On line shopping

[lionking]

I'm only a recent convert, and don't even use Amazon although I buy a book every week or so - I have a favourite bookshop. But we are renovating our kitchen and bathroom, and have been going to stores to look at ovens, taps and so on, getting their model numbers and getting on the web to find the best price. Just today the oven and hotplates we liked would have cost us over $3,000 at the cheapest store, yet less than $2,500 on line. Yes I know we can bargain in the store, but I doubt we would get anywhere near the on line price.

So a few questions. Do you buy stuff on line? Is it always cheaper? Are department stores ultimately doomed? Is it a bit grubby talking to store staff, getting information and using that information to get the best price on line, or is it competition in action?

[bluesjnr]

I buy stuff on-line on about 70% of occasions like that which you describe. It is always cheaper, in price not quality.

Department stores still have a place as many people like the imagined security of visiting somewhere tangible and speaking to a salesperson in nice surroundings. They like to touch, feel and see in life size the objects they are considering buying. They are happy to pay a premium for this I assume.

You should get the best price wherever you go. It should be a case of "we want your custom". It is not difficult to get a better price online even from a department store and sometimes the same store. I bought a cooker two years ago from Comet online (UK) for £1200 that was advertised in our local Comet store for £1400. I told the lady about the price discrepancy (the local store had better delivery terms & times) but there was nothing she could about the price, so she said.

[Bikewer]

One of the reasons for shopping online is finding odd bits that are simply not carried by local stores.
I was trying to get a carb-repair kit for a small engine I had, and no one in the St. Louis area had anything close. I found the item quickly and easily online and had it in a week.

The killer, however, is shipping and handling fees. If we're buying from Amazon, we always wait till we're ordering enough to qualify for free shipping.

[Schrodinger's Cat]

I always try and get my products from locally owned stores first, even if they cost more, because I feel it is important to support your local economy...now more than ever when the economy is such crap. I personally would rather own less things, but know I am supporting businesses and workers in my community. Or maybe i will get the less fancy version locally- so for instance, I get a smaller crock pot from my locally owned hardware store rather than buying the bigger crock pot for the same price online.

though I would say this applies to luxury items I don't actually *need* but simply *want*. If it is a product I truly need (and in your example, I would call an oven a necessary purchase, not a luxury purchase, like a television) and I just can't afford the local prices, but I can afford the online prices, then I will buy online.

But if i can't find it at one of my locally owned stores, then I go online. and yes, you can *almost* always find it cheaper just because there are so many stores online to browse through quickly, so it's much easier to price compare.

so my personal advice is to think about your purchase before your purchase it. do you need that cheaper product the way your neighbor needs their job?

[Elaedith]

I buy almost everything online, although that's mainly because I don't get time to visit shops.
Nearly everything is cheaper, and I've never found it a problem to research the items and compare prices online without needing to talk to anyone.
Of course I'm in the UK now. My impression is that Oz is a bit behind with the online shopping idea due to the lower availability of broadband, or that was what I last heard.

[quarky]

Shopping will soon be an olympic sport.

[TX50]

I never buy stuff online. I prefer to support my local economy even if it costs
a few euros more. I buy stuff so rarely that any price discrepancy doesn't
make much difference to me. If I can't get something locally then I just don't
get it. The local shops have all the essentials more than adequately covered.

[RenaissanceBiker]

The killer, however, is shipping and handling fees. If we're buying from Amazon, we always wait till we're ordering enough to qualify for free shipping.

Yeah, you really have to watch out for those. I buy a lot of stuff online and you have to compare the final shipped price. Heavier items can have significant shipping costs. But a deal is a deal.

Here's an example. I found a lightweight camo rain jacket for $30 on a rack at Dick's Sporting Goods. I thought it would be perfect for early season deer hunting. Earlier I got a $25 digital coupon good only at Dick's online store. I thought, I wouldn't mind paying $10 shipping if I can get the jacket from their online store. My total would be $15, right? Wrong. The online price for the same jacket was $50. Shipping was going to be $7 so it was cheaper to go back to the store. If an individual store decides they have too much of an item they will give you a clearance price that the online store won't match. I ended up using the digital coupon for something else later that cost $22 and the other $3 was applied to the shipping.

