The Joy Of Internet Shopping

I use to be to be terrified of internet shopping as thoughts of fraud and stolen identities danced in my head. No way would I want to give out such personal information on the world wide web where someone was waiting with their grubby little cyber hands to snatch it from me. Besides, I preferred shopping the old fashioned way... going to the store, toughing, feeling, seeing up close the items I wished to purchase.

That all changed since moving to Costa Rica (funny how moving to a different country can change your point of view on many things).

While I still love shopping in the stores (I do prefer it), Costa Rica has led me to the internet where many items, especially electronics, are about half the price. When I lived in Boston, I had so many stores that I could go to and get 'something for next to nothing'. It's harder to find great deals here. And even the stores that boast the lowest prices sometimes can't beat the prices on the net.

I've come to actually like internet shopping, and the excitement of knowing how much money I am saving is icing on the cake.

The other day, I decided to look at some digital cameras (crunch time for me since I am currently without one). I decided to budget in the price of a simple camera, setting my spending limit (including shipping) at around $80. I had no idea what I would find in my price range until I hit the net. I was pleasantly surprised that $80, while not a lot, would buy me a decent camera with a few bells and whistles. I was excited! The excitement quickly waned, though, as the confusion set in. Research is key when it comes to buying electronics, as you don't want to get stuck with a dud, but the different reviews left me perplexed and a little leery. Who do I trust? How can one person love one camera while the next person loath the same one?

I spent pretty much all day, on and off, Sunday looking and researching different cameras in my price range. The one I really wanted was out of stock on one site and about $9 above (minus shipping) on another. I was getting discouraged and ready to give up my search until another day when I came across a simple, but decent, camera a little below my set price. I was happy, but when it came to reviews, they were all over the place. I decided to buy it, because as I told hubby, "I'm not looking for a professional camera, just one I can take pictures of my kids with."

I am not into all the bells and whistles, but it's nice to have options. Plus I need one that won't up and die on me like my first Kodak Easyshare. I need one in the meantime, that can do a good enough job of taking decent pictures, until I get my dream camera or something close. So while it might have made more sense to wait and see if the camera I wanted came up for sale in my price range, I just cannot bear the thought of all the little moments I would be missing of my kids if I waited any longer. So I bit the bullet and spent the cash.

As with any internet purchase though, you have to wait and see what you get. That's the beauty of internet shopping (besides being cheap and convenient), you have to actually order the product to test it out. And while the excitement builds as you wait for it to arrive, you hope disappointment won't set in when the product looks nothing like it did on the net or deliver on its promises. You just have to cross you fingers and hope that you made the right choice. What might have worked for one customer might not work for me. And what one person might think is trash, might be my treasure. Who knows.

But like I said, I wasn't looking to spend a fortune, so I knew the camera I chose wouldn't be 100 percent without fault. And while I settled on a cheaper camera in hopes of saving a few bucks, I just hope that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.... because cheap doesn't always mean it's a good deal.