Are you interested in going to The Row Sample Sale 2025 but can’t decide if it’s worth going? Let me share my experience and help you decide.
Trying to explain the idea of going to Sample Sale to non-New Yorkers is a task none of us are equipped with. In the case of The Row, the conversation usually ends for me when I am asked, ‘but what’s The Row?’
I have been going to The Row’s Sample Sale for the past two years in a row now and I wonder sometimes how long this is going to go on for. For a brand of The Row’s caliber, it’s really interesting that they keep going with these sample sales year after year. While most brands have in-store private sales and some have outlet stores; The Row chooses to have these yearly sample sales where anyone and everyone can stand in line and buy something.
I told everyone who asked me about my plans this week what I was busy doing. That I had packed for my camp out on the street session starting sometime between 1-3 am on day 1 of The Row Sample Sale. After going on day 3 last year (blog post here), I realized how little was left on that day with no restocking. I went all in and decided to show up on day 1 really early and find out for myself just how crazy this scene gets and what’s available this year.
This blog post is all about The Row Sample Sale 2025. If you need help deciding if it’s worth it, keep reading!
DECIDING ON GOING
This was easy, I have serious FOMO with anything relating to The Row. I love this brand so much and have a lot of trust in their quality. Their Sample Sale reviews have been a hit or miss at times, but I’ve always seen some of the best hauls on day 1. So, I went all in and decided to camp outside on day 1 early in the morning.
DATES & LOCATION
This year, friends and family (i.e. VIP) were invited on 10/21/25, and there wasn’t a lot of information about what was available on IG by the end of the day, which made me even more curious as to what to expect. The sample sale was open to the public 10/22/25-10/25/25. Every year, The Row sample sale happens on the third week of October with the first day being that Wednesday – so you can kind of plan ahead before the dates are announced. The location has been The Metropolitan Pavilion at 123 W 18th Street, 5th floor for the longest time.
DISCOUNT
Everything was discounted at 75% off. Having gone to many sample sales, this isn’t the case for all brands. Some brands offer a discount of 50-60%, and others offer an across-the-board price for similar items, such as pants $100, coats $150, etc. For the luxury brand that it is, The Row’s discount is pretty steep.
PACKING: COME PREPARED
I want to tell you what to pack if you go on day 1 and will be camping outside. Even though it’s October, and most of us are fine wearing trench coats in New York City, the temperature does drop in the early morning hours, B and you will be stuck outside for many hours, not walking but sitting which makes a huge difference. This year it was rainy, windy and quite cold. I highly recommend jeans, comfortable shoes, and layers and most importantly an actual coat. Leave your trench coat at home and pick up something that actually keeps you warm. I highly recommend a camping chair as you don’t want to wait standing up nor do you want to sit on the streets of New York City. Bring a blanket, hand warmers are optional. I recommend not drinking water for a few hours before leaving home, trust me it will come handy. Bring whatever entertainment you need: laptop, book, etc. Don’t bring precious things with you. I talked about this in my blog post last year, I almost lost my Celine Seau Sangle bag at The Row Sample Sale. I showed up with a gifted (free) tote bag.
WAITING TIMES
This really varies on the date and time you decide to go. Day 1 is a very popular and busy day; people start standing in line more than 12 hours before the opening time, so you can imagine the line, and if you can’t – please watch this IG reel.
I joined the line a little before 4:30 am on 10/22/25 (even though I had planned to go much earlier). I was able to get in a little before noon, that’s 7 hours and a half of wait time! Even though it sounds like a lot, people are usually very friendly, and you can make friends. The only big issue for me was the weather. It was rainy, windy, and cold this year. So I did freeze ‘a bit’.
Less people show up on day 2 and onwards, so wait time is more manageable. I mentioned this last year, I waited around 2 hours on day 3 when I showed up around 8 am, I was able to get in around 10 am.
LINE EXPERIENCE
The more important the brand, the crazier the line gets. Each line sitter is supposed to be replaced by 1 person, but that almost never happens. The people who hire the line sitters come at the time they agreed on and exchange spots with their line sitters, but then 3 of their friends show up… So if you were #70 in line at the time you got there in the early morning hours, expect to be around #100 by the time it’s 10 am. It’s unfortunate but this is the reality. I have endless stories of people cutting in line… Security has no interest in dealing with those issues, which is quite different from other sample sales I’ve been to.
ENTRY
You will check in your coat, sweater, bag, and anything you brought with you. You can keep your phone but both front and back cameras will be covered with a sticker. You can use your phone but not for photos or video calls. This woman hoarded literally 30 pairs of shoes and was clearly taking photos, her and her family were kicked out. I just want you to know what you’re risking if you do decide to take photos.