[ponderingturtle]

I buy a lot online, but for example I want to get my girlfriend a jewlery box for her birthday, and want to know I am getting a good one and not a cheap piece of crap. I can tell that if I handle the box in a store, but a picture, well I can never be sure.

[Ausmerican]

I buy a bunch of stuff online.
As to the question of stores being doomed? Shortest answer is one word: no.
Slightly longer answer is two words: instant gratification.
It is worth it, to me at least, to pay a little more to get what I want now, rather than in 3-5 days. A little more is the key phrase though. If it is an unreasonable amount more I will order it and wait.
And as far as the grubby question: absolutley not. It is hard even on the best of websites to see what features the item you are buying has to offer.
I could one day envisage stores that have showrooms where you can look at the product and then you order it online at the store instead of physical purchase. It is not too much different to what many stores do now anyway and means that many stores would only need showroom space not storage space as well, thereby saving them money which may translate to somewhat lowered prices..

[Cavemonster]

I always try and get my products from locally owned stores first, even if they cost more, because I feel it is important to support your local economy...now more than ever when the economy is such crap. I personally would rather own less things, but know I am supporting businesses and workers in my community. Or maybe i will get the less fancy version locally- so for instance, I get a smaller crock pot from my locally owned hardware store rather than buying the bigger crock pot for the same price online.

though I would say this applies to luxury items I don't actually *need* but simply *want*. If it is a product I truly need (and in your example, I would call an oven a necessary purchase, not a luxury purchase, like a television) and I just can't afford the local prices, but I can afford the online prices, then I will buy online.

But if i can't find it at one of my locally owned stores, then I go online. and yes, you can *almost* always find it cheaper just because there are so many stores online to browse through quickly, so it's much easier to price compare.

so my personal advice is to think about your purchase before your purchase it. do you need that cheaper product the way your neighbor needs their job?

But when I buy things online, most of the time, I'm still buying from a relatively small american business, partly because I buy used things most often.

I just bought a camera. I searched through amazon and it linked me to their affiliate, a camera shop a few states away from me that does refurbishing.

Why should I limit who I think of as my neighbor by how far I can comfortably drive on an errand?

[BlackCat]

I buy online all the time, and have done so for at least the last 10 years. The few things I won't buy online are clothes (clothes sizes are all over the place, so I have to try it on first), home improvement, and cool stuff I find at Costco.

I understand the argument that I should buy locally (ugh, they even had annoying commercials on the radio for a while), but how can I do that when they won't carry most of the stuff I want?

Just yesterday, I was trying to find a book, so I go to the local Borders, because we had a gift certificate, and they didn't have it. Now what do I do? I have to go online. There's no independent bookstores around here (well, there is, but it's 50 miles away, and they were rude to me, so they lost my business). All the bookstores are the same, and they all carry the same stuff. Borders is slightly better in that they might carry older stuff, while B&N won't carry anything old (a lot like BestBuy, actually).

Also, my tastes run pretty esoteric, and Amazon is really the only store that consistently carries stuff I want. I guess the price is usually cheaper, though, I rarely even think about that because I'm just happy that they have what I want.

[Ryokan]

I'm close to buying everything except food online now. It's just so convenient, easy, access to a greater amount of goods and most of the time cheaper - especially since my local currency is so strong against most foreign currency.

