I am a mood sale shopper — I normally don’t go out of my way for sales (especially with the usual retail suspects like BR, etc), but I love a good discount so if I’m in the right mood with time on my hands, I will browse the Rack or Off Fifth or the like. I’ve gotten some gems that way over the years, and it allowed me to add designer pieces to my wardrobe at more reasonable costs. I do look for discounts when there is a designer or retailer that appeals to me but seems a bit steep (I waited until a sale to buy a sweater I had been eyeing from Sarah Pacini, for example). And if there is a sale on a particular style of jeans that works well for me, I will often take advantage of it to stock up a little bit (for instance, I duplicated my AG Harper straight jeans in grey and black when I found them on sale at Amazon, and the 7FAM Dojo bootcut jeans in a light wash at NAS this year).

But if I truly fall in love with something and I don’t think it will last in stock until a sale, or it’s a brand or item that never really seems to go on sale, I’ll happily pay full price.

I’m not usually too bothered by seeing something I paid full price for go on sale, IF I have gotten some use of it already. It DOES bother me if it’s an item that hasn’t even gotten worn yet, as in the case of some NAS items over the years. I’ve usually gotten price adjustments for those items. I’ll be watching this year as well, since I bought three coats/jacket, which won’t get worn until October at the earliest!

Really interesting range of responses- I have enjoyed reading them. I am not a good stalker - I will wait and have a cool off period which can go for me and against me.

For a while I thought being in sale constantly meant that a retailer was going under soon - but I know some of the retailers that do this are very profitable.

What I do worry about - is me buying two dresses on clearance sale from a retailer closing up shop means two less sales for retailers staying in business. I am buying at cost price or similar - it can be a bit of a cycle can't it!!

Without reading the other replies, here are my responses:

Whenever buy anything online, when I get to that spot in the checkout that asks for a code, I pretty much always do a quick search for codes.

I get a lot of automatic emails notifying me of sales. I don’t think they prompt me to buy, but I might browse. I am getting a bunch right now because my birthday is coming up. One of them is from a place where I’ve had things in my cart, waiting for prices to come down, for a while, so I’ll probably go ahead and get those, but the rest aren’t for things I’ve been thinking of.

You didn’t mention them, but I think outlets are my preferred “sale” types. During the years we lived in Florida, I developed a Nordstrom’s Rack habit that I’d never had before. I stopped before we left, and am glad. I don’t need that many clothes. I was surprised that you mentioned recently that you can see that my earlier things were better quality—good eye, but it also confirms for me that all those purchases weren’t the best idea.