Online Shopping--My Experiences

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old tex

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San Angelo Tx
As the title says this is just my experiences shopping online. Understand, I live in a town of 100,000 which has all the stuff we need but not all the stuff we want. So, I buy a fair amount of stuff online. And of course you may not have experiences like mine. This is just what I've seen.

Walmart: I won't buy from them again. I bought a wheelchair that was shipped from wherever (in the US), it made it to Dallas & then dropped off the radar. Turns out it had 2 different addresses on it & the PO shipped it back to WM. The ordeal took about 2 weeks with me in limbo most of the time. The killer was that the guy who delivered the wheelchair (from someone else) said that he's seen that before with Walmart items.

Etsy: I haven't bought more than 10 items from them. Every now & then you can find a "deal", but mostly they tend to see the items that they are selling as more valuable than I do. Generally a lot more valuable, but sometimes you can find reasonable prices.

Amazon: They are pretty good. Rarely are they slow on shipping & generally have pretty good prices. I like that you can go there, sign in & see what's going on with your order. Mostly from them I buy bread & butter items that would be available if I lived in a larger city. I do buy some fringe items like garden sun protection for my garden that might be hard to find even in a larger place & they have come through very well. I'd rate them as very good. Oh & the wheelchair I got came from them in 4 days.

Temu: I know, Chinese companies & everyone worries about theft & cheap stuff but these are my experiences. The higher priced items I've bought there (garden planters, food cabinet, etc. have all been at least as good of quality as I can get around here & much cheaper. I "love, love, love" that when I get an update on an item it has a picture of the item. I don't have to wonder what I'm being updated on. I also love that they keep you updated. The longest shipping has taken was about 2 weeks & that was for a spice rack. I'll throw this in, I bought a broom & dustpan set just because I could use another & I was intrigued by the design. First impression was that it was a bit cheap (it was lightweight). After using it I feel that it's far superior to the one (American made) that I have. I also wasn't impressed with a bathroom set I ordered. But it does the job (shower curtain, rug, toilet rug), not typical American quality on the rugs but they do the job & look good.

Please rate the mail order (I guess it's email order now days) that you use & let others know your opinion. If you've had good or bad experiences, tell us what happened.
 
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I have mostly used Amazon and Temu, and have had good experiences with both. Amazon, IMHO, has a better delivery record. I get their items much quicker than Temu.

Temu has unbelievably low prices, but don't order from them if you need the item quickly. Sometimes it is a few days, and sometimes it is a few weeks, but at least for me, it has shown up eventually.

I would rate the quality of the items from both (Amazon and Temu) equal. I have not been disappointed with the quality of any of the items I have ordered.

There is a Wal Mart a stone's throw from my house, so I don't order anything from them. I am in the store at least a couple times a month. My wife has ordered from them, but to the best of my knowledge, she hasn't had any problems.
 
I'll include this here. I was looking through the back friday adds this morning. I spotted something that the wife & I talked about buying. I started to go out & just buy it but beforehand I wanted to make sure which WM in our area had what I wanted. So I checked the stores (we have 3 super centers here). On each store I checked the box, on hand before doing the search. Each store listed the item in my search as having them, yet once in them I had to order it. I like Walmart but they are wasting my time when they try to promote their online ordering & waste my time.
 
My biggest online is Amazon, even if it gets lost and never delivers, they make it right.

Lots of stuff from independents: Books, seeds, flashights, tools, some pet stuff.

My main learning is NEVER BUY FROM A SPONSORED FACEBOOK AD. Might look great, but you will likely get hosed.
 
Sometimes I order from Sam's Club, they ship UPS, everything goes well. If something is damaged Sam's is quick to replace it and send an online coupon. I order from Amazon, eBay, and Walmart.com! If something is from Amazon and shipped by Amazon, the returns are easy if you must return an item! I don't order stuff from Walmart (the store), but Walmart.com. has sellers just like eBay and Amazon, sometimes they have a better price or the seller will offer free shipping! The only problem I have had with ordering online has been if the item is shipped with the USPS!! Our post office is a hideous mess!! They can hardly get the regular mail to my house, good luck with packages!!
 
