I do all my shopping online, except for groceries. I bought my cat food online until a pet barn opened up locally. I tend to buy from the US as everything is cheaper and better quality.
Exceptions:
I got my washing machine and dryer from appliances online. I get my computers, iPad and iPhone and speaker from the apple online store. I also use buyinvite and brands exclusive when they have something I want.
I buy a range of products from overseas. The first is car parts, I recently purchased a new clutch from the UK as there were more options and the price including shipping was lower than a comparable local item. This is a common issue for both performance and OEM parts. With pricing for major and minor items cheaper to buy in the US, EU or UK and ship to Aust.
The second is clothing including business shirts, I use both CT Shirts and TM Lewin, both are UK based, and provide a great range with many siziing options including seperate collar size and sleeve length, as well as three fitments incl extra slim. But have also used Next and ASOS, and Wiggle for various family members clothing and sports gear due to larger range and lower prices.
Thirdly Is books with Book depository and Amazon used where the availability or price make local shopping unpalatable.
If it is not available locally or not priced competitivley I will look for an alternative source where available.
Yes sometimes. Usually just things I canât get easily here. Eg Marks and Spencer UK. Sometimes the local supplier is too far away and itâs easier to buy on line and have the item posted. Often buy wine Etc if online seller has specials e.g Wine Society, Langtons even Dan Murphy - especially if freight free
I shop online occasionally for hard to find items such as specific DVDs. I buy from reputable retailers or a value I can afford to lose. Excessive delivery fees will make me drop the retailer like a hot rock. I donât think I have ever shopped knowingly outside Australia. Sometimes a delivery come from overseas though I thought the retailer was actually in Australia.
I buy lots of small things online ranging from camera batteries, vitamin tablets etc up to occasional large items like new cameras. Generally, I shop for convenience - for example, my local discount chemist has no easy parking, so in frustration i ordered vitamins online which cost the same and saved me the parking problem.
I buy lots of small things because they are often delivered at no cost and are of the same quality as a store purchase. I also âshopâ in real stores if i want to actually examine a product, but then buy online if itâs cheaper to do so. Convenience is a big factor for me, especially if postage is free and I am in no hurry to receive my purchase. Often I find that buying online is cheaper than in stores here, and there are products which are easier to locate online than they are in the real world option.
I recently wanted to covert a coffee table into a lift top table so I was looking for the lift top hinges on line. They did not seem to be available in Australia and in the end I bought them from AliExpress and they shipped from China. The hinges were only $10 USD shipping was $37, but similar items on eBay were up to $99. Interestingly I could have paid a higher total price on eBay that included âfree shippingâ!
The hinges delivered were of high quality and now work perfectly on my new lift top coffee table. I would have preferred to buy locally as it would have been much quicker.
I do buy online but normally only if I canât find it locally. I try not to buy things from overseas sites. I learned my lesson recently when I ordered a knitted jacket online. It appeared to be a US website as the URL ended in .com only and the prices were all in US dollars. US sizing is quite generous so I ordered the largest size which was a womenâs Medium or size 12. When it came it was tiny - more like an 8 I would estimate. I had all the trouble in the world with the site as I was unable to get a returns authorisation because there was something wrong with their program so I returned it to the Senderâs address on the outside of the parcel. Turns out they have a distribution centre here in Sydney but the company is in China somewhere and that is where you are supposed to send the goods after you get a Return Authorisation. There was no way of contacting them on their website other than a UK (!) phone number and I wasnât going to get involved in that and run up a huge phone bill. It took several weeks to get my money back and at first they offered me 2/3 of the original price. I told them that according to our laws here in Australia the goods had to be fit for purpose and this jacket clearly wasnât as it was seriously undersized. I think they donât think our laws apply to them. Maybe that is so but eventually after much persistence I got the full price back including freight but only after I threatened them with getting PayPal to reverse the payment.
there are a lot of quality sling backpacks in Australia. Widen you search a little. There are some amazing smaller stores and always new ones coming on to the market with their products made right here in Australia
Well if they appeared online, that would be great - but havenât seen them! Sadly Hobart shops are not in the forefront of innovative ideas to attract discerning customers. 
