Feb
24
Thanks for the article from Glenda Hanson
My online shopping addiction has gotten bad. I used to think it was funny, but now I worry that I am going to ruin my financial future. I started out a few years ago searching for deals on clothes and shoes, and I have now graduated to buying jewelry and appliances. I used to spend a few hundred dollars a month, and now it can get up into the thousands. I know I shouldn’t be spending so much, so I have been trying to cut back. My husband told me to find other things to help me pass the time, and I am trying. I am worried he is going to get fed up with my spending. He went to http://www.cannonsatellite.com/ and got an awesome Directv package thinking that I would start watching more TV, and go online less. I’m not so sure that is going to work. Every time I see a commercial advertising something I want, I go straight to the computer and try and find it. I actually think this might be making my addiction worse!
Oct
18
Picking out clothes that are comfortable and fit online can be such a daunting task for anyone not familiar with the process.
Until recently, I had never done it before, but I was in desperate need for new shoes so I decided to give it a go. I went with the same brand I had before (and had used for almost a decade!); ASICS, and went with a slightly larger (.5 to be exact) size, because a shoe that was a little too big made more sense to me than one that was too small. Turns out my feet had actually grown a bit and when the shoes I picked out arrived, they fit perfectly. I was so happy with the results I decided to try more online shopping.
My next task was to find some affordable t-shirts and shorts. As it would turn out, it’s much more difficult to find clothes that are comfortable and fit well when dealing with mens clothing. My plan was to buy one t-shirt and one pair of shorts until I found one of each that I was happy with. Then I would buy multiple different colors of the item and throw away my old, worn out clothes.
I got lucky with my first pair of shorts. Though they were slightly too big, I could deal with it by tightening the waist strap. They were comfortable otherwise. My first t-shirt was huge though – way bigger than I wanted/needed it to be (and I’m a big guy). It ended up shrinking some after the first trip through the washing machine so I’ll still wear it now and then, but it’s still too big for me.
My second t-shirt fit me perfectly but was uncomfortable. It was a very cheap t-shirt (about $8) and I didn’t really care much for the fabric it used. I had also purchased a cheap pair of shorts that ended up being almost identical to the first pair, with the only apparent differences being the design of the waist strap and the price (about 20% of the cost).
I’m starting to see what online clothes shopping is all about: inconsistency in quality and price. I don’t think these are reasons not to do it however, as it just seems to be a very big guess and check game until you find what you need. I also doubt quality will be much of concern when purchasing more expensive types of clothes, such as business suits and other formal outfits.
Aug
31
Every day I believe more and more that shopping online is a better choice than shopping in person. Though there are pros and cons to both, I believe the pros of shopping online are in far greater quantity than the alternative.
My mom hates the idea of shopping online for three reasons:
- Shipping costs money.
- The risk of credit card information being stolen
- You can’t see the item you’re buying until it arrives at your door
While it is true these things exist sometimes, most popular online stores offer free shipping now. In fact, I was looking for rubber stamps the other day and even the speciality store I was at had free shipping.
Credit card fraud can be avoided by only shopping at trusted locations online. I guess the only reason credit card fraud is complicated since your security online depends largely on how safe you are as a person. Do you use strong passwords? Do you know how to detect phishing scams? If you aren’t an idiot, credit card fraud isn’t something that will be a problem.
The third downside is really something I can’t dispute (especially with something like clothes), but in my experiences shopping online it has rarely been an issue.
There’s one other downside to shopping online, and that even with the fastest delivery you have to wait for your product. If you use the free shipping that’s offered at most places, you will be waiting even longer. I’m okay with waiting for my products though because they can often be found for lower prices than in stores, and I’m patient. If I know I’ll need something ahead of time, then I can order it ahead of time. Simple enough concept.
The benefits of shopping online are numerous. As I just said, it’s usually easier to get a better price on a specific item online, but there’s a lot more. You don’t have to leave the comfort of your home, for example! A trip to a specific store might take an hour out of your day, but a couple minutes and a few clicks is usually sufficient to find the product online. Comparison shopping is also much easier, so if you want to buy a rubber stamp, you could merely load two competitor websites up and compare features and prices. Doing that in person would usually take a lot of time out of your day, and who has time for that now-a-days?
Aug
3
Clothing is one of the most popular and well-received gifts you can give someone for a holiday. Unfortunately, if you have a friend or loved one who is overweight or tall, it can be difficult to shop for them, especially in department stores. This is because most of the department stores do not have many areas dedicated to big and tall clothing. As a big guy myself, I experience this every time I go clothes shopping. There are ways around this roadblock however, as I will explain.
The internet is a great tool to find niche items. Since I have to look for big and tall clothes specifically, I look for stores online dedicated to it. When looking to buy clothes for another person, once you find a reputable online store, it is only a matter of figuring out the sizes of the person you are shopping for. If you can’t figure out the sizes, remember that it’s always better to overestimate than it is to underestimate. Shirts can be a size too big and not be a problem (for me, anyway), and oversized pants are usually still good to use with the help of a belt. Washing machines cause most clothes shrink over time anyway, so it is not really a big deal.
Feb
1
With the current poor state of the economy, many people are looking for cost efficient services to compensate for less income. I’ve always restricted myself to Amazon, not necessarily because they’re the most affordable, but because I couldn’t be bothered to search dozens of websites for the best price on the internet. Then today I came across Become.com, a shopping service that lets you search for the best price for an item across all the reputable shopping websites on the internet.
Become.com is all-inclusive, so whether you’re in the market for electronics, flowers, or toys, you should be able to find what you need. A friend of mine was asking where he could purchase hunting ammunition and equipment on the internet, and I was easily able to quote him good prices by pulling up .22 shortammo and a RCBS The Grand mounting plate (for reloading, if you’re unfamiliar with guns as I was). All in all I found him twenty three brands across six major stores just by searching one time. There’s also a lot more hunting equipment easily found by browsing through the Sports & Outdoors > Hunting section.
The bottom line is, as a comparison shopping website, Become.com excels. As I mentioned before, I’m an Amazon person myself, and sometimes the cheapest results on Become.com will end up being on Amazon, but why pay extra if Become.com finds me a better price on a competitor’s website?
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