Just need to understand how Westeners buy things

[lapa321]

So ultimately, your buying habits came about because of population density. That's a reasonable explanation i guess.

As for the hype... well, what came out of it is a phone that costs well under $200.00 to make that's being sold for $1,000.00. That's not gonna fly over here. It does show that you can get a very high quality (by your standards) device for $200.00.

I'll have to agree that those *fake* devices are gonna be hard to sell if the government were strict on the patents (All those features were probably based off existing technology that was copied). But you'd be surprised at the quality. My first MP5 player was crap, it's cheap plastic and the inside was held together by a birds nest of wires and hot glue. However, a year later when i got my next player, after struggling to get it out of the steel casing (I got curious), the new one was one solid circuitboard with the LCD built into it and the build quality was on par with a PC motherboard. It was faster, can play more formats, and it was about the same price as the first one.

[sdedalus83]

As for the hype... well, what came out of it is a phone that costs well under $200.00 to make that's being sold for $1,000.00. That's not gonna fly over here. It does show that you can get a very high quality (by your standards) device for $200.00.

Most American iPhone owners paid between $100 and $300 for their phone.  Yeah, the real cost of the phone is built into the contract but what the customer sees is the $100 to $300 initial price tag.  Very, very few Americans are willing to spend more than $300 on any phone.

[mgz]

As for the hype... well, what came out of it is a phone that costs well under $200.00 to make that's being sold for $1,000.00. That's not gonna fly over here. It does show that you can get a very high quality (by your standards) device for $200.00.

Most American iPhone owners paid between $100 and $300 for their phone.  Yeah, the real cost of the phone is built into the contract but what the customer sees is the $100 to $300 initial price tag.  Very, very few Americans are willing to spend more than $300 on any phone.

otherwise htc would be RICH

[Spanks]

As for the hype... well, what came out of it is a phone that costs well under $200.00 to make that's being sold for $1,000.00. That's not gonna fly over here. It does show that you can get a very high quality (by your standards) device for $200.00.

Most American iPhone owners paid between $100 and $300 for their phone.  Yeah, the real cost of the phone is built into the contract but what the customer sees is the $100 to $300 initial price tag.  Very, very few Americans are willing to spend more than $300 on any phone.

Most iPhones or any other smart phone over here costs less then $100 upfront(most are nothing) but you get stuck on a $80-$160 months plan for 12-24 months(around $1000-$3400) all up. A complete waste of money for a uni student like me.

[fohfoh]

So ultimately, your buying habits came about because of population density. That's a reasonable explanation i guess.

As for the hype... well, what came out of it is a phone that costs well under $200.00 to make that's being sold for $1,000.00. That's not gonna fly over here. It does show that you can get a very high quality (by your standards) device for $200.00.

I'll have to agree that those *fake* devices are gonna be hard to sell if the government were strict on the patents (All those features were probably based off existing technology that was copied). But you'd be surprised at the quality. My first MP5 player was crap, it's cheap plastic and the inside was held together by a birds nest of wires and hot glue. However, a year later when i got my next player, after struggling to get it out of the steel casing (I got curious), the new one was one solid circuitboard with the LCD built into it and the build quality was on par with a PC motherboard. It was faster, can play more formats, and it was about the same price as the first one.

Err... more like...

Social norms
Availability
Interests
willingness to wait/willingness to invest time researching
Price/Marketing

I mean for instance, if I want an Apple product, I'll hop along to my nearest bestbuy/apple store to get one. Online? rare, but doable. 

But if I want a Cowon, even if it was at best buy atm, I personally would go online and grab all sorts of other things with it that I can use together. (ie: pair of headphones, memory cards if necessary, case, etc.) AND, I would compare prices and product types.

I think to a certain extent, you want something you get that thing. You want product, you figure it out. In your case lapas, you want pmp, you look for pmp. In North America, for many thanks to the magic of marketing, you want music, you buy iPod or similar device. Also, thanks to stupid people and credit cards... you want something, you GET that shit and don't consider what to do till later. Wheras in Asia, it's more... cash basis in general.

[kyanwan]

I buy stuff online because here in the USA it's cheaper.   We've got a pretty free market out here.  I also hate going to the store - if I can avoid it, I will.   People piss me off.   I end up swearing, giving people the finger, and being a general asshole.  

