 2023. Let’s explore…

WHY I SHOP THE REALREAL

First, I want to chat a little but on why I love the RealReal so much. I shop on TRR for three reasons: to find deals on current luxury items that have been gently worn (sometimes you can also even score a deal on an item NWT), find a past luxury item that is super hard to track down, or discover a vintage piece I didn’t know existed. Shipping is easy and while there is an assumption that items aren’t returnable, that is not always true. There are select categories and items that you can’t return such as handbags, swim, final sale pieces, and a few other exceptions. Not all that different from man other retailers!

NEW ARRIVALS RELEASE SCHEDULE

The RealReal releases new product at 7am and 4pm PT. Great, rare finds go fast and I try and check in quickly when I can around 10am and 7pm ET as I am based on the east coast. Of course, I don’t do this every day, but when I am in the shopping mood it is absolutely on my radar. I’ve paid to become a First Look Member, which means that I can see all new arrivals 24 hours in advance – a huge advantage!

HOW I SHOP ON THE REALREAL

My first stop when shopping on the RealReal is the ‘Editors’ Picks‘ tab which is located in the New Arrivals tab all the way on the right under ‘More To Shop’. I find this is a highly curated selection of some of the best new pieces on the site. After a quick breeze through this section I then hop over to my ‘Saved Searches’. Each time you search an item, designer, or even multiple designers with size and colors filters you can save them. Your searches are updated as new items hit the site. Some of the brands I have saved under my searches are Emilio Pucci, Delpozo, Miu Miu, Missoni, Emilia Wickstead, Bernadette, Rosie Assoulin, Gucci, Linda Farrow, Johanna Ortiz and more!

The RealReal allows you to ‘heart’ the items you love and will save them all into a visual pinterest board of sorts. I LOVE looking at this section – it feels like a virtual closet that I wish I owned! The advantage here is that it allows me to check back in and see if any of my ‘hearted’ items have been marked down OR if an item I wasn’t fast enough to snag was returned (you can heart an item that has been sold). I’ve had tons luck waiting for items to go to 40% or 50% off the initial RealReal price and buying an items well below MSRP.

Every once in a while when I am feeling more ambitious I’ll head to new arrivals and set all the filters to my exact sizes to see what I am missing that isn’t in ‘Editors’ Picks‘ and isn’t one of my saved brands. This can be quite time consuming, but when I am waiting for an appointment or a meeting to start, it can be a welcome distraction. If you are like me and there are very specific seasons from a designer you love, those terms can also be added in the search bar. For example, one of my go to searches is ‘Miu Miu Fall 2015‘ – it is how I was able to score this dress!

MY REALREAL PURCHASES IN 2023

I thought it would be fun to walk down memory lane and share what I’ve purchased from The RealReal in 2023. Overall, I find it’s hard to score deals on certainbrands on the RealReal, such as Chanel, Hermes, etc. while there are other brands such as Pucci and Missoni you can snag for amazing prices. I also find with certain categories, like sunglasses for example, you can find much better deals on, while items such as purses are a bit more hit or miss! Oftentimes for me, it is less about the exact price and more about the thrill of getting my hands on pieces from previous seasons that I missed out on – even if I have to pay closer to retail! Keep scrolling (no judgement!) to see alllll the items I bought on The RealReal in 2023…