Gilt Noir has been launched.  Officially, unless you spend $10,000 at Gilt Groupe over the course of the year you won’t be considered for an invite – this is for super spenders only.  Supposedly Noir members get to preview all sales early before the regular marauding deal hounds, and access to special events like training with the U.S. ski team in New Zealand. 

The kicker to all this?

Gilt remains completely unfriendly to their fellow North American compatriots in Canada.  For those unfamiliar, Gilt only accepts US credit cards - even if you’re intending to ship the order within the US for pickup at a shipping receiver.  It’s completely unfair, not only because we’re so damn close but why the hell should only Americans have access to Gilt’s amazing deals?!

For instance, Gilt began their Pour la Victoire sale today and though boots were priced at an amazing $200 (ish, from about $400) I couldn’t buy a damn thing.

Myself and many others have appealed to Gilt concerning the credit card issue, and all we get is a canned “we’re considering it” type of reply. 

Enough!

If you can create a specialized service level for 0.01% of your customers, you can make a few edits to your electronic billing system to accept Canadian credit cards.

Let’s stop this corporate fail.