And oh yes - I swear like crazy at the store.  Everything pisses me off.   I went out to buy some styrofoam for making a photography display thing ---- and I was ranting about this "Fuck this shit!  Fucking $3.99 for a fucking 4x4 cube of styrofoam? WTF is this?  Fucking bastards!  Fuck this store!"  ( with someone who works there observing my rant.   Ah, I then went to Home Depot - and got a 2' x 8' sheet of the same shit for only $6 - so - my ranting was warranted.   Fuck craft stores.   Oh - I also continued my rant about that other store after I found the so-much-cheaper one that was like ... 50x the size - lol.  )

The nasty little country where half of my background is unfortunately from ... Jordan ... they have a prohibitive tax like Philippines has.   100% tariff on certain merchandise.   It's so prohibitive over there, that the country is pretty backwards in a lot of places.

Yeah, why is it like that?   Because that's one of the more "liberal" countries over in the Middle East.  Iraq made the country more expensive than it already was.   ( The bastards charge 100% tax on cars too. )   Also - the king is a fucking greedy lying piece of shit thief who should be overthrown.   Just my opinion.  

Do Americans not have things like Argos then? They stock a whole host of things, but its all kept in a warehouse above/below the shop and you pick out of catalogues. Places like Tesco and Wilkinsons offer extra choices that you can order in as well.

I've never heard of a store like that state side.  Closest thing would be ordering stuff via catalogs delivered to your homes (which has been pretty much erased by the internet) or "warehouse stores" such as Costco or Sam's Club (gigantic warehouses where people go to buy stuff (mostly food) in bulk.)

Obviously you've never experienced the old store called Service Merchandise.  

They were around up until the 90's.

Wiki calls them a "catalog showroom" which is basically what they were.   They had all kinds of stuff on display - you take a little card, go to the HUGE customer service desk ... and wait by the conveyor belt.   Your stuff would come rolling down the belt.

They did have a selection of small stuff sitting on racks around the store though.   Anything that would fill up a cart - you need to pick up at the belt desk.

I grew up loving their catalogs - always clipped out pics of stuff I wanted and made a nice visual Christmas list ^^

BTW - have you ever bought something from the Customer Pick-Up at Toys R Us?    Stateside - they mostly use it for bigger stuff.

There was another store. .. I forget the name ... Connoisseurs or Consumers  or something ... that store was just a big showroom - kind of with glass displays with different electronics or stuff in there - EVERYTHING you had to order by giving a number to a clerk.   They'd bring your things out of the warehouse. 

Those kind of stores are basically dead now.  A dinosaur from the 50s-60s that went extinct. 

I live in the united states and I shop online ONLY. Its cheaper, shipping is normally free for me, and dont get charge with tax (unless the store is located in Conn). I normally have 3 to 5 packages a months at my house since my whole family shops online

Ah yes, Connecticut and online shopping.   I know the deal all too well.

Everything is tax-free.   Have you ever found ANY store located in this hellhole?  

If I do find them - this sorry excuse for a state is so small I'll just drive down to the store.  

( I never have found any. )

[Xiong Chiamiov]

Do Americans not have things like Argos then? They stock a whole host of things, but its all kept in a warehouse above/below the shop and you pick out of catalogues. Places like Tesco and Wilkinsons offer extra choices that you can order in as well.

I've never heard of a store like that state side.  Closest thing would be ordering stuff via catalogs delivered to your homes (which has been pretty much erased by the internet) or "warehouse stores" such as Costco or Sam's Club (gigantic warehouses where people go to buy stuff (mostly food) in bulk.)

Obviously you've never experienced the old store called Service Merchandise. 

They were around up until the 90's.

Wiki calls them a "catalog showroom" which is basically what they were.   They had all kinds of stuff on display - you take a little card, go to the HUGE customer service desk ... and wait by the conveyor belt.   Your stuff would come rolling down the belt.

Reminds me a bit of IKEA (which is not an American company, so I assume it is similar in other countries).

Brick and mortar stores have half-decent selection, a bit higher of prices, and idiots working at them.  Until I moved here for uni, I was a bit far away from any sort of electronics store anyways, but when I visited a Fry's up in the Bay Area (which should be all awesome and stuff) I wasn't really that impressed.

