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Thread: Online Shopping Makes Suckers of Us All

  1. #11
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    I am so happy that I can FIND the books I want reasonably. I recall looking for certain books and really struggling to find them at all, so online and used books are a great deal for me. Those very specific things that I really need but are not many places,

    I also buy for work on-line when I can, I really hate shopping. It is usually walmart to get what I want anyway. So I have to compare crappy walmart to potentially crappy online.

    However yarns and other things I really need to have my hands on I always buy in person, generally know how much they should cost and think it is a good deal

  2. #12
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    I buy most things online. I rarely go to a store. We don't shop a lot because being semi-retired we don't need many things. My DH likes to grocery shop so he does that. If he didn't I would just order it online and pick up at the store. Yarn is one of the few things I will shop in person for but I also buy that online too.

  3. #13
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    I had a small tool that the kids used often in class. It wore out. I originally bought it at Michaels, so I checked Michaels on-line before driving to the store. It had been discontinued. Found it new in the box on Amazon for about the same price I paid after cutting out a paper michaels coupon 8 years ago. Free shipping and had it in hand less than 24 hours after placing the order.

    given where I live, that makes mail order faster and cheaper than "buy local". As the item is going to be the same made in China item no matter where I buy it, what possible motivation would I have to buy it in a store?

    also, while shopping on line for the item, I found a related item made in the USA that will allow me to produce similar tools myself at almost twice the cost. (And I actually bought it, because "similar" is not "identical" and allows me to create desirable customizations.). And "almost twice the cost" is STILL less than I would have paid at Michaels without the coupon.

    if other people are paying even less, good for them.

    eta, I buy used as much as possible because I believe in making use of an existing item rather than creating demand for more uneccessary items, and it reduces packaging. (All of the packaging from my Amazon order will be reused except the factory packaging of the items. That is about half recycle, half trash - as it is not suitable for long-term storage of the items, I will be reusing other plastic packaging that would have become trash for that purpose.

  4. #14
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chicken lady View Post
    I had a small tool that the kids used often in class. It wore out. I originally bought it at Michaels, so I checked Michaels on-line before driving to the store. It had been discontinued. Found it new in the box on Amazon for about the same price I paid after cutting out a paper michaels coupon 8 years ago. Free shipping and had it in hand less than 24 hours after placing the order.

    given where I live, that makes mail order faster and cheaper than "buy local".[b] As the item is going to be the same made in China item no matter where I buy it, what possible motivation would I have to buy it in a store?[/ b ]
    The possible motivation is that a local store employs local people, giving them jobs. It supports people in your community. Still, buying online supports FedEx drivers, so thst is something, maybe equal.

  5. #15
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    I lament the decline of some of the brick-and-mortar stores, but at the same time, I shop online a lot--even though I live in the Land of Many Malls. For me, the money/budget trap I fall into is the ease of pressing that button. It is designed to make the purchase SO easy--you have the One-Click on Amazon, and PayPal--you don't even have to get out your wallet.

    In the "old days" when you actually had to write a check and fill out a form and put it in an envelope and put on a stamp and send away and then dream of the two weeks away when it would arrive in your mailbox... it was all such a barrier to the spend. But now, hey, where I live I can get some Amazon Prime things before the sun sets!! And they're generally cheaper! And I don't even have to make sure there's gas in the car!

    I KNOW I spend more than I would if online shopping did not exist.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  6. #16
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    Given the impact of the Michaels store on my local environment and the nature of both the jobs (order processing for inventory, packing, shipping, stocking, running the register) and employees vs the impact of the delivery system (my usps employee delivered the box to my house) and the nature of the jobs (order processing, packing, shipping and delivery) and employees - my experiences prejudice me toward Amazon. Close the Michaels and reuse the building for something else. Or tear it down.

    i try to buy local for things that are produced locally. Preferably directly from the farmer, artisan, chef, etc.

    and *i* spend less, no gas cost, no impulse buys of other "great deals" I really didn't need - the second product was a "thing I didn't need until I knew about it" which I will actually use in class tomorrow. but the random "really cheap" clearance notepads or whatever I would probably have bought at Michaels for "later" or "just in case" would most likely have been bad choices.

  7. #17
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    No denying that online shopping is often preferable. The gist of the article though is that we, the consumers, are at the mercy of the algorhythms. Prices are manipulated according to how and when we buy. In some future world, we will probably just have amazon and Walmart for online shopping. I bet they will swallow up all the smaller companies or third party their items.

  8. #18
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    But I'm ok with the price being manipulated. I think it's a great concept. I just think the important parts of it aren't being fully utilized - the consumer needs to know that he is being charged based on the interaction of production cost and willingness to pay. And then we get to the important part - the part where the consumer thinks about what the product (from that source) is really worth TO HIM. It's interesting to imagine what our economy would look like if every consumer approached every transaction that way.

  9. #19
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pinkytoe View Post
    No denying that online shopping is often preferable. The gist of the article though is that we, the consumers, are at the mercy of the algorhythms.
    Yes, very sophisticated market research. When price is set at what the market will bear, and there are all kinds of high-tech ways to figure out what that "sweet spot" is, any business is going to take advantage of that information. Value is very subjective.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  10. #20
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    I do agree that online shopping has definitely changed my shopping patterns and my approach to shopping, although that may be age and stage of life, too. I am more interested in getting just what a want, and don't care about buying something new; I usually buy used for everything I can, including books, dishes, music, clothes, etc/ In fact, I use online shopping to return to my little time warp of when I could buy what I wanted to buy--so I might buy Midwinter china from the 70's or vintage Marimekko fabric. Online shopping supplements my estate sale shopping. Since I work at home, my wardrobe is pretty yucky at present. I do buy new things like hairbrushes and suitcases as needed wherever I can find them to my liking at a good price, and I always try local first.

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