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"Remember how much fun it was to do a grab bag when you were little? The element of surprise always made getting a gift so much more exciting for me, which is probably why my adult self is all into Little Black Bag, a brand new site based on the concept of the Japanese &amp;quot;Lucky Bag&amp;quot;... in Japan, it&amp;#x27;s a New Year&amp;#x27;s Day custom for retailers to make up a grab bag of mystery items and offer them at a seriously steep discount. Buyers then get to trade anything they don&amp;#x27;t want with their friends, which is half the fun...and the same idea behind LBB! Here&amp;#x27;s how it works: You register at LittleBlackBag.com and answer a short questionnaire about your style preferences, a la ShoeDazzle or Send the Trend. Then you get to choose your main &amp;quot;gift&amp;quot; from a huge gallery of chic stuff tailored to your preferences (I went with the bold red frame bag by Olivia &amp;amp; Joy below, which usually retails for $72). Then LBB chooses two other &amp;quot;surprise&amp;quot; gifts that they think you&amp;#x27;ll like--mine were a pair of Kenneth Jay Lane owl earrings and a layered bracelet by Lydell--and you get to trade with other buyers on the site. You have a limited amount of time to make and accept trade offers, and when you&amp;#x27;re happy with the bag you&amp;#x27;ve got, you pay $49.95 for everything and they ship it your way (the total retail value of my bag was actually $136, so it was definitely an awesome savings). The site has its glitches--my owl earrings proved kinda unpopular and the only things available for trade were about six offers for the same less-than-fabulous scarf--but I loved the bag and the bracelet I ended up trading for the one I started with so much that it didn&amp;#x27;t really bother me! Plus it felt like I was at an auction as I watched the clock and tried to make smart swaps, which made the whole experience so much cooler. You can sign up for a monthly subscription and get new gifts every 30 days, or you can do a one-time-only $49.95 deal, which is what I did. Everything is super-shareable (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest), so you can get your friends&amp;#x27; two cents before you buy, too. Head over to LittleBlackBag.com now to check it out, then tell us...what do you think of this unique shopping concept? Would you submit yourself to a surprise gift experience like this? What do you think of my cute new red bag? Discuss! PLUS: - Score amazing deals on pre-loved dresses from Rent the Runway&amp;#x27;s clearance sale - Top Valentine&amp;#x27;s Day gifts via online shoppers: TOMS sunglasses and Hunter wellies! - Completely custom clothes for under $100? The genius eShakti.com has you covered"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/fashion/blogs/dressed/2012/02/web-obsession-littleblackbagco>