Ooooooo, Skynet's goin' shoppin'!
Okay, I admit it, I'm an online-shopping junkie, especially Amazon.com; it started with books* but anymore, I go look online before I ever check brick&mortar stores. So I'm amused by the talk of a wave of consumers scurrying into the office to do their online shopping (what, they haven't got fast, fast and private 'net access at home? Do they live in a cardboard box -- and not one behind Starbucks?) on Company time.
This year, even the TV talking heads are mostly averring that "it's just a marketing term." Yep. And it's another old thing made new -- used to was, you could ring up the grocer or the department store, place an order and -- assuming you were a customer in good standing -- they'd send a fellow over with your stuff, on account or COD. Pick the right city and the big online guys will do that today, often for a laughingly low additional charge if you were signed up for their BFF club. (I think I get my money's worth from Amazon Prime between the additional savings, free videos and free regular shipping; YMMV).
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* Local bookstores are great for unexpected finds and I am a huge fan of used-book stores, without which I would own few books; Amazon is for when I know what I want. Because face it, they have it in stock, 99% of the time, and there's no bothersome dealing with a teenaged clerk who never heard of "that Steinway, er, sorry lady, Steinbeck guy" and doesn't much care to.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
6 comments:
Good points... :-)
I think I had an epiphany when I bought a lawn mower off Amazon.com
BTW, nowadays, my local library's online catalog database is so bad, with such poor cross reference on subject and keywords, that I find myself searching for a book I want on Amazon and then putting the title into the library database to see if they have it.
We have a local independent bookstore that offers online & phone ordering and usually gets orders in within a week. Nice folks, well aware that we could be buying elsewhere online, and the level of service shows it. For me, it's worth giving up the Amazon discount to help keep them around.
Despite the fact that I'm ordering more and more online over time, I still really prefer being able to physically examine something before I buy it. Of course, these days, that's getting more difficult. The quality of in-store retail just keeps getting worse. Even at Red Wing Shoes, where I went to buy a pair of boots. Wound up returning them, so now even one of my last bastions of 'never buy online' is crumbling. I try to always get to qualifying for free super-saver shipping, but I'll have to evaluate Prime based on this year's purchasing.
BTW, how's that cold/flu thing? Better? (Tam too?)
We're still recovering -- it hit Tam especially hard. My lungs are still wheezing/rattling a bit.
alibris.com is a great place for used books if you know what you want. New to me copies of books that were lent out and never returned have made it back to our library as well as books I've always wanted but couldn't afford. I also haunt our local used book store. We don't have any other book stores and I have to drive into the next county if I want to hit B&N. As for the amazon addiction, we suffer from it too. Even our toilet paper is delivered on a schedule from Amazon. Fedex and the UPS guy know us too well.
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