Do you order stuff online for local pickup because it's cheaper than the instore shelf price?

[Bryophyte]

We needed a part for our pickup over the weekend and it was $100 at Schuck's. I went online, ordered it from partsamerica.com for $54 to pickup at the same Schuck's store and had it in hand in a half hour (how long it takes to drive there) for almost half price. How many people are taking it in the shorts by paying the shelf price without doing any research?

I suppose I could've posted this as a HD, but I'm mostly just curious about how many people know about this. We've been doing it for several years.

EDIT: Just to clarify: I am NOT talking about saving shipping costs, I am talking about the item cost itself. The item in question was $100 if you walked in the store to buy it off the shelf, but $54 to order online and pick up at the same exact store the same day.

 

[Bryophyte]

Only two votes so far.

 

[Kelemvor]

I do if it's available. No sense paying shipping when I can drive 10 minutes to get the item while out running other errands. But then again, I'm cheap.

 

[InverseOfNeo]

It depends on if it is convenient for me to pick it up and how much shipping would be.

 

[radioouman]

Yes, I do this often, but the Advance Auto parts is the same price as what's on their website. I do it with Circuit City too, since the online prices are usually less than in-store.

 

[V00DOO]

Only if I don't have to pay sales tax. With today's gas price local pickup cost more than shipping cost.

 

[mugs]

I order stuff online for local pickup, but I don't think I usually save money by doing it

 

[pontifex]

i haven't. most places that do it are like an hour away. if i knew i was going to be in the area beforehand i might, but most places i would go to have the same price online as in the store.

 

[tw1164]

Originally posted by: pontifex
i haven't. most places that do it are like an hour away. if i knew i was going to be in the area beforehand i might, but most places i would go to have the same price online as in the store.

What's the name of the town you live it?

 

[b0mbrman]

Depends how much the shipping costs and how far away the place is.

I've also driven an hour to pick up something ordered online because I needed it really fast (book for a class that started the next day )

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: tw1164

Originally posted by: pontifex
i haven't. most places that do it are like an hour away. if i knew i was going to be in the area beforehand i might, but most places i would go to have the same price online as in the store.

What's the name of the town you live it?

its a small rural hick town north of Harrisburg

 

[Bryophyte]

I'm not really talking about things you would otherwise ship (to save shipping costs), I'm talking about things you would otherwise just buy locally. When we work on our cars, it's usually something we need fixed right away. Several years ago, we needed a water pump for a car (or something like that) and the local auto parts store quoted us a price that we didn't like, and in our online research, we discovered that they sell it for a LOT less online and they encourage local pickup. We now always do it that way.

 

[imported_vr6]

office depot is like that. i always order online, drive 5 min, pick up and save.

 

[ghostman]

I do it all the time, but that's because I'm frugal and do tons of research before I buy anything.

I find it ridiculous though that a store would have in-store pickup, but not honor a pricematch to the online price. I went to Circuit City to buy a fax machine because they had a good online price. I asked them to pricematch and they said they can't. So I had to go back, order it online for in-store pickup, then go back to CC to buy the exact same one for the price I had asked.

 

[Crucial]

Originally posted by: ghostman
I do it all the time, but that's because I'm frugal and do tons of research before I buy anything.

I find it ridiculous though that a store would have in-store pickup, but not honor a pricematch to the online price. I went to Circuit City to buy a fax machine because they had a good online price. I asked them to pricematch and they said they can't. So I had to go back, order it online for in-store pickup, then go back to CC to buy the exact same one for the price I had asked.

Thats BS. They always PM at my CC. You needed to raise more of a stink.

I always bring a printout to partsamerica. I always save 10% or more compared to the price in store.

Best Buy just got caught doing this and having their in store pc's show their intranet site instead of the external site, It would show the inflated prices if you checked online in the store.