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Amazon is good, but they don't always have the best prices.
And with the purchase increase for free shipping, smaller purchases with shipping surcharge are not always a great bargain.
I Google products for the best price, and sometimes find better deals somewhere else.
Most of my online shopping consists of more quality high-end products that you can't find at brick and mortar stores, and if you find them it's typically more expensive. For example last week I wanted to purchase a professional barber electric razor. The local Sally store had it for $20 more than online. For me, personally it is better to buy a high end product that will last a lifetime than shop at a store like Walmart where the products I will have to constantly replace. I won't shop at Walmart for anything other than consumables like toilet paper.
Location: Scott County, Tennessee/by way of Detroit
3,352 posts, read 2,825,032 times
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Just bought curtain panels for a window at Walmart...very surprised at the quality of the fabric....I buy mostly Amazon...a pool heater is next... HUNDREDS less than anywhere plus free shipping and this thing weighs a ton....
I buy all my stuff online, mostly Ebay, we are so far from the shops that it would take all day to get there, buy something and come back home again. with Ebay it is delivered to my door-usually within a reasonable time too.
I buy online constantly. If I need an item, I grab my iPad, search Amazon and usually buy right away. Why drive to 5 stores looking for the right pool float or cheese grater when I can search for them online? I share a prime acct with my daughter, so it only costs me half. Plus we use the Prime Video almost daily, I download free e-books, and I just started using Prime Music. All together, it's almost too good to be true. I bought some big items too - a flat panel TV, a king size bed, and 12 dining chairs at Amazon, and for the past 4 years, 100% of my Christmas shopping. Never set foot inside a store all season.
I also like Target, where you get an extra 5% off plus free shipping all the time, if you use their Target credit card.
Home Depot is a big online favorite too, mostly for the free shipping on big items. No more delivery fees or trying to fit something in my car. I've bought a new washer and dryer, a refrigerator, 6 cases glass blocks for a shower project, and they were all delivered right to my house.
All this, when there is a Walmart, a Home Depot and a Target store within 3 miles of my house. That just makes returns easier. I don't give a hoot about the sales tax issue. I pay sales tax at the store, and since Amazon opened a distribution center in my state, I've had to pay sales tax to them too.
Buying on line is a double edged sword. On one hand, we can save a lot of money, but, on the other hand, we are not supporting local businesses and they are going out of business at an alarming rate.
We can't have it both ways. I work retail and I spend all day assisting customers with purchases. Most times they have no information, and no idea of what they need to buy, so I dig for information, make phone calls to manufacturers, and do my best to get them the part they need and I even draw diagrams so they can do the repair themselves. But sometimes they will turn around, after I have spent maybe an hour helping them, and they will say "Well, let me go on line and see what I can get it for there !"
I told one customer, "So I just spend all this time helping you get the information you need and now you take that information and don't even give us the business !" We have gotten wise to that game, and we now give them OUR part number when they ask for the part, not the MANUFACTURERS number. That way they can't simply go on line and find the same part and cut us out.
I too buy on the net, but I also support local guys when I can. If we don't, pretty soon we will not have these great resources to turn to when we need help and advice. On the net, all you get is a cheap price.
Buying on line is a double edged sword. On one hand, we can save a lot of money, but, on the other hand, we are not supporting local businesses and they are going out of business at an alarming rate.
We can't have it both ways. I work retail and I spend all day assisting customers with purchases. Most times they have no information, and no idea of what they need to buy, so I dig for information, make phone calls to manufacturers, and do my best to get them the part they need and I even draw diagrams so they can do the repair themselves. But sometimes they will turn around, after I have spent maybe an hour helping them, and they will say "Well, let me go on line and see what I can get it for there !"
I told one customer, "So I just spend all this time helping you get the information you need and now you take that information and don't even give us the business !" We have gotten wise to that game, and we now give them OUR part number when they ask for the part, not the MANUFACTURERS number. That way they can't simply go on line and find the same part and cut us out.
I too buy on the net, but I also support local guys when I can. If we don't, pretty soon we will not have these great resources to turn to when we need help and advice. On the net, all you get is a cheap price.
Don
I support businesses that give me the best deal. Bye-bye, mon and pop predator stores.
Go ahead and buy all your stuff online. Put the moms and pops and even the brick and mortars out of business.
Once they're gone, Amazon will drop their quality and raise their prices.
Why not?
There will be no competition, so they can do what they want.
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We have gotten wise to that game, and we now give them OUR part number when they ask for the part, not the MANUFACTURERS number. That way they can't simply go on line and find the same part and cut us out.
