The sale strategy

In 5 steps

Today you are safe because all stores are closed. Why does almost no one know anymore (for a small refresher course on the Christian holidays click here), but the stores are closed. We have all the time to prepare together for how we will strike in the sale.

Do your homework

Go ahead to your favorite store. Look, try on, and touch what you like. This way, you protect yourself against impulse purchases when you go wild with shopping fever and misled by discounts.

Take photos

This way you can lay out all your different ‘objets de désir’ next to each other and see if you can make good combinations with those items. This way you can see if you will really benefit from them and if they add to what is already in your closet The danger of the sale (and shopping in general actually) is that you often buy a seventh version of that little black dress or those ripped boyfriend jeans. Also handy about a picture is that you can send someone else to the store as soon as the ‘sale’ sign is in the window.

Try it on

I am often so greedy in the sale that I don't really look critically at whether it actually looks good on me. So try it on beforehand, while you haven't been caught by the sale virus yet. Moreover, the staff is much nicer and more helpful then.

Ask yourself this

Always consider whether you would buy this piece of clothing if you had to pay full price for it. Otherwise, it will still hang unused in your closet.

Test the staff

If you go shopping a week or two before the sale, you immediately know how honest the staff is with you. At the nice stores, the staff usually whispers to you that the sale starts in two weeks and that you should come back then. But I have also experienced differently. I bought two complete riding outfits for my daughters on December 30. Caps, boots, pants, gloves, the whole shebang. Because my girls were so incredibly happy with their new outfits, they wanted to keep their riding boots on. As a result, we forgot their own shoes. Okay, I was nicely called by the store. But now comes the kicker. The next morning (that's half a day later), I stood right before the store opened at their door. There was a line for that store that made you think VIP tickets for Beyoncé's concert were being pre-sold.

“What are all these people doing here?” I asked a fellow in line. “They are striking while the iron is hot. Every second item you get for 1 euro.” Good. You understand. I have never been back to that store again. Stupid, stupid, stupid and also incredibly rude.