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Online shopping is killing our Malls : AbandonedPorn
Main Post: Online shopping is killing our Malls : AbandonedPorn
Where are we shopping now?
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So, in the current climate in the U.S., I'm trying to spend my money in places that align with my values. So I've canceled my Prime membership, I'm not going to Walmart or Target (and I miss Target), and I've found a great list of alternate grocery stores. And that's great for so many things. But without Amazon, Target, or Walmart, where are we buying our trash cans and other household items? I live in a busy area, but it's almost entirely big retailers, so there are no mom and pop trash can stores. What's everyone else doing?
ETA: (sorry, got distracted halfway through my post) I'm the mom of a 4 month old, and they just require so much stuff. Costco is amazing, but it's just the two of us and I don't always need or want everything in bulk. I've not had great success with the recommendations from GUU, but I'm willing to keep trying.
I so appreciate all of your responses and the thoughtful ways you shop!
Top Comment: Costco? Idk there is a depressing number of ethical or even semi ethical businesses. The app Goods Unite Us had been a good resource for checking campaign donations.
How do I even shop online anymore in this day and age?
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Seriously one look at Amazon or Etsy or any other online "retailer" and it's all just Chinese weird named knock off cheap garbage. Even the more expensive options are just drop shipped versions of the same exact garbage.
I try my best to do a lot of research and find good quality things but these websites are so filled to the brim with 98% garbage that trying to find that 2% (or frankly less) that fits the criteria for whatever it is I'm buying is just impossible.
Search engines aren't helpful because they always recommend the same major websites and listings. Even when you go to a website specific to those kinds of products your results are very hit or miss. Brand name doesn't mean anything anymore because even the brands themselves are just outsourcing everything with questionable ethics, materials, supply chains, and poor labor conditions for those making it.
There is no vetting of quality anymore from any online shop. Everything is extremely overpriced for the value it provides. I just don't even know what to do anymore.
What do you guys think? How are you guys finding the stuff that you buy?
Clothes? Kitchenware? Appliances? Just anything anymore seems impossible to actually find something worth buying online anymore because everything is review boosted or just idiots will give anything a 5 star review on the cheapest garbage they only used once anyway or worse never used at all. How are you guys doing it?
Top Comment: I just use Reddit search funny enough. Tons of real discussions on the best products here. Usually find the product I’m looking for in a few mins and it hasn’t failed me yet.
Shopping on Reddit
Main Post: Shopping on Reddit
What are your best tips for shopping in person?
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I’m sure I can’t be the only person who struggles with shopping in person. I get exhausted and also get off-task. There’s so many products to hunt through, and I get overwhelmed and lose sight of what I actually came in looking for. Even when I browse online and make a ‘to try’ list before going to the store it takes forever to find those items and I’m tired before I even start trying things on.
What are your best tips for making in-person shopping faster, easier, or more productive?
Some tips I have already found helpful:
- Bring water and a snack
- Wear clothes and shoes that are easy to remove when trying stuff on
- Take pictures of yourself in the dressing room and pictures of the size/style tags, so you can compare items at different stores and decide/remember which one to buy
Top Comment: My #1 tip is that if I’m not like over the moon about something in the dressing room, I don’t buy it. For so long I would try to convince myself that maybe I liked something or maybe I’d find an excuse to wear it and it almost always ended up at goodwill.
BWT, how about quitting online shopping?
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I thought a lot about this and I’d love to hear some BWT opinions.
Of course this has something to do with nostalgia. The feeling you had in the early 2000s when traveling to a big city, checking out new, exclusive shops to buy unique items. I feel like online shopping has completely ruined alll that and everyone sort of dresses and styles the same due to instagram and TikTok marketing.
Also how much time are we wasting scrolling on our phones for stuff to buy? Wouldn’t it be nicer to only buy things that you would actually go to the store for, touch, try on, feel, before buying it? Often times we buy stuff online and end up hating them because they looked different on the model or in the re-touched photo.
I understand that people who live in remote places sometimes order stuff, but why do people who live in LA, NYC, London etc. need to shop online unless they have social anxiety?
Okay, maybe we don’t have to give up online shopping completely, but I would like to try to only do it when there is really no other way of getting something I truly “need” (and we all know that includes desperately want and feel like I can’t live without although that’s bs).
Let me know what you think.
Also, I just ordered a great pair of Jil Sander flats because they were such a bargain... oups.
Top Comment: I don't think online shopping is the problem (well, maybe it is, I'm open to hearing that argument but I don't see a world where we eliminate it entirely) I've taken more of an issue on the culture around online shopping that promotes shopping addiction and shopping as a hobby or coping mechanism or however you want to see it. Online shopping is just an avenue or channel for making dopamine fueled decisions. Personally, my ideal scenario is finding something I love in person and then ordering it online 😂 it gives me time to think about whether I really want it and I get a bit of delayed gratification, which I appreciate way more than the instant kind.
Do you prefer buying clothes online or in person?
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Why?
Top Comment: Online. I know my measurements. There is more variety, I don’t have to interact with people. No impulse buys. I know exactly what I want. And most importantly the stores I like have no locations in my country either way. Also sales are much better online most of the time. In store the item you want might be sold out.