Angelica Babiera | Arts Editor
Featured image | Rowan Campbell
As many girls would probably admit, one of my biggest kryptonites is online shopping. There’s no better way to spend my money than buying overtly expensive and unversatile items.
It’s the thrill of going on the H&M website, Amazon, or Etsy, and browsing through their plethora of shopping sections, knowing that these items are only one click away from being mine. Whether it be jewelry, makeup, clothes, or running equipment, there’s always something to look for on the Internet.
However, as convenient as online shopping can be, there are still problems that come along with it. While most shoppers rely on shopping malls because they can be sure of an item’s size, appearance, and authenticity, online shopping doesn’t give you that kind of experience. In fact, it can sometimes add to your stress levels, due to its gross lack of assurance.
Admittedly, online stores tend to create false advertising when it comes to their items. Some of the pictures they provide may not appear the same in real life, causing shoppers to feel deceived and robbed by the company.
Online reviews also don’t give us much assurance. Some companies intentionally sabotage customers in order to increase their sales, with a lack of a propensity for conducting quality checks for each of their items—especially if they are a larger company.
Further, shipping costs tend to be overly expensive. In a Time magazine article, journalist Brad Tuttle said: “Online retailers always seem to wait until the last minute, right before they ask for the credit card number, to give you a clue about how much your total purchase is going to cost—shipping included. If they did, there wouldn’t be quite so many virtual abandoned shopping carts, filled with items that no one’s going to buy, because they cost $75 for shipping.”
Let’s also not get started on unclear return policies. Buying a low-quality product online and wanting to return it makes the process annoying and stressful. If buyers are not purchasing goods from a well-known e-commerce site, return policies can be vague and customer support is often extremely unhelpful, if it exists at all.
Take it from someone who once bought a necklace online, only to find it was too short. I wanted to return it, but the company policy did not allow me to do so, because of some vague excuse of the necklace being unreturnable.
Customer service did not give me a proper answer, nor did they assure me of a refund.
However, despite these common problems with online shopping, buyers like me will likely not stop using these sites due to their convenience.
I don’t have to go out of my house and waste my time browsing through clothes and waiting in long lines to pay for my items. I get to sit at home, while watching a movie, and shop online.
