My driving habits have changed somewhat since my retirement and the changes in gasoline prices. The Internet has long been the preferred shopping method in my household.

In the past week I bought two ebooks on the web. There is something satisfying about the almost instant availability of my selection. I also ordered a twenty-dollar whistling teakettle from Amazon* and an iPod Nano from Apple** (as if I needed another iPod). Of course I regularly buy music from iTunes.

I manage coffee and tea deliveries from Gevalia on line, changing varieties as the mood dictates. Peet's is another good source.

I occasionally order from Land's End and Chef's Catalog as well as Emeril's.

The UPS lady always waves if she passes the house while I'm mowing as we have become old friends.

*Amazon continually surprises me with what is available at their "store". It is folly to think of them only for books, they even sell groceries and dog food now. While I have read and heard of horror stories regarding their delivery methods, I have never experienced a problem. They even offer free delivery on cast iron cookware, although I hear that you won't see it for about a year.

**If you're interested in an iPod you may want to check first at Apple's refurbished department on their online store.

The Hill Online

I buy almost all of my clothes online. Music comes from iTunes. I try to get books from the library, but when I do buy, about half the time I buy from Amazon. Gifts, especially those that are going to people who live far away from me, virtually always come from online stores. Other random things I've bought online recently: iPod and speaker dock thingy (from EBay), region-free DVD player (also from EBay - I wouldn't know where else other than online to get a region-free DVD player), synovi supplements for the dog, sumac, ma'amoul press, shopping and lunch bags (from Ecobags), computer games, Fiestaware cereal bowls.
I try to do as much shopping online as I can, both because I hate going to big stores and malls and because I am trying to cut back on my driving. I have not had any bad experiences with online shopping.

I live in a delivery nomansland. Since they went to all computerized routing, UPS and FedEx can't find my house. But I still do great swathes of my shopping online. I buy clothes, books, music (hard and soft), electronics, gifts, etc. I have a Netflix account and get a large number of my used books through PaperbackSwap.com.

I like to try on shoes and generally pick up household goods at Target or Wal-Mart, but even having to haul stuff home from having them delivered at work isn't enough to put me off shopping online.

I bought by truck on eBay, music from iTunes, a motorcycle seat on eBay, a set of golf clubs (this week) on eBay and a Ducane grill from Amazon. All this stuff was much cheaper than I could buy it from a retail store or dealer.

It seems obvious to me that retail merchants are being hurt by the internet. I could really tell at Christmas. But, the reason is you can get the same item for cheaper. It's competition.

Some things I wouldn't but on the internet. But, I'm a bargain shopper, so I like to compare.

I buy pretty much everything online, except groceries and clothes. I detest shopping, so the Internet has been a god-send for me. And Netflix is the best thing since beer was invented.

I've never had any significant delivery problems with any of the carriers.

Once, Amazon screwed up an order by sending me the wrong thing. I emailed them, and they shipped the correct item a full day before I'd even made it to the Post Office to return the item they'd sent.

--Socialist With A Gold Card

My online experence is mostly positive.

I have ordered several books from Amazon and from other online retailers. I used to have netflix and Plan on joining agian this fall. I have built three computers from ordering parts from Geeks.com.

But returning items is still something of a hassle. for me.

For some items, I No Matter Where you go, There you Are!!!!

of my clothes online, computer software, gifts, books. Shopping online forces you to be really honest with yourself about your size, you gotta measure...LOL. Other than that, online shopping is a real help to me. I personally just cannot go shopping most days, can't handle crowds and lots of walking.

What I would really like to see is an online grocery store that has competitive prices with the neighborhood grocery store, or at least see the neighborhood grocery store offer home delivery and online ordering. Being disabled, sometimes just doing the grocery shopping is more than I can handle but I have to do it anyway and it exhausts me. I would still get out and go to the store on days when I feel good, but when I'm feeling bad it would be a blessing to be able to get fresh milk and stuff delivered. I'd be willing to pay the five dollars for gas that it would take to get from the nearest grocery store to my house.

I'd also like to see the local pharmacy offer prescriptions by mail delivery and online re-ordering.

Seems I remember hearing about a time when grocery stores and pharmacies DID deliver to your house as a courtesy. Of course, THAT was when the grocery store was just a mom and pop outfit that was no more than four or five blocks away in your neighborhood, right next to the pharmacy. And the Milk came straight from the dairy to you, in neat little bottles at your door each morning, right about the same time the morning paper was delivered. Sometimes people in the past had better ideas how to treat their customers than corporations today do.

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"You can't fix stupid..." ~ Ron White"

"I never said I wasn't a brat..." ~ Talidapali

"Seems I remember hearing about a time when grocery stores and pharmacies DID deliver to your house as a courtesy. Of course, THAT was when the grocery store was just a mom and pop outfit that was no more than four or five blocks away in your neighborhood, right next to the pharmacy. And the Milk came straight from the dairy to you, in neat little bottles at your door each morning, right about the same time the morning paper was delivered. Sometimes people in the past had better ideas how to treat their customers than corporations today do."

