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Add my voice to the chorus of positive reviews about Amazon.com, a site I’ve patronized and visited almost since its inception. What was once a site for bargain book prices is now a destination for almost anything a shopper can imagination.
Among the product categories are:
Kindle
Books, movies, music
Consumer electronics
Computer and Office
Tools and Automotive
Food and Household
Home and Garden
Toys and Video Games
Clothing and Apparel
Health and Beauty
Kids and Baby
Health and Fitness
Within each category are subcategories and sometimes subcategories of the subcategories.

Prices
Prices can be excellent for many items or they can be nothing special on others. Before purchasing check prices at other online venues and at local businesses. When comparing, note that many items over 25 dollars at Amazon merit free shipping and then there’s the sales tax savings. In the past I’ve purchased books printer cartridges, computer paper, and electronic equipment for prices lower than I could find anywhere else.

Getting Around the Site

Navigating the Amazon site is mostly intuitive. One can click on a category at the top of the page or type in a specific product using Amazon’s excellent search engine. For example, one can type in inkjet printer and then narrow the choices by price, brand, or features. The site is so mammoth that it runs slowly on my five-year-old computer. When I want to speed things up, I use my newer laptop to explore Amazon and make purchases.

Purchasing and Speed of Delivery

All of my purchases have been easy and trouble free. Once I’ve made a decision, I place the desired item in the shopping cart and check out when I’ve finished. Adding and deleting items from the shopping cart is simple. Before a sale is finalized all shipping charges (if any) are listed, so there are no surprises. I have an Amazon account with a registered credit card and saved shipping information, enabling me to use speedy checkout eliminating the need to type in address and credit card number for each purchase. Amazon gives the purchaser an estimated shipping time. Actual delivery is almost always faster than the estimate. Almost all of my purchases from Amazon have been through UPS. A supplied tracking number is very convenient.

Presentation and Description

Most items have at least one photograph and many have multiple photographs of products. For books there are even sample pages to view. The size and the weight of products are given as well as detailed descriptions. Reviews and ratings of items by purchasers is extremely helpful in making decisions about purchases, especially when trying to choose between two or three finalists. Some items have no reviews, while popular item may have reviews in the three digits.

Returns

I’ve never returned an item, but Amazon promises a trouble free return of unopened items within 30 days for a full refund. Have your order ID ready. The buyer must pay return shipping and any previous shipping costs are not refundable. Because of the shipping cost factor, it sometimes may not be worth returning a low priced item.

Personal Experience

I’ve bought more items from Amazon than I can possibly remember, but I do know that I’ve always been satisfied, have never made a return, and have never had to contact customer service.
A few months ago I bought a printer several weeks before Christmas and hoped it would arrive in time. Promised delivery was ten days from placing the order, but in five days the printer was delivered by UPS in perfect condition.
Most recently I purchased a digital camera and accessories from Amazon. The price was seventy dollars than that quoted to me by the local Ritz store and twenty-five dollars less than Circuit City which didn’t have the particular camera in stock. The estimated time of delivery was 7 to 10 days. I placed my order on a Friday night and received the camera on Tuesday afternoon. Amazing! I was informed that a memory card that was part of the order was out of stock and would be delivered later. Instead of holding up shipping to wait for the card to come in, Amazon shipped the camera separately and immediately. The memory card and a card reader were shipped separately, all with free shipping!

Last Thoughts

Sometimes I think Amazon has actually grown too big. Read carefully to make sure the item purchased is coming directly from Amazon. Many vendors now sell through Amazon. The timeliness of their shipping can be spotty, but is mostly good. Since products bought from these auxiliary vendors do no qualify for the Super Shipping savings, I try to purchase directly from Amazon when possible.

Amazon has been and still is my favorite online shopping site. Even if you don’t plan to purchase from Amazon, it remains a wonderful place to find information about products to help you with your buying decisions.