Local Deals Go Luxe: Gilt City and Shift & Save

Want the true Champagne life on a beer budget? Now you can have it, or at least a taste of it, without leaving home, thanks to Gilt City, the latest brainchild from our favorite private sale site: Gilt.com.

Jumping on the daily local deals bandwagon popularized by Groupon and Buy With Me, Gilt is beta testing Gilt City as a location-specific service for limited time offers — and, just like the quality of clothing, housewares, and travel deals on their sites Gilt.com and Jetsetter, the services and items up for grabs at deep discounts are fit for even the most discerning urbanite.

NEW IN THE NORTHEAST
Right now, Gilt City is only available in in New York and Boston (lucky us!), but — based on the meteoric rise in popularity of Gilt's other branches (Gilt FUSE, Gilt Man, and Jetsetter) — we're pretty certain they'll be coming to a city near you soon. As with all the private sale sites, Gilt City is worth checking out and watching, in our humble bargain-obsessed opinions. If you're not already a member of Gilt Groupe then use Shoestring's invitation link to sign up, and if you're already a member, use your regular Gilt.com login for Gilt City, as well.

HYPER-LOCAL & HYPER-INDIE
Also, for Boston lovers, another local deal service launched yesterday: Shift & Save Coupons from Somerville Local First. Much like the social shopping and limited-time-offer sites mentioned above — but with an indie flavor — Shift & Save is backed by the 10% Shift Campaign, a national movement that encourages consumers to invigorate their local economy by shifting 10% of their monthly spending to locally owned and operated businesses. The first of Shift & Save's monthly deals doubled customers' dough ($10 for $20 at local, seasonal food shop Sherman Market) and sold out in just one day.

Saving money while supporting small businesses and celebrating entrepreneurship? So very Shoestring.

DEATH BY DEAL NOTIFICATION
Feeling overwhelmed by all the daily deal emails and the constant stream of new sale sites cropping up? Check back tomorrow for reviews of two new private sale and social shopping aggregators the Gumshoes are road testing, which promise to cut down on the digital clutter!

Story: Copyright 2010, Shoestring LLC. Images: Courtesy of Gilt.com.