What wonderful images and memories your post evoked!

One of my earliest memories is of the ice man. He used to bring a big block of ice up to our third floor apartment building. There was a small door on the porch wall that went right into a metal tray in our icebox. I remember him chopping off sweet frozen slivers of ice for us kids to suck on. The vision is all foggy with time, but the transparent ice glistening in the sunlight is clear as a bell.

I prefer to support smaller local businesses as much as possible. If I need a water filter and some wool socks I will probably just go down to Earth Traverse for it. However, I can't justify spending $400 dollars for a tent there when I can buy the same one online for $275. Just my 2 cents.

I prefer to support smaller local businesses as much as possible.

I do this as well. I also like to support brick & mortar in general to support local jobs as well as product expertise, e.g. furniture, pharmacies, auto parts, etc.

I generally only order off the Internet items I cannot get locally, e.g. Dell computers (won't be going to Wal-Mart). Most recently I purchased water filters for my Mr. Coffee directly from Mr. Coffee. I could not find these locally after visiting a few stores.

I used to buy more books and CDs online, usually from Amazon, but not as frequently any more.

Sometimes I shop for clothes online or order online from a catalog, but not very often.

Seems like I mostly buy technology stuff that you can't get locally, and most software and software upgrades.

Also buy other specialty stuff you can't find in local stores, but nothing recent comes immediately to mind.

I always buy airline tickets online, but don't travel as much as I used to. I don't like to book hotels online, though, and don't even like to book via 800 numbers. I like to get the number of the actual hotel and talk to someone who can tell me exactly what rooms they have, amenties, about the location and the area, etc.

Here's something cool. Amazon keeps a permanent history of all your orders. Here was my first order from them:

Order Date: January 29, 1996
Items:

1 of: Appalachian Wilderness : The Great Smoky Mountains
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC

1 of: Steal This Book : Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Facsimile Edition
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC

Going back through the years looking at orders, I see some amusing trends.

- Business, marketing and technology stuff from when we started our company.

- Lots of books on one subject bought over a short period of time when taking up a new hobby such as digital photography.

- Books on whatever my latest moneymaking scheme was at the time (writing the Great American Novel, home rehabbing, real estate, investing, etc.). Fortunately, spending even a hundred dollars or more on books to find out you don't have the aptitude or skills or patience for some new harebrained scheme is better than learning expensive lessons the hard way. Or maybe that's not a good thing. Hard to say.

Another thing I noticed is that many of the purchases were replacing favorite books that were lost or loaned out and never got back, or new editions of favorites, and upgrading favorite albums from vinyl to CD.

I guess now that I'm pretty much caught up there is less and less of that. And I like going to the book/CD store (although I admit I prefer the convenience of chain stores such as Border's and places like that) so I can hold the book or CD and read the jacket/liner notes and blurbs before I buy it.

I have also bought DVDs (and laser discs before that) of favorite classic movies, but I don't buy many movies (or even rent them very often) any more.

I don't purchase music online. I like to have the CD without DRM so I have a more "permanent" archive and so I can use it how I want. Plus the sound quality is better. Plus there is just too much junk these days, and not enough time to sort through it all.

P.S. Another useful feature of online shopping is checking the online inventory for local big box stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Sears, etc. You can shop online, see if it's available in the store, and go over and pick it up right away. Every merchant ought to do this, but I guess only the giant retailers can afford all the expensive technology involved.

Our clan is part of those who are buying less via the web. 4, 6 even 8 years ago we bought much more online than we do now.

We still buy books, used music, American made clothes and always- pc parts and pieces online. Those hard to find, spend the day running all over town then coming home without them kinds of things. The same things it used to take 15 phone calls to track down.

Why have we reduced online buying?

Why? Well, I only know of two reasons.

First of all if there is a problem with the purchase and I call and it is answered by someone in China or India- I get highly pissed off. If your problem does not fit one of their approved script responses then it will never get solved.

The other reason is simply a combination of wanting to keep it local and asking myself if I really need it. Mostly, I don't NEED it.

To fill that urge for a storegasm we either head to a local craft show or WallyWorld on a Friday night to count tattoos.

P.S. A couple more observations. I have never bought or sold anything on eBay. I just don't trust anonymous people enough for some reason.

I think I did bid on one rare CD one time, and lost at the last minute (not being eBay savvy). The CD was later reissued, so I ended up getting it for a lot less.

I do have some stuff I should probably sell on eBay, but if I did I would probably use one of the consignment services such as iSold It. The 30% commission is steep, but 70% of something is better than nothing.

As for why internet sales may be slowing down, I think another reason is concern about privacy and security. With all the horror stories about data "leakage" and identity theft, I think a lot of folks are a lot more hesitant to have their credit card numbers and personal info floating around in hundreds of databases all over the place.

