Your opinion please

This may be better suited to a different forum heading and Robin is welcome to move it to where ever he sees fit. I just needed some input for my own education.

I'm a bit 'old school' when it comes to shopping and dining. I grew up with newspapers, magazines and TV ads. I shopped IN the store and almost never did mail order or catalogues. (Remember Speigels?) That's been changing for me in the last couple of years. I did tons of research on line before I bought my car and shopped on line for it almost exclusively. (Rather than drive around to lots. Gas is expensive.) But then I made my purchase on the lot. I've done the same with major appliances for my home.

My question is this ... how important are on line sites to you when making a decision about a purchase? Do you use them frequently and if so for what? Do you use them primarily for fact finding, ordering, price comparison or what? Do you use them for big ticket items, clothing, food, dining or what? I don't want to make any assumptions about others' shopping habits based on my own so I thought I'd ask the forum.

Thanks ahead of time for your input.

I research most bigger ticket items that I purchase anymore. Anything over $200, and I am online taking a look at what other people think.

Last week I was shopping for a new grill, and between consumer reports and other various sites, I was scared away from the Kenmore grill I had my eyes set on. Based on all the research though, it looks like I will be spending more than I originally planned to get a Weber Genesis grill. In this case, research is going to cost me more money, but I am going to end up with a much more superior product then what I originally planned.

I have not bought a car in the last 10 years without researching. Sites like Edmunds.com are awesome at being able to go in and know exactly what your trade-in is worth, and what you should be paying for the new car.

I use the internet to research almost every significant purchase, except food (yes for receipes). Online sites are very important, especially larger purchases like vehicles. I use the internet to buy almost all gifts, especially birthday/Christmas gifts. I haven't been Christmas shopping in years.

I sites for research, price comparisons and ordering. About the only thing I have not ordered online is a vehicle. I did order food online once (Omaha Steaks), and it was such a bad product, that was the last time. Hope that helps.

[Robin Garr]

Location's fine, Carla. We're pretty loose about "topic discipline" here, and anyway your question could certainly be understood to include restaurant Websites.

Answering that sub-question first, I always look for a Website before I go to any restaurant, and the more informative (and easily navigable) it is, the better I like it. I get cranky, though, if it shows a menu and said menu is out of date. I was VERY disappointed in Equus about this the other day, for instance - and as I recall, 732 Social had even changed its menu without updating the Website within a month of opening. Frankly, I think one of the sleaziest things that some Web developers do is talk a restaurateur into an expensive, grandiose Website and then fail to respond timely (SAME DAY, DAMMIT!) to requests for important updates. I think restaurants would be much wiser to post general information giving their audience a sense of the style of the place, its menu, its people and the general price range, maybe highlighting a couple of signature dishes, rather than irritating people with out-of-date menus.

I'd also be happy to see restaurateurs "out" developers by name who are poor about responding to update requests ... I hate to call it a "hall of shame," but it wouldn't hurt to make a little list for general reference as to who's naughty and who's nice.

But I digress.

Like the others, I research online heavily before making significant purchases, and this is particularly true for expensive items like a car or a flat-screen television. Lots of good sites around, and I strongly recommend a paid subscription to Consumer Reports online - that $25 (?) annual fee pays for itself with your first large purchase.

This may be better suited to a different forum heading and Robin is welcome to move it to where ever he sees fit. I just needed some input for my own education.

Few durable goods purchases are made without heavy online research. Some for ideas and comparisons, much for pricing and very much for comments of others who have already purchased an item.

I research most bigger ticket items that I purchase anymore. Anything over $200, and I am online taking a look at what other people think.

Last week I was shopping for a new grill, and between consumer reports and other various sites, I was scared away from the Kenmore grill I had my eyes set on. Based on all the research though, it looks like I will be spending more than I originally planned to get a Weber Genesis grill. In this case, research is going to cost me more money, but I am going to end up with a much more superior product then what I originally planned.

I have not bought a car in the last 10 years without researching. Sites like Edmunds.com are awesome at being able to go in and know exactly what your trade-in is worth, and what you should be paying for the new car.

