Full review
With a special needs child who hates crowds, it can be difficult to go shopping at the mall. Being a single parent, it can be impossible to Christmas shop in secret. But even before having a child, I disliked shopping for long periods of time in huge malls. The walking through aisle after aisle, window shopping, never finding exactly what I wanted just tired me out. The solution to my mall-phobia? Amazon.com. Now I can put in a search criteria, pull up what I want instantly and purchasing it is a breeze! When I am in the market for toys, games, books, special products, my first stop is Amazon.com. If I hear about an item that I might like, I pull it up on Amazon to check specifics and price, then place it on my wishlist for later.
One great thing about this online retailer is that it knows me and my likes. It remembers my past purchases and even my searches! So it recommends products and books that might interest me. I also love the lists of people who are shopping for the same age child as I am. Many products have reviews that you can see as you pull up the item page. Many of my suggested products have to do with Autism. I am greeted by name on the site. You can also pull up your past purchase history and even see when items are shipped out to you.
When you order here, you can use an Amazon gift card or, debit card, credit card. There is also a space for putting in coupon codes.The site remembers your information so you will only need to type it in once. Including your address. Shipping times vary depending on where your item is coming from. Once I ordered 5 stockings, 2 jeans, 4 skirts, and 1 toy. Only 2 were shipped together. Others arrived separately, some in HUGE boxes for the tiny items! I have been amazed at how quickly items are shipped where the product was at my door within 2 days to a little disappointed when the maximum shipping time was taken at 14 days. The items have come Fedex and USPS. You will find that different stores sell on Amazon so you may order a watch battery from Tian Qiu and a mouse watch from Disney. This presents a problem when the free shipping is not available:
FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. You really have to watch and make sure all of the items you choose are from Amazon and available for free shipping.
Many times Amazon.com will have the cheapest prices even for your local stores. The variety of items offered is huge. I have only had one instance of not finding enough of items to choose from and that was for clothing. Not enough styles and colors to pick from.I have been happy with the items we have purchased and we have purchased hundreds....some cheaper items and some bigger ticket items. The quality has been great even for the low priced products. I have heard of people ordering and being disappointed when the item is not in stock...that has never happened to me.
When you pull up the item you are interested in, you can either place it into your cart or into your wishlist. You do have to sign up at the website to start a wishlist.You do not have to have an account to order though. I did have one problem that was my own fault. I ordered an electronic item that I did not need. I expected to need it but once it was here, I found out that I did not. When I checked into returning it to Amazon, I found their policy on opened (does not matter if it was not used) electronic items. They would not accept it back...I did not call customer service but instead chose to sell it on Ebay. Other than that, I have never had to return anything.
Options that I have not used include the baby registry, nor have I sold items on Amazon. Customer service can be contacted via email or phone. Both ways have quick answers. The website loads quickly and I am able to navigate with no problems at all. These types of products are sold at amazon.com: books, music, movies,games, music, digital downloads,home and garden, electronics, grocery, toys, apparel, health and beauty, sports, and tools and auto. I have purchased from 10 of those categories over the years. When you login, you will see a gold box with specials for you...these are items on sale. Each category also has a clearance spot usually with off season items like sleeveless shirts in the wintertime.
I think you will be very happy shopping at Amazon.com as I am! Don't need to dress up to go shopping....do it from home in your pajamas! 24 hours a day, every day, including holidays this store is open!
What is so good about THIS store?
Cheap, coupon codes, variety of items, free shipping on heavy/bulky items
What is unique about this store?
I can find many items here that are hard to find in other places.
Is it worth the price?
Yes, definitely.
There has to be some bad to this store, right?
Free shipping may or may not be available on the item you want.
Any warnings people should be aware of?
Make sure you have chosen items with free shipping! It is easy to not notice that items do not qualify for it.
Final verdict:
I think you will be very happy shopping at Amazon.com as I am! Don't need to dress up to go shopping....do it from home in your pajamas! 24 hours a day, every day, including holidays this store is open!
pablo the shopper
The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one. Erma Bombeck
