Shopping Morality

[sunny-dave]

Do you think it's OK to try things on in shops and then go home and actually buy them online at a much lower price?

It seems debatable to me - the shops are putting the effort/cost into displaying stuff and holding stock - and are paying high street rates and physical costs which an online retailer just avoids.

Don't get me wrong - I buy loads of stuff online - but only things like books/music/tech etc - where I can make the decision to buy without seeing or trying the physical item.

Is this causing "the death of the high street"?

Is it justifiable as "living economically"?

Dave

[ummmm]

Yeah....I'm fine with that if you haven't got much spare cash.

I bought some flip flops yesterday. £30!!! For flip flops (he bought them for me) they are very pretty but £30 for flip flops....

[gingejbee]

I'm not in the habit of paying more than I have to....so any means are OK.
Like you, s-d, I won't buy some things online...shoes, clothes, specs.

[rockyracoon]

I don't do that, not because my morality tells me not to but more for the fact that by the time you add postage on, it's generally not too much cheaper than just grabbing it there and then, plus I'm impatient.

[ummmm]

I wouldn't buy my glasses online but I'm happy to buy clothes and shoes. I wouldn't buy jeans though. Jeans have to be tried on.

[ummmm]

I hate shopping.

[Frank97]

The problem I find is that the local shops just don't have anything worth buying, so I'm forced to buy on line. I did try to support my local garden tool shop recently by going there to purchase a lawn mower, but it was 40% more, so I felt I had to buy it on line.

[rockyracoon]

Actually, I'm convinced that the death of the high st is more down to stock levels, I can't tell you how many times that I've recently gone out to buy things and the shops don't have them, then I have to come home and order them online, so not only have I paid postage, I've also paid for parking and diesel.

[1ozzy]

If you spend time in shops browsing and wasting employees time with the intention of "not purchasing" anything then you are bringing on the demise of retailers.
Maybe it wont be long before all purchases are "over the net" based on the "pictures" posted and "sucked in" when you receive what ever crap you have paid for.

[kvalidir]

As stated on the other thread where you attacked me for doing this- I only do this with major retailers like NEXT, Monsoon etc who actually have strategies in place to drive out independant retailers, so I don't know quite what you are wittering about other than you called me 'vile' for buying clothing online rather than from Monsoon. So yes I am very okay with that but I do buy an awful lot of stuff from small independent businesses- not that you bothered to find that out first.

[ummmm]

I was given a 'no spending limit' last week. I came home with 2 vests and 6 pairs of socks for him. There are hardly any decent shops and when you do see something you like they don't have your size.

[ummmm]

The vests were for me :-)

[1ozzy]

If you desire to purchase over the net...do so!
Why waste the time and money of shop front retailers!
What makes people think that major retailers are the only ones that make use of "sweatshops".
How many items are there available online that are direct ripoffs of legitimate brands and come from "sweatshops"?

[ummmm]

I purchase on the net because I'm lazy. I hate going to town. I hate trying things on. I hate the mirrors that always make you look fat.

[kvalidir]

Why waste the time of indolent, ignorant shop assistants that hide from customers and are about as unhelpful as they could possibly be without actually undergoing specialist training for it? Why indeed? I couldn't possibly think of a reason. I never bother with shop assistants because with a few notable exceptions I've never found them to be much help or indeed interested in being much help in local clothes shops ( think NEXT, Monsoon,etc) M&S have very good assistants, polite and helpful but there's nothing in there I'd be seen dead in, so what would you like me to do? Monsoon certainly expect people to try on in shops and buy ( from them) online, but I'm really not going to start crying into my wine over the fact that I buy Monsoon dresses from Ebay after I've tried them on in store. This whole judgemental nonsense is pretty petty. You shop your way and I will shop mine.

[sherrardk]

If I can buy stuff on the net then I do. I hate shopping with a passion and the shops we have here have very limited choice. I do get the kids' feet measured in Clarks but only buy from the actual shop as a last resort (£200 minimum for school shoes IF they have what I am looking for). I buy uniform from Asda but have to do it online as the store doesn't stock red polo shirts (would be easier to do this in the actual shop to check sizes as the size on stuff doesn't actually match the size of the children, they seem to think all children are malnourished dwarves).

[Peter Pedant]

yeah as has been said - it depends on how much money you have

Becky Sharp at the end of Vanity Fair, set in 1815 and written 1848,
says I could be a good woman on £5 000 a year.

[sunny-dave]

Surely if you abhor retailers like Monsoon and Next, then buying their clothes via *any* route is morally dubious.

You are still (however indirectly) still supporting their sweatshop practices and retail hegemony.

Do you cut the labels out so that no-one spots your little secret?

[RATTER15]

I very rarely buy online, I like to know that I can walk back into the shop I bought it from in case of complaint, rather than wait for days or weeks to have a dispute resolved vie mail. most places will give an over the counter refund. However, I would have no problem checking it out in-store and then buying online.

Its a dog eat dog world unfortunately

[Peter Pedant]

Funny Kval // Why waste the time of indolent, ignorant shop assistants that hide from customers //

we found a few them matching that description on Saturday.
uncanny

[douglas9401]

You don't miss the water till the well runs dry.
We'll end up with Amazon, Argos and similar outlets who are only middle men, offering no help, insight or advice about the products they're selling.
It's not always about price.