Online Shops to Avoid

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(22 posts) (15 voices)

Started 1 year ago by klutzgrrl
Latest reply from foilhead1
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klutzgrrl
Member

Ebay is obvious but my personal nemesis is Thinkgeek.com - oh how I love their stuff! I might allow myself to buy black tshirts from there though. They are so cool. But the klingon warship bottle-opener? Not so much. The tribbles... bad, bad, bad.

The other ones are 'zazz' an Australian junk seller (a different useless but funky gadget every day) and Catchoftheday.com.au which has an endless procession - I keep checking it because I'm waiting for a good netbook deal (and they have some excellent ones) to conincide with my having cash to buy one. But the other STUFF they have... omg...

Bargain sites are really not good.

Etsy doesn't tend to be a problem - I love handmades, but I'm not in the habit of buying them.

Posted 1 year ago #
foilhead1
Member

klutzgrrl...OMG what a great topic! One of places I decluttered was my bookmarks on my web browser!!! All sites like that had to go. Ebay is a big one for me too. I just pitched a thinkgeek catalog a friend gave me. I knew I had to because I kept picking it up and yearning for more toys. I'm a big scifi fan and I say I'm looking for my grandson, but I know that's not true. I'm on the 'only essentials' shopping diet right now so I'm only allowing myself to look at ebooks on Amazon. "syncing my life with my values" (chanting as I type) :/

Posted 1 year ago #
trillie
Member

LOL! I love thinkgeek.com, too, also jinx.com, and I could look for hours on any online shop that has a little bit to do with fashion or interior design ... And I just looked into my bookmarks, and the overview says that the folder "WANT WANT WANT" has 110 items in it. So much for that! ;o)

I don't buy a lot online though -- or at least it has to be on my wishlist for several months before I buy. I also prefer to look at things and touch them in person, so buying books and DVDs on Amazon is not a problem, but it takes a lot of thinking beforehand for me to buy a t-shirt or decoration, for example. Shopping in general has become less since I visit this forum regularly though, I always ask myself before every purchase whether something will end up in the "One Item A Day" thread soon ;o)

Posted 1 year ago #
Gypsie
Member

I have to add woot.com as a sight to avoid as well.

Posted 1 year ago #
jbeany
Member

etsy. oh dear. Much to much fun!

Posted 1 year ago #
SunshineR
Member

etsy.If only I could make a living making and selling items on etsy...

Posted 1 year ago #
terriok
Member

I love Etsy. Everyone is so pleasant. Absolutely NO hassles. Cool stuff!

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

i love etsy... i buy and sell there.
if i am going to go to all the bother of choosing, buying and owning, say, a new pair of earrings, then i'll have a gorgeous handmade precious pair that i will wear and enjoy for ever.
etsy aligns with my value of "less stuff, but better quality stuff".
of course there is a lot of rubbish there too, but that's the internet!

Posted 1 year ago #
Kim@TheBalataTree
Member

Thanks bandicoot and others for sharing on etsy. It's refreshing to see values of "less stuff, but better quality stuff" here on this thread. I wasn't familiar with etsy but will check it out! Again, thanks!

Posted 1 year ago #
klutzgrrl
Member

Supporting high quality crafters is definitely a good reason to choose Etsy over Target - when you really want something and are willing to pay for it. I've seen some quirky jewelry that I'd definitely like to get. But this stuff can also be seductive.

A lot of craft is decorative and not all that useful, sometimes not very sturdy, and needs special care - a hand knit that requires oh-so-careful handwashing is really not 'up there' on my list - I've learned after MANY years of having knits languish in the bottom of my wash basket that I LOATHE handwashing with a passion!

Online shopping might be good if you want a specific item and it saves time and effort, and you're also less likely to be sucked in by in-store specials and so on. I'm an 'optimizer' so I spend far too much time researching reviews and trying to find The Perfect Product.

Posted 1 year ago #
Another Deb
Member

I have to stay away from Amazon. Not only is it a cost, but I end up with piles of books I don't have time to read.

Unfortunately for time clutter, I also have to avoid the websites that list local concerts and events. I commit to concerts at 40-60 bucks a pop and then we feel a time squeeze when the date comes around. This is more about figuring out how to stop doing so much schoolwork on my free time so I CAN attend!

Posted 1 year ago #
foilhead1
Member

I think this post has had the opposite affect on me. ; )

Posted 1 year ago #
pkilmain
Member

@foilhead1, me too! I'd not heard of several of these, and now my impulse - which I'm trying hard to suppress - is to go there! Thank goodness, it's time to start dinner....

Posted 1 year ago #
suzjazz
Member

Online shops to avoid? Um...all of them?

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

When I have money, I have a real problem with 2 AM bookbuying. New books, used books, ebooks. All of them look good when I'm tired and my defenses are down.

Which is how I ended up with _Dimensions of Sociolinguistics in South Asia_.

Posted 1 year ago #
klutzgrrl
Member

lol@ zora ... that trumps my 'A Course in Modern Linguistics'! (Which I'm proud to say has made it into the unclutter pile... )

Posted 1 year ago #
lottielot
Member

Lol, were you doing a course on sociolinguistics even? I love amazon, but tend to do 'save for later' on most items, that way impulse purchases get weeded out from necessary or much-desired ones. If I come back a few weeks later and still want it, then I order it :) However, Internet surfing under the influence can be fatal to such self-control :). Another way of cutting back on Internet shopping for me is to see if I can make something myself. I wanted a mirror for my bedroom but most of them were too ornate or too expensive, then I found a few sites on how to decorate an old mirror from a junk shop, so I'm going to do that instead. I wanted something individual which I will love which will suit the space, and this seems like the best solution.

Posted 1 year ago #
mayhem
Member

You can find things that are on thinkgeek.com cheaper at other online shopping sites.

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

The sociolinguistics book is ammunition for an anticipated tussle with Hindu fundamentalists (Hindutvadis) over the inclusion of Nastaliq (Arabo-Persic script) in Wikipedia articles about Bollywood movies. It is an article of faith for the Hindutvadis that Urdu and Hindi are separate languages -- when in fact both "languages" are essentially Hindustani and are mutually comprehensible in everyday speech. It's just that they are written with different scripts and draw their fancy vocabulary from different sources. Same difference between Serbian and Croatian.

The Bollywood film industry mixes Hindus and Muslims (more so than most other areas of Indian life) and will typically, but not always, display the film title in Roman, Devanagari, and Nastaliq scripts. The Hindutvadis want to excise the Natastaliq, which reminds them of Muslims, whom they HATE.

Well, there's your sociolinguistics lesson for today.

All I needed was one article from the book and I could perhaps have used interlibrary loan. But no, there it was at ABEbooks ...

Posted 1 year ago #
lottielot
Member

Ohhhhhh! Well, seems like you had a specific purpose for it :) You can probably sell it back if it's that specific, it's always surprising how much second hand textbooks and suchlike seem to go for. I do distance learning and use the online uni library for articles, but that's where I miss a real uni library, for books, and I do tend to buy the odd one as they're useful. The second hand prices are ridiculous!

Posted 1 year ago #

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