I have been trying to buy a tube of light blue oil paint .
First of went to hobby craft a tube of Windsor and Newton cost £16
The same tube and make in the high street art supply shop cost a jaw dropping £35.55.
I went on line it cost from between £15 and £18 plus delivery .
Eventually got what I wanted from Jackson’s Art at £11 .70 plus £3 postage .
There is a reason why the High Streets are dying .
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And don’t forget parking plus cost of fuel.
Very true .
Yes, I agree with this…although I admit I enjoy the convenience of it as well - especially if buying something a bit unusual. I really don’t want to be getting buses and trains into a busy town when I can get it cheaper online anyway, and delivery the next day. I’m sorry the High street is dying, but I also despair of the people who complain yet have never been to the shops concerned.
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Online purchases are usually cheaper even with postage costs.
Yes, sadly that is often the case, Muddy.
Plus there is usually a better selection of what you are looking for online, and you can also compare prices without all the footwork, let alone having it delivered to your door.
The reason l tend to buy online these days is because you can’t ring up local stores to ask if they have an item you want, in stock. Some of the big stores don’t accept availability enquires on the phone.
I am not going to spend my time and petrol to drive there, just for them to tell me they don’t have the item in stock.
When l wanted to buy a slow cooker recently, l traipsed around shops looking for the one l wanted but it was a waste of time.
I went home, ordered it online and it was delivered for free the next morning.
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Yep, exactly this. 
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Some do offer a good competitive service though. My occasional supplier of oils lives 2 mins walk from me and will drop my order in on their way home from the art shop. If I buy 5 x 200g W&N tubes (any colour) I’m charged £58, which is £11.60 per tube. A swift phone call and my order arrives around 18:30 at my door. A single tube is £15.25 so the incentive is to buy 5 at a time.
I was grousing about stuff not being available in the supermarket earlier today, it was the dogfood The Hairy One likes, there was no choice at all. It was either their own cheapie brand or Harringtons, neither of them he likes, So I’ve just ordered a load of food off Amazon and Ebay to be delivered.
Online really is the only way to get exactly what you want, and it’s virtually always cheaper. No good moaning about high streets and yesteryear. That was then, and this is now - and we have all contributed to this massive change in shopping habits. And with the booming cost of fuel and parking charges, why would I drive anywhere when I can buy from the comfort of my sitting room?
There are some shops I will visit in person, and they are mainly fabric shops when, for instance, I need to feel the fabric, check the weight, colour match and so on, none of which I can do online. And clothes/shoes - not that I buy that many clothes or shoes these days!!
The local Tesco superstore no longer has any Heinz products on the shelves. An over pricing/profit dispute between Heinz and Tesco HQ has lead to Tesco returning their complete Heinz stocks😲
I read that they’ve now ‘come to an agreement’ and they will start restocking Heinz products.
Come to an agreement? For which read, Tesco have successfully bullied them into submission?
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It’s true about buying online.
For years now, we have maintained an Amazon Prime account as we buy so much from them, and because we buy from them regularly the small membership fee is soon covered by the fact that delivery is free for most things (apart from some Marketplace items) and also it is usually the case that next day delivery is provided too.
Having said that, I occasionally find that things are delayed and don’t arrive by the promised delivery date. For example, I ordered and paid for an electric fan yesterday which should be delivered today by 9pm. However, I have just looked online and see that it it not yet ‘out for delivery’ at 7.20pm, so I strongly suspect that this item, like several others, will turn out to be ‘delayed’.
We shall see!
That is a good deal .
What subjects do you paint ?
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I buy my groceries online since covid I’ve always hated grocery shopping.
Just popping during the week for extra bananas and lettuce.
Clothes …apart from couple brands East & Maine that are no longer available on the high st , I don’t buy clothing online.
I prefer to see things in real life but the trouble is that shops are stocking less and less because it’s just not cost-effective for them to stock everything.
I’ve had a terrible time trying to buy some hiking sandals recently. North Face and Jack Wolfskin have a skeleton stock of almost samples of their products. It’s so disappointing, like a pretend shop.
- I wanted merrells so ordered some online. Not only did they send the order via UPS to a click and collect dry cleaners when I thought they would deliver to the house (surreal experience), but the shoes themselves have completely changed from the lovely well made comfy ones I’ve had since 2015. So I had to send those back. Still not sure whether the refund has come through.
- I tried Pavers, they arrived and were like pretend hiking sandals. No substance, too tight in and looked awfully frumpy. So they went back and I think I may have had to pay a return fee (not sure)
- Go outdoors - had to pay a special membership fee just to order the North Ridge sandals. When they arrived the fit was incredibly poor. They were sent back via an Asda returns box (very easy process), but can’t remember whether I also had to pay something to return them.
- Ecco - this was the most comedic experience. I received the parcel and hoped so much that finally these would be the perfect hiking sandal. I excitedly opened the box and found…someone else’s shoes! The label on the parcel was addressed to me and had my order number but inside were some totally different shoes and the details of someone living about 100 miles away.
- I’ve just received some Regatta hiking sandals. They look good and fit but having just been out in them they are nowhere near as comfortable and supportive as I need. I ordered a second pair in a different style that are definitely going back. At least the orla kiely flip flops are a hit.
Anwyay my main point is that I could not go to the high street to just pick some off the shelf and try them on. Because of this skeleton stock issue. Mountain Warehouse, blacks etc seem to have closed down a load of stores. They would have been my go to for something like this.
It’s unbelievable that over the course of a couple of years decent hiking shoes have just evaporated, hiking shops have closed down and consumer choice is much reduced. That’s just a sample of one niche sector but it is happening globally to all types of products. Producers are rationalising their core products and we will all have to lump it as people do in a communist closed economy.
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Try Keen? I have had a pair for years, good solid soles, protected toes and a nice colour.
thanks for the tip! 
- I am after open toed and they have a nice range called Astoria which I will look into buying once all my refunds (hopefully) come through
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Re my post no. 14 (see above), at just after 9pm I received an automatic message: may now arrive between 14 and 16 July.
I instantly cancelled the order. This has happened before with some Amazon Marketplace companies. If it is delivered regardless, apparently I can print out a return form and send it back again, along with a review explaining my decision.
I found exactly the same item available at Argos (which has a branch in my local Sainsbury’s) at the same price and have reserved one. Will collect tomorrow.