Iâve bought automobile parts, consumer electronics, computer hardware, camera lenses,flash and accessories, batteries, backpacks, dietary supplements, chinese teas, DIY products, kitchenware because they are cheaper, in most cases even with delivery charges. They sometimes arenât available in local stores but that is not the main factor. I guess it became a habit as historically most if not all products from overseas had been cheaper, which now is not necessarily the case.
I buy all most of my shoes online, I mostly use Eastbay. I can get my ASICS runners for about $80 less than the ridiculous prices they charge at stores like Rebel Sport. I buy a lot of electronic bits and pieces from overseas too, mostly Hong Kong. HDMI cables and whatnot. I also buy all my university textbooks from The Book Depository. I recently saved $80 on just one book compared to the cheapest price here in Australia. Plus they do free international shipping.
You should broaden your search! What about Krumpler? They produce quality and a very good range of backpacks etc.
I shop online for milk, juice, fruit and veg from Aussie Farmers every week; itâs easy to amend my orders and it saves me going to the supermarket all the time. I buy shoes from Australian online shops, clothes from UK stores like Next and M&S (although they deliver from local warehouses here, I believe), hard-to-find movies and cds from JB Hifi, and printer ink cartridges which are much cheaper online. Mostly I shop online for convenience, price is not the main consideration. For items such as books I try and find them in our suburb rather than go to the big stores and malls because I think itâs important to support the small local businesses.
Hmmmmmm, bought a drawstring Crumpler bag, great, lovely material, welll made - but the blurb promised a bag that wouldnât let the rain in. With no cover over the the hole, and no guaranteed magic spell, I think itâs a foregone conclusion that the rain will get in.
I shop online quite a lot. Whenever Coles/Woolworths delete a line I use, I try to find it online. I live about 30 minutes drive from a major shopping centre, so I donât want to waste a trip looking for something I probably wonât find, so I always check online first. Makeup, bras, and easy clothes like tee-shirts I buy online, within Australia. I have ordered some clothes from the US, but was disappointed with the service and quality. I always buy my sport shoes, runners, trail walkers etc from an English outlet, as they are always at LEAST 30% cheaper. Fortunately my brand, Adidas, still allows delivery to Australia, as many brands now restrict this to local suppliers, or make delivery exorbitant. My favoured site has free delivery! I have bought optics like binoculars and cameras from a proven Hong Kong site, as they are almost half price, for the genuine article, with very low delivery charges. Canât really do this from the US or Europe any more, they make the delivery costs so high, that is is comparable to Oz retail prices. I also use online sites like Amazon and Gum Tree. I have researched all my major appliance purchases with Choice, and usually order through Choiceâs suppliers lists. Very happy with this so far, for dishwasher, oven hot water system, TV, even my iron! Love online shopping as it saves me so much time, and money!
I do a lot of online shopping from Australian sites, about half the time there is no delivery charge. I still buy food and groceries locally. The biggest purchases are dog needs, dry food and flea & worm treatments are much cheeper and from Australian sites with no delivery fees. I did try to source collars & harnesses locally, but the cost was huge and quality very poor. Found an American site hand made items brilliant quality ( made to measure) and surprisingly cheep prices ( no Australia tax), no delivery charge. Only drawback it took a month to arrive.
I do shop online periodically. I buy my dog products from an online shop who are based here in Melbourne. They donât have a shop, nor are their products available in stores. They deliver for free and have excellent products and customer service. I buy my herbs, spices, vinegarâs and flavoured olive oils online also from my own website. I buy some clothes from shops that are both Australian and Overseas companies like ASOS Curve, WRAP, Ebay and others.
I buy anything from overseas, depending upon the time frame.
Although, I also buy online from bricks and mortar shops here. Sometimes they have deals or stock that you canât get at a shop.
I use ebay all the time to buy electronics and other odds and ends . Book depository for books as they ship for free and books are well priced .Clothing has been a failure unless I can try on the same brand and get my size right and the same applies to footwear. The downside with nameless electronics is quality.Bought three generic chargers for a mac air all failed. Ended up buying the genuine article from apple for triple the price.Older wiser and only buy what I have found to be quality product
I have chronic fatigue and other health problems. So shopping needs to be based around easy parking close to the shops I need. I rarely go in the city, and frequently order items online. Though not clothes or shoes, as I donât like to rely on a picture.
