The time is almost upon us. Twice a year, every blogger braces herself for the big Nordstrom sale, which includes stocking up on extra caffeine in the house, getting her anti blue light glasses out for the endless hours she’ll be spending making item collages and wish lists, and of course all the planning for what she’ll be promoting for her audience during the sale. Whew, I’m tired just writing that!
In years past, I have not really participated in the so-called blogger hunger games (my new favorite term, coined by Krystal Faircloth on her podcast Slow Your Scroll) to the degree most bloggers do. Mostly because up until January I was always working a full-time corporate job, and doing a blog ‘on the side’ already meant staying up until 1am nightly just to make the “not enough” sandwich I was serving up to my audience each morning. Plus, a big part of me is very against the sometime ‘buy, buy, buy’ culture of what blogging has become, where I am left wondering, did she even like that sweater she’s telling me she’s been “living in daily”?
I am left with two piles at the end of every Nordstrom sale. 1) Crap I was influenced to buy, like a cardigan I felt I needed like the third child I never had, after seeing it on literally 200 bloggers, and 2) some truly holy grail items which I actually use daily and would probably have never discover had it not been for the sale. But let me digress, what is the Nordstrom Anniversary sale anyway and why do bloggers care about it so much?
THE NORDSTROM ANNIVERSARY SALE 101:
HOW OFTEN IS THE SALE? Every year Nordstrom holds 2 big sales. The Half Yearly Sale and the Anniversary Sale. This year the anniversary sale is August 19 – 30, with an early access preview which you can view HERE now. Depending on your status, you can shop as early as August 4th. If you are a card holder, check your status HERE. And if you don’t have a Nordstrom card, you can sign up for one HERE.
WHY IS IT SO ‘BIG’? – Think of it as if the new arrivals accidentally got put in the clearance section and you won’t get arrested if you just go with it at the checkout register. Basically, all the stuff that’s not even out of the sales floor yet will be marked way down, just for the duration of the sale, and then will be sold at full price after the sale is over. So, you have a chance to score some major deals on items that will probably never make it to that clearance bin! This would typically be where I say, “get your Christmas shopping done early girls!” but it’s 2020 and the world might just end by then. But let’s look on the bright side, the preview!
CAN YOU PREVIEW THE ITEMS? For the first time, everyone can preview the sale items BEFORE the sale starts. Why is this a big deal? Most of the gems usually sell out fast, so if you can save yourself some scrolling time and save your favorites before the sale goes live, your chances of actually getting that barefoot dreams blanket are way better.
WHAT IS MY STATUS & WHY DOES STATUS MATTER? The higher your status, the earlier you get to shop, so the aforementioned gems that sometimes sell out on day one, have a higher chance of making it into your cart if your status is higher. Here are the status details.
MEMBER: Spending $0 – $499 yearly
INSIDER: Spending $500+ yearly
INFLUENCER: Spending $2,000+ yearly
AMBASSADOR: Spending $5,000+ yearly
ICON: Spending $15,000+ yearly or being on the Real Housewives of somewhere (jkjkjk)
PRO TIPS FOR SHOPPING THE SALE: Drink a massive coffee, tell your kids you’re going to need a minute and roll up your sleeves, because your fingers are going to need to do some fast clicking!
- SHOP AS EARLY AS YOU POSSIBLE CAN. Yes, at midnight.
- SAVE UP YOUR DOUBLE DAY POINTS and redeem them during the sale
- SAVE YOUR FAVORITES – take advantage of this and create a wish list so you can just dive in with one click and start pressing the add to cart button!
WHY DO SO MANY BLOGGERS PROMOTE THE SALE? For many bloggers, the Nordstrom sale is a chance to earn big dollars and I have a feeling this year more than ever, you’ll be seeing a whole lot of Nordstrom sale content from the bloggers you follow, pandemic and all. Before you sigh and roll your eyes, here’s something to remember. Just like you possibly had to agree to take a pay cut to keep your job, or are currently furloughed or god forbid unemployed, every blogger has experienced a huge blow to their business since March. So, when a big sale like this comes up, it’s a chance to make up for some of that loss with commission earnings and have one less anxiety attack about all the uncertainty of 2020. But with the content spam comes a cookie war. What’s a cookie war you ask? Like I said earlier, it’s the blogger hunger games (thanks again for that gem Krystal!) Whoever’s link you use to purchase your item, is who will get that commission and if you clicked on your favorite bloggers swipe up but then looked around some more and clicked on another bloggers link, that last bird gets the warm. SO, if there is someone you feel a true connection with, a blogger you know who might be going through some family issue, or someone you follow that’s just starting out, consider giving them your last cookie! Every crumb helps.
I’ll be posting some comprehensive favorites collages in the coming days, but here are my absolute go to holy grail items, that I bought and love and what I’ll be adding to cart this time!