If I pay in dollars, it's practically free! :D

[The Man]

Mostly I buy parts online, car, motorcycle and other parts I could not get anywhere else and if I could they would most likely have to order them anyway. One of the parts I recently bought was some high temperature wire insulation (to repair a rotisserie grill), the part only cost $8 but the shipping cost $12. Unfortunately I just could not get it anywhere other than online. Also I buy stuff online that would be too (or more) expensive if I bought them at a store. Most of the computers I have owned I bought online, mostly because I got a better deal, more memory or some other upgrade you might get direct from the manufacture. As far as department stores being doomed, I hope not. If I need something right away that is where I would be headed, but if I have time and particularly if it is a non-critical project I might spend some time getting information online and comparing prices. If a store near me has it at a decent price I’ll still go and get it when ready as opposed to ordering it and perhaps waiting when I feel like getting something done (or paying extra for express shipping).

[Cavemonster]

If I pay in dollars, it's practically free! :D

Hey!

[WildCat]

I by lots of stuff online. It's always cheaper, especially considering Chicago's 10.25% sales tax. That sales tax is often more expensive than shipping!

[KoihimeNakamura]

I prefer to buy things in person but it's usually cheaper for me to buy things online (Especially when I'm after RAM for an old computer.)

[Pantaz]

Besides shopping, I pay nearly all of my monthly bills online -- there are still a couple of services that charge a fee for paying online(!), so I still send out a couple of checks.

[Tiktaalik]

I buy a lot online. First of all, there's little local economy to support, and I often can't get what I want/need without driving several hours. If it's the same price item online & off, the shipping fees usually about equal the gas I'd use up driving, not to mention the time expended. I can't see buying food online, though, and there are other items I want or need quickly (soap, toothpaste, etc.) that it's just as convenient to buy in person.

[lionking]

Of course I'm in the UK now. My impression is that Oz is a bit behind with the online shopping idea due to the lower availability of broadband, or that was what I last heard.

We've got broadband available to most parts of the country, with a multi-billion dollar roll out of cable promised by the government, so it's not computer speed that's the problem.

I also get irritated by store staff when browsing. When approached I say, quite politely "just browsing", but a large proportion of them follow up with "what exactly are you looking for?" "are you renovating?" "what's your budget?" etc. You don't get any of that on line.

[rjh01]

If you are renovating your house, I suggest you employ people to do it all for you. You need to employ tradespeople to do a lot of the work. The problem is that if they have a choice to go to you or to someone who gives them a lot of work they will go to the later and leave you with a few days delay until the other job is finished.

A kitchen will cost $A22,000+ (depending on size). I had mine done a few years ago.

[lionking]

If you are renovating your house, I suggest you employ people to do it all for you. You need to employ tradespeople to do a lot of the work. The problem is that if they have a choice to go to you or to someone who gives them a lot of work they will go to the later and leave you with a few days delay until the other job is finished.

A kitchen will cost $A22,000+ (depending on size). I had mine done a few years ago.
We're renovating the main bathroom. We had the kitchen done about 10 years ago, but kept the old oven as it was still working well. It's still working at 35 years of age, but is on it's last legs. So, yes we will need a carpenter and an electrician to put in the oven and hotplates, but it's cheaper and more convenient for the tradespeople to have everything there ready for them to install.

[The Man]

We've got broadband available to most parts of the country, with a multi-billion dollar roll out of cable promised by the government, so it's not computer speed that's the problem.

I also get irritated by store staff when browsing. When approached I say, quite politely "just browsing", but a large proportion of them follow up with "what exactly are you looking for?" "are you renovating?" "what's your budget?" etc. You don't get any of that on line.

Yeah I know how you feel, I was getting some outdoor carpeting (kind of like Astro turf) that looks like grass to redo the covers for my horseshoe pits. Got the guy over to cut 14 ft off the roll, but instead of cutting all he is doing is asking questions. Is going to be used outside, are you putting anything under it, how are you going to be using it, what are the dimensions of where you using it, did you look at our exterior tiling? After answering few of the questions the best I could and just getting more questions I finally said “look either you start cutting or I’ll go get it from the other store. I came here for the carpet not questions, alternatives, recommendations or discussions. If you simply don’t want to sell it to me, fine, I’ll get someone who will”. Then he started cutting. Unfortunately even if I could get that online (and I’m sure you probably can) the shipping cost would have been horrendous.

