Purchase On-Line or In-Person

[Rich Riddle]

I am finding that on-line purchases provide more advantages than shopping in person. If you can wait a few days for delivery, it's great. I typically have several ongoing simultaneous projects, so waiting for parts for one isn't an issue of a lack of available work. Gone are the days of spending $25 in gas to purchase a $2 part. Contrary to me, the neighbor goes in person and looks for everything. What do you folks find yourselves doing?

[George Bokros]

Depends on my in-the-door cost. These days shipping and handling for some items, especially lower value items, is way more than I can purchase locally. Also depends on how far I have to drive to get the item.

[Bert Kemp]

Well I shop online a lot since the closest shopping area is 20 miles from me and the major area is 40 miles plus.One of the reasons I mostly ride my m/c.

[Brian Henderson]

I shop online unless I need it right now. With free 2-day shipping on almost everything though, I'd never leave the house if I didn't have to.

[Larry Frank]

The postman is really taking the brunt of lots of deliveries as Amazon has sent them a lot of business. He had to climb the steps to my door today and in the 90 degree heat and high humidity looked pretty beat.

[Sam Duran]

The convenience of shopping online far outweighs any benefits of shopping in person in my opinion.

[Wayne Lomman]

My preference is to use the net and the phone and pick it up next time I am in town. However, Tasmania doesn't have every supplier so I often have to get it sent instead. I almost never purchase on line - too many drop kicks selling bs. Costs doing it my way are low but does require planning. Cheers

[Frederick Skelly]

Consumer electronics and tools are a good example of what I do. If I go to a brick and mortar store to try one out or to compare among products, I normally buy the product from them (if it's what I want). I do this even if the store is 15-20% higher than online, because their investment in a physical store enabled me to put hands-on, which let me make a better purchasing decision. So I feel it's fair to pay something for that convenience. (With electronics, they will sometimes match online prices too.) I do something similar when internet shopping for cars - I always give the dealer who let me drive it have a chance to match the lowest bid I got from everyone else. (Though I won't pay 15% more for a car, like I would for smaller items.)

It works for me. YMMV.

Fred

[Jim Becker]

Percentage wise, our household buys quite a bit online, primarily from Amazon, but not exclusively. I buy clothing from Duluth Trading and woodworking things from Lee Valley, for example. I manage my parents finances and send them "paper products" purchased from Amazon because that's less expensive then them buying in the local grocery store. I buy camera and sometimes computer related items from B&H Photo in NYC online. Local purchases are more around food, gas, and ad hoc things from the home center that are needed "now". Professor Dr. SWMBO hates shopping in person when it comes to things other than food, etc., so Amazon benefits. (We've been Prime members for years) The time we don't spend running around is then available for other activities...such as shop time for me and beekeeping for The Professor.

[Kev Williams]

I buy online a lot. DVD's, gas fireplaces, anything computer related, vitamins, tires, lawn sprinklers.... and lets not forget PRINTER INK--my gawd, I was paying $14 per cartridge for my Canon printer from Office Depot, and the thing takes 5 cartridges (2 blacks)- finally one day I found a place on Amazon, that sells 3 SETS of 5 cartridges--15 cartridges-- for $12 total, to my door!! 15 cartridges for less than the price of ONE!! And guess what, these cartridges are CHOCK FULL! They're clear, so you can see the ink! Because I got them cheap I haven't been afraid to use the thing. I'm still on my first set of cartridges and I've printed probably 3 times as many pages as I used to before the others would start needing replacing, and all but one cartridge is still more than half full! Amazing...

But not everything is cheaper online. If something is cheaper close by, I'll drive to it.

Sometimes online buys have a catch, like when I bought a couple of tires for my boat trailer. The tires were a screamin' deal, same size and ratings as a $255 Goodyear Workhorse for $89. Turns out they're great tires! BUT, they had to be delivered and mounted at a tire store of my choice from their list. No biggie, I thought, until I got the bill for $48 to mount 2 tires on wheels I brought them, they didn't even have to take them off the trailer. I used to do the snow-tire changeover at Budget Rent-a-car way back when, if I can dismount, mount and air up in less than 4 minutes, anyone can. To pay $48 for 8 minutes work seemed a bit much...

But for the most part, Amazon and e-bay are my friends

[Stan Calow]

On principle, I prefer to buy in person, but the reality is that sometimes its too easy to order something from the couch. Then its frustrating to find that there are so few options left to buy some things in person.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I despise the poor excuse of a store our local Wal Mart is.
I'd rather rip my toe nails out with a pair of pliers than shop there.

[Curt Harms]

The majority of our electronics come from either Microcenter, NewEgg or Ebay. Neither SWMBO or I wear readily available clothing sizes - or we can't find the color we want - so we often order to pick up at the store. Easier returns that way.

[Larry Frank]

I prefer to buy in person if possible but not to pay an excess over online price. Some stores like BestBuy, will match online prices.

[Erik Loza]

We buy mostly online (Amazon, etc.) but I will go a little out of my way to shop in person at local businesses and don't mind paying a little more in those cases. There's a neighborhood hardware store that is pricier than HD/Lowe's but I always get such friendly service that it justifies it. At least in my mind.

Erik