It’s hard to not purchase something online these days, isn’t it? And chances are, if you weren’t an online shopper before the pandemic hit, you probably are now. It’s just too easy to have your items delivered right to your door or mailbox.
How often do you online shop? For things other than groceries… Are you shopping online every day? Every other day? Every week? Maybe you’re still “old fashioned” and buy everything at the store (bet that’s a sentence you didn’t think you’d ever hear!). That’s okay too!
Tell us in the poll below how often you online shop. We’re curious. Thanks for voting!
Support local mom and pop stores as much as possible. I like to look over an item carefully before I purchase. It’s a pain in the butt to return items that do not meet expectations that were bought on line and then I end up getting it locally anyway. Sadly I cannot go to the local stores to buy shoes and clothing like I used to, now I need to order on line to get big shoes and long pants and shirts. Before COVID this whole on line business ruined America and now COVID just put the last nail in the coffin.
Basically just buy parts on line. For tractor, washer/dryer, etc. So much of this sort of thing is no longer stocked in stores or even dealers. For such things, we have pretty much been forced on-line.
This being a 2nd marriage for both of us when we started getting serious I told Karen, if one of us does something that bothers the other we have to talk it out immediately.
As far as full timing before we made the decision we attended a series of educational workshops called ‘Life On Wheels’. The first thing we were told was that your partner must be your best friend. Or else it won’t work out.
We haven’t shopped in a Mall in over 30 years, as for us it’s a 150 mile round trip to the nearest one. We do a once a year stock up run to Costco and Sam’s Club which are in the same city as the Malls and we can’t make that trip for free. We buy our fresh produce weekly at our closest local grocery store which is only a 20 mile round trip. Other than that virtually all of our purchases are made on line. We often have USPS, FedEx, and UPS all show up on the same day and rarely have a day when none of them visit us.
I buy as much as I possibly can online. Rather than spending an hour shopping in Walmart, with 25% of employees and customers not wearing masks:
• I buy nonperishables from Walmart Online. They ship for free within about 2 days using FedEx. (Don’t buy glass items, since they don’t know how to pack and it will likely arrive broken.)
Another advantage is dealing with out-of-stock items. Walmart online will notify you when it’s back in stock.
• Now I can get in and out of the store within 30 minutes buying only perishables!
Make sure to double check the price if the offer is from a third party seller. Some have competitive prices some are sky-high!
Ditto Walmart for non perishables. I have a running list of repeat things or add things as we open last one. Also do our grocery shopping online, delivery next day. There is 1 hr to 4 hr window depending on how much you want to pay. We use 4 hrs. Order about once a week. About once every couple months we do go to Costco & Trader Joe’s for meat & items unique to them. Before Covid I would have never tried grocery shopping online. Thinking I will stay with it even when or if Covid disappears. And yes, you have to look closely at prices at Walmart for items that may ship from other vendors. Prices can be outrageous.
With Walmart “Pick-up & Delivery” you can do your shopping on line, drive to the store, and have it carried out to your car without you ever having to enter the building or coming in contact with anyone. The employee that shops for you will generally do as good or better than you as far as picking fresh produce, un-dented cans, etc. There are designated parking spaces for this service and your items are placed in the back of your vehicle without you having any close contact with the employee who will be wearing a mask. You don’t even have to sign for anything since it was paid for on line. In the unlikely event you have an issue with any part of your order, Walmart is very accommodating with customer satisfaction. And no I don’t work for Walmart but this is how we do our shopping with them and are extremely satisfied. Normally they even know when you arrive at their parking lot and are waiting for you at the back door.
I answered never/hardly ever, which is accurate for me. The wife on the other hand, shops online on a weekly basis.
Our UPS driver hates us. We buy locally when we can but often our local stores don’t stock what we need. Rather than driving all over the place from store to store, 30 seconds online and voila.
Its is impossible to get anything in a store these days. If you want it forced to buy on line. I will pay more to not buy from Amazon, which paid zero taxes for three years.
Many large corporations pay no taxes and even get credits for the next year. That is the problem with the current tax codes. Only your vote and others can ever change that. Otherwise it will just worsen.
So true, Ron. There have been several times the past year shopping for something in brick’n’mortar stores have resulted in “it’s on order” results. And have you noticed the decline of one, two day delivery on Amazon? One must plan ahead now days.
It isn’t Amazon that make up the tax laws. They just abide by them. ( My wife and I are retired and because of the tax laws in place we paid more taxes in a single year than many large corporations).
Warren Buffet (Fact checked ) indicated it wasn’t fair that his secretary paid more taxes than he did. While your purchase in your mind was to make a difference to them, think about the thousands of Amazon workers that depend upon a pay check partiality derived from the purchases made by Amazon. We the voters are the best chance to elect the officials that can change the tax laws for corporations. So it’s good that you are making the statement towards Amazon and that I have the opportunity to Answer back. GOD BLESS AMERICA. It gives you and I the freedom to do so .
I do not believe corporations should pay taxes. The owners of the corp (shareholders) pay taxes when they sell shares. All costs that the corp has are included in the prices they charge to customers so basically we are all paying the taxes which increases our price. I could be wrong about this.
Totally agree. If Corporations paid no taxes, there would be much more competition for lowering prices, paying employees more, doing more for community, et. Always had a hard time understanding why most don’t understand costs to run a company, including taxes, are built into the price you pay for their goods and services.
In today’s world you really believe that if a corp. doesn’t pay taxes, they will pay better salaries and lower prices? Given that most pay no taxes now, why aren’t we living in a world where employees (all), make a very good living wage and have great medical and retirement benefits……
Do you seriously think that higher taxes paid by Amazon wouldn’t be passed along to their customers? They couldn’t care less what the tax rates are. Also, as an American you are free to do exactly what Jeff Bezos did and build your own Amazon if you like and you could then pay 100% of your revenue to the government. Believe me the IRS wouldn’t refuse your generous contribution.
I shop for known items at the best price. Needing some band saw blades,i checked price between Lowe’s and Amazon. Same price. Ordered from Amazon. I cant run the truck for nothing. Yesterday I bought glass cleaner.Amazon was $4 an item more expensive. Sorry Jeff Bezo.
I only order online when I can’t find it in a bricks and mortar store. Even then, I have it shipped to the store when possible. Saves shipping charges which are sometimes extreme.
Our accelerated online activity comes not from the virus but from being stuck in a strange city for an extended period of time and not knowing where some stores are. Of course, the longer we’re here, the more familiar the “strange city” becomes. But everything is pretty spread out so shopping can require longer drives. The grocery store and Wally aren’t too far so that’s not a problem. It’s just simpler to look something up at Amazon and order it. My wife ordered something one morning – and Prime showed up with it that same afternoon! How can you beat that?