THIS WEEK, DURING A

grand-opening celebration of cosmetic chain Sephora's newest Manhattan store, a line of eager women waited for more than an hour to get a coupon for a deluxe bag of samples.

But some lucky women sashayed right by them and got their bag of goodies after a mere five-minute wait.

Were they celebrities? Publicists to the stars? Relatives of Sephora employees?

Nope. They were savvy web shoppers who printed out an exclusive coupon delivered via an e-newsletter that Sephora sent out a few days before.

Not all spam email messages are junk. Signing up for the e-newsletters of your favorite retailers is a great way to find out about sales and might give you access to deals available only to those on the list.

Usually you can sign up for these services directly at retailer web sites. But before you do, look for:

• Statements about how and with whom your sign-up information will be shared. Many newsletters don't require much personal information beyond your name and email address, but others ask for your mailing address and phone number. Check the company's privacy policy to make sure you won't get unwanted junk mail, spam and phone calls.

• Opt-ins. Some retailers won't excessively spam you unless you ask for it. Borders allows you to sign up for alerts (including coupons) only, if you wish. Or, you can add monthly newsletters and notices for special interests (audiobooks, African-American literature) or events (the new "Harry Potter" book).

For one-time purchases, consider frequenting these coupon web sites, which catch many (but not all) of the web and email coupons for major retailers:

• WOW Coupons
• Deal Catcher

Here's a sampling of some of the deals currently offered by major retailers to email subscribers.