Local shopping vs mail order/online

[meggie09]

I am feeling a bit guilty...i got the kids summer clothes out and they didnt fit and its hot here. Anyway i went to the clothes shop and to my horror were around $40 per outfit. Well i turned around and walked out. I rang target country and they had $15-$20 outfits and can send them over night...so i brought $500 worth including an new highchair. Now i feel bad for not shopping local...but it would have cost 3 times that to buy here (we are in a rural town) and unfortunately we just cant afford that...am i bad?

[meggie09]

bump

[meggie09]

i guess no one has done this :laughing:

[Myztiks#1Fan]

i have never ordered online/ mail order before. i wouldnt know if its worth it or not as i do live in brisbane so there are lots of shops around.

btw, if it was cheaper for you to order with target, does it really matter? whatever works best for you.

[3bubsplus1]

I would have done the exact same thing as you.
Try not to feel too guilty

:hugs:

[Boobycino]

Your not bad.

If its cheaper, its just makes good sense to buy through target, and not spend excessively in local stores.

Surely you buy your groceries locally, you would buy coffee or lunch or eat out occasionally locally. You would probably occasionally shop for clothes locally also?

The majority of your spending is still local, right? Its not like your spending 500$ every month on clothes for your children at target!

:hugs: Try not to feel badly!

[Annabella]

No its not bad, I buy online all the time, I try to buy second hand off ebay so I feel a bit better about reusing etc, although I'm sure when it comes all the way from o/seas it kind of cancels that out:p

I would guess the clothes in the shop in your town have a massive markup, so don't feel too guilty...

[Boobycino]

No its not bad, I buy online all the time, I try to buy second hand off ebay so I feel a bit better about reusing etc, although I'm sure when it comes all the way from o/seas it kind of cancels that out:p

I would guess the clothes in the shop in your town have a massive markup, so don't feel too guilty...

Ooooh, I LOVE that excuse. Can I use it?

"honey, I'm helping the environment buying off ebay" :D:yes:

[Boobycino]

I was just thinking about this some more...

I grew up in small country towns and I think generally speaking the prices were maybe a little higher, but the only downside on shopping was variety.

I get that in my local area in the Lower North Shore in sydney EVERYTHING is more expensive, food, clothes, generally stuff, even Vinnies, because on the one hand its a more affluent area so people generally can afford it (not me :() and also because the shops rent is so much higher, they need to cover the cost of the shop front.

In a rurual town my assumption would be they are paying very little comparitively to a city shop in rent - so theres no reason for a higher price in that respect.

Also, if its cheaper for you to have something delivered, I garentee a shop can have their stock delivered cheaply also, so maybe they can justify charging fractionally more for their shipping costs.

Then there is the lack of store turn over, which is fair enough, a shop in the city is going to turn over more stock, so they have more profit, but I guess to balance that out wages are slightly higher in the city and the rent as I said, is sigficantly cheaper.

I think the shops in your area are counting on the local peoples lack of initive to order their clothes and such online, so they're profiting on the general populations ignorance that they can get a better price.

A little retail competition would probably be healthy for them!

Thats just what I think anyway... I could be massively flawed in my thinking, as I've never owned a shop in a rural community!!!

[bunintheoven12]

I would say that 95% of my kid's clothing is bought from the one shop in Paddington NSW. I love it. I choose everything I want and it's sent straight to our door. Our local Myers doesn't stock the brand I prefer to buy anymore and David Jones is a bit too far to drive and doesn't have the selection the store has in Sydney so I don't shop local for kid's clothes. I go to Sydney a lot but have never actually set foot into the shop I buy from - I wouldn't even know where it is.

[NonnyMouse]

I will usually buy local if I can, as I'm not a big fan of the companies that stock cheap made in china crapola and force the little businesses out of the market. If I had a choice between spending $120 on three outfits, or $120 on 5 outfits, then most times I'd just buy less outfits from the local place if that's what I could afford, and top it up with some quality second hand stuff from online...kinda best of both worlds.

But, I live where the local isn't *that* much more than the bigger shops, and usually better quality for your money, too. I guess my shopping habits would change if it was same cheap stuff for twice the price.

[DonnaL]

Where I live (Bray Park, north of Brisbane - not even vaguely remote or rural), 'local' means Target or Big W - not exactly buying local in the true sense of the word. There aren't very many small independent shops around my area. So from an ethical perspective, I actually feel much better about buying online from small businesses, many of which are run by WAHMs who sell handmade or small labels - much nicer & more unique clothes, better service and often not much more expensive than buying from the big chains.

[BabelFish]

Before DD was born and when the Aussie dollar matched the US dollar almost exactly (99c I think) I bought a heap of clothes from Gymbaroo, which is American. They are SO beautiful, SO cheap (I got her a gorgeous little double-breasted, lined sailor jacket for $8) and SO well made, and no other kids have got them here. I bought sizes for bigger kids so she'll get much more wear out of them.

It's important to shop local but don't forget `local' usually means made in a sweatshop somewhere and cheaply imported. So if we want to improve the clothes we are getting and have more competitive prices it's up to the shops, not us, to provide a good deal.

[OnePossum]

We currently live in Brisbane but I lived / worked in rural towns (popn <3000) for about 10yrs, however never had children of my own there - but 2 nieces.

In my experience local small retailers understand that $$ are limited and that we all need to work within a budget.

However the advantage they have is the capacity to buy what you want. On several occasions I asked if they could get 2 really nice summer dresses for christmas / birthday gifts. I indicated what I was willing to pay up to and they came back with some really lovely options that I not seen in the big stores.