This Christmas, many of us that live in Spain will cram large toys into our suitcases, take them back to the UK (or other parts of the world) and give them to our grandchildren, nieces and nephews etc, only to watch them as they play merrily for hours, with the box the toy came in.
There are many benefits to buying items online; firstly, price. As a lot of Internet-based retailers do not have the overheads of shop locations and staff, they are usually able to offer cheaper prices than high street stores. One UK retailer, Curry's, is currently running TV adverts that claim they will pay you the difference (and more!) if you find the item cheaper elsewhere. Towards the end of the advert, in small hard-to-read writing at the bottom of the screen it says “excludes Internet prices”. Proof positive. Also, using sites such as Kelkoo.co.uk, you can compare prices of various web-based retailers quickly and easily. This works best if you search for a specific brand and model. Before moving to Spain, I purchased a PC. Using Kelkoo, I was able to save £300 on the model I wanted, which is not to be sniffed at.
As well as price, the next main benefit is convenience. As well as being able to browse various sites from the comfort of you sofa, having the items delivered saves having to pick them and transport them yourself.
Although online shopping can be cheaper and more convenient, delivery and product availability can be an issue. While Amazon, for example state an item is “In Stock” a very popular item can be late in arriving. My sister “had to” buy her daughter a pink
iPod last year. Amazon not only missed Christmas, but were not able to say when the item would be in stock. It arrived towards the back-end of January, by then, of course, the kudos of having a pink iPod had gone. In these instances, paying a bit extra for the item you actually in stock at a high street shop is definitely worth it. That is of course, if you are prepared to fight your way through the violent mob of blood-thirsty fathers. You will encounter hundreds of stressed parents whose children's needs are greater than yours, because, as they will explain, being such a sensitive child he will have a huge tantrum and ruin Christmas unless he gets his Darth Vader Light Saber.
Sites such as Amazon offer Gift Vouchers, but having received one last year, I must say they are probably the most uninteresting present you will ever receive. Nothing to open here; I simply received an email that read “Liz and Rick have purchased you a £50 Gift Voucher from Amazon”. Clearly a last minute panic buy, the only positives being that they never spend that much on me, and I was able to choose what I bought as opposed to the Car Buffing Mitten they purchased for me the previous year. I know I sound really ungrateful, but surely Christmas (aside from the religious meaning) is about giving presents that are a token to show you care. Not about how much they cost. However, if anybody reading this knows me and is going to buy me a present, expensive presents can be thoughtful too!
For a small fee, sites such as Boots.com offer a gift box and the ability to send a personalised message. Now I am getting interested. No more wrestling with wrapping paper and sticky tape trying to make a present look nice (mine all end up with that rather lovely giant Christmas cracker effect) it will arrive at the other end safe and sound with your message attached.
So to summarise the online shopping experience:
·Try to only shop with well known names. If a web site you have never heard of has an item you want at a good price, search for the name of the web site using Google. This method often finds reviews for web sites that offer a slow or poor service.
·Do not leave your purchases too late to secure the items you want in time. Some web sites display the last order date for guaranteed Christmas delivery.
·Shop around for the best prices using sites such as Kelkoo.
·Do not spend too much. Somehow typing numbers into a PC seems a lot easier than handing cash. Set a budget and stick to it.
·On Christmas Day, relax in the knowledge that there are still 365 shopping days left until the next one!
Andy Wilkes
