American Eagle

Full review
My fourteen-year-old daughter is remarkably picky about the clothes she wants, and American Eagle jeans were on the top of her list this holiday season. I have to admit I am not very knowledgeable on today's teen clothing scene; I generally set a price amount and let her shop with her friends. I wanted to get her a pair of American Eagle jeans this year, however, so I went to the online store.


Site Design

When you first go to www.americaneagleoutfitters.com you come to a main introductory page with links to take you to other areas of the online store. You can somewhat customize your shopping experience based on the links you choose to follow. Across the top of the page are the following links; men, women, aerie, clearance, and AE gifts. If you are starting your search in a more specific manner you can simply click on shop mens or shop womens in the center of the main page. Other main page options can be found on the left side of the page. These include a link for buying a gift card, "New Arrivals" (subcategorized into links for mens, womens and aerie), Web Exclusives (subcategorized into links for mens and womens), and finally a link to create a wish list . The "aerie" is a specialty store within the main online store.


My Experience

When I go to a website for the first time I like to take my time browsing. I find that I find more deals and miss out on fewer sales this way. My first click was to the womens section, utilizing the shop womens link in the center of the main page. This took me to an index page with broadened links; clothing was separated into types (e.g., shirts, pants), by section (e.g. womens, clearance, aerie, and gifts). There was also a link to go to the men's department if I wanted to redirect my search.

I clicked on "jeans" and almost fell over when I saw that most of the jeans were priced at right around $50 a pair. Wow. That might not be a lot in today's teen shopping world, but in my budget I was appalled. My next click was on the clearance tab, where I eventually found a pair of jeans my daughter will love for a reasonable price of $22.50.


Ordering

Ordering was very easy. It consisted of adding the item to the shopping cart, then checking out. I paid with my debit card and the entire process was very smooth. I opted for regular shipping as I ordered these around the 12th and figured there would be no problem getting them before Christmas. I do believe there were other more expensive shipping options if time is a problem.


Prices

As I indicated above, this is a very expensive store. while I think I may purchase more items here in the future, it is pretty much a given that I will only buy from the clearance section. American Eagle is high fashion right now, and their prices are frankly ridiculous in my opinion. The clearance section does have some great deals on cute clothes, however, so is definitely worth a look. I paid right around $9.00 for shipping and tax, which was quite reasonable.


Final Thoughts

The jeans arrived at our home on 12/20/07, so approximately eight days after I ordered them. They arrived neatly packaged in good condition.

I am very happy with this purchase, and I know my daughter will be delighted with her new pair of American Eagle jeans. I had a very pleasant shopping experience with this online store and I recommend it if you are shopping for an American Eagle fan. Just be sure to check out the clearance section!