Since covid19 many companies that never did delivers before now do home delivery free. I told wife, we only have 1 bar of soap left so she ordered 12 bars $5 less than driving 14 miles to Walmart to get it plus free delivery.
She decided to see what else we need, we buy razors 3 packs $5 per pack, online they cost $1.50 less per 3 pack with free delivery so she orders 12 packs of razors a saving of $18.
She orders, laundry soap, kitchen soap, bathroom cleaners & soaps, window cleaner, kitchen items, she even orders certain food items from Walmart it cost less than driving there to get it & FREE delivery. Wife said she saved about $100 to have all that delivered free.
That was especially good when we were a covid19 prisoner of our house and it is still good.
Restaurants do free home delivery too. Our favorite Mexican restaurant use to never deliver but now we can place an order and have it arrive 35 minutes later. Greek, India, Asian, Mexican, BBQ, others all deliver now.
Wife loves to order from all the local business, I love to order on Ebay.
We had a $9 Walmart item increase to $30 then Walmart started selling it online only $30 free delivery, we checked other stores no one sells it anymore, I bought 10 of them on Ebay $9.99 each free delivery.
If your having a bad day, allergies giving your trouble, order online deliver is FREE and it saves you a lot of driving time going to get it plus vehicle uses no gas parked at home.
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Yeah, so much better than walking into a Walmart and having to wait in a long line or not finding what you're looking for and leaving empty handed.
There are so many pain points and friction about shopping in person that are aggravating to me like finding a parking spot, waiting in lines, taking ten minutes to find what you want and taking twenty minutes to find they are out of stock.
I love doing grocery pick up at Target. Just place your order with the app then when it's ready go wait in the parking lot and a pleasant young person brings it out to your car. Done.
Low aggravation.
There are so many pain points and friction about shopping in person that are aggravating to me like finding a parking spot, waiting in lines, taking ten minutes to find what you want and taking twenty minutes to find they are out of stock.
I love doing grocery pick up at Target. Just place your order with the app then when it's ready go wait in the parking lot and a pleasant young person brings it out to your car. Done.
Low aggravation.
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Vanisle_BC
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Gary350
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Sometimes I enjoy going to the grocery store early 9am before store is crowded and before street traffic gets bad. I feel more relaxed this gives me time to look at new things. A few weeks ago I found a certain type of sour dough bread I have never seen it turned out to be very good now I look for that bread every time we go to the store. We switched grocery stores a few months ago now we drive about 4 extra miles just to shop at a much larger Super Grocery store. This new grocery store is about 5 times larger than the place we use to shop I am having fun finding new items no often found in smaller stores. There is another grocery store on the other side of town 14 mile drive we go there sometimes because they have the largest produce section of any store in town plus free coffee samples from all over the world. When I find a coffee that taste good I buy some then we have fun at home with the new tasting coffee. If it was not for free samples I would not risk buying unknown coffee because some are not very good. We go to the grocery store a lot less than we use to online orders are great and easy.
Watch this video about the modern day super market it is interesting & educational.
Watch this video about the modern day super market it is interesting & educational.
I tried grocery pickup at Sam's club but at that time there were no open times and they only scheduled pickups 24-48 hours in advance. I actually enjoy shopping in person, but I probably pick up more stuff that way. Curbside pick up is free but delivery is not here. It can cost more for delivery than what you are buying. Curbside did not work out that well for me either, because some things are not available for curbside pickup and you still have to go into the store to get it. I do try to order food from restaurants for pickup so I don't have to wait for them to cook it.
I live 5 minutes from Walmart so it is not a big deal to drive over and shop. However, I don't like to be in a crowded store so I try to avoid shopping on the weekends or the Monday after a holiday. If the parking lot is full, I just leave and come back later.
I have run into items being out of stock. So, especially if I am going to the store for a specific item, I will check their website to see how much they have in stock. I am tired of going to Sam's club for cat food and they don't have any or they only have pate which will make my cat throw up.
I live 5 minutes from Walmart so it is not a big deal to drive over and shop. However, I don't like to be in a crowded store so I try to avoid shopping on the weekends or the Monday after a holiday. If the parking lot is full, I just leave and come back later.
I have run into items being out of stock. So, especially if I am going to the store for a specific item, I will check their website to see how much they have in stock. I am tired of going to Sam's club for cat food and they don't have any or they only have pate which will make my cat throw up.
