My favourite things: Dealuxe online shopping site

My relationship with online shopping is best described as a love/hate one. It was love when my 13 year-old self discovered that Abercrombie and Fitch delivers to Canada, but it quickly turned to hate when my $30 t-shirt wound up costing me double thanks to a little something called customs duties. The love was re-ignited when I realized I could ship to my friend's homes in the United States, but it quickly dissipated when the pair of Miu Miu's I was salivating over went down 50 per cent and none of my friend's were going to be in the U.S. anytime soon to retrieve them. Sigh. To this day I can still recall the joy I felt upon hearing that Amazon and Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic had opened Canadian shopping sites. However, said sites cannot account for our lack of mid to high end shopping destinations like Shopbop.com, net-a-porter, Gilt and myriad others that U.S. citizens can call their own.

Though the scales remain tipped disproportionately in favour of our Southern neighbors, I am pleased to report we are getting warmer. Take SSENSE for instance. It's a luxury online retailer that ships worldwide, but since it's based out of Montreal – we Canadians pay low shipping and return costs and we avoid the real killer: CUSTOMS DUTIES! SSENSE stocks dozens of "it" brands for men and women, including some of my personal favourties: Rag & Bone, Loeffler Randall, Lanvin, Guisseppe Zanotti, Diane Von Furstenburg and T by Alexander Wang. And while prices are still a little lower in the States, SSENSE has seasonal sales. Plus, they have a store in Old Montreal and they allow you to phone the site and order an item(s) to be delivered to the store the following day for you to try on without any fees or obligations. Take note, however, the retail location is small and only carries high end designer labels.

Call me needy, but the problem with SSENSE is neither shipping nor returns are free. These are just two of the reasons why I love Dealuxe, a Canadian women's fashion, beauty and accessories site that prides itself in superior customer service and regular deals. The lines available are great, though not as high end as those on SSSENSE (think Joie, Velvet, James Perse, Pink Tartan, Autumn Cashmere etc.), and the selection not as abundant, but the nascent site grows daily.

All orders arrive in a shiny red Dealuxe dust bag that's perfect for packing your shoes when traveling 

My first Dealuxe experience was when I bought a pair of red skinny J-Brands during a two day 25% off sale. They didn't fit and I was worried that if I tried to exchange them for a different size, I wouldn't get the discount since the deal had ended. However, when I called, the girl I spoke with was so nice and gave me the deal, and of course the return was free. Another time I ordered from them, my package arrived with a $25 gift card to spend on purchases over $100. Of course I liked a top for $98. Knowing my promotional code wouldn't work online, I phoned and explained my conundrum and without any hesitation the customer service rep let me use my card on a $98 top. Canadians are known for being nice, but at Dealuxe they make a business out of it.

At Dealuxe,  there's always a "daily deal", whereby one item is offered at a discounted price, but there are other types of deals too. For instance, a couple times a month there will be something along the lines of buy one top get the other 50% off, or all bottoms will be 20% off etc. With those kinds of deals, your savings are equivalent to those you'd get in the States. Good, no? Moreover, as a member (anyone can become a member), I receive daily emails informing me of deals and new arrivals. There's also an online magazine featuring celebrity looks, editor's picks, trends and general fashion updates.

Dealuxe can never reach the level of say Shopbop, because their primary market is Canada and there aren't that many Canadians, whereas Shopbop caters mainly the the U.S. as well as International countries. Still, the site's dedication to customer care and its consistent growth and improvement is excellent news for all fashion-loving Canadians whose two least favourite words in the English language are CUSTOMS DUTIES! Check it out and tell me what you think.