This Shopping App Will Find You a Wait-Listed Bag

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

For the personal shoppers behind the iPhone app PS Dept, the words "sold out" mean nothing. Quartz goes behind the scenes to find out how PS Dept co-founder Michelle Goad and her team of stylists and shop associates track down impossible-to-find items for their clients. The app looks slick but it's based on a low-tech concept, relying entirely on messaging between users and stylists. PS Dept's stylists then use their connections to hook up clients with luxury items from bags to wedding dresses, wait list or no wait list.

This spring, users turned to PS Dept so they could get their hands on white Birkenstocks and Mansur Gavriel bucket bags. The PS Dept team was able to track down a shipment of blogger-fav Chanel espadrilles before it arrived at a Neiman Marcus distribution center in Dallas, and then sold 100 pairs in one day. According to Quartz, PS Dept just got another round of funding and is staffing up—in case you feel like you have the shopping chops to locate Fendi Karlito handbag charms.
· This app will find you a sold-out handbag, a rare bottle of bourbon, or your dream wedding dress [Quartz]
· PS Dept [Official Site]
· The 411 On New Shopping App Spring [Racked]