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pepperhead212
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I only got two of those door deliveries done during the pandemic - both from Whole Foods. Deals I couldn't get elsewhere (one I remember was really cheap barley), and it wasn't that much to order to get free delivery. Until September, I didn't go out much at all, and a local SM had a deal I couldn't pass up - 60 load containers of Dynamo detergent for $,99, with a limit of 12, per variety (I ended up getting 24, and still have a lot!). I never went to Walmart, until I got vaccinate, and not again since!
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Gary350
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Wife is good at finding online bargains. Yesterday she bought me a pair of $75 shoes the kind I like for $3 free postage. I told her to stop buying me shoes I have never owned more than 2 pair of shoes at one time in my whole life now I have 8 pairs of shoes under the bed. She said, you will wear them some day. I said, I will probably die for I get to wear all those shoes. LOL.
She also bought 6 lace bras $1 each and 6 padded bras $2 each. She does house work all day when she needs a 10 minutes rest she searches, Amazon, Walmart, and several other places. She said, after Christmas returns are over stocking stores they want all that inventory gone that is why there are so many good bargains right after Christmas.
2 weeks ago a new kitchen water faucet arrived, wow I was glad, I was dragging my feet not wanting to go to Lowe's to look and find a new water facet. Old faucet got so it would not turn off easy & cheap junk can't be repaired.
Online tracking tells her date packages will be here and what time. Today Fedx showed up about 2:30 pm I was already outside & wife came out the door 5 seconds after delivery truck stopped. She gets a package 1 or 2 times a week .
Today Fedx Driver said, I had 3 different porch pirates arrested today. He said, Fedx trucks now have video cameras if I see people following me stealing packages I call the police & they are arrested.
She also bought 6 lace bras $1 each and 6 padded bras $2 each. She does house work all day when she needs a 10 minutes rest she searches, Amazon, Walmart, and several other places. She said, after Christmas returns are over stocking stores they want all that inventory gone that is why there are so many good bargains right after Christmas.
2 weeks ago a new kitchen water faucet arrived, wow I was glad, I was dragging my feet not wanting to go to Lowe's to look and find a new water facet. Old faucet got so it would not turn off easy & cheap junk can't be repaired.
Online tracking tells her date packages will be here and what time. Today Fedx showed up about 2:30 pm I was already outside & wife came out the door 5 seconds after delivery truck stopped. She gets a package 1 or 2 times a week .
Today Fedx Driver said, I had 3 different porch pirates arrested today. He said, Fedx trucks now have video cameras if I see people following me stealing packages I call the police & they are arrested.
I have Sam's Club plus. So, I can buy things online and they don't charge the $20 delivery fee. The plus membership does cost me $100 a year, so it is not free unless I use the card enough to earn enough points. Sometimes Sam's Club or Walmart prices are better than amazon.
I haven't tried pickup anywhere lately. There are more stores, even smaller local stores that are offering curb side. However, not everything is available by pickup. At Home Depot, some items are not allowed to be picked up. They don't usually have limits, so if an item is in high demand, usually, you have to go to the store to get it. The same with Sam's club. There are some things you have to get in the store. I rarely go to Target, but I did see their tent in the parking lot when I went there. I don't see the curbside spaces as full as they used to be so maybe I will try pickup sometime. Mainly, I actually like browsing in the store and checking things out. I went to the store this morning at 7 a.m. on purpose because the store is less crowded then. It is about 4 miles away. I went across the street after that and had to wait 10 minutes, because Sam's club does not open for early shopping till 8 a.m. There were still a lot of people, but a lot less than there would have been later in the day. I was going to Walmart after that because it was only a couple of blocks away. However, I bought cold stuff from Sam's club and my car was already full so I went home and unloaded and went to the Walmart that is 5 minutes away from me (less than a mile), after I checked online to make sure they had what I wanted and where to find it.
I do check the inventory now when I want a particular item because on the big box stores it will tell me how much they have in stock and its' location in the store. If it is not available in that store, I can find out if nearby stores have it. That way when I do go to the store, I won't be looking for things in vain. However, if you see limited quantities, or see associate, or a small quantity, then call first to make sure they actually have it, the inventory can be off or hard to find when quantities are very small.
I get my medication by mail. I have for years. It is actually cheaper for me to get it this way.
The only thing that I have had problems with in the last year were shipping delays. Most were only delayed a couple of days. A fan I ordered never arrived, so I had to call and they sent another one. It was around the time there were reports of shipping packages and mail being found dumped in remote areas.