THE STOCK
This year, I saw more bags than ever on day 1. Many Sofia bags and Park totes were available, but gone soon after the first and second groups entered*… More shoes than ever (the tables were packed!), sweaters, tops, pants, blazers, skirts, dresses, some outerwear, many hats and random accessories. The Men’s section was very well stocked with blazers, pants, shirts, and outerwear. I did not see a single exotic leather bag or small leather goods. Some kids’ clothing was also available.
*Some videos posted on IG on day 2 suggested that there were bags available.
FITTING ROOM
There is a long line to get it, and I felt this year they were limiting the number of people inside, which made the experience a little better, but we ended up waiting to get in. There is not much happening here, everyone is focused on trying things on and maybe asking for some advice.
HOW LONG CAN YOU STAY?
No one is really interested in kicking you out after a certain amount of time. I ended up staying an embarrassing amount of time, 3 hours and a half. Many people stayed 4 hours+. I heard some people being kindly asked to leave after hoarding or causing drama.
WHAT TIME SHOULD YOU COME?
The way I see it is that you either come early, wait long outside but enter to a reasonable stock or you come a little later, wait outside even longer, and enter to a low stock. To me the first option makes more sense, but I still wasn’t there that early and definitely not in line as part of the first or second group. So by the time I walked in, there were no bags or shoes in my size in the popular styles. So how did I score some good finds?
WHAT I GOT
I was able to find the Lonan Pants, which I have wanted for a while but would never want to pay full price. I got the Milla Mule, which I had considered buying at full price, they are so chic. I also got the combo slide, in black satin – since I don’t have any full-on satin shoes, I thought this would be a simple yet chic summer piece. I finally scored the Sofia bag for a ridiculously low price. All my items are in pristine condition, which is really nice. Unlike other sample sales in the city, I have to say, I rarely see any defects in the items sold at The Row sample sale.
HOW TO FIND THE THINGS YOU WANT
This is a section I thought about writing in this year’s blog because I used these strategies to land on the things I wanted.
#1 FOCUS ON SECTIONS WHERE THERE’S POTENTIAL
My general approach is to not waste time – At first, I walked through the shoe section and noticed all my sizes were gone. So, I started shopping for ready to wear and found some nice pants and other things I eventually didn’t buy. I tried some clothes and in between circled back to the shoe section quite often, checking to see if restocking happened or if some shoes were returned.
#2 THE ITEMS LEFT BEHIND
Closer to my two-hour mark inside, I noticed that people who had come in part of the first or second group were checking out, which meant they had to make decisions about what to purchase and what to leave behind. So, I started frequently checking the table next to the check-out area, I believe those were used to showcase bags, but they were empty when I walked in (so I’m not a 100% sure). Many items were dropped on that table as people lined up prior to checking out. Unwanted items can also be found in the fitting room, so keep your eyes open. Many left behind shoes from the fitting room, would be taken back to the shoe section so it’s also a good idea to frequently walk through the shoe section. I found a pair of the Milla Mule randomly in the shoe section (returned) and the combo slide 30 mins before I exited the sample sale.
#3 TALK TO PEOPLE
There were so many Sofia bags this year. When I entered, I felt that everyone was carrying one and many had two. I had been on hunt for those bags for such a long time but refused to pay full price. I randomly found one that was a cross-body version in the fitting room (it wasn’t anybody’s just to be clear). It wasn’t my first choice, but I held on to it. I asked many people if they decided not to buy the bag to please pass it to me, no one did, however his strategy can sometimes work.
Finally, when I was holding my crossbody bag, I noticed a lady walking around with a top handle version of the exact same bag, which is the version I was on the hunt for. So I simply asked if she was interested in a swap, she was very excited about it, as if she had been looking for a crossbody version, we swapped bags and that’s how I got my top handle Sofia bag. So I am sharing this to encourage you to be friendly and talk to people around you and ever so often if you feel your message wasn’t well received about wanting an item they were holding, apologize for being intrusive. There was no drama when I tried it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you can handle the crowds, coming early, the drama, I highly recommend coming on day 1, because that is when you will be able to find things that are worth it.
This blog post is all about The Row Sample Sale 2025. If you need help deciding if it’s worth it, keep reading!
As always, thank you for stopping by and reading. If this content interested you, you might want to follow my Instagram account @girlontheues
See you next time,
Girl on the Upper East Side
Xx
If this interests you, you might enjoy reading my blog post on The Row, Phoebe Philo, and Toteme.
Leave a Reply