Goodbye high street clothes shopping. Hello Amazon.

As a comparative newby to Amazon (necessitated for me by the situation in 2020) I've learned a lot from your posts, ladies, so thank you. On a few occasions I've ordered from Amazon Fresh which offers products from Morrisons and Booths plus other sources. I can highly recommend it - free delivery if the basket is over £40, delivery within three hours and there are often freebies if you scroll further down the page. I'm sure if I went into shops I'd find the items cheaper but, until I have the jab, I'll have to pay more.

I could not have survived this last year without Amazon and eBay. I freely admit to keeping both of them going. I have had fabulous book bargains from eBay- the last being a hardback, under £3 with free p&p.

Amazon has come up trumps with cat litter tray liners, normally bought online at Morrisons but they are out of stock. I do tty and buy from British companies.

biba I find it worrying if you are so interested and actually know my voting habits. You would be so wrong.

Does the snow in Switzerland not excite you? I believe, according to yourself, you are an expert skier. We need a rest thanks in beautiful GB.

Jaxjacky I have never tried to work out how anyone voted in the referendum from their posts from their posts. The idea has never occurred to me. Are you sure that is what I actually said in whichever of my posts you think I said that?

No one seems to have mentioned ebay. I use ebay for almost everything. On the Monday before Christmas I ordered through ebay; two litterpicking sticks, a device for cutting rings off when the fingers swell and a small vintage handbell, hoping that DH would be out of hospital ths week (he wasn't). All were delivered before Christmas.

petra

JaxJacky
MOnica. You have the wrong poster. That one is a poster who lives in Switzerland but some how not only know how we all voted but how we shop, what state our high streets are in.
In fact: everything about us. Amazing, isn't it.

Does this clarify things M0nica ?

Maw, Someone attributed these sentiments to me and as I had not read every post on this thread, I was disconcerted to think that anything I had written could have been interpreted in this way.

I now appreciate that there was some confusion and somebody else made the omniscient claim.

I am not sure I am very flattered by the confusion. I and the actual poster hold very few opinions in common.

I agree ab not being flattered M0nica or indeed confused with anybody who brought every thread back to Brexit!

Caitlin Moran wrote a very good article about Jeff Bezos the other week saying how she can’t understand why someone who is so incredibly to rich doesn’t do good works with his wealth. I have to agree with her. I may end up having to use Amazon Prime at some point but that’s only because so many things in life now revolve around Amazon. We bought a new tv only to find that the only way to get catchup on it was via Amazon. Being technophobes we had no idea when we bought it. Regarding clothing I always find sizing is an issue. Even when I use the same company their sizes seem to differ. Interestingly I bought something from Seasalt the other day and it asked me all sorts of questions so it could come up with the right size eg my ages and was I pear shaped etc etc. It occurred to me at the time that they were garnering quite a lot of obscure information from me (eg who do I usually shop with) but I wanted the top and, as I’m shielding didn’t want to have to take it to a post office to return it. It’ll be interesting to see if I do get the right size. The pandemic has meant that I am embracing companies that I used to loathe. Having disliked Tescos for many years they were the easiest one to get online deliveries from and I’m making a point of remaining loyal to any companies that have been helpful over the past few months. I shall, I know, eventually use Amazon but I feel quite ashamed of the thought of doing so.

rosecarmel

It doesn't matter who you order from online in the US- The shipping delay for the postal service is approaching one month- FedEx and UPS are also delayed- Amazon has its own shipping capability, and managed to deliver within days during the holiday rush but according to the listings they too are running into delays-

I use ebay, but due to delays haven't seen the orders I placed weeks ago-

Sorry for quoting my own post but as you can see I did mention eBay ..

MOnica I’m sorry, I got my posters muddled, I think it was biba I do apologise ?

Oh dear. Can’t have any venom intended for biba to be aimed at the wrong person can we.....

Amazonian here as well

MayBee70 I don’t think I was being venemous? Merely referencing a post from biba making an assumption that people who are pro Amazon voted for Brexit.

The high street in my local town has been dying a long slow death for the past decade and it's nothing whatsoever to do with Brexit (apologies to those who would love to lay the blame at that particular door) and nothing to do with Amazon either. It's everything to do with our local council failing to invest in the town centre; lack of amenities, lack of parking, hiking up already exorbitant parking fees year on year, hiking up business rates for small shops trying to make a living, flat out refusing to allow traders to extend their trading hours and then penalizing them with traffic wardens for having deliveries made to their premises, refusing change of use for premises, rejecting planning applications for new traders. Even when one of the large department stores showed interest in opening a store in town, about 4/5 years ago, the council made it so difficult for them that they gave up and buggered off. It's like our local council was determined to kill off anyone who tried to open and run a shop. So our high street has finally died the death of a thousand cuts and the council is talking about investing millions to regenerate it. Too little. Too late. Amazon beat them to it.