I have started ordering seeds for next year. I have been keeping my ordering down to a minimum. Which is hard to do when these tempting catalogs keep coming. It has been taking some companies a little longer for the seeds to arrive, but that may be an issue with the post master general's cost saving initiative by slowing the mail down during the busiest time of the year. The seed companies still have some seeds that are out of stock, some of them are already out of stock for the year. I have plenty of alternative seeds to plant. I am mainly looking for specific seeds. I ordered from a couple of different companies last year and that worked out well.
I make frequent use of the package tracking and the companies are pretty good about sending emails when the package arrives. There have been a lot of reports of porch pirates lately. The latest warning was for people to take their Christmas packages from expensive items like tv's and computers to the dump instead of leaving them in the trash cans. Thieves may be checking out the trash to see what you got that's worth stealing. I have had my mail stolen before. That is no fun. I have a locking mailbox now. I have to drive to the post office or to the shopping center for the nearest mailbox for outgoing mail. The news also reported about a man who had his outgoing mail stolen. They see the flag and then stole his mail and the mail was opened and found in a neighbors mailbox.
I haven't tried pickup anywhere lately. There are more stores, even smaller local stores that are offering curb side. However, not everything is available by pickup. At Home Depot, some items are not allowed to be picked up. They don't usually have limits, so if an item is in high demand, usually, you have to go to the store to get it. The same with Sam's club. There are some things you have to get in the store. I rarely go to Target, but I did see their tent in the parking lot when I went there. I don't see the curbside spaces as full as they used to be so maybe I will try pickup sometime. Mainly, I actually like browsing in the store and checking things out. I went to the store this morning at 7 a.m. on purpose because the store is less crowded then. It is about 4 miles away. I went across the street after that and had to wait 10 minutes, because Sam's club does not open for early shopping till 8 a.m. There were still a lot of people, but a lot less than there would have been later in the day. I was going to Walmart after that because it was only a couple of blocks away. However, I bought cold stuff from Sam's club and my car was already full so I went home and unloaded and went to the Walmart that is 5 minutes away from me (less than a mile), after I checked online to make sure they had what I wanted and where to find it.
I do check the inventory now when I want a particular item because on the big box stores it will tell me how much they have in stock and its' location in the store. If it is not available in that store, I can find out if nearby stores have it. That way when I do go to the store, I won't be looking for things in vain. However, if you see limited quantities, or see associate, or a small quantity, then call first to make sure they actually have it, the inventory can be off or hard to find when quantities are very small.
I get my medication by mail. I have for years. It is actually cheaper for me to get it this way.
The only thing that I have had problems with in the last year were shipping delays. Most were only delayed a couple of days. A fan I ordered never arrived, so I had to call and they sent another one. It was around the time there were reports of shipping packages and mail being found dumped in remote areas.
I have started ordering seeds for next year. I have been keeping my ordering down to a minimum. Which is hard to do when these tempting catalogs keep coming. It has been taking some companies a little longer for the seeds to arrive, but that may be an issue with the post master general's cost saving initiative by slowing the mail down during the busiest time of the year. The seed companies still have some seeds that are out of stock, some of them are already out of stock for the year. I have plenty of alternative seeds to plant. I am mainly looking for specific seeds. I ordered from a couple of different companies last year and that worked out well.
I make frequent use of the package tracking and the companies are pretty good about sending emails when the package arrives. There have been a lot of reports of porch pirates lately. The latest warning was for people to take their Christmas packages from expensive items like tv's and computers to the dump instead of leaving them in the trash cans. Thieves may be checking out the trash to see what you got that's worth stealing. I have had my mail stolen before. That is no fun. I have a locking mailbox now. I have to drive to the post office or to the shopping center for the nearest mailbox for outgoing mail. The news also reported about a man who had his outgoing mail stolen. They see the flag and then stole his mail and the mail was opened and found in a neighbors mailbox.
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Gary350
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We saw on TV News food & gas prices are so high people are not buying things they don't need lots of stores are over stocked with things they can't sell, so they are having sales trying to get rid of it.
Wife found a pair of $40 shoes for $6 free postage. Wife lost some weight she found 2 pairs of pants a size smaller $5 each free postage. We love shopping like this its so easy.
The only thing I need is a 12 pack of Energizer Industrial D size batteries they use to cost $21 but now they are $15 free shipping. Wow that is about $12 less than Walmart & I don't have to drive 10 miles round trip to go get it.
