I'd much Rather Shop on the Internet

If I have questions about something from L.L. Bean, I call. Their operators have lots more information than you'll ever find online or in their catalogs. I mean, they can tell you that a certain sock has minimal shrinkage, and whether it tends to be a snug or loose fit. The other's, are usually less useful, and that's if you can get in touch at all.

There are a couple of good ones in the cycling fields that are very good, too.

The few times I've bought clothing didn't worked out so well so I don't do that anymore. I love amazon.com and buy most of my books and movies there. Usually cheaper than any brick & mortar store, even shipping is free if it's over 25.00 and you're not in a hurry to get it. Most of my music comes from itunes. Most of our computer equipment comes from Tiger Direct. When I send flowers, it used to be marthastewart.com. They had the freshest and the most beautiful arrangements but they closed up shop a few months ago and I'm at a loss now.

Gifts. I order the majority of birthday gifts thruout the year online. Red Envelope, Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, etc. I do one day of Christmas shopping at the mall just for chucks. The rest of my Christmas gifts I order.

I was trying to remember the name of the online toy company that blew up one Christmas about ten years ago and then couldn't meet the demands the following year and eventually shut down. Does anyone remember?

eToys!

A friend of mine worked there and got a bunch of stock options as part of his compensation/ salary. (He was just a lowly salesclerk or something, but they were handing that stuff out like candy.) His dad, an economist, told him to hold on to them. He needed money and sold them for mucho moolah -- about 3 months before eToys went belly up.


Meanwhile, I do both. For example, eoe mentions Pottery Barn -- they have decent sales online but I've been cycling through the two in town to pick up absolutely amazing deals on frames in their stores. (They always have great deals this time of year, I guess they have a lot of stock over Christmas and then this is the tail end of it.) Just got a beautiful shadowbox thingie that was originally over $40 for $5.97. That only happens in stores.

But then my husband was looking for some Doc Martens (he wanted some work boots and his old ones have finally completely fallen apart) and wasn't finding anything on sale online -- I said "let me at it" and found some on eBay for less than half the price of what he had found. (My trick -- they were listed as "women's" when I know this style is actually unisex, and they were in his size.) He's got them, they're brand-new and gorgeous, they fit.

Everything from clothes, wine, electronics, a bass guitar, and my Russian wife Olga.

The only stores I physically shop in are grocery, pharmacy, bakery and Home Depot. On rare occasions, I shop at Target. I just replaced my TV there.

I do most of my shopping by telephone or on the Net. Wonderful for disabled people. Everything is delivered to my front door. Even furniture, rugs and other household items.

BBB

I'm not fond of buying clothes on the internet--I really prefer to have them in my hands before I decide to buy them. But everything else I get from the internet. I actually find it rather dangerous: if I were in a bookstore, adding one more book to the pile would require me to pull another bill out of my wallet, which would make me think twice about it. But on the internet, hey, it's just one more click of the mouse! I have much less discipline on the internet.