There have been times where I've spent unnecessary money on shipping when I could have went to the store to pick up the item. I've done this due to being lazy. I would shop online and find a product that I like, the company will offer store pick up for free, or shipping. Sometimes I don't feel like going to the store, so I will have the item shipped to my home and pay the shipping fee. When I thought about it, I realize how much money I was loosing due to shipping. Has anyone done this before, what are your thoughts?
The only thing I don't like is that when you buy something online, you can't experience it before you buy it. I just bought my daughter a sweater online and when it shipped, it was much thinner than I thought it would be. I am not going to return it because it is still really cute and I got it for a good price.
Sometimes I'll buy clothes online, order enough items to get the free shipping and then return the items I don't want. I also make sure they offer free returns. This is one way to avoid shipping charges. I also shop online only when they offer free shipping at certain stores. I look for coupon or promo codes to help offset costs.
As fit and quality are always my top priority when buying clothing - I rarely if ever buy online - as apart from the fact that I like to be able to try on items prior to purchase, for the reasons already mentioned - as I take an extremely small size in clothing that is often extremely difficult to find - it actually works out way more cost effective for me to visit the stores than it would to buy online.
It really depends on the item. When I ordered a cheap laptop it arrived free but was tracked so I knew what day it would arrive, but for my mac I decided to pick it up instore. Having the option was good, because sometimes you can't get to the store and when it's winter, I tend to shop less and free delivery is a better option when the temperatures are at a minus. Also bulky and heavy items I prefer delivered like reams of paper or bottles of bubble bath.
Shipping is always the deal breaker for me. I'll only buy products online if I'll get free shipping but I don't buy clothes online ever because of some really bad experiences. For clothes I always prefer buying in a store because I must examine them clothes I buy, try them on and so on before I hand over the money.
I agree about the clothes, especially if you get them from certain places online. Not only that, but even when you are in a store and looking at and touching items of clothing, they can look like they are what you want, and then when you try them on, it is all wrong. Online you can't do that. You have to wait for them to ship to find out whether or not the clothing is for you or not.
When it comes to the price, I would definitely rather go to the store and buy it. As previously mentioned, the shipping costs always put me off. If I'm not getting free shipping, I don't buy it online. I don't really want to pay extra when I could save myself a little, and anyway, if I go into the store I'll get a good look at the product I want to buy as well, whereas I wouldn't be able to do that online.
I think that a lot of the time you are able to get better deals if you shop online anyway, so this is something that I often choose to do as a matter of principle. I don't often buy things in stores, as I like to take time to think about my purchases before I go to buy them. It makes things better for me because I don't make decisions that I will then regret, which is a good thing. You should always get the best deal possible for you, and for me that happens to be online most of the time.
I use to use the shipping to home, but I realized I was paying too much for shipping so decided to start getting site to store I figured why not save money and just pick the item up myself!
Shipping costs don't always put me off, because purchasing items online can turn out to be a lot cheaper than going to a store and purchasing the same item. But it is these rare and peculiar instances where certain online stores think that you are going to pay their ridiculous shipping fees, when you could walk down the street and get the product for way less.
I live close to many stores and malls so dropping by the store is not an issue for me. However, if I see something that I want online I would still buy it as long as the shipping prices aren't that high.
For me, I chalk the extra money up to paying to not be harassed lol. I know what i'm looking for and if I can't find it I will ask them myself, but usually I feel pressured and hate saying no to them, so I'd rather avoid the whole situation as much as possible. Money well spent to shop in peace.
One of the main reasons I will shop for something online is due to the wider selection than what is available in store. Yes, shipping is an added expense, but if you factor in multiple trips to and from the store, you're also wasting time and gas and the possibility of making extra impulse buys to and from the store, such as stopping for fast food, or hitting up some other stores you might not have gone to otherwise. Plus many retailers offer free shipping if the total order is above a certain amount. Or in the case of ordering something like shirts online, it may cost like $6 to ship a shirt, but it's not going to cost you exponentially more if you order 4 or 5 shirts instead - the shipping may only go up like a buck or so. So it's also a matter of planning and trying to order everything at once if you can. I always had a hard time finding my size shirts in the styles that I liked, so I would often settle for styles that I wasn't crazy about simply because they were the only ones in my size. I would end up never wearing those shirts, so they were a waste of money. Whereas if I would have gotten the styles I liked in my size online, I would have worn them all and gotten more use out of them.
I often shop online when free shipping is offered. If I plan to go out, I might just shop in the store, or select store pick up, but I usually spend enough so the free shipping option kicks in. There are some sites I've seen where the free shipping isn't offered unless the purchase is over $75 or $80, or even more, but I don't often shop at those sites. I was doing my online Walmart order yesterday, and they have started calculating in the shipping cost, so I was a little confused about why, even though my order was over the $35 minimum for free shipping, it kept telling me to add so much more to qualify for the free shipping, but then I realized it was due to that shipping fee. I just added a few items I had planned to pick up in the store in person, and qualified for the free shipping. It wasn't that I spent more than I'd planned to, I simply shifted some items from in person pick up to being purchased online.
I buy a lot online because often price+shipping is still less than buying the item locally and I have to admit that I LOVE the free site-to-store services. I'm amazed at the number of retailers that have that option now, even Home Depot! For clothes though, I only use it with brands I trust or homemade goods on etsy. With unknown brands, as an above poster mentioned, I am sometimes disappointed by the quality of the product or a non-standard fit.
I agree that there is definitely a wider selection of products online. If something isn't made in your country, or if your local stores are out of stock when it come to certain products, then you can shop online and there will be multiple retailers selling those certain products for you to select from. I do prefer to shop online overall, but those shipping fees can be a bit of a pin if you don't know what you're doing.
My experience shopping for clothes online has been a bit hit or miss. I have always made sure to shop at places with a good return policy and little to no shipping costs, but even with that in mind, returning is still a bit of a hassle. I’ll probably always prefer being able to see and try things on in person. That said, online browsing is great for research purposes, and as others have mentioned, there are more options. Living in a small town, that’s the aspect of online shopping that appeals to me the most. So it’s something I’ll do on occasion, especially if I’m craving a bit of a treat.
The big problem with buying online is the illusion of saving money. You don't factor in the shipping cost and the fact that most items are sold at retail price. That means they are selling it for the same price it is in stores. Yet, they may say they have a certain percentage off even though that is a complete lie.
