I work for an online retail company, specifically in the online marketing department. Our business has never been better and we deal with products the home buyer would use for DIY projects. We, like others, charge sales tax to those within our state, however, I’m always amazed at the volume of business generated from our state. If it were me, I’d probably buy from a company selling a similar product outside the state, to avoid the sales tax. But it doesn’t seem to stop people from purchasing our products within the state.
I, personally, have already bought my Christmas presents...you guessed it, online.
Yup. There just is no good reason to go to the store in the Holiday Hell Season anymore - just about anything you want you can either buy early, get online, or have delivered.
And, it turns out when you factor in the time and fuel you save by not braving the malls and driving all over creation, it’s almost always cheaper to buy online as well - even if it comes to more with shipping than the item is in the store.
While price is of paramount importance to many buyers, there are also many buyers for whom the convenience of the online purchase overrules all. Part of that convenience is having found an item, quickly clicking through to sale completion, and moving on to the next thing in a long to-do list, versus messing around finding “the best price”.
Also, there are those for whom the ability to chase down a vendor semi-locally, if need be, is important.