Shopping online

Amazon.com has some strengths and weaknesses. Amazon is the leader in online sales. There biggest down fall is they do not charge taxes when you purchase items. So at the end of the year you get a friendly email from them stating you owe state sales tax. They have great customer service if something is not right with your order. Amazon also holds your credit card information in your account to make purchasing easier. However, some people don’t like their credit card information being kept.

            Wal-Mart is a major retailer for online shopping. Again some people have mixed thoughts about their credit card information being kept online but it doesn’t stop most people. I have noticed that Wal-Mart’s online descriptions of products, doesn’t always match the product when it arrives. The size or weight listed in the description may vary from what you actually receive.

            Barnes and Noble has become a big online retailer since the launch of their NOOK e-reader. You can purchase a book, music, or digital movies and download it instantly and begin reading or listening within minutes. To be able to do this you must have an account with www.bn.com which holds your credit card information for you. You do have 24 hours to “return” the downloaded item to receive a full refund. They also provide awesome customer service.

            EBay has become huge. You personally can post stuff to sell, or buy. The downfall to this is there is no guarantee on the product. Since you are purchasing from other people like yourself there is typically no way of knowing how good the product will be until you get it. EBay also holds your credit card information, but they use a company called PayPal. So PayPal holds your credit information for you. I have always been skeptical about purchasing from EBay because you don’t know who you are buying from, are they honest? Are they psycho? Are they stalkers?

Companies have made it easy to purchase online. They save your credit card information so you can easily “check out” next time. Some people don’t shop online for this reason. People fear online hackers and identity theft. Some like the privacy of shopping online. Some like shopping at home, or at a red light from their phone.

Amazon.com, Google, Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble are the biggest e-commerce websites on the internet. All these websites have amazing abilities to search for products, describe them, and deliver them within a few days. Some of the products such as digital books and music you can download instantly.

Now what about trying to touch the product before you buy? Well you can’t do that online. What if you need the item now? Well you can pay extra for priority shipping, or you can go into the store and purchase. That is one of the down falls of shopping online. The descriptions might not match the products listed online either, or delivery could be held up. There are pros and cons of shopping online. You just have to weigh out what works best for you. 

I love shopping online, no driving around, can do it at home, no kids throwing things in the cart, the internet is open 24 hours, and best of all, its fast. What about you? What do you like and dislike about shopping online?