Jaxjacky No worries, I was just a little confused, and then things somehow erupted.

rosecarmel In the UK delivery is very good. I ordered goods from ebay on 21st December, they were not required for Christmas, yet all had arrived by the 24th

Kalu ''How many of these local shops do you give your custom to biba...none! ''

these past few months, none, of course. As we have not been able to come and stay at our UK home. But when I do, normally 4 times a year- I buy from lots of the local shops, all the time. Sadly, many of the shops I like have closed since we were last able to visit. That will make a huge difference. But if people buy on-line/Amazon and co- the few lovely shops left, the independent boutiques, cafés and restaurants- will go soon.

That means that town centres will just die - and yes, that will include the great butchers, fishmongers and real bakers, and others. There will just not sufficient numbers coming into town to make them viable. We should be supporting our small shops and traders- be they clothes, or food. I certainly do.

We always come by car and return from so many goodies of all kinds.

If you love your towns and cities - support them, those indepedents who pay their taxes use local people and goods and materials. Every % given to Amazon and other on line is % that will continue to increase and kill our towns as we know them - and al the jobs that go with them- real people.

I think the answer is we dont love them biba, I loathe going into my local city centre for example, you cant force people to do things they dont want to. With all the things that people have mentioned traffic parking etc it's not a joyful experience. I have also always been wary of the idea of shopping as a pastime. Lots of local authorities are looking at innovative plans for town and city centres involving residential and leisure rather than retail.

And again, why would I get upset about the loss for our beautiful English towns and cities- if it is not because I love them. Our small market town in the UK is just so quintesseantially English- with great shops of all kinds, a fabulous mix, + great mix of cafés and restaurants, a thriving market, great independent butchers, bakers, fishmongers, cook shops, ironmongers, and so much more.

So one the one hand you say 'stop criticising' the UK- and on the other some say 'it is none of my business because I am an expert skier' ? Nonsense. It is because I love our town and all the nearby towns we visit so often, and which we support in so many ways - that I can upset to see people willfully behave in a way that will, inadvertantly or otherwise, destroy them in a much faster and comprehensive way than, say, the EU, ever could or would.

I agree, Monica, about feeling something and examining things before buying and that you can't tell from a picture.

But for those of us who are/were shielding and dislike tramping round the shops anyway, online shopping has been a lifeline and, in fact, I did my Christmas shopping online last year too as I do not like crowded shops.

Some items bought online have been disappointing but mostly can be returned and I did find Amazon to be very prompt, although I've never ordered clothes.
If you order known brands, ones you trust, you know you'll get the quality you want.

Yes, petra, Jean-Claude Juncker may know more about Amazon and tax than he would care to admit.

Because town centres will not survive if we don't go to them and use the shops, and will never recover from Covid.
biba - we may not survive ourselves if we throng the High Streets.

The British have been criticised for going shopping in the High Streets during the pandemic, spreading the virus and now you are criticising us for not doing so.

We can't win, can we!

Well Galaxy, if YOU the British, don't like your towns- don't blame me for criticising the UK !!!

I love our town, and all the towns around, and I am prepared to support them.

Agreed, I can't win- we can't win. It is tough out there, and difficult. I am talking here in general- hopefully post Covid will happen. And I do hope then that people will support their town centres and local shops, cafés, butchers and markets.

Because you can't say 'we want our country back' - and then shop via foreign tax evading giants that will destroy it- and our amazing quintessential British towns (agreed some of them are nicer than others).

People never fight for what they don't like- if I fight for something, it is because I love it. In French we have a saying 'qui aime bien, châtie bien' - who truly loves something, criticises it'

I am half German if that's any help biba. And I dont criticise you at all. I think accepting that people have different views and different habits is part of being British. Well actually that's nonsense I think it's part of being French, German, part of being human. I loathe the idea that shopping is a pastime, I think it's an idea that's grown in recent decades often aimed at women, and I dont think think its particularly beneficial for people and the environment.

I'm a definite Amazon fan.
Over the years I have shopped more and more online and have become completely at ease with the process.. Shopping in our local town nigh on impossible. Our local council, in an effort to make the town more pedestrian friendly has severely curtailed parking anywhere near the centre. Bus lanes and cycle lanes criss cross all over making life as a pedestrian precarious. Public loos are as rare as hens teeth, meaning revellers from the night before use alleys and side pavements while they wait for the restricted bus service, so until the street cleaners arrive, the pavements seem awash with urine and sometimes vomit.

If I need to do a big or heavy shop its always on line nowadays. Fighting my way through town then standing all the way home on public transport is not my idea of a good time.

And just before Christmas, I realised I had not got any alcohol in the big Shop (I blame my brain fog on lock down!). So i ordered supplies through Morrisons at Amazon. It was on my doorstep in less than 2 hours.
So sorry, I'm an Amazon fan

Nonsense. It is because I love our town and all the nearby towns we visit so often, and which we support in so many ways - that I can upset to see people willfully behave in a way that will, inadvertantly or otherwise, destroy them in a much faster and comprehensive way than, say, the EU, ever could or would.

biba Perhaps you should come back :
Your Country Needs You (to Shop)

I loathe the idea that shopping is a pastime, I think it's an idea that's grown in recent decades often aimed at women, and I dont think think its particularly beneficial for people and the environment.

That is very true, Galaxy
It is not regarded an essential now, it is a leisure activity. Advertising and subliminal persuasion that we need a constant stream of new purchases to make us happy.
We need a reset.