Quality discount clothing from a quality website owner. No loose pieces of lint, no dramatic catfights, no torn dresses, no overcrowded meltdowns, and no bitchy shoppers to deal with.The joys of shopping online. The only frustration I encounter regularly, even if I’m not purchasing, is how lightning fast online shoppers are in clicking those “Add To Cart” buttons.

Calvin Klein dress at 60% off, $646

Even during these massive discount times and that I don’t like discounts in general, I applaud Net-a-porter’s approach in offering only last Spring’s styles instead of this year’s. I’m also assuming last year’s fall collection will end up on the Outnet in a few months. They seem to be sticking to the traditional formula in offering the discount much later rather than only a few weeks online. How that will play to their advantage, however, will remain to be seen. Most physical stores on the retail playground are no longer adhering to traditional sale seasons due to the recession. I’m not quite sure if the same rules apply to online stores in general, such as online counter parts like Banana Republic seem to echo their prices as to what goes on the retail sales floor, so it’s difficult to say if original prices have a longer shelf-life online.

Outnet also offers sort of an Ideeli-like “flash sale” where deep discounts on certain items will only last for 72 hrs. The first of it’s kind is 8 days from now, a bundle of Spring dresses.

Granted, the Outnet is not that much different from other online discount retailers or the high end department stores who have sales of their own on their website. Here, they have to tread carefully. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Death to Discounts? The Designers Rebel, deep discounts are rifting the relationship between department stores and their designers. If retailers are too eager to put items on sale, designers may look for alternative solutions to keep discounts to a minimum and may look to open their own retail corner to control prices and keep some integrity over their products.

So, will The Outnet aggravate the already fragile relationship between consumer and designer? Only time will tell if it will survive this year’s price wars.

Image credit: The Outnet

I’m perhaps one of the rare few who has a distaste for sale announcements.

I got this newsletter email from online high end retailer Yoox.com today, announcing that there’s yet another sale going on. This time a sample sale where some items are slashed at 90% off.

I found these Michael Kors pants originally priced at $274, slashed down to a mere $25. Granted, they’re not the greatest looking pants, but one has to wonder what kind of profit Yoox is actually making by having such a sale. Perhaps nothing since it may be trying to get rid of inventory with the new spring collections pouring in bit by bit. Still, aren’t retailers aware that this is a huge risk they’re taking in putting up these sales?

If I wanted stuff on sale from an online store, I’d just hit Bluefly.com, where items are perpetually on sale. It’s sort of like the Winners of online shopping. And let’s not forget that TheOutnet is about to arrive next month, which will push the competition for designer discounts even more.

Even as a shopper myself, my interest in shopping at full price is starting to wane on the fact that some things are simply overpriced. I’ve seen $500 print leggings, which I could probably get for a fraction of the price made of the same material, but the print design would probably be simpler and less ornate. I was also disheartened to see Banana Republic already slashing prices on items that have only been there for 8 weeks. Had I waited 2 months, I could’ve gotten my dresses on sale. It sort of takes out the pleasure of shopping when things go on sale now, it just cheapens the experience and simply rubs the state of the economy in your face.

Sales are no longer one of those events that you look forward to, it’s to be expected every couple of months. Retailers are really killing it with the sales, it makes me not want to shop at all. I don’t mind a good bargain, but let’s not overkill it with 90% off.