[Perplexing]

I live in the USA. As far as purchasing online I'm not real big on doing so. I prefer going to a store or mall and seeing the product that I am after.

Unless it's computer parts then if the deal is good online I will get it that way. More often than not though I go to a specialty store which is about 45 miles away and purchase them. For example the CPU I have I bought last year at the store on sell for $229.99 the price at the time on newegg.com was $289.99 so even with gas cost I still saved about $40 ish.

Also if both the store and newegg have the product and newegg is cheaper I tend to go to the store to see it in person (sometimes newegg's photos are not enough of a perspective).

[TorturdChaos]

I do a almost all my shopping for tech stuff online for 2 reasons a) it usually is cheaper, and b) better availability.  I don't live in a very high population area, so finding computer parts and such around here is expensive, and we have a very poor selection.

[Mcgreag]

Sweden here.
I do almost all my shopping online, not just tech stuff but books, movies, cloths etc. Only thing I consistently buy offline is food and kitchen appliances (I need to feel the weight of the frying pan in my hand and properly inspect the vegetables, cooking is serious stuff ).

The reasons I shop online are several but 3 things stand out as most important.
1. Price. This is a given, I have yet to see brick and mortar store that can consistently match online pricing.
2. Selection. The town I live is not large enough to have a good selection.
3. Time. I can take all the time I need to research everything about the product. I don't need to make the decision there and then.

[whiic]

Do americans really buy everything online? Coz that may explain how hype machines are so prevalent.

Where i live (Philippines), buying things online is prohibitive (Up to %100 tax in customs). So we're forced to go to the malls to buy our gear. Specialty stores are rare, and most are general computer stores that have everything in stock.

I buy from the net because it's cheaper that way and because of the availability of NON-HYPED products.

There is high customs fees if I were to buy from another country (i.e not Finland) but all stuff imported are subjected to those custom fees, even if they're sold at the mall. It's just that the importing company pays it, and the final price tag doesn't tell how much are customs and taxes. Ok, they have to tell how much VAT (Value Added Tax) is in the purchase, which is 22% for electronics. The VAT is printed on receipt because corporate customers aren't always required to pay it in certain cases (such as reselling, to prevent VAT from being taxed multiple times).

Anyway, I buy online because it's cheaper. In Finland, general computer stores are pretty much disappearin, being replaced by general convenience stores. This means, there will be preassembled PCs and preassembled laptops and USB HDDs. You need an internal HDD or ODD? Tough luck. Look somewhere else.

Luckily there still exists general computer stores that carry spare parts. They typically carry a very limited variety of each spare part. You can however (unlike from a convenience store) tell the clerk to order a product they don't have at stock, and you can pick it up when they receive it. But this is usually easier over the internet as vast majority of general computer stores also operate online. You can either order them shipped to you by mail (paying the postage) or place a reservation for the product to be picked at the shop, saving postage. So it's often easier to browse through their available-through-order list over the next and place the order over the net or by the phone (latter only if you need to ask some questions or have trouble with the web interface), rather than calling (or visiting) the store without prior skimming through their product list. This is of course, unless you want to give them the power to construct a PC that's adequately powerful for your needs (a valid solution if you have specific needs not catered by stock OEM product and do not have the knowledge to build one from scratch yourself).

I hate buying stuff from the mall because they are expensive.
I cannot buy stuff from the mall because they don't carry the stuff that I want.
I LOVE "window shopping" at the mall because I get to see the products in reality.

Yeah, I'm a sleezebag who would go inspect a product (such as laptop or mobile phone) at a super-generic convenience store, then go home and google for online retailers and computer shops and pick one of the cheaper ones and save a couple hundred bucks in the process. But it's not like they aren't asking for it, trying to sell SIM-locked phones and other AIDS-infected hardware.