Wife found a pair of $40 shoes for $6 free postage. Wife lost some weight she found 2 pairs of pants a size smaller $5 each free postage. We love shopping like this its so easy.
The only thing I need is a 12 pack of Energizer Industrial D size batteries they use to cost $21 but now they are $15 free shipping. Wow that is about $12 less than Walmart & I don't have to drive 10 miles round trip to go get it.
Yes, the goods that were sitting on the ocean finally came in and some of them were getting old or were already out of fashion. I have not done curbside yet. I prefer to actually get some things in the store, but I do like the convenience of it. I only order products from Amazon for delivery. Otherwise, I try to shop online to see if the store has the product I want and the location in the store. It does not make sense to make a trip and waste my time and gas if they are out of stock. I check out Sam;s club before I go down to check their stock of canned cat food, because they sometimes don't have it for a couple of months. I spend more on cat food at Sam's than on anything else. I don't want to make the trip if it isn't there. I usually go to Sam's Club once a month and Costco once a month. Sometimes more. I go to Walmart more often. Walmart does have a store pickup. But you have to go to the pick up center to get it. The Walmart nearest me is less than 5 minutes away. However, the one that is 4 miles away is a bigger store and has more items. That one also has a gas station. The gas line there is usually shorter than Costco, but they don't open early.
Some things cannot be scheduled for pickup. So, since I would have to still go and shop for it myself, I may as well get it all. It is good to have curbside pickup for things at home depot where they are not perishable. Especially since they bring it out to the car and help with loading if needed.
The shelves now are better stocked and the store staff are stocking shelves almost every time I go there. The prices are higher on everything, there are fewer holes on the shelf. The only exception are the hot dogs at Walmart. If you don't get there early, the shelf is wiped out. This week the price even went down 8 cents. I would have gotten some, but I already have enough for a while. If I ordered for pickup or delivery, I might have missed that deal.
The other thing is that delivery is not free here.
Some things cannot be scheduled for pickup. So, since I would have to still go and shop for it myself, I may as well get it all. It is good to have curbside pickup for things at home depot where they are not perishable. Especially since they bring it out to the car and help with loading if needed.
The shelves now are better stocked and the store staff are stocking shelves almost every time I go there. The prices are higher on everything, there are fewer holes on the shelf. The only exception are the hot dogs at Walmart. If you don't get there early, the shelf is wiped out. This week the price even went down 8 cents. I would have gotten some, but I already have enough for a while. If I ordered for pickup or delivery, I might have missed that deal.
The other thing is that delivery is not free here.
While we do buy many items from on-line vendors groceries is not and will not be one of them. We have been on-line buyers for many years before Covid mostly because we are pretty isolated from retailers with the inventory we need. Being 60 miles from any large town and their options it always made more sense to but on-line. The UPS and other delivery men know us by name.
The pandemic was never a really big deal in our area so we were able to shop for most things we wanted at the local grocery stores and the once per month visit to Costco seventy miles away (especially when we combined that trip with other shopping).
I know large population areas were hit harder than we were out in the country but I think it was an unnecessary and faddish trend to wait in line for a grocery order picked up by someone from the stores.
The pandemic was never a really big deal in our area so we were able to shop for most things we wanted at the local grocery stores and the once per month visit to Costco seventy miles away (especially when we combined that trip with other shopping).
I know large population areas were hit harder than we were out in the country but I think it was an unnecessary and faddish trend to wait in line for a grocery order picked up by someone from the stores.
Last edited by PaulF on Mon Sep 05, 2022 1:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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webmaster
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One year later and I don't do curbside pick up for groceries anymore.
But I still do curbside pickup at Target because our nearest store is so popular with the thousands of college students in our area.
That said I don't buy perishables at Target because they seem to consistently give us stuff that is unacceptably close to the expiry day, like within a day or two.
But I still do curbside pickup at Target because our nearest store is so popular with the thousands of college students in our area.
That said I don't buy perishables at Target because they seem to consistently give us stuff that is unacceptably close to the expiry day, like within a day or two.
I would rather shop for anything that would be refrigerated or fresh produce. I like to see what I am getting.
I do shop on Amazon for some things that is just not available here. Car parts, some of the specialty garden supplies like the tower garden and insect/shade cloth can't always be found here. Car parts and appliance parts now are just ridiculous. Even if you go to the store, it is not available, you have to order it from them. I needed a part for the range when it broke down when it was a little over a year old ( I hate digital machines). I would have had to wait 6 weeks for the part if I ordered it from the store locally and it would have cost more than buying it from the manufacturer or from Amazon. Amazon lets you return parts, the local company would not.
