# How often do you buy things online? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928 "2016-05-16T19:11:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Whitney\_Harper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@Whitney\_Harper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whitney_Harper)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/41 "2016-05-17T17:30:03Z")
I do most of my online shopping from Amazon, and order something usually every 2-3 days. Amazon has saved me from many trips to the store. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/42 "2016-05-17T18:19:50Z")
Weekly or monthly. I need some new summer clothes, and I order (from catalogs online) and they arrive before I even get around to going to the mall. Hobby supplies like special paints and implements, order online from a hobby store. They may take a few days to arrive but it’s better than driving around to arts and crafts stores near and far to search search search for things they usually just don’t HAVE. Amazon: cosmetics, beauty potions and perfume, books, DVDs, CDs, spices and candy I just can’t find around here. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/43 "2016-05-17T18:39:32Z")
Since Amazon started free two Hour shipping in our area I do a lot of my grocery shopping on my phone. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/44 "2016-05-17T18:53:11Z")
I just bought a laundry sink that I’m installing in my garage. I bought the sink at Home Depot, and while they have a wide selection of kitchen and bath faucets, they don’t have a single laundry/utility sink faucet. WTF? Lowe’s had one, a cheap all plastic faucet. No brass faucets to be found. Go online and find what other than faucets dot com, where after a quick search and filter I find over 20 brass laundry faucets. Free shipping. It’s on they way. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/45 "2016-05-17T18:54:25Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > And for all the others like you — thank you. Thank you very very much. 😃 > > For those who don’t know, I work in their local shipping center and really enjoy it. But an odd thing for myself and many of my coworkers - we shop online less than we used to. If this had been say 3 years ago I would have been closer to weekly rather than monthly. In a strange way internet shopping has become too much like “work”. I always look for a bit of cigar ash in the box.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/46 "2016-05-17T19:28:22Z")
Between Amazon and NewEgg I’ll have to go with slightly more often than weekly. eBay comes in around monthly though sometimes will burst into daily. Steam also comes in at the monthly level until they start their sales events. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/47 "2016-05-18T01:18:25Z")
I place somewhat more than one order a week on average, often with several unrelated items per order. Groceries, toiletries, shoes, and clothes I buy locally, as well as some heavy bulky items that would be prohibitive to ship (sand, salt, manure, gravel etc.)\*. For almost everything else, I buy it online and have shipped to me or to a bricks-and-mortar store nearby. It’s usually a lot cheaper provided you shop around and get free or low-cost shipping. In the last month I’ve bought video disks, books, batteries, a new TV, some flat-pack furniture, strawberry plants, rutabaga seeds, anti-virus software, and upholstery supplies. My usual sources are eBay, Amazon, and Walmart, but I’ve bought from dozens of different places over the years. \*Occasionally, even heavy items are cheaper to buy online than to locally. Last year I bought a brand new cutting edge for my snowplow. It’s a 40 pound, 7 foot hunk of solid steel. Even including shipping by FedEx from New Jersey, it still cost 30 or 40 percent less than buying locally. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/48 "2016-05-18T01:27:41Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Surely, the delivery truck is not arriving at their house daily with purchased products? :o I buy and sell a lot of things. The mailman comes to my house a lot, along with UPS and, less frequently, FedEx. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/49 "2016-05-18T02:54:40Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I always look for a bit of cigar ash in the box.😃 Darn things are closed long before they get to me or ----------- 😃 PS – have you noticed that your pallet letter and number have changed? Guess what? It could be changing again. Big things are going on in the Jungle! ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/50 "2016-05-18T02:57:53Z")
Almost everything except what I can find at the grocery store or walmart comes from online. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/51 "2016-05-18T04:59:37Z")
I usually get some fairly obscure CD online once a month or so. Usually by a band that the stores won’t stock. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/52 "2016-05-18T05:21:57Z")
I buy tons of stuff online. One of the best things for sheer convenience is dog and cat food. I buy two cases of cat food per week. Having them just show up on my doorstep is fantastic. (Hmmm…much the way the cats did…) Same with big bags of dry dog food. I buy a lot of stuff for my mother and just have it shipped to her (she lives far away). I’m amazed when friends of mine complain about not being able to find some product or other, and when I suggest Amazon or some other online source, they say, “Oh, I never thought of that.” I have an Amazon rewards Visa card and have racked up hundreds of dollars in reward points. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/53 "2016-05-18T10:34:43Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Darn things are closed long before they get to me or ----------- 😃 > > PS – have you noticed that your pallet letter and number have changed? Guess what? It could be changing again. Big things are going on in the Jungle! Yep, I always look at the label, knowing you’ve often interacted with my order. I’ve told my coworker’s about this (I get everything sent to work) and _they_ get a kick out of the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928/54 "2016-05-19T02:26:58Z")
I am buying more and more online, primarily at Amazon. This approach has the following advantages. 1. Don’t have to get out on the streets. I think this area is now acknowledged to have some of the worst traffic congestion in the whole USA. 2. Don’t have to fight those Kamikaze parking lots here. With the shrinking parking spaces. And speed bumps every 50 feet. 3. Don’t have to go to three or four stores trying to find what I want. And these stores are naturally clear across town from each other. Don’t even suggest calling the stores beforehand to determine availability - I get very nervous and irritable going thru a ten layer automated phone system, with five to ten minute holds at each level. I won’t be a bit sad if I never go inside another brick and mortar store. Three cheers for Amazon Prime! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-buy-things-online/754928.md?page=2)