Google may be on to something with their "Google Checkout" as a way to create a universal online financial exchange, but their record on privacy isn't stellar, and there's already PayPal although I don't like it that much.

One reason I love 'Net shopping: The Target near me is invariably sold out of whatever I need. It's nice to be able to save myself the trouble of sitting in awful traffic, circling around trying to find a parking space, etc., only to ultimately not be able to buy what I came to get.

I remember looking in four or five stores last year to find some simple index tabs with the names of months on them. No dice. I've really gotten to where I look online first if something is even a little bit obscure, since the big boxes have 1000s of items but not much selection within categories. I can't think of a single office-supply store near me that isn't a major chain, either.

Socialist, my eBay experiences have all been positive. I've boought and sold about a dozen things.

I bought my truck about 2 1/2 years ago. It's a Chevy. The Lexus dealer in Atlanta had it on eBay for sale. It only had about 18,500 miles on it, so it still had the factory warranty. A tip, if it's under factory warranty you can go to any dealer and buy an extended factory warranty (which I did).

The salesman sent me about 20 photos. I talked to him on the phone. It was exactly the truck I wanted (color, options, etc.). I checked the VIN with a local GM dealer for any record of warranty repairs. It was the end of the month. They really wanted to move it.

The orginal sticker was in the truck. Sticker was $44,000. I paid $25,700 (seller's lowest price). That was at least $7,000 cheaper than any local dealer. You can see I don't spend my money like Knox County. I drove to Atlanta and picked it up. It's got about 80,000 miles on it now. , it's been a great truck.

I also sold my wife's car on eBay. The buyer was in Virginia and had a car hauler stop in Knoxville to pick it up. This is a growing business given the thousands of cars sold on eBay. Many sellers also mention local airports. In my case, a $250 plane ticket would be worth saving $5,000.

One other thing, the salesman who listed my truck had a 100% positive feedback rating on eBay. He was great (Hennesey Lexus in Atlanta). This is an important aspect of eBay. If you don't deliver what you promise, it will be reflected on eBay and you won't be a seller for long. Every seller's feedback rating is shown as part of every item listed. Every buyer is asked to leave feedback after every sale which states if the item was as advertised, arrived timely, etc. You can read every seller's feedback comments. I'm sure people still get screwed, but there are lots of sellers who have sold hundreds of cars on eBay and have a 100% positive feedback. How many dealers can say that?

I also buy airline tickets, book travel, etc. online. I've never had any problems and bought some good deals. The internet is just another marketplace, with it's good and bad. You have to have some knowledge and be careful.

I've bought and sold a lot of stuff on EBay and paid and been paid thru PayPal. I've never had a problem. I did have one with Amazon because of a mix up about addresses. If you aren't careful they'll send what you order to the person you last shipped something to, not to your home address. I made an order and three minutes later noticed it wasn't going to be sent to me, so I tried to cancel it. I couldn't. I had to inform the vendor that was selling it ( a used book) on Amazon, and I did this, but they never got back to me in time, so it went to my friend's house.

Selling stuff on EBay can be fun, but be careful to get everything right and package things well. Two items I sold got lost and the post office's insurance system is really, really time consuming and aggravating.

I still feel squeamish about the car thing, but it sounds like it has a lot of benefits. Someone the other day mentioned Craig's List, but I haven't checked it out yet. I think it has a local thing, so you're selling to people close by you.

Anyone interested in a new (heads and grips still wrapped in plastic) set of Cobra irons (20% off retail)?...hehe. My most recent eBay buy. I changed my mind on clubs.

When I was visiting Key West I was quoted an outrageous rate for a weekend car rental. So I bopped on down to the internet cafe and booked it through travelocity for about 1/3 the rate. Same company (Enterprise).

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Less is the new More - Karrie Jacobs

I believe airline websites are making life tough on sites like Orbitz (though I believe Orbitz of owned by a number of the major carriers), Expedia, etc. The reason is airline sites often have cheaper rates, even if only by a few dollars. Also, airline websites sometimes allow you more options like choosing seats (important to my wife who's about 6 foot tall).

I've started using kayak.com which serches multiple (dozens, hundreds?) for the best price for a given request. I've booked hotels, rental cars, etc. all through the internet. Many sites offer helpful services, like Orbitz sending you cell phone and/or email notifications the day of your flight letting you know if it's on time, what gate, etc. They also send notice of any change in your flight at any time prior to departure.

Someone told me the other night (and she is right), you may have something to sell which is interesting to a lot of people. You might get someone at a garage sale or from the newspaper. But, when you can reach hundreds of thousands of potential buyers through eBay, you're more likely to 1. sell it and 2. get more for it.

Orbitz announced an IPO recently.

My cousin is flying all over the place with tickets as cheap as like $17. They don't originate here, but I think they go from Atlanta. If you join their club ($9 month or something) you get these incredible bargains. He's been doing it now for over a year.