Recently the pedal stop pad ( its plastic) broke so the brake light would not go off. Apparently this is a very common problem. I spent 3 hours and went to three places including the dealer parts center, who was already closed on a Saturday. Why does my car always seem to develop problems on weekends? Two of the auto part stores only carried one universal brake stop pad. It is for a Honda and I have a Kia. It is too big for the Kia. The other auto repair shop had the same thing for $9. The auto salesperson was very nice. He wedged something in the pedal and got it to work temporarily. I ended up getting the parts from Amazon. It took 4 days to get here and I got 30 pieces for a dollar more than the ones that did not fit here. I have 29 extra pieces now.
I don't know what I will do when my phone battery gives up. No one will send batteries, or gasses here because it is explosive. The battery shop where I could get overpriced batteries closed during the pandemic.
Free delivery does not mean much outside of the contiguous states. Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico are treated as international destinations. Most free delivery is to truck stop. So, it is not uncommon for me to pay more for shipping than the item I am buying. And this predates the pandemic. When I ordered my blinds over 20 years ago the person on the line said "Wow". The blinds cost about $58, the shipping was $150.
I do shop on Amazon for some things that is just not available here. Car parts, some of the specialty garden supplies like the tower garden and insect/shade cloth can't always be found here. Car parts and appliance parts now are just ridiculous. Even if you go to the store, it is not available, you have to order it from them. I needed a part for the range when it broke down when it was a little over a year old ( I hate digital machines). I would have had to wait 6 weeks for the part if I ordered it from the store locally and it would have cost more than buying it from the manufacturer or from Amazon. Amazon lets you return parts, the local company would not.
Recently the pedal stop pad ( its plastic) broke so the brake light would not go off. Apparently this is a very common problem. I spent 3 hours and went to three places including the dealer parts center, who was already closed on a Saturday. Why does my car always seem to develop problems on weekends? Two of the auto part stores only carried one universal brake stop pad. It is for a Honda and I have a Kia. It is too big for the Kia. The other auto repair shop had the same thing for $9. The auto salesperson was very nice. He wedged something in the pedal and got it to work temporarily. I ended up getting the parts from Amazon. It took 4 days to get here and I got 30 pieces for a dollar more than the ones that did not fit here. I have 29 extra pieces now.
I don't know what I will do when my phone battery gives up. No one will send batteries, or gasses here because it is explosive. The battery shop where I could get overpriced batteries closed during the pandemic.
Free delivery does not mean much outside of the contiguous states. Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico are treated as international destinations. Most free delivery is to truck stop. So, it is not uncommon for me to pay more for shipping than the item I am buying. And this predates the pandemic. When I ordered my blinds over 20 years ago the person on the line said "Wow". The blinds cost about $58, the shipping was $150.
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Gary350
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Brake light switch is a very common problem. Switches have a screw adjustment. Normally open switch closes when you push the brake pedal then pedal does not return far enough to turn switch off. Dealer usually replaces old switch but all that is really needed is to readjust the switch unless switch has gone bad. One night after dark I notice vehicle brake lights are on, not knowing what to do I removed battery cable so battery is not dead next morning. Dealer charged $180 to replace the switch. After leaving what the problem was now I know how to fix it. A month later my son had the same problem I told him to adjust brake pedal the switch and that fixed his problem. Sometimes plastic pad that pushes the switch breaks making the switch 1/16" too short. Readjust the switch 1/16" problem fixed with our a new pad.imafan26 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:05 am
Recently the pedal stop pad ( its plastic) broke so the brake light would not go off. Apparently this is a very common problem. I spent 3 hours and went to three places including the dealer parts center, who was already closed on a Saturday. Why does my car always seem to develop problems on weekends? Two of the auto part stores only carried one universal brake stop pad. It is for a Honda and I have a Kia. It is too big for the Kia. The other auto repair shop had the same thing for $9. The auto salesperson was very nice. He wedged something in the pedal and got it to work temporarily. I ended up getting the parts from Amazon. It took 4 days to get here and I got 30 pieces for a dollar more than the ones that did not fit here. I have 29 extra pieces now.
