My 10 favorite items to buy at Vitacost

Though Vitacost is known primarily as a large online retailer of supplements and 'natural' products, my first encounter with the store back in 2010-ish had nothing to do with ingestibles. I was actually searching for a pedometer, after trying out a couple of poor-quality ones I bought locally, both of which conked out after less than a week of use. As I had no desire to shell out another NIS 150+ for an item I saw cost far less abroad (e.g., sold by US vendors on eBay but with exorbitant shipping costs), I headed over to Google Shopping to see if I could find an online store that not only had a high-quality pedometer, but also wouldn't gouge me on shipping costs. In the end, I bought this pedometer, but for a lot less, and shipping at the time was only $7.99. Naturally, having finally found a rare website with what I considered fair shipping prices intrigued me, I returned to see what else they had to offer.

The rest,as they say, is history.

Being your own importer: Shopping at Chinese websites

Unless you've been living under a rock this past decade or so, you're probably aware that everything, but everything, is made in China these days. From clothing to shoes to watches to electronics...chances are a decent percentage of your possessions were made there, even if you bought them somewhere else.

Until a couple of years ago, however, the Chinese goods market was open exclusively to wholesalers - unless you happened to be visiting China (and people from Israel did, and still do, take themselves and their interior designers/architects there to buy whole house contents and ship them here). With the ushering in of the online Chinese retailers, now you, too, can order goods directly from that country without getting out of your comfy chair.

Exploring the underworld: Saving (lots!) by buying lingerie online

Note: most of the stores mentioned, while they also sell men's underwear, are geared primarily towards women. Depending on your place of work and your/their personal sense of propriety, many of the sites may also be considered NSFW. Just don't say I didn't tell you :-) .

Possibly one of the more expensive items of clothing many of us women wear at any given time is our bra. This is especially true if you're the well-endowed type, are pregnant or nursing, or have had a mastectomy. Such bras purchased locally can each cost several hundred Shekels.

Women who need shapewear have a similar problem. Good quality shapewear, which, in my humble opinion, is the only type worth wearing, can also run you several hundred Shekels bought locally. Or you could take your chances with an as-seen-on-TV bodyshaper via Groupon. 

Fortunately, there are other excellent options with reasonable, fast shipping from abroad, so you shouldn't feel you need to compromise on quality at the expense of a decently-priced item.

Saving Money Online for Shopaholics: Cashback Programs

I've already mentioned that I'm a bit of a shopaholic. Not too much, but there are always things I need (or want) and the vast opportunities for spending money online, both in local shops and internationally, are...well, vast. We'll be going into exactly where and how to shop so as to not empty your bank account in one fell swoop in a later post, but in the meantime, let me introduce you to a concept that will help you recoup some of your losses in the long run.