One thing I love to do while window-shopping is rate computer TFT monitors by their viewing angle. There's huge differences and even some 900 EUR brand-new models may have ridiculous TFT panels. Fujitsu for example... not only does the luminance change when viewed from above, but only chroma. Picture turning bluish green... seriosly what the fuck? Is this some kind of a joke? A brand now TFT panel on a laptop and it looks like some shit from 5 years back. The products half cheaper had far better viewing angles with only luminance and no chroma distortion. I wouldn't buy a TFT or a laptop without having window-shopped it first at the mall. :p

[Sosseres]

One thing I love to do while window-shopping is rate computer TFT monitors by their viewing angle. There's huge differences and even some 900 EUR brand-new models may have ridiculous TFT panels. Fujitsu for example... not only does the luminance change when viewed from above, but only chroma. Picture turning bluish green... seriosly what the fuck? Is this some kind of a joke? A brand now TFT panel on a laptop and it looks like some shit from 5 years back. The products half cheaper had far better viewing angles with only luminance and no chroma distortion. I wouldn't buy a TFT or a laptop without having window-shopped it first at the mall. :p

I can agree with pretty much everything you said. The most important on-line purchase to actually see off-line is indeed a monitor (to a lesser degree mouse/keyboard). If the demands you have of viewing angles and colours are met or not can't be told from most reviews or facts.

[kostya]

Sweden here.
I do almost all my shopping online, not just tech stuff but books, movies, cloths etc. ...

Books and clothes? With books, especially technical ones, I prefer to go into a store and read the book a bit to see if I like the tone and content. It does not mean that I will not then write down the title, edition, and author and go home to get it off Amazon, but I never buy a book online without either seeing it in person or having someone tell me to buy it (in the case of texts for classes).
Also, I could not imagine buying clothes online. When I am trying clothes on in a store I will often find that even though the clothes are in my size, they do not fit right.

[Klocknov]

Sweden here.
I do almost all my shopping online, not just tech stuff but books, movies, cloths etc. ...

Books and clothes? With books, especially technical ones, I prefer to go into a store and read the book a bit to see if I like the tone and content. It does not mean that I will not then write down the title, edition, and author and go home to get it off Amazon, but I never buy a book online without either seeing it in person or having someone tell me to buy it (in the case of texts for classes).
Also, I could not imagine buying clothes online. When I am trying clothes on in a store I will often find that even though the clothes are in my size, they do not fit right.

I partially agree with that clothes part, though some places have a really good return policy.

[Sosseres]

Books and clothes? With books, especially technical ones, I prefer to go into a store and read the book a bit to see if I like the tone and content. It does not mean that I will not then write down the title, edition, and author and go home to get it off Amazon, but I never buy a book online without either seeing it in person or having someone tell me to buy it (in the case of texts for classes).

Nearest place that has books I would consider reading that I havn't read yet is roughly 1h away (using a car/public transportation). I tend to go by authors, book forums and to a lesser degree the summary of what it is about. Buying a book blind isn't all that bad, worst that can happen is that you dislike it, almost nothing that gets published is unreadable.

[whiic]

The most important on-line purchase to actually see off-line is indeed a monitor (to a lesser degree mouse/keyboard). If the demands you have of viewing angles and colours are met or not can't be told from most reviews or facts.

The biggest problem from evaluating viewing angle stuff with review can be that you possibly cannot get a proper idea of the extent of the issue with a few pictures. You'd need dozens of picture, and you'd also need to compare it side to side to another monitor. On a mall, they're physically side by side, and both monitors are in the same lighting environment and you are viewing with your own eyes (i.e using same optics, unlike different review sites having different cameras and different environmental lighting). Plus monitors are a light source instead of just reflective to light. No camera is even intended for capturing a light source. Biggest problems were of course related to CRTs flickering while filmed with a video camera, but I could still see potential issues from trying to take even still images out of a non-flickering TFT.

Yeah. Anyway, monitors HAVE to be viewed in-situ (or window-shopped before buying online).

One thing that totally pisses me of is TFT specs and to even further laptop's integrated TFT specs. Where's all the information that actually matters?

Panel type: TN, IPS, AFFS, MVA, PVA, ASV and their variants S-IPS, S-PVA, P-MVA, A-MVA, S-MVA (yeah, more than 90% of panels are TN but occasionally you may run into S-IPS). Whether you're buying a separate monitor or a laptop with a monitor, you need to really dig into stuff over the net to find this information. Not only is it not listed in simple specs at the mall or at online retailer, the manufacturers site probably won't tell it either. You need to find some hardware hacker site to find out about these "hardcore stuff".