Last edited by Gary350 on Tue Sep 06, 2022 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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I am hoping that the companies that do online shopping and delivery get their acts together a little better. The last 2 orders from Walmart came in 3 shipments/order. Some were mailed and one, out of those 6, was delivered by a delivery person from the local store. Nothing very unusual and it was hard to understand why all or nearly all couldn't have come from a local store. Everything was timely, however, but all that extra packaging & delivery is costing them (AND the consumer) $.
Steve
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@imafan — Wow all of that must really add to the “cost of living”. During the worst of the pandemic, we saw a glimpse of what could happen when what is a constant and taken-for-granted smooth operation of interstate ground shipping by truck started breaking down.
…I feel like “Surface shipping” by boat, which was already in question enough and *not guaranteed* prior to the pandemic has become pretty much questionable and unreliable. I wonder if it will come back?
About 25 to 30 years ago, I used to to buy Japanese magazines and books by mail order and get them surface shipped for substantial savings in shipping costs, traded for waiting for 3 to 4 weeks rather than 10 to 14 days by air. They were not guaranteed and tracking was not available back then anyway, but they generally reliably arrived as expected.
Now I wouldn’t chance it. What I need now is for Japanese E-books to be readily available from overseas and more specifically the U.S. As far as I know, there are still some digital copyright and translated/localized publishing and other issues that are making it all very complicated.
A few years ago, I read about a workaround whereby you could get Japanese E-books by purchasing an Amazon Kindle device, and opening account on Japanese Amazon… but I think you needed a credit card from a Japanese bank…..
…I feel like “Surface shipping” by boat, which was already in question enough and *not guaranteed* prior to the pandemic has become pretty much questionable and unreliable. I wonder if it will come back?
About 25 to 30 years ago, I used to to buy Japanese magazines and books by mail order and get them surface shipped for substantial savings in shipping costs, traded for waiting for 3 to 4 weeks rather than 10 to 14 days by air. They were not guaranteed and tracking was not available back then anyway, but they generally reliably arrived as expected.
Now I wouldn’t chance it. What I need now is for Japanese E-books to be readily available from overseas and more specifically the U.S. As far as I know, there are still some digital copyright and translated/localized publishing and other issues that are making it all very complicated.
A few years ago, I read about a workaround whereby you could get Japanese E-books by purchasing an Amazon Kindle device, and opening account on Japanese Amazon… but I think you needed a credit card from a Japanese bank…..
Gary, the brake stop pad is a small plastic or rubber piece and it broke into pieces. Apparently this is a very common problem. When I went to the parts store the salesperson and a customer knew what it was right away. He even tried to shave it down three times to get it to fit in the Kia.
https://www.amazon.com/Stopper-Compatib ... pons&psc=1
We are no strangers to shipping issues. It does add to the cost of everything. It is even higher on the smaller islands because their goods needs to transfer to a local barge company for their deliveries. When there were longshoremen strikes, it interrupted the unloading of goods. There would be a run on the stores for rice, salt, and toilet paper every time because those were the things (historically) that we could not get.
Because of the high cost of labor for hand unloading of the ships, Hawaii was the one of the first places to start using containers. Containers to larger stores like the big box type stores would be unloaded unto trucks and delivered to the store.
Other containers for smaller stores would go to a warehouse like a food distributor where the load would be divided and delivered to smaller grocery stores.
Inter island cargo would basically palletize loads for the different islands. During the pandemic, the local barge company ( which has a monopoly), cut its service from twice a week to once a week for some islands because they did not have enough of a load to offset their operating costs because of the shipping problems on the mainland. It meant that on Molokai and Lanai, they would only get fresh produce once a week instead of twice. Stores also don't have a lot of storage space or cold storage space. They had to get refrigerated trucks just to store the extra produce they had to order and units to store extra goods to last a week. As you know produce does not always last that long. When the cargo company experienced a covid outbreak among their workers, shipments were delayed because they did not have enough people on the docks to load and unload the ships. It is not like they could get temporary workers to fill the positions. It requires skilled workers and heavy equipment operators.
There are not enough local farmers to produce all the food and they can't compete cost wise either, since everything they need to farm is also shipped in. Local farms produce about 10% of our food supply and most of them are specialty farms that normally sell to one buyer or to a small market. Most of the small farmers, don't own the land either. The average truck farm is about 5 acres.
I remember the chicken farm did not have manure for sale for a while, not because there wasn't any manure, but because they did not have the bags to put it in.
It is actually faster to get something from Amazon then it is to get it from a local store that probably is ordering it from Amazon as well.
