Online Shopping..Love it? Hate it? Save tons? Spend tons?

amother

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 11:23 pm

What are your thoughts or experiences in shopping online?

I like to avoid it for clothing and household items, ESPECIALLY if I have to pay shipping and return shipping back if I want to return (so, I would more readily order from Old Navy if they were offering free shipping because if I don't want the items I can return them to the store that's around the corner from my office).

I find that I more readily spend money online than if in the store. I don't know why. Maybe sometimes it has to do with trying to reach a minimum dollar amount ($50 or $75) in order to qualify for free shipping.

Recently I had the following experience- my daughter ONLY takes a certain kind of bottle. For some reason, we couldn't find it in several local stores, so I had no choice but to order online. The order itself was about $16, and if I spent $25 I got free shipping. It seemed like a waste to spend $7 on shipping if I could just spend $9 and get more for my money. BUT - I didn't want to go over the $25. After literally an hour or two I ended up just adding a couple of bottles of shampoo to my cart and done with it. But I feel like this online shopping really plays with our minds and emotions. And something is lost in always trying to get the best deals, etc.

THOUGHTS???

Mrs.K

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 4:07 am

Absolutely love it AND it saves time and money.

For example, in order to get my boys' pants, I could go to several stores, comparison shop, waste time and money, or, I can look online, find which stores of having sales, which stores are selling them cheapest, and presto, I'm done. If I walked into Old Navy, I'd have spent $22 a pair but instead I happened to wander onto Walmart.com and found great quality cargo pants that they love for $10. No time wasted, no shlepping around, transportation, babysitters and whatnot. Shipping was 99 cents an item. Still cheaper then any store I'd have wandered into on my eighth try.

Another example, my older boy needed a winter coat. Children's Place had a beautiful peacoat for $50, but if you spend $60 you get 40% off your order. I knew that if I bought something for $10 that I didn't really need I wouldn't have come out the winner because then I'm spending money that I don't have to, which is what they want. So I bought my daughter tights. She has to wear them every day for school so she goes through them like water. They were on sale from $4.50 a pair to $1.99 AND I got 40% of those too. Yup, 100% worth it in my opinion.

Raisin

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 4:13 am

shipping costs money but so does going to the store in person. Bus fare, petrol, parking, and don't forget the time spent.

hardly any clothes stores deliver to me but I do a lot of grocery shopping online and it is great!

I enjoy clothes shopping so I am happy to do it in person.

imaima

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 4:30 am

I am an online-shopping junky. Really. I buy everything online. I just like to have stuff delivered to my home, it feels like a birthday!!! Not that I buy unnecessary stuff, besides nowadays, many websites have free delivery. I also love to shop in online auction stores. Well.. Actually just ordered something again a couple of minutes ago! Rolling Eyes

Mrs.K

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 4:37 am

amother wrote:

How do you get the items to Israel? I wish I could shop online but I don't have relatives coming back and forth.

Relatives. If not, do your relatives have friends or neighbors that come often? My in laws are here all the time and they always make sure to ask their neighbors if anyone needs something taken. If they have the room, clothing is light. It's not like asking them to shlep in a stroller.

Another thing, is that before I check out I obsessively google coupon codes to that I rarely pay full price on anything, and even free shipping.

ewa-jo

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 8:20 am

amother wrote:

How do you get the items to Israel? I wish I could shop online but I don't have relatives coming back and forth.

Buy on ebay. Most sellers will ship to Israel... the shipping costs..well, it depends on what you order. IMO, it's worth it to buy almost anything on ebay and get it shipped here. When I got engaged, I couldn't find white shoes in the stores here in Jerusalem (ok, it was February) so I looked on ebay and found a billion pairs of white heels. But also, I'm a decisive shopper. That means I never return stuff. I don't know, I never understood people who second-guessed themselves. You *CAN* usually return stuff on ebay, but you will pay so much for shipping that it won't be worth it.

I bought a box of 40+ pieces of slightly-used American brand name clothes for my toddler. I paid $70 for the clothes and $100 for shipping. And yes, it was 100% worth it. I would much rather have Gap, Eddie Bauer and Children's Place stuff than anything from here. Also, buying online saves me the time of going out (packing the kids to go out).

Most of my maternity clothes came from ebay - it was brand new stuff, just from last season - I saved a pile over maternity clothes here in Israel. When my digital camera died, I bought the same model off ebay and had it shipped here. Shipping was like $10... if you want a shocker, see how much they charge for digital cameras here (crazy expensive!).

Sweet Valley Gal

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 9:31 am

I love shopping online. Not for me just for dd. I find it very hard to get out at nights to go shopping since I work full time, and I dont wanna spend my Sundays running to malls.

When ordering online, I know her size and its so easy.

Abotu the free shipping, I order what I need for myself, nothing extra, then if I didnt reach the minimum for free shipping ill ask a friend/co worker if she wants to order along with me, and then we can qualify for free shipping. If my order, plus hers doesnt qualify, and noone else wants to join our order, then we will split the shipping.

