Buying things online means buying them sight unseen.
I'd never even heard the term sight unseen until I started buying things online.
It basically means that you can't touch or hold the item in your hand before you buy it.
Do you like those 600 count Egyptian sheets that Amazon has for only $15 a set? Too bad you can't actually feel them to see if they're as soft as they claim to be.
It's actually pretty strange I think.
Source: Pixabay.com
You can look at chairs all day but you never get to sit in one.
Is that pillow soft? People say it is. However, there are also a couple of people that say that it isn't soft.
Some things don't seem to matter as much, like for instance a computer or laptop. You pretty much know what you're getting if the specs are what they say they are.
However, are you interested in buying some expensive speakers? I bet you'd like to hear them before you buy.
I nearly bought a chair on Amazon about 2 months ago. Everyone seemed to like it with the exception of a few people. It was often compared it to a certain chair that they had at Staples. I went and sat on that chair and did not like it at all. The funny thing is that that chair had tons of good reviews on Staples website.
I wonder if I would have liked Amazon's chair? There would have been no way to know aside from just buying it. So what happens if you buy something and then you don't like it? I guess you have to return it by putting it back in its box and then paying for shipping.
I think it's strange that we live in such a sight unseen world.
I buy things online quite often. When it comes to clothing, posters, or all kinds of other things you use in daily life.... it's just fine.
There are so many things that you really want to touch before you buy them though.
You test drive your car don't you? Would you buy a car on Amazon?
It makes me really wonder about buying these speakers. I don't even think there's anywhere around here where I can listen to them either.
I might just buy them and take the chance. Sometimes you have to.
Still, I find the idea of buying things sight unseen really strange.
Your previous post about budgets explains the sight unseen world. Amazon is so much cheaper than going to a store.
In fact, many people go to the store, try something out, then go home and buy on Amazon anyway. Result: all the stores are going out of business, and soon there will be no stores left. Everything sight unseen.
I would not buy a car from Amazon, as I prefer a one year old second hand car. A car loses so much value between new and one year old. So even Amazon is too expensive to buy a car. In this case, sight unseen is more expensive .
Please be sure you need this stuff, because your previous post about budgets is important for all of us to think about.
Well I definitely needed that oil change. The chair was something that I needed too. However, sometimes the things that we want are actually the things that we need also. I say that because when we go through life only buying things that are necessary we find ourselves missing out on some of the important aspects of enjoyment.
Good point @rodneysreviews, however the clever shops are seeing where the gaps in the market are and are filling them. They also make sure that they themselves have an online presence and offer price matching and such.
I believe that that's what contributed to Toys R Us and Woolworth's going out of business, is their online presence was poor.
I mean, even McDonald's do online delivery now; though if you order from Maccy Dees you need to take a long hard look at your life, and really start to question your decisions! :-D
Cg
"if you order from Maccy Dees you need to take a long hard look at your life"
That's my first belly laugh of the day lol.
I'm glad to hear you think that some shops will survive. I'm not so sure. Online savagely cuts out most of the labour costs, and even the labour costs they do pay for are all zero hours contracts in "fulfillment centres."
Heck, one day, your AI machines will be doing all of it, anyway. :)
Yeah sir i also agree with you sir @jeezzle.
Buying online means i can't touch or hold the item in my hand before i buy it.
Thanks for sharing sir.
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Thank you for your comment.
My pleasure sir
I am very thorough when it comes to shopping on Amazon, simply because I can't bear the cognitive load of having to send stuff back, and I end up just keeping the thing I really don't want; which is annoying to say the least.
So my tactic is that I read one or two 5 star reviews, then ignore the rest. as a lot of top reviews have been solicited by the vendor.
I then focus on the 4 star ones to see what people are saying. If there are consistently good remarks in a particular area, then that is a good sign. this thing is sturdy/soft/hard or whatever.
Next I look at the 2-3 star reviews to see if there are any common problems. So something like the upholstery on this chair has come away at the back or the cushion is way too soft and flimsy.
I then tend to ignore reviews that are too personal; for instance I once read a review for a dishwasher (I have a strange memory!), whereby the person said that it didn't fit her square plates.
Before doing all of that though, I will have a look at the percentage of 3-4 star reviews, as opposed to 1-2 star ones, as that gives me a good indication of just how good it is.
I rarely take notice of the 1 star reviews, as unless there are an overwhelming amount, then they tend not to give you a good idea. Though when I bought a drone last summer, I wish I had looked more carefully, this particular one had loads of 5 stars, very few 4 stars, no 2-3 stars and a whole bunch of 1 stars.
I then realised that the manufacturer was soliciting for the 5 star reviews and all the honest ones were in the 1 stars. However this is rare, it's the only time I've seen such a pattern.
Also a good technique is having a look at the answers given by some of the reviewers, to the varying questions that get asked about the product.
HOWEVER! Having said all that, stuff like chair, sheets and clothes are such personal items that I rarely buy stuff like this online, I tend to buy more functional stuff.
But yeah, I find the 'common problem' method the best for reading reviews :-)
Cg
That's a good plan. If there is a significant problem with an item you can usually find it in the three or four star reviews. "Great monitor but comes with a few dead pixels." in the four star review sections, for instance, will definitely mean that the monitor will come with dead pixels even if the five star reviews don't mention it.
I do wish there was some place around here to listen to speakers but I think about going to have to buy some sight unseen.
Thanks for sharing!
Well!! Hie.. I'm a newbie.
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https://steemit.com/creativity/@cherrythinks/echoes-poem-2-unfolding-life
The thing is, a lot of those reviews are written by people who are paid to write them. People who have never even used the product. I know because I used to do it. ;)
And, I agree, certain items I would never buy without seeing and feeling them first.