We usually never had a problem with trucks or drivers. But, new rules about driver training requirements are causing issues. Most people who want to drive have always learned on the job. If they don't have a job and they have to pay to spend a couple of months in driving school before anyone hires them, it is a financial hardship for them.
I still order some food items from Amazon, just because the supply in the stores are iffy and it actually can cost less than what I can get it for here and it gets delivered to my door. It is easier now to get a curbside pickup appointment and the reserved curbside stalls aren't full anymore. I think more people are opting to shop in person. For me, it is a better shopping experience as long as I go when the stores are not crowded. I try to avoid shopping anywhere on a weekend. For people who have transportation problems or live farther away, it does make sense to use delivery options. I live so close to Walmart and within 6 miles of Costco, Sam's,Walmart, and local grocery stores that it is more convenient for me to just do it myself.
https://www.amazon.com/Stopper-Compatib ... pons&psc=1
We are no strangers to shipping issues. It does add to the cost of everything. It is even higher on the smaller islands because their goods needs to transfer to a local barge company for their deliveries. When there were longshoremen strikes, it interrupted the unloading of goods. There would be a run on the stores for rice, salt, and toilet paper every time because those were the things (historically) that we could not get.
Because of the high cost of labor for hand unloading of the ships, Hawaii was the one of the first places to start using containers. Containers to larger stores like the big box type stores would be unloaded unto trucks and delivered to the store.
Other containers for smaller stores would go to a warehouse like a food distributor where the load would be divided and delivered to smaller grocery stores.
Inter island cargo would basically palletize loads for the different islands. During the pandemic, the local barge company ( which has a monopoly), cut its service from twice a week to once a week for some islands because they did not have enough of a load to offset their operating costs because of the shipping problems on the mainland. It meant that on Molokai and Lanai, they would only get fresh produce once a week instead of twice. Stores also don't have a lot of storage space or cold storage space. They had to get refrigerated trucks just to store the extra produce they had to order and units to store extra goods to last a week. As you know produce does not always last that long. When the cargo company experienced a covid outbreak among their workers, shipments were delayed because they did not have enough people on the docks to load and unload the ships. It is not like they could get temporary workers to fill the positions. It requires skilled workers and heavy equipment operators.
There are not enough local farmers to produce all the food and they can't compete cost wise either, since everything they need to farm is also shipped in. Local farms produce about 10% of our food supply and most of them are specialty farms that normally sell to one buyer or to a small market. Most of the small farmers, don't own the land either. The average truck farm is about 5 acres.
I remember the chicken farm did not have manure for sale for a while, not because there wasn't any manure, but because they did not have the bags to put it in.
It is actually faster to get something from Amazon then it is to get it from a local store that probably is ordering it from Amazon as well.
We usually never had a problem with trucks or drivers. But, new rules about driver training requirements are causing issues. Most people who want to drive have always learned on the job. If they don't have a job and they have to pay to spend a couple of months in driving school before anyone hires them, it is a financial hardship for them.
I still order some food items from Amazon, just because the supply in the stores are iffy and it actually can cost less than what I can get it for here and it gets delivered to my door. It is easier now to get a curbside pickup appointment and the reserved curbside stalls aren't full anymore. I think more people are opting to shop in person. For me, it is a better shopping experience as long as I go when the stores are not crowded. I try to avoid shopping anywhere on a weekend. For people who have transportation problems or live farther away, it does make sense to use delivery options. I live so close to Walmart and within 6 miles of Costco, Sam's,Walmart, and local grocery stores that it is more convenient for me to just do it myself.
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Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7632
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
Wife bought me 2 pairs of shoes $6 each summer clearance they are $70 shoes. Wife bought her self 3 clearance $60 items $5 each. We get other peoples packages all the time. There is a house 1 street away with same house number as us, delivery drivers deliver by GPS and don't look at street signs. Now when wife sees someone delivering a package she goes out to double check the address. Last week a girl left a package for people on the other street, wife told the girl this pack belongs to the house on the other street. Girl said, no GPS says this is correct house. Wife said, but street NAME is WRONG. Girl finally took the package to the correct street. Wife has packages that never arrive, online info says package was delivered and we find our package at the front door of the house on the other street. Wife is tired of chasing down packages, now she complains and gets a new package or refund. Grandson does Walmart Door Dash he makes about $20 & hour he drives with his own car and buys his own gas, wife told him to look at street signs not GPS.
