Getting a little harder to get around so I try and make my shopping as efficient as possible with taking advantage of free shipping, services, Amazon, local pharmacy meds etc.
Just a while ago I recently needed a small item (-under CAN$10, that I would normally obtain from Home Depot, about a 4km round trip.
Much to my surprise they offered free next-day delivery.
Since then I have used this delivery system from them for many other fairly trivial costing items !!
Not sure if it applies to every store.?

 

I've done the same thing with Home Depot. But recently had an 8' ground rod delivered free and when I went to buy another one the next week they wanted 70USD to deliver it! So the next time I was in the town 20 miles away where the store is I picked it up myself... But yeah, I try and get as much delivered free as I can. Amazon gets a lot of my purchases.

 

I sort of view Amazon as a necessary evil, as local electronics stores and old-school hardware stores have almost disappeared.

I have somecgripes about them:

● Descriptions are often lacking details, say the footprint for a pcb-mounted part or other important details. Links to datasheets and documentation would be nice.

● Searching for particular things isn't always effective. I usually don't want vaguely similar things, I want an exact thing.

● This is a biggie: "Purchase this item again" may not in fact come from the same vendor and may not even be from the same manager. The thing you receive may not be the same thing you got the first time, and if you're depending on specific features, you may be screwed.

 

I sort of view Amazon as a necessary evil

+1

 

Descriptions are often lacking details

Highly agree! I almost always "shop" there and then look for detailed specs and reviews often before buying. But when price shopping their prices are hard to beat even before the "free shipping" that I have to pay an ever increasing subscription for.