We are similar- but probably more so. Not only do we research larger purchases, but pretty much anything over say $30 gets checked for who sells it locally and to compare prices. We do very little mail order anymore- ( some specialty garden supplies and books mostly) but then again budget-wise we have also cut back in most areas.

Always check restaurant reviews before going- both here and out-of-town.

I'm with Robin- highly recommend on-line sub to Consumer Reports.

Carla- also keep in mind that we are an inherently skewed population for this question- I would argue that folks who use this site are already very high propensity to shop/ research on-line- that's why we came here in the first place...

Deb

Carla,

We research all major purchases online and often do our buying online as well. The price on the past three cars I've bought were all "pre-negotiated" online right down to the penny before I ever went to a dealship.

I enjoy being able to peruse different models/options/brands instead of going out and attempting to do so at a store. Shopping is not one of my favorite things, in fact, I hate it. Internet shopping has relieved much of this pressure; allowing me to get simple things sent to work. This way, I do not have to spend time out of the day. There are somethings I do shop for in person ie...clothes, but don't see this as too much a problem.

Based on all the research though, it looks like I will be spending more than I originally planned to get a Weber Genesis grill.

Todd,

SWEET !!! How can I be the man...When YOU the man.

Since I'm in my kitchen most of the daylight hours and I have my laptop here with me, I do EVERYTHING related to purchasing online. I haven't bought holiday gifts in stores for 2 or 3 years. I always check restaurant sites before gong to double check hours and look at menus and plan my meal purchase. I order online anything that I can't get locally for the biz.

We definitely research styles, models, prices, etc. for most anything we buy online before making a purchase decision. We still tried to buy locally when the item we want is available here but at least we know what we're looking for before we go. Sometimes we end up buying it online because the model we want isn't available locally or the local prices are much higher. Many online stores now offer free shipping and if they're based out of state don't charge sales tax both of which also help the price.

As far as restaurants go we always look at reviews before going to a new restaurant and are able to research the local restaurant scene when traveling. It's also nice to look at online menus in many cases.

The Internet certainly has made many shoppers much more informed before they make a buying decision!

Like everyone else it seems, I also research most of my big ticket items online as well. When I bought my new truck, I used the Internet extensively to shop around, read reviews and even financed the thing online. Pretty much all I did at the dealerships I visited was take test drives until I found the ride I was looking for.
When I started the process, I had my heart set on a Toyota FJ Cruiser. I really thought they looked cool and I'm not a big fan of Toyota's styling. But after doing some research online I stared second guessing my choice and after the test drive I decided to look at other options. Online reviews really have an effect on my buying decisions.

I'm telling you, researching our HDTV purchase on line was fantastic. We were able to read a lot of user reviews, and able to settle on the one we wanted. We were also able to keep a close eye on the price as it dropped while we were saving for it. We've been absolutely thrilled with the result. What started out as a $4000 tv we eventually got for $1899 (plus tax and warranty, blah-de-blah. But still.) I fell in love with it when I saw what it looked like (very unusual, it has sort of a swooping curve at the bottom of the frame. And it's a rare "glossy piano black" color. So we were very happy to see the just about 98% positive reviews. Sharp Aquos, 46", if anyone wants to know.

We also learned online that we'd better try and get it locally. Lots of horror stories about broken screens on shipped models. And we were able to put it together and install it ourselves.

Okay, now I'm done bragging about my TV. Heh.

I use it for everything around and above the $200 range. It is also great for vacation planning. Tripadvisor.com is priceless in my opinion.

Interesting that you should bring this up, we've just been discussing it in a class recently.

It seems that for my generation and younger, at least (and I am in my early 30's) that we research EVERYTHING. Marketing hasn't nearly the influence on us as positive reviews on Amazon.

Some examples of things that I have bought locally but researched reviews on first include a stainless steel water bottle, hair care and make up products, brands of almond milk, underwear, and an iron.

Many of us don't impulse shop, but we look for items on line, compare prices and reviews, and then look for retailers that offer the item.

I dread the day that marketers realize what we're doing and start spamming reviews--if it isn't already happening.

Here is a link to a shirt that I want desperately based on all the positive reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Mountain-Three-Wolf-T-Shirt/dp/B000NZW3KC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1244832844&sr=8-1