Friday, September 20, 2013

Internet shopping

I like shopping on the internet especially for items that I know I want.  It's easier to find a specific item and easy to comparison shop prices.  Often times one can get free or reduced shipping charges and so far one has been able to skip paying state taxes.  Where I find shopping via the internet to be frustrating in in looking for specialty items, particularly decorative items. 
  While shopping on the internet makes suppliers and manufacturers of those items easier to find there seems to be problems using the web pages and often suppliers won't list prices so one is forced to call and by the time they get your information they think they have a sale locked down.  Then it seems every company in the country that sells that product wants to send you an ad via e-mail touting their wares.  At least in brick and mortar stores one doesn't have that problem. 
  When companies do not list the prices of the products they sell it makes me think they are either overpriced or they are looking for people to fleece.  Maybe they sell to others cheaper than they will to you or they want to get to you in person or on the phone so they can sell you goods and or services you really don't want. 
   One thing I really hate is looking for an item and finding a good price and then discover that I have to buy a bunch of other stuff.  Like buying a set of tires for ones car.  You find the perfect set for, say, $400.00, and then you discover that rotating and balancing cost extra, plus there is an environmental fees and a fee for shop rags and extra for stems  plus taxes and the tires end up costing $477.00 plus tax. 
  One I really hate is the car dealer who has a car for sale for $9,990.00 when the cheapest price you have been able to find is $16000.00.  If you go there you will discover that the under 10 grand price includes the 1st time buyer discount, the student discount, the military service discount, the manufactures rebate, and any other incentive that is offered.  You also discover that you don't quality for the 1st time buyers discount, the student discount or the service discount or the cash up front discount or any other discount so your final price on the car is the same as the other dealers except at the competitors you could have negotiated down from their price while at the cut-rate dealership what price they quote is it. 
   If the internet company don't put prices on their products on their web pages then I'm not interested in doing business with them. 

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