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Veni, Vidi, Visa
We came, we saw, we went shopping.
Google provides access to a great repository of knowledge capable of settling any pub-born argument. The likes of MySpace bring people together in new and interesting virtual communities. But what of the important things in life, like buying gadgets or shoes?
Though there are many aspects of eBay which make me wonder if they do actually employ any professional web developers, you have to admit they have created the ultimate shopping mall - an almost infinite number and variety of retailers and without all the usually associated walking about.
I buy a lot of stuff off the Net (in particular eBay), several things a month - much to the interest and amusement of my colleagues. In my opinion there are three main benefits to “virtual” shopping compared with “real” shopping.
- It’s cheaper.
- There’s more choice.
- It’s easier.
Let’s start with cheaper. Last year I bought a new flat screen TV. In Currys it was £1,200, in Comet it was £1,100, on Comets website it was £1,000. After a quick search of the Internet, we found someone selling it for £650. That one purchase saved enough money to pay for our Internet access for the year - and some people wonder if they can afford to have the Internet? I say can you afford not to have it!
Choice. Especially when it comes to Christmas and birthdays, you can spend a long time traipsing round the shops looking for something “they” might like. However, most people have a special interest. With eBay, any special interest becomes a potential present. They like the Denver Broncos? Oh look, here’s a Denver Broncos cigarette case. They like lizards? Oh look there’s a belt buckle in the shape of a lizard. To actually find these items in “real” shops, you’d probably have to burn a lot of shoe leather. (I have bought both of those items in the past by the way)
Ease. Well obviously there’s a lot less walking as previously mentioned. However, there’s also the difference between lugging these things home or having them delivered to your door for you. Now when it comes to Christmas, I personally find it much easier to sit in front of a PC, order a few things and have them delivered - rather than getting jostled in the crowds with heavy bags of presents in the middle of winter whilst having “Mistletoe & Wine” played at me.
I’ve just got a new phone (the lovely Nokia N95) and I’ve used eBay to buy loads of cool accessories for it, a 2Gb memory card for under £20 (instead of £40 from the shop), cases, screen protectors, extra batteries and desktop chargers. I’ve even bought a pocket sized Bluetooth keyboard for it! Even if the shop had sold all of those particular items (and most of them they didn’t), they would have charged me at least twice as much. For buying small electronic goods (high value, low postage) you can’t beat the Net.
There are of course a few things to remember. First of all, know what you are buying. There’s a lot of rubbish on the Net (and in shops), so try to find reviews for the item first. Secondly, think about the delivery costs. It might actually be cheaper to walk down the shops and buy it yourself, rather than pay to have it delivered. Don’t just settle for eBay, sometimes you can buy these items cheaper from other websites!
People often worry about the safety aspect of online purchases. Well, I believe it is the safest way to use your credit card. Compare that to handing your card to a waiter in a restaurant, or reading the details out over an unsecure phone line? With most online purchases you have the option of recorded delivery and postal insurance, so you don’t have to worry about things not turning up. eBay/Paypal are very good at handling disputes, but I personally haven’t really had any need to involve them in the past. The only other thing to worry about is the addiction, it’s so easy and there’s so many things to buy that you can get a little carried away and forget that virtual shopping still takes very real money out of your bank account!
That’s it - happy shopping!
I suggest you should try getting addicted to on-line savings accounts and become a rate tart instead. Making shopping easier and cheaper only means you waste slightly less time and money on things you don’t need anyway? Discuss.