Last edited by Gary350 on Wed Sep 07, 2022 7:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
I have had packages never arrive. I did reorder them. Amazon knew they never arrived. I have signed up for notifications so it tells me when a package has been delivered. So far, I have not had a package delivered to the wrong address. I have had mail delivered to the wrong address, but that was my fault. I got dyslexic and put my mom's house number instead of mine on the order.
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Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7632
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
We have a 25 year old griddle that needs to be replaced. Wife ordered a griddle online from Walmart and 1 hour later it is delivered to our door. Delivery price is $5 less than driving to Walmart. It saved us 1 hour of our time and about 1 gallon of gasoline. We actually saved about $10 not driving to Walmart. 
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I still haven't tried the pickup options at the stores, but I do check the inventories before I go to see it it is in stock. It does not work for all stores, but it works for the larger stores. Sam's club app is better than Costco's for that.
I amazon a lot of things I still cannot find locally. Even though we have a long growing season, the big box stores do the same thing no matter where their stores are located, so I have to stock up on garden supplies in September to get me through the holidays when the garden shops are turned into Christmas. The stores are still selling after Christmas items so the garden department has not fully stocked up. The soils are in and the Christmas trees are gone so the parking lot is back to normal. There still are gaps in the fertilizers and Home Depot does change brands and what is actually on the shelf a lot.
I just received my tea kettle I ordered on Amazon. For some things it just is not worth driving around wasting gas and time looking for things. For other things, I don't really have a choice. Some things even Amazon won't deliver. I did buy cat food from Walmart.com because it was cheaper than Amazon and Sam's club has been out of cat food for months. They only came back in stock this month and I got another 3 month supply (3 cases of 60 cans each). The price was up a couple of dollars more. This increase is mainly due to the annual shipping increase that happens every year. I usually try to stock up on paper goods for at least six months before the year ends because I know the prices will go up.
The only problem ordering cat food online is that the boxes are heavy. I have not gotten a shipment yet were the cans were not damaged. Most of the times a few cans get dented. This time it was a little worse, one case had 2 cans that were leaking and 3 other cans dented. I guess I need to spread out my online order so I only order one case at a time. When they pack 2 cases in one box, the damage is almost guaranteed. Except for that, I have not had any product damaged. I have had some box damage, but nothing more than that. I even got the products faster ordering it from Amazon than I would have ordering locally.
That is the other thing. I don't know if you have the same deal. A lot of things now, even if you go to a brick and mortar store, the product still has to be ordered as they don't stock a lot of inventory. It costs more to order it from a local supplier and I have to wait 6 weeks to get it minimum.
The biggest plus about buying online is that there are fewer things that fall into the cart
on impulse.
I amazon a lot of things I still cannot find locally. Even though we have a long growing season, the big box stores do the same thing no matter where their stores are located, so I have to stock up on garden supplies in September to get me through the holidays when the garden shops are turned into Christmas. The stores are still selling after Christmas items so the garden department has not fully stocked up. The soils are in and the Christmas trees are gone so the parking lot is back to normal. There still are gaps in the fertilizers and Home Depot does change brands and what is actually on the shelf a lot.
I just received my tea kettle I ordered on Amazon. For some things it just is not worth driving around wasting gas and time looking for things. For other things, I don't really have a choice. Some things even Amazon won't deliver. I did buy cat food from Walmart.com because it was cheaper than Amazon and Sam's club has been out of cat food for months. They only came back in stock this month and I got another 3 month supply (3 cases of 60 cans each). The price was up a couple of dollars more. This increase is mainly due to the annual shipping increase that happens every year. I usually try to stock up on paper goods for at least six months before the year ends because I know the prices will go up.
The only problem ordering cat food online is that the boxes are heavy. I have not gotten a shipment yet were the cans were not damaged. Most of the times a few cans get dented. This time it was a little worse, one case had 2 cans that were leaking and 3 other cans dented. I guess I need to spread out my online order so I only order one case at a time. When they pack 2 cases in one box, the damage is almost guaranteed. Except for that, I have not had any product damaged. I have had some box damage, but nothing more than that. I even got the products faster ordering it from Amazon than I would have ordering locally.
That is the other thing. I don't know if you have the same deal. A lot of things now, even if you go to a brick and mortar store, the product still has to be ordered as they don't stock a lot of inventory. It costs more to order it from a local supplier and I have to wait 6 weeks to get it minimum.
The biggest plus about buying online is that there are fewer things that fall into the cart
on impulse.