I have recently thought about my technology shopping habit and I have noticed that I only buy new gadgets from the Internet, while I let my wife do grocery shopping at the stores and supermarkets close to us. What about you? What do you buy from the Internet and how often? Do you trust websites with your money or do you prefer the face-to-face shopping approach?
Other than groceries, probably as much as seventy percent of my purchases are online, and I even buy some grocery items online, such as coffee, cat food, snacks, etc.
Since I've been home I found that online shopping has become advantageous to me especially when I need office supplies. Most of the office supply stores are quite a distance from where I live. It's only a small percentage of my shopping. I believe it's worth trusting to purchase online when I see that lock symbol in the address bar.
I must addmit that at least half of my purchases are made through the Internet on Amazon most often. I buy my groceries in a grocery shop and all the necessary stuff.
Whenever i shop online, i shop on a store with free shipping and who give discounts when you shop in bulk.
Other than purchases to learn a new skill online or a replacement for one of my gadgets I do not purchase items online. My daughter is a very big shopper on Amazonk I still like to see the item I am purchasing or touch it before I purchase. My daughter says just send it back if you do not like it but to me that is a waste of money to have to pay for return shipping on items I do not want. Sometimes it is cheaper to just keep it.
The two times that I have sent something back, Amazon.com paid for the shipping. Depending on the price, and perhaps the supplier, sometimes they just tell you to keep it or throw it away. Amazon.com has always been very good about standing behind the things that it sells.
Since I started shopping on Amazon, I have been finding more and mroe things that i can buy and save money by getting them from Amazon. The selection there is incredible, and much better than you could find even if you went to several stores, at least with the things that i am buying. I have not had any issues with things that I gout from Amazon for the most part, and when I did, they either let me keep the defective one, or paid for return shipping. I usually check the price locally and online before I purchase the item, and with Amazon Prime, shipping is not an issue. Of course, when you need a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk; then shopping locally is unavoidable.
I very rarely shop online. The only things I've ever bought online were a few books that I got at drastically reduced prices and some inexpensive camera accessories that I couldn't find in the shops. Oh, and I did buy a few collectable items on eBay years ago, until one of them didn't arrive. As I had just changed computers at the time, I was unable to contact the seller, so I never found out what went wrong. Fortunately it was a cheap item, but I didn't feel it was worth the risk after that. Lately I've been reluctant to buy anything though as the South African post office seems to be on strike more often than not.
We buy a lot of things online, at Amazon and other places such as Lowe's and Home Depot. I've had to return a few things but in all cases except one the seller paid the return postage.
I used to buy at least half of my grocery items online with free delivery via Walmart.com, but items kept getting damaged because they would pack large, heavy items on top of things like potato chips. It was ridiculous, and they would make me return the item via mail, rather than carrying it to the store for return, so I've gone back to buying in person for a lot of those items. For electronics and books, things of that nature, I do often buy used, online.
I don't do much of my shopping online because I'd rather not spend loads of money on postage and packaging... It's also much better to be able to look at an object in person to know if there's anything wrong with it and know better if you like it.
I buy my vitamins online at swansonvitamins.com. Their customer service is excellent and their products deliver as advertised. They sell much more than just vitamins. Their products include food items, seasoning items, essential oils, etc. Really it is a mega store online. I wish I earned a commission for this promotion, but I do not!
I don't mind buying things online, but usually stick to stuff that's too heavy to cart home by hand. I'm not a fan of big companies and tend to shop locally and with independent retailers wherever possible. Amazon: now there's a conundrum. Undoubtedly, they have a vast array of merchandise, but I never feel very comfortable with them. There is a dark side to Amazon that leaves me feeling uneasy.
Amazonn sells items that a lot of smaller businesses are marketing; so when you buy from Amazon, you are mostly supporting American businesses. You can tell before you purchase it where it will be shipped from; so if it is from overseas, then it will say that it is coming from China, or wherever. Since Walmart, and many of the other stores carry foreign-made products (even the grocery stores do) , it seems to me that just buying from a store does not do any more to support American businesses than getting it from a small busines that sells throuugh Amazon. Some items do cost more when you get them online, so it is always good to check the prices and be sure which store has the best price for the same item before you purchase it. I have found that Amazon has wonderful clearance sales on items, and you can often get used or refurbished items on Amazon very cheaply, as well as the ones on clearance.