Forum menu
I don’t use Amazon because I begrudge making the richest bloke on the planet even richer.
If shopping locally costs a little more then so be it.
I don't mind that, but 50% more?
I don’t use Amazon because I begrudge making the richest bloke on the planet even richer.
I don't like to either but when I can get things cheaper, quicker and with better after-sales support* it's hard to ignore.
*I bought a Sage burr grinder from them and it packed in just under two years from new – I got on live chat and asked if I had a case and they just said they would send out a new one. The next day I had a replacement and a freepost label to return the failed unit. I think I would struggle to get that elsewhere (and don't get me started on the shitstorm of hassle I had with John Lewis and their '5 year warranty' with a faulty tv I had.
Did you ask if that was their best price? They might of happily knocked a few quid off and closed the premium.
Did you ask if that was their best price? They might of happily knocked a few quid off and closed the premium.
No - I am English (albeit a Yorkshire-man so perhaps I should) and we don't do that. Do we?
My take on it is, if the price was acceptable to you, why not just buy it and be done with it. There will always be somewhere cheaper , but can you be arsed wasting time and effort looking for it? If were talking about saving a considerable amount, such as a car purchase or similar, then yes, its worth the effort, but would you notice those few quid you would have 'lost out' on at the pet shop? Only you know if the money is that important to you.
Also, I am extremely loathe to contribute to Jeffs next space dildo. After how arrogant he seemed (to me ) whilst being interviewed after his rocket trip, I am loathe to give him any of my cash unless its a needs must situation.
Taking Amazon out of the equation, I have just looked elsewhere (as mentioned previously it was £37.50 in the local shop and £24.95 at Amazon)
At Zooplus (where I normally bulk buy dog food, rabbit straw and hay etc) it is £19.99.
Pets at Home - £28.00
Looks like I'll just wait and get one from Zooplus the next time I place an order.
I wouldn't know if local shops are more expensive as pretty much everything I buy is online.
Gave up with local shops years ago as they never had what I wanted and very seldom knew as much as I did about what I was trying to buy so no benefit. As for paying their staff a decent wage, I didn't ask what they were paid but guessing not much.
If a shop is offering something I can't get elsewhere, i.e. the patisserie I use that is run by a pastry chef from The Dorchester and the bread and cakes are amazing.
Depends what it is and what i am willing to do about it. For clothes, i tend to just nip to sports direct or M&S, or Gloucester Quay, get to try it on and buy it, and usually at similar to online prices.
Amazon i use for a lot of stuff though, hard to find foods from the grocery area, where none of the local supermarkets sell it, same with tools and so on if i have a plan to do something on a weekend, i can order it and know it'll be here to do the job, failing that it's toolstation.
Bike stuff, well clothes i tend to LBS them, easier to make sure, parts i just hunt around, i can't justify paying 100 quid for something i can get for 50 if i search online.
In short though, it's all about ease of life for me, if i can pick something up, it helps in any way in terms of time, effort, etc then i'm happy to pay more, as a family, we do tend to pick up a lot of bespoke stuff locally, and so on, but it really has to be worthwhile in some way, not just paying over and above for the sake of buying local.
not just paying over and above for the sake of buying local.
I tend to agree with this sentiment. Yes, support local businesses (I try to and on holiday in Northumberland last week we deliberately avoided all chains apart from the Co-oP) but it makes no sense to do it just for the sake of it.
I rarely shop in a real shop it all on line the main reason being convenience. I can shop when it suits me, it’s delivered to my door so I don’t have to faff about wasting time going to shops when they are open. I know what size I am in the brands I buy. If I want to try something on then I will buy from the shop as they have provided the service. The thing is there is no reason for independents not to have an online option.
Just paid £70.00 for a Sunrace 11spd 11-46T cassette from a local shop. CRC have it at £69.99.
So I guess my premium is 1p!!!
Ice creams 0%, I can't bring myself to buy them any place other than a supermarket.
Coffee 1500% because it's easier than going home to make one.
Food up to 50% for the convenience of the local shop and the quality of the local baker.
Cars 5%, because that how much more they cost from the dealership than a mandataire. But if ever it goes wrong that was 5% worth paying. And I reckon I get the difference back at trade in.
Guitars 10%, but very often they price match without me asking.
Bikes 0%, the local bike shops are run by miserable ****s.
I would pay 30% max to support local retailers.
To answer the OP I wouldn’t pay any premium to shop locally. Pretty much purchase 99% of things online including food. I value my time above anything else and not having to visit a supermarket or go to a town centre is priceless for me.
Other people may love browsing etc and that’s what makes it great, so many choices nowadays. I don’t need advice from a shop because STW and Google. Not sure what else a physical location can offer me really. Not bothered about touching or feeling stuff.
As a side note this thread is a good example of how affluent a lot of people on here are. The fact that some of you can afford to pay more pretty much shows that. Not a judgement, just an observation.
I'm not driven purely by price and do prefer to support local/independent businesses where possible, especially since the pandemic - my orders to Amazon are virtually nothing these days. (Even without the support-the-independents bit, like others on here I'm increasingly finding the idea of contributing to Bezos's fortune hard to stomach anyway.)
That said, these local businesses aren't charities and the idea that the 'local premium' gets you better service, advice, and convenience often doesn't really stack up - particularly with bike shops IME.
As a side note this thread is a good example of how affluent a lot of people on here are.
Was discussing this the other day on our weekly ride, in our lifetime (50s here) disposable income has gone through the roof. I remember we were burgled in the 70s (parents house). All they took was clothes as there wasn't 'stuff' to steal back then. No digital anything, the few toys we had were with us on holiday. TV weighed half a ton and came from Radio Rentals, no one was taking that anywhere. Whereas we were riding round on multi £k road bikes to go to a random cafe and spend £10 on a coffee and cake. If you'd tried to explain that to our 70s selves it would have been inconceivable.
The fact that some of you can afford to pay more pretty much shows that.
I mean, I'm sure not in all cases but maybe some people buy less stuff in order to pay more.
I have a mate who lives off grid and made his house and most stuff in it and grows loads of his own food etc, but when he buys tools for his workshop he just buys the best then looks after it.
No – I am English (albeit a Yorkshire-man so perhaps I should) and we don’t do that. Do we?
People definitely do, a lot. My family have a shop and customers are always coming in asking for a discount, best price, price match, some kind of deal for buying several things and they often get it depending on product and how much margin there is, some items you have zero chance but other items there is quite a bit of room