My wife sometimes worries that real-life stores are going to go away as we order more and more things on Amazon. A couple years ago I graphed out how often we order from Amazon and it was certainly our most-shopped “store”. The number of deliveries we get from them has gone up since then. On average, the Amazon truck is coming to our house every few days.
While Amazon has made things easy for us, some stores don’t even seem to try to be competitive. Yesterday I was waiting for a prescription at CVS when I thought to buy some allergy medicine. I take one pill of the Allegra generic everyday with my other pills. It’s been a long time since I bought some and I was shocked with the price on the shelf. Pulling out my phone, I was even more shocked by the price comparison with Amazon.
The per pill price at CVS was 41¢.
The equivalent on Amazon was 3¢.
How embarrassing CVS … !
I’ll admit that I am not the most regular comparison shopper, but when I see something like this, it just makes my blood boil. Even with their “B1G1@50%Off”, it’s a lousy value and 10x the Amazon price.
Now, I’m sure Amazon doesn’t always have the best price on things everyday, either. Still, when I can get something delivered to my house for about 1/15th or the price, I’m willing to take my chances with them overall.
What crazy bricks & mortar vs online price comparison has driven you crazy lately?
Image: Pixabay
MrFireStation 
I buy car parts including fluids and see significant but not as big price discrepancies between the chain auto parts stores such as O’Reilly and AutoZone versus Amazon and Rock Auto. About the only time I buy from the auto parts brick and mortar is if I need something really fast or am buying lifetime warranty brake linings.
About the only items I buy brick and mortar these days are trips to Costco and high-quality items that simply are not available online.
The People’s Republic of California has banned small gasoline powered engines for yard maintenance. I buy equipment like chainsaws, line trimmers, blowers, and commercial mowers from small brick and mortar stores out of state who will ship to me. Southern California has banned oil-based paint, so I buy oil-based paint shipped to me out of state as well. Amazon and other big online retailers such as Home Depot will not let you buy these items from their sites.
LikeLike
Wow – those are a lot of state restrictions. MN tried to follow CA’s lead on the small engines. In a state with 10,000 lakes and even more fishing boats – it was poorly received. They later claimed they had no intention of any ban on small engines, but I’m guessing it will appear again.
I now have an electric lawn mower, string trimmer, leaf blower, hedge trimmer, and pavement edger. Most of them work with an interchangeable Black & Decker battery. I really like how quiet and easy to use they are. I keep a few batteries on my garage workbench fully charged & ready to go. I never need more than 1 battery for 1 days work, so they fit our needs perfectly. Electric lawn mowers are still in the minority in our neighborhood. About half the houses hire out their lawn and it is very noisy when the pros come through on their big machines.
LikeLiked by 1 person