[Elaedith]

We've got broadband available to most parts of the country, with a multi-billion dollar roll out of cable promised by the government, so it's not computer speed that's the problem.

In that case, maybe I'll go back!

I also get irritated by store staff when browsing. When approached I say, quite politely "just browsing", but a large proportion of them follow up with "what exactly are you looking for?" "are you renovating?" "what's your budget?" etc. You don't get any of that on line.

That's another thing. If I want to be left alone to browse, everyone in the shop seems to descend on me demanding to help, but if I want help, I seem to become invisible.
I also have trouble making decisions while somebody else is present. Not just with shopping but in general, I would much rather look something up than ask somebody about it.

[Puppycow]

Online shopping is pretty good here in Japan too. If you buy through Rakuten , the most popular "online shopping mall," you can even return goods you don't like for free (they pay the shipping) for any reason or no reason.

So there's no risk that you'll be stuck with something that's the wrong size, or not what you imagined.

I don't know if it's always cheaper, but it's generally cheaper.

[fagin]

Yes, no, no, no, yes

[ponderingturtle]

Online shopping is pretty good here in Japan too. If you buy through Rakuten , the most popular "online shopping mall," you can even return goods you don't like for free (they pay the shipping) for any reason or no reason.

So there's no risk that you'll be stuck with something that's the wrong size, or not what you imagined.

I don't know if it's always cheaper, but it's generally cheaper.

It isn't always cheaper sales at stores can cut well below typical online prices. My mom got a stick blender for $15 that would be $35 online or $50 retail for example.

[Giraffe107]

I buy a fair bit online- books and clothes mainly but other things too.

It's not always cheaper once you factor in postage costs- many things coming from the US have ridiculous postage charges; always check before you buy.

For books, here's an Australian site: http://www.booktopia.com.au/ postage is $6.50 to anywhere in Australia.

I assume you're checking ebay? There would be quite a few books on there, plus building materials (you might even be able to find some for pick-up in Melbourne).

It can be addictive, because it's so convenient- no driving anywhere, dealing with moronic shop assistants, and if you're looking for something obscure, you can find it in 20 minutes of searching rather than hours of trawling through shops.

[WildCat]

Yeah I know how you feel, I was getting some outdoor carpeting (kind of like Astro turf) that looks like grass to redo the covers for my horseshoe pits.
Your own horseshoe pits! Sweet! I have to go to the park, standard Chicago lots just aren't big enough for a horseshoe pit... :(

[The Man]

Your own horseshoe pits! Sweet! I have to go to the park, standard Chicago lots just aren't big enough for a horseshoe pit... :(

Thanks, when I bought the house the previous owners just had a couple of pins stuck in the ground by the two 100 ft pine tress in the front yard. A perfect spot as the tress provide shade for the pits most of the day and are almost exactly the correct distance apart. My first project after buying the property was building official sized and separated pits. The pins are concreted in the ground at the official angle and there is about 1 ton of white sand in both of the pits together (at least it was white). I went with no back stops so you only score from a good throw and the covers help keep the pine needles, animals and other debris out of the pits when not in use. Now that the weathers getting better I’ll have to crack them open and get to practicing.

[Lolly]

I buy lots of stuff online. Groceries, computer stuff, stuff from Dick Smith's, kitchen stuff, tea, stuff from K-Mart, stuff from Officeworks. Some things a online specials, otherwise the prices are the same as in the shop. Officeworks' delivery is free if you buy over $50. Dick Smith often offers free delivery so it saves a trip to the shop. Groceries cost an extra $10 for delivery which I think is well worth it to avoid all of the lugging to the car, lugging from the car.

Checking prices in a shop and then buying online is no different to going from shop to shop and pricing their stock, then using it to get the best price at another shop. It's just competition at work. There'll always be actual shops because people like to see and compare what they want to buy.