I may be the only old guy that's a serial window shopper but I enjoy it, so who cares. Sometimes I really do want to buy a specific item for a reasonable price (I'm awful tight!) and I come home frustrated because I can't find it or the price seems outrageous. So I turn to the internet and Ebay or Amazon and find dozens of sellers selling what I want for a reasonable price. I often buy small tool sets that I need and the sellers are usually in China or Singapore. Free shipping is by ship so it takes 4-6 weeks to arrive but I have more time than money. Some small parcels are lost or misplaced in international shipping so if it doesn't arrive on time, I contact Ebay and my money is refunded or a new parcel is airmailed to me. One time, the seller refunded my money and the lost parcel arrived two months later.
I often shop online for nice men's plus sized clothing as they can be difficult to find in the brick and mortar stores here. As well I'll usually shop Amazon for books, DVDs and CDs as they have such a great selection and delivery has been good.
I like online shopping. I bought a kids swimming pool last spring. I looked at a store and picked one that I liked. It was way to heavy for me to load and bring home. I ordered it online and they brought it right to my door with no shipping charges.
I do quite a bit of online shopping thru Amazon and a few other websites. I can only buy the kind of Wilson Sport Socks (over-the-calf) I really like, thru the Wilson website. A lot of times, it's much easier, and faster, buying something online rather than using gas and time to go to different stores looking for something. We'll try one or two stores, but after that...........computer time!
I've bought loads online... I've even bought furniture... I just can't find what I want in furniture stores.... it's always a risk with furniture, but ths far, I've never been let down, and I usually get it for a fraction of the price the identical thing would cost on the high street. With regard Chinese tools... here in the UK..they tend to be rubbish, but in Southern Spain they have what they call Todo shops which are all Chinese run, and you can get some real quality tools there for next to no money...
I use Amazon, but not on a regular basis. Thought about buying some grocery store items on Amazon,but can buy cheaper at the store.
Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy are the big three, but there are lots of others too. Maybe that's an idea for a new topic/category? Shopping sites that are worthwhile, and those that are rip-offs!
I buy from Amazon and occasionally from Walmart, online. And I buy harmonicas online sometime. I guess I buy a lot of stuff online. It's more convenient.
I at least try to 'buy local', but there is a limit to how far I'm willing to take it. I do a lot of comparison shopping for any given item, checking specs, user reviews, etc., so when I am ready to buy I usually have a specific brand/model number I'm after, and if I cannot find it local, then oh well, its internet time! Good example was a recent purchase of a flash drive. I decided on buying a Lexar 16GB. Only Office Depot sold it, and they were consistently sold out week after week, so Ebay to the rescue. Walmart I buy mostly groceries from, every couple months. I got nothing bad to say about it...saves me a lot of money over the course of a year.
A local Agenda 21 implementing group started a "buy local" campaign here a few years back. As is usually the case, it wasn't so much about buying local as about choosing which local people to support, and which not to. We did manage to put them out of business, but while they were still going strong, I found one of the facilitators of the group in Sam's Club buying groceries. And no, we don't have a local Sam's Club.
Never heard of 'Agenda 21' til now. I keep learning all sorts of new stuff here. Sounds like the Nannyites have infiltrated the UN (or maybe vice versa?). Glad to hear they are not invulnerable. What all did it take to give them the axe?
I began to shop online last year. In the beginning, I only bought from Amazon and eBay, later I tried some other kinds of websites which just sell a few kinds of products. Such as www.cwmalls.com, it only sells leather products, I bought a shearling coat in January this year, it arrived just in 4 days after I placed the order from China! Much faster than I thought! Though it's not a cheap stuff, I am very satisfied with it. It's really efficient and convenient!