For those of you who buy online: What do you spend most of your money on?
By most of my online purchases are books.
Book are also my biggest purchase, followed by DVDs, then CDs. Other that these the only things I can recall buying in the last year are an external hard drive, some tea, and a comic book.
Books for my Kindle are the top in number of items, but I buy all sorts of other things from computers, compuer parts, large screen TV and about anything except groceries.
ebooks, music and movie downloads, dvds, Penzey’s herbs and spices, specialty cooking supplies not carried around here. Occasionally clothing. Flowers for my mum.
DVDs, shoes, clothing.
I buy odd hardware that I can’t find in stores, like replacement wheels for my sliding closet doors, or obscure tools like faucet core pullers.
I also buy drugstore stuff in bulk from Walgreens or CVS Pharmacy, like a case of medicated shampoo or a year’s supply of contact lenses.
I also have bought a couple dozen pair of extra wide socks, that are only available in big-and-tall men’s stores, but not in all colors.
Or things I love but can’t find in stores like Sock-Locks http://www.sock-locks.com/
Move to Chicago, the public library always has cheap books for sale. The hard covers are 25¢ and the books on tape (the cassette tapes, not CDs) are being phased out so you can get them for 10¢
A few times I’ve come across a lazy clerk who told me, “Just take the book, we’re glad to be rid of it.”
Jewelry. Followed by clothing. I’ve cut way down on my book and DVD purchases, but they used to be up there as well.
I get the bulk of my groceries online, sothat’d be the biggest, followed by clothing and then either books or aquarium gadgets.
I hate shopping in stores!
I don’t spend much money period but my biggest vice is probably direct downloads of PC games. Even though I could probably get a used copy cheaper (and resell it when I’m done with it) I like the (sort of) instant gratification.
Curious, as I’ve never even considered buying groceries online before - how do they handle refrigerated or frozen items? If you buy produce online is the quality generally good?
My spending is all spread out, there isn’t any ‘most’ category. I’ve bought electronics, a couple of DVDs, clothing, shoes, books, and software.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one of my favorite things: batteries. Whether it is the little calculator lithium, wireless phones or other unusual batteries, there are several online stores where it is very easy to find what is needed. Many of them ship free, too. Anything I hate is browing through rack after rack trying to find a specific little battery.
I mostly buy things that I can’t get in stores here in Canada. Noodle and Boo bath products, some clothing (from Anthropologie, LL Bean, Victoria’s Secret, etc.), stuff like that. I also have to order all of my coffee online - I just brought a Nespresso machine, and the coffee comes in pods that you have to get from Nespresso.
I’ve also bought books online, but I prefer to go to a bookstore. I generally only buy online if it’s not stocked in a bricks and mortar store nearby.
Housewares and clothing. I loathe shopping for either, and it’s a much more enjoyable experience if I can browse in the comfort of my own home.
Airfare is #1, concert tickets are #2, and music is a distant #3.
There are a few places that great deals on software that I have used.
I have bought some textbooks at Amazon for better deals than if I had used the University bookstore.
However, mostly I buy things online at Christmas or for other times when I need to buy a gift for someone out of town. I strongly suggest others doing this:
- You find a store in the same town/village where your friend(s) live.
- You place the order and often they offer free delivery - after all, it is local.
- If there is a problem of any kind, your friend(s) know exactly where to go to exchange the gift, or report a problem.
- It saves shipping costs, standing in lines at the holiday season and hoping stuff gets there on time.
- I figure it is my little effort for the environment - buying locally, even though I might live thousands of miles away.
I have done this for friends in Europe and in New Zealand and have always had great success. Especially good for flowers, as the local flower shops are far more inclined to do something nice for a local customer, and can tell you exactly what they have in their shop in season. Have also had chocolates delivered and once had a pizza delivered for a friend who I knew was home and loved pizza from a certain place in his neighborhood. He was blown away when it arrived and the delivery guy said it was free “as a gift from some guy in Las Vegas!”
Books, dvds, and housewares. I buys especially stuff online that I can’t try out beforehand. For instance, I recently bought a fabric saver. Now these gadgets are very hit or miss: a lot of them you can buy in Brick and mortar stores don’t work at all. But on Amazon, I can read the reviews and reduce the “will I be buying crap”-factor. That is worth the shipping expenses to me, that are usually more expensive then the item itself.
Besides, the US market just has more choice then the Dutch market.
Slightly off-topic, but ages ago I had an adult student in Berlin who had gone to the USA and saw the new (for those days) fridges with built in ice dispensers. He really wanted one for his kitchen and went to every appliance store in Berlin - they wanted a huge amount of money for him to buy one, special order.
The guy was rich…so he said, “fuck you” and made some calls to the USA.
Two months later, his fridge arrived in Berlin and he calculated that even with the phone calls (pre-Internet) and shipping costs, he probably saved about $2000 by calling to the USA, ordering it, paying the duty and having it shipped to Berlin.
How did he get around the voltage difference?