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Weekend Open Forum: Where do you buy online?

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On November 27, 2010, 1:48 AM

Tech enthusiasts were among the first consumers targeted by dedicated online retailers and since brick and mortars charged hefty margins, online shopping was made even more attractive from the get go. Early etailers included the ubiquitous Newegg, which now exceeds $2 billion a year in sales, Buy.com, TigerDirect, and many sites dedicated to photography and audio equipment. As you might recall, PC manufacturers like Dell and Gateway were also quick to take full advantage of online ordering and made a huge asset out of it.

As online shopping became more mainstream, and for many a necessity, dozens of star retailers on many different categories have emerged. You have Zappos for buying shoes, Steam/Impulse for games, iTunes for music, Expedia/Orbitz or any other of the numerous travel sites, Fandango for movie tickets, and the list goes on. Amazon has also remained a pioneer in the industry and today you can buy nearly anything you could possibly want from their site, either direct or from smaller retailers using Amazon's impeccable logistics.


As the holiday shopping season gets rolling, our question for you is: How much do you rely on online retailers and where do you prefer to buy stuff? Not only tech, but things in general like clothes, gifts for family and friends, food, flowers, anything you are used to buy online these days. Even if it's a local store, we want to hear about it. Discuss.
* Graph used for illustration purposes only. Source: Lifehacker, Permuto, US Census Bureau.

User Comments: 40

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  1. For food, clothing, and furniture I shop the old fashioned way, though occasionally I peruse Ikea's website.

    I know, nothing can be more frustrating than ordering a couple dozen eggs online, only to have them arrive two days after Halloween...!

    Since Ikea has stores in most major markets, that's not cheating, that's what I like to call, "dry shopping".

  2. No red, you've said, "too" much!

    ..oH for god sake! rofl :p

  3. ..oH for god sake! rofl :p
    You're just hell bent on making me correct this too aren't you...?

  4. You're just hell bent on making me correct this too aren't you...?

    Yes Sir!, have at it

    ....and that.

  5. captaincranky said:

    Mercadolibre Argentina!
    ?Hay un lugar como esto? Se suene mas como una eslogn de una revolucion.... "Compraremos en libertad, para siempre...!

    Look at you! You are an all spanish Sir. I think Mercadolibre is powered by e-bay, the same owners, probably... they even look alike! And yes, the name of the web it's kinda a capitalist "eslogan".... "buy/sell here and gain your freedom!"...

  6. Newegg, FrozenCPU, and Bed bath & Beyond....oh dear...I've said to much.

    LOL red! You realize don't you this is breaking Man Law?

    Amazon, NewEgg, eBay, and G.O.G.

  7. Newegg, Amazon, and Steam are all I need

  8. Amazon, eBay, and NewEgg.

  9. Dudeism - being an odained minister and all....

  10. Ebuyer, Argos (online) Tesco Direct, Amazon, Game, Play.com, zavvi.co.uk, shop2.net, Ebay, Steam.

  11. I live with a senior citizen and am actually old enough to join aarp myself. We get the Chicago Tribune and shop those retail ads for Fry's, Best Buy, Office Depot, Office Max, and Comp USA. I also get Micro Center mailings and shop mostly retail. The stack of black friday and related newspaper ads was so big it almost hit the ceiling this weekend. In one ad you could get a 42" lcd hdtv from Wal-mart for $398 on black friday. We bought ours two years ago this way. When I returned my defective macbook pro to Fry's purchased retail, I got a FULL refund with no shipping or restocking fees. I just hope newspapers don't fall by the wayside too quickly.

  12. Hmmmm lets see...

    Ebay Australia

    PCCaseGear

    PCManiacs

    StaticIce.com.au

    StudentBargains.com.au (I think that was the site) xD

    Dominos Pizza

    Mostly tech stuff, and pizza on the days i'm feeling lazy lol

  13. Just buying from regular places,but always checking with who may have it listed at Google Product Search so I can use Google checkout and get free shipping too.

  14. I usually shop at my favorite computer store which is PC Express. I'm looking forward to getting my GTX 580 this Christmas.

  15. Amazon

    Ebuyer

    Ebay

    Play

    Scan

    Dabs

    and recently Firebox.com! It's Christmas!

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