Where Do You Christmas Shop - Internet???

A quick review of my Excel Christmas gift spreadsheet indicates that I purchased 11 out of 17 gifts via internet shopping venues. How about you? Do you purchase a lot of your gifts from internet sites? Are you on constant lookout for the UPS or FedEx delivery guys???

My local, non-internet shopping was mostly for last-minute items. I purchased two clothing items at the local Harley Davidson dealership. The other four items were from a shopping venue that I visit every week. Most folks call it Costco. But for some of us old time customers, it's known simply as 'The Club'. In case you aren't aware, Costco bought out my favorite shopping venue, Price Club, quite a few years ago. Well 'The Club' was good for two relatively high-dollar items, a box of fancy food stuff and a little computer gizmo.

I purchased one item from Lowe's. If you ever shop Lowe's or Home Depot, you know how big their stores are and how easy it is to waste gobs and gobs of time while looking for a specific item. Well, I gotta tellya that buying it on the website for local store pickup is great! I was in the store about 7 minutes to pick up the purchase. Fantastic!!!

Another six items came from Amazon's website, books and DVDs. They're the easiest folks in the world to deal with, especially if the USPS actually cooperates, which they did in my case. Unless you're a real cynic or an especially serious price shopper, it's hard to beat Amazon with free shipping.

I purchased two other low-circulation books from the website of a local Maryland specialty shop. Their service was excellent and the books are just what I expected. Another website purchase was from a specialty shop located in California that offers personalized items. They are due for delivery via UPS later today.

And then there's my favorite geek website, Newegg. I bought a relatively high dollar item from them for a superb price. They are amazing. Ordered it before noon Tuesday and it was delivered Wednesday afternoon via UPS with standard, no-cost shipping. Luv those guys and they're great to do business with.

I haven't been counting, but I think that covers pretty much everything. As you can tell, I am definitely internet-centric when it comes to shopping. I had fun doing the Christmas shopping deal this year and can only hope the kids/grandkids enjoy the gifts as much as I enjoyed buying 'em. :-)

JD

PS - As you may know Maryland has an awful sales tax of 6%. The legislature passed a 20% increase in the sales tax and it was promptly signed by our 'I love to spend your money' Governor, Martin O'Malley. It sure puts a damper on local shopping. Many Marylanders visit adjacent Delaware where there is no sales tax.

If you can find a website with free shipping that doesn't do business in Maryland, then you don't pay the site any sales tax. Of course we all know that Congress will eventually pass a law requiring internet vendors to collect sales tax to help fill the purchaser's home state coffers, anything worthwhile is fair game in today's Tax-Happy United States. So enjoy it while you can!!!