Resolution: While I could barely understand that panel type isn't specifically advertized (though I don't understand why it's hidden completely), the fact that they don't mention TFT native resolution is totally enraging. If online shop has a laptop listed, it will probably only tell the diameter of laptop's screen, nothing else about the screen itself. Same applies to mall specimens but at least in the mall, you can guesstimate the approximate resolution of the screen by looking at it. There's only a small variety of common resolutions so it's not that difficult. Even if you couldn't tell the resolution, you can at least put them in some order from best to worst. Desktop monitors usually have their resolutions published by both mall retailers and internet retailers. However when shopping online, they are usually categorized in the product list by diameter with the title not containing any mention of resolution... thus you have to open detailed specs of every f'ing monitor available through them! I can pretty accurately state the size of monitor I need, with only few inches per category, but I cannot state that I need at least 1080p (either 1920x1080 (FullHD) or 1920x1200 (WUXGA)).

Surface finish of the panel: You know... does it reflect stuff annoyingly. Ironically, sometimes they even advertize the glossy surface as superior. Having bought a laptop in are when ALL laptops came with glossy panel, I'd really want to take a sandpaper and scrub the panel to make it matte... but I don't since it'd break in the process. But I really would like to. Heck. I'd like to take pound of dynamita and blow up the whole f'ing laptop only because the f'ing monitor just pisses me off! Who is the fucktard who invented glossy TFT? Or in fact, the glossy surface it the natural form of TFT. It's just that since the beginning of TFTs, they've more or less understood why they should use a matting layer on top of it. Suddenly, someone came up with an idea that it never was needed in the first place, as if everyone manufacturing TFT so was were mistaken. And as a backlash result, everyone started making glossy ones. And not now it has lashed back to the other end again with glossy finishes disappearing again. And they don't bother to inform customers about glossing at all. Luckily, at the mall, you can see it with your own eyes. They can't bullshit with you on resolution, surface coating, luminance and chroma shifting on viewing angle (and uniformity of the shift as well).

[Hizoka003]

i life in the middle of no-where, its a 15 mnute drice to get to the nearest town for me, and my store options are basically wal-mart... soon i'm getting a best buy.... but all in all i buy most things on line... mostly because its cheaper

[Mcgreag]

Sweden here.
I do almost all my shopping online, not just tech stuff but books, movies, cloths etc. ...

Books and clothes? With books, especially technical ones, I prefer to go into a store and read the book a bit to see if I like the tone and content. It does not mean that I will not then write down the title, edition, and author and go home to get it off Amazon, but I never buy a book online without either seeing it in person or having someone tell me to buy it (in the case of texts for classes).
Also, I could not imagine buying clothes online. When I am trying clothes on in a store I will often find that even though the clothes are in my size, they do not fit right.

Most of the online cloth stores here have 100% free return policy (not including underwear of course). They even encourage you to order the same article in several sizes to see which fits best and then send back the rest (they pay return postage fee).

As for technical books I haven't bought one since I finished collage. Technical guides you read online. Books will be outdated by the next version of that software anyway. For non technical books I do very little impulse shopping, I buy authors I know are good or have been recommended. So I always look up online review and stuff before buying. Only exception to this are the Pocket Shop at the airport/train station, there I might pick something up that I haven't heard of before to read while traveling. It might seem like I don't read much but I would say that I do, 2 full ikea billy bookcases looking at a 3rd atm and that's not including manga.

Books are cheap enough so that's not a big deal if you don't happen to like it. Also you can save ALOT by buying books online. Brick and mortar book stores have in general a markup of over 100%. An online might have around 20%.

[kurandoinu]

I prefer to buy clothing in shops, having large breasts a lot of things won't fit properly and look strange. I do however occassionally splurge with a tshirt online, mainly because I know what size to get myself and only ever get them from teefury. Clothes shopping is nowhere near as fun online though.

[Sosseres]

I prefer to buy clothing in shops, having large breasts a lot of things won't fit properly and look strange. I do however occassionally splurge with a tshirt online, mainly because I know what size to get myself and only ever get them from teefury. Clothes shopping is nowhere near as fun online though.

I will have to disagree about how fun it is. I totally and utterly abhor clothes stores. Something in the smell makes me want to puke/leave directly after entering.