You gotta know your prices!!
Although it is a pain to do so, shopping around for a while helps with that. A friend was looking for a new carpet shampooer. She had been to Kohls. A couple weeks later, Kohls had a "sale" on carpet shampooers and the price was higher when it was on sale than it had been before the sale.
 
I would never spend a penny of my money at Temu or Wish, unless I had stolen credit card. But I buy a lot of stuff (online) from Walmart, Amazon, Costco and about 20-25 gun/ammo places like Primary Arms, MidwayUSA, Brownells, Wing Tactical, FieldsUSA, MidwestGunWorks, MagShack, GunMagWarehouse, SG Ammo, BulkAmmo, BattleHawkArmory, GunPrime, RainierArms, etc. without a single company related issue. I have had issues with both UPS and FedEx being dumb as rocks and screwing the pooch, but those were never the retailers fault.
 
I would never spend a penny of my money at Temu or Wish, unless I had stolen credit card. But I buy a lot of stuff (online) from Walmart, Amazon, Costco and about 20-25 gun/ammo places like Primary Arms, MidwayUSA, Brownells, Wing Tactical, FieldsUSA, MidwestGunWorks, MagShack, GunMagWarehouse, SG Ammo, BulkAmmo, BattleHawkArmory, GunPrime, RainierArms, etc. without a single company related issue. I have had issues with both UPS and FedEx being dumb as rocks and screwing the pooch, but those were never the retailers fault.
I'll check out some of those places for 25 20 brass. I checked with Midway and they've discontinued it.
 
I would never spend a penny of my money at Temu or Wish, unless I had stolen credit card. But I buy a lot of stuff (online) from Walmart, Amazon, Costco and about 20-25 gun/ammo places like Primary Arms, MidwayUSA, Brownells, Wing Tactical, FieldsUSA, MidwestGunWorks, MagShack, GunMagWarehouse, SG Ammo, BulkAmmo, BattleHawkArmory, GunPrime, RainierArms, etc. without a single company related issue. I have had issues with both UPS and FedEx being dumb as rocks and screwing the pooch, but those were never the retailers fault.
I would never spend a penny of my money at Temu or Wish

And I respect your right to not shop at those places. For many years I was in the military & paid less than peanuts so I didn't have that choice, I shopped (when I could afford to shop) at the cheapest place that I could find stuff. (Remember a box of Mac & cheese for 18 cents, we had that 3 times a week). That's a habit that I got into after being broke for 14 years. Nowadays I can shop wherever I want & buy what I want because I of what I learned & did way back then. Everybody has to do what they feel they need to do. I do shop on Amazon but I sometimes skip the middleman & buy straight from China because that's where most of that stuff comes from. Either way China gets the money & who knows, maybe the money I save can be invested in China's growing economy rather than our economy which our politicians seem to want to destroy.
 
My biggest online is Amazon, even if it gets lost and never delivers, they make it right.

Lots of stuff from independents: Books, seeds, flashights, tools, some pet stuff.

My main learning is NEVER BUY FROM A SPONSORED FACEBOOK AD. Might look great, but you will likely get hosed.
🤣 🤣🤣I finally broke down and placed my biannual Amazon order a few days ago.
I have learned how to work 'The Machines' to my advantage...
Like letting expensive stuff 'age' in my cart until the robots panic that I am going to toss it out, and lower the price.:p
As expected, today I receive this:

Your package is arriving earlier than we previously expected.
Shipping Confirmation
Your package will arrive by
Monday, December 2
Previously expected: Tuesday, December 3

That's right, the same day as the $6.99 shipping would have gotten me, instead of the 'Free Shipping' I picked!🤣🤣
 
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I buy stuff online all the time , no problems
Have only returned very few items to Amazon ( shoes that didn't fit right, once they sent the wrong thing)
Walmart I order dog food, when I don't have time to buy it at Rural king ,also ordered tires from them before that were ok . Walmart is very fast usually
No problems with Temu but it takes a while to get stuff. I ordered half price solar panels from them and they seem to work ok
For vet supplies Valley Vet, always gets there fast and no problems
 
I would never spend a penny of my money at Temu or Wish

And I respect your right to not shop at those places. For many years I was in the military & paid less than peanuts so I didn't have that choice, I shopped (when I could afford to shop) at the cheapest place that I could find stuff. (Remember a box of Mac & cheese for 18 cents, we had that 3 times a week). That's a habit that I got into after being broke for 14 years. Nowadays I can shop wherever I want & buy what I want because I of what I learned & did way back then. Everybody has to do what they feel they need to do. I do shop on Amazon but I sometimes skip the middleman & buy straight from China because that's where most of that stuff comes from. Either way China gets the money & who knows, maybe the money I save can be invested in China's growing economy rather than our economy which our politicians seem to want to destroy.

