Virtual Buying

By Tom David Lewis | Tue, 3 Oct 2006

If I never set foot in a phisical establishment to buy something it will be too soon. Thinking about how I buy today vs. pre internet I started to get giddy. The shoe is on the other foot now. Advantage buyer. The edge goes to the the seller when we are in his store, warehouse club, etc. Our time is limited, the physical set up favors the seller, bargaining is harder if possible at all, maybe we are tired or in a hurry or hungry or hot for something in particular. All these work against us. We are sitting ducks. Bingo, the internet. It changes everything. We can shop the world in a few minutes to determine the best price. We can think about what we are doing and make better decisions(no one is rushing us). No sales people to mislead us. We can relax and clear our heads. We can seek advise if necessary. If needed we can wait a day or 2 or 3 to let the decision gel. Making offers is easy. Valuable time saved, gas saved, aggravation saved, misinformation avoided. Finally the individual stands a chance. Retail merchandise, wholesale merchandise, closeouts, liquidations, the principle is the same. What a time to be the buyer.