I saw this on a shirt in Urban Outfitters, but since I am in a spending-time-out, I can’t buy it. I have to wait until my virtual personal spending envelope is not in the red. Since I can’t wear it on my chest right now, I thought I’d put it out there this way.
(for all of you smug-DINK-types whose eyeballs are popping at the thought that a college-educated woman in 2007 can’t buy a t-shirt until her virtual personal spending envelope is filled by her husband’s income, all I can say is, it works for us…well, usually. Right now it’s not working so well because I have a slight obsession with finding the perfect bathing suit online even thought the only place I wear it is the toddler wading pool. The housewives of the 50’s thought they had it bad, but they didn’t know the allure of online shopping during nap-time and its cruel tendency to seduce the bored stay-at-home mom with free shipping offers.)
By the way, I’m Maria. Nice to meet you. My posts may be rare because as all of you are reading, thinking about, and discussing intellectual academic research, I am up to elbows in poopy diapers and Thomas-The-Tank-Engine.
I enjoy the reading, however, and will chime in when I can!
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This is a very important post for three reasons.
Maria is in the house.
It’s simultaneously candidly raw and charming.
And online shopping is a great topic. Random thoughts: The housewives of the 1950s had tupperware and mary kay, is this the parallel? I wonder how the number/age of kids factor in (individually and in combination) to online shopping frequency/amount. And what about geography? Is the internet enabling highbrow taste/style in rural areas? And among people of lower socioeconomic status, too? Shopping brands online that are sold in stores one would never set foot in (and certainly wouldn’t get waited on…) And then there’s debt…
To get specific with the swimsuits,
http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/categoryall.aspx?CatTyp=FEA&DeptID=597&Dep=Women%27s&CatID=28443&cmCatLevel=3&cmCatID=597
I just bought a suit at Penny’s this weekend. I actually was pleased with how many of them fit/looked (shocking) and they were all at least 40% off. The website sorts the suits by what you want to emphasize/deemphasize.
Blah blah blah, himay rambles on…
First off, DINK doesn’t mean you have money. Let me just be the poster-child for that set.
Secondly, I feel your pain. I have already spent my clothing budget for the year. Yes, the year. You’ve got to budget your money one way or the other, right?
I recently bought 3 swimsuits (see how the problem arose?) at Victoria’s Secret. They were awesome deals, and they fit really well. That’s why I kept all three. If you spend $100 you get free shipping (you can pad your order with stuff you’re not going to keep, or different sizes to get the free shipping and send it back for $5).
On the online shopping topic, I am totally addicted, and I don’t have kids. It’s just faster, more convenient, really easy to comparison shop, and usually cheaper.
Now we’re talking about something I love … swimsuits and women
Just kidding, well kinda. What really piques my interest in this post is on-line shopping. I’ve made a few ecommerce stores and want it to be my bread-and-butter for the future of my business.
As such, you all are a small focus group. If you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions I would really appreciate it. Here they are:
In general, what do you shop for on-line? (Clothes, computer parts, houses, cars, gifts, bikes, unique stuff, brand name stuff, odds ‘n ends, et cetera.)
What do you look for in an on-line shop? (Price, shipping costs, free stuff, good design, good images, clear return policy, et cetera.)
What make an on-line store appear trustworthy?
What, if anything, is the most unusual thing you have ever purchases on-line?
Thank you so much.
Well, I’m certainly glad I’m not alone in my out-of-control nature with the online shopping. I truly think that I spend WAY more money on random stuff because its way easier to buy stuff online, even with the hassle of shipping.
To answer some of Bstop’s questions:
1. I buys books (and lots of them), CDs, clothes, electronics (with Greg’s help of course), coffee (I’m a total coffee snob), photo prints, some makeup/beauty products, household appliances that are cheaper online, spices and sometimes meat. I also do 99% of my Christmas/B-day gift shopping online. I have also ordered custom things from mom-and-pop type operations because I feel that it supports small businesses.
2. I look for price savings and “online specials”, fee shipping is a big one. Most places have good return policies so I don’t worry to much about that. As far as web design, good pictures are key, and enlarging and looking from different angles is a plus. The checkout process needs to be fairly intuitive and also allow you to go back and continue shopping from the point you left off (most places don’t do this).
3. As far as security, I’m probably to trusting b/c I usually just use my credit card instead of my paypal account. I usually just look for some statement of security (I’m gullible, I know).
4. My most unusual thing I bought are probably the hand-embroidered personalized blankets for my nephews last Christmas. It was done by one lady in New Mexico and the customer service was so great and personal. I like that the internet allows people like that to get their goods out to the world.
Hope that helped bstop, sorry it was so long!
All right, bstop. I’ll finally answer this as I’ve done pretty much everything else to procrastinate today.
I shop for almost everything online (clothes, shoes, books and cds, toiletries, contacts, computer parts, gifts…). If I can’t at least comparison shop online for something I get annoyed.
What I love in an online shop is great selection, comparable or lower prices that the ‘real’ world, *free shipping*, user reviews, good images, and good web design (such as making forms super easy to fill out).
I can’t even tell you the last time I thought an online shop wasn’t trustworthy. This is not an issue for me. But probably a professional look free from spelling errors and such.
I’ve bought everything from the very mundane because shipping was free and it less time consuming than getting it at the store (toilet paper and dish soap) to specialty items I either couldn’t find or would take too much time to find around here (hammock stand).
There are only a few things I wouldn’t buy online either because they need a real test-run (eyeglasses, makeup and cars), or because they’re cheaper the old-fashioned way (groceries and garden supplies).
OK, to bring the subject back down to a more superficial level…swimsuits…Yeah, I did the whole 3-swimsuit-thing from VS. Actually, the ones I ordered were so damn expensive that I only needed to order two to meet the free shipping requirement. And I was quite pleased with them until I bent over to pick up one of my sons and my cleavage knocked him over…ah!…no more VS for me…so I ended up with two suits from Patagonia…i’ve always liked their stuff, but it did not used to be quite “up to date”…I think they are trying to get hip because they have a line that is definitely more trendy and modern. Add that to their tree-hugging style and you’ve got a winner! So I started out in June hoping to find at least one bathing suit that fit all my criteria (i won’t bore you with the details) and I ended up with THREE! Yipee!!! The two from Patagonia and one from J Crew (that happened to be on sale. no free shipping though.) It’s almost worth it that I am on a spending time-out until September. Just in time for boot season!!!