My choice isn't about politics or money or circumstances, it's about the fact that Temu and Wish have more credit card fraud and stolen ID's than pretty much every other online retails combined. Temu is Chinese for "please poo where you eat". If you have been sparred so far, then consider yourself fortunate. My bank even sent out a warning email at one point about them.
 
It looks like even Remington is out of stock. I would put your email in and wait for an in-stock notification. I do it all the time and buy as soon as I get the message.

https://www.remington.com/handloading/brass/29-23018.html
Just did that at 4 places. There was one place that said they have 25 20 brass in stock and at a decent price. But they'd only take something called Zelle for payment. I figured it was a scam so I passed.
 
My choice isn't about politics or money or circumstances, it's about the fact that Temu and Wish have more credit card fraud and stolen ID's than pretty much every other online retails combined. Temu is Chinese for "please poo where you eat". If you have been sparred so far, then consider yourself fortunate. My bank even sent out a warning email at one point about them.
Funny how we all have different experiences. I've never had a bad experience ordering from anyplace on line. On the other hand I've had to change my credit card info 3 times with people I have automatic charges with because of data breaches with my credit card company.
 
Etsy: I only buy from artists/ crafters (usually in Europe) such as maybe a hand dyed yarn: it annoys me that its being used to sell mass produced goods, when it was set up for artisans. Bought husband a beautiful knife a few years ago, from Poland.
Amazon: I use the UK one, for items I cant get here without a trip to the city. The returns and customer service is 5stars. Nothing goes missing and refunds are instant.
World of books: Great for second hand American editions I cant get here
Vinted: Again, UK based, for clothes, books and household items. Last week bought a lovely black dressy suit with a halter neck top for £5 plus shipping. (Looks better on daughter, but there you go :D )
Temu: takes 15 days to here. I don't buy alot, but what I have bought is good quality and here as soon as they say. I stick to small stuff and spend less than 30 when I buy, I usually wait till I need a few things I can't find or are too expensive. One of the family suffers from travel sickness. A pair of anti nausea wrists bands are between 10-14 here. I bought three pairs for 5 on Temu. A wicker light shade was 30 here, 20 on Amazon, 7 on Temu.
I also don't use credit card directly, I go through Paypal for extra safety. And always leave stuff sitting in basket a few days. 1. I'm inclined to say I don't really need that, and remove it, and the company send a discount- either way, I spend less.
 
Watch out for black friday "fake" sales.
I bought a LiFePO4 battery a couple weeks. Their "big" black friday sale... the product was more expensive than it was 2 weeks ago.1
I left the battery in my cart then closed the window. A couple days later, they e-mailed me and said I left it in the cart and they'll give me an extra 6% off if I complete the order.
 
My only problem with online orders, is the guy doing the ordering (me).:(
Eagerly waiting for a week for the AAA lithium batteries I ordered to come in, to rehab the patio lights...
The 'batteries' came in yesterday... AA lithium, $40 worth. :oops::mad:
I checked, and sure enough, when I was switching from 4-packs to 8-packs, they got me to click and order the wrong size.gaah
We will eventually use the 16 AA batteries, 20-year shelf life.:rolleyes:
But I am now another 2 weeks behind doing my job. :(
 
My only problem with online orders, is the guy doing the ordering (me).:(
Eagerly waiting for a week for the AAA lithium batteries I ordered to come in, to rehab the patio lights...
The 'batteries' came in yesterday... AA lithium, $40 worth. :oops::mad:
I checked, and sure enough, when I was switching from 4-packs to 8-packs, they got me to click and order the wrong size.gaah
We will eventually use the 16 AA batteries, 20-year shelf life.:rolleyes:
But I am now another 2 weeks behind doing my job. :(
I think you are looking to get fired🤣
 

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