I find that there are great sales online allt he time. I usually dont order online unless I have a coupon... They are not hard to come by...

All in all, I am a satisfied online shopper. For myself, the reason I dont shop online is because my sizes vary so its not worth it.

Also, NOTE: many stores will send you a free return shipping label if you want to return and you will not have to pay shipping on it.

zigi

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 9:40 am

I love online shopping! I use a debit card, I have to go take money out of one bank and put it in another, so I have to really think about the purchase. I make shopping carts in a bunch of stores and comparison shop. also with coupons and free shipping I save money off of the sale price, you do have to have money in the budget in order to not waste money. I can also show my kids what I am thinking of buying and they can give their opinion.

with diapers I love diapers.com b/c of free shipping and cash back. I get 30% cash back on diapers. amazon also has good deals.

artikidove

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 10:45 am

I love it but I see how it can be hard to control how much you spend. I only the order the necessities and for the online stores that I know I will shop at I subscribe to get emails with coupons/etc. for example I order my dh's shirts at lands end - they always send me free shipping/30% off an item/10% off entire order...so I use these and pay even less than I would if I go to the store plus it's delivered to my doorstep! then I forward the emails to my mother and she4 uses the promotional codes to get stuff for my lil bro and father. it's a great system.
suggestion though - don't sign up to get emails from stores that you don't need to buy from. it's very tempting to get promotional emails from barnes and noble and other such stores but they just tempt you to spend money on something you don't need. just because something is on sale doesn't mean you saved - YOU NEVER SAVE MONEY BY SPENDING IT! you only spend less than you would have. so unsubscribe to these if you want to eliminate the taaiva! also, I send the lands end emails to my dh's account and whenever I need something I logon to his email and pull off the promotional codes. that way I'm not tempted to order things every other week when the emails come in.
And if you don't have free shipping on an item, try calling in the order and just ask them for a free shipping codes. most people will just give you one. tell them you lost your catalog.

Fox

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 10:59 am

I'm a big fan of online shopping:

1. I don't feel it's appropriate to spend so much time shopping, driving to shop, or meandering around malls. Not only is it a tznius issue, but I feel it sends the wrong message to my kids about how one spends one's time and energy. The rebbetzin of our former shul used to constantly chat about driving virtually all over northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin in search of bargains -- while my DDs listened, eyes wide. I eventually started taking them to another shul!

2. While you do have to be aware of shipping charges (some companies really do make a lot of money that way!), I rarely find that shipping isn't a bargain, given the value of my time. Whether I'm literally working at my job; doing something non-quantitative for my family; or even just reading/relaxing, shipping charges represent a bargain to me. Consider that it would take me 10-20 minutes each way to drive to the popular shopping areas near me . . . plus the time actually shopping and conducting the transaction! Let's just say I pay shipping costs happily and consider it money well spent!

3. I like having more variety -- not being forced to buy the closest item that will do. If I want, say, a particular style of skirt, I'm not forced to purchase whatever the local retailers thought was a good idea this year. To me, that far outweighs the occasional inconvenience of returning something that doesn't fit, etc.

The only thing I don't buy online are groceries, and when my kids were little, I did that, too!

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 11:10 am

Love it.

I don't have time to drey around shopping. Especially with little kids who have no interest in being there.
I hardly ever have to pay taxes.
I usually get money back plus I use coupon codes, can easily compare prices, so I definitely save.
Takes much less time to find what I need. I just put in my keywords, I can sort by price and see what are my options.
I love ebay lots. I spent $80 for my baby's fall/winter wardrobe on eBay (my budget is $4 an item -- 2 items per outfit: pants and shirt -- 10 outfits, which is $80). I kept a huge amount of clothes for myself (including a "shabbos robe" sleeper), gave a box and a bag to my sister in E"Y with a baby the same age, gave away another bag to someone else, sold 13 outfits back on eBay and now have 2 "holiday" dresses from the lot to sell on eBay. Oh and I got cash back as well from ebates. I could NOT have done that in a real store.
I don't do well shopping for myself online usually -- I am a hard size/shape, but I did get my maternity shirts online for $6/shirt.
Shoes I usually buy for myself online from stores with free return shipping. I don't have time to go to a store and not even find anything to try on! Time is money as well...

WriterMom

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 12:30 pm

Love/hate, for me. It seems easier to spend money online for me. OTOH I also don't much like the process of shopping in real life. I don't live in a teeming metropolis, so modest clothes can be impossible to find in bricks-and-mortar stores, depending on the season and fashion. Also, I'm quite a bit taller/longer-limbed than average, so if I want a long skirt or long sleeves that actually go all the way down, I need to specialty-shop, which is far easier online.

And head-coverings - if there were no Internet, I'd probably have one nice hat, one black beret, and two tichels!

saw50st8

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 4:03 pm

Mama Bear wrote:

I love online shopping. And that's how I maxed out my credit card. No more onlinen shoppng for me.

You must have a low credit limit.

If I maxed out my credit cards I would be in BIG trouble.

I have a love/hate relationship with online shopping. Everything costs less, but I end up spending more.