Shopping By Photo
 

As walk-in, onsite, brick & mortar buildings, and the age-old activity of buying in person get phased out, while remote selling by photo takes over as the main way to shop, do you think we’re in for increased cost, heart-break, and aggravation?

Shopping by photo isn’t new by any means. Catalog sales have been around for many years. My wife bought her first two sewing machines by catalog. The first one in 1975 from Montgomery Ward, the second one in 1990 from JC Penney, and both by catalog without touching them before buying. The main difference between then and now is that back then we only bought brand new things. Used items weren’t even in the catalog. Nowadays, we buy both new and used items from our new “catalog”, the internet, without being able to touch, smell, or view the item from every angle. When buying new things remotely, most times if the item has a flaw, there will be more of the same item on-hand to exchange for the flawed one. But with used items, especially vintage sewing machines and their parts, there is usually only one of the item. No alternates or exchanges, at least at that Seller.

But this “buying by remote control” makes me wonder about how we’re going to handle the transportation costs for both new and used items. When buying in person, we have the expense of transporting ourselves to the item. Often times, once there and upon inspection, we decide not to purchase the item. And I’m not talking about just used items, but new items as well. So, when we decide not to buy the item after all, the transportation expense to get us there is still an expense, and still our expense, isn’t it? Anybody ever drive to a store to buy something, but when you decide not to buy it, have you had your transportation expense refunded to you?

Since the Buyer always pays for the transportation costs one way or another anyway, are remote Sellers in the future going to have to price their items with the understanding that an increasing amount of their merchandise will be sent out and returned with no income from one or more of these transactions? And what about the loss of revenue to the Seller while his/her merchandise is in transit? The Seller can’t market the merchandise to other Buyers while it’s in transit out and back. The shipping company will be paid for their service of transporting both ways instead of one, in what could become the new form of hands-on buying.

It almost sounds as if this would be a good time for Sellers to invest in a shipping company instead of selling merchandise. But, if they do, who’s going to sell us merchandise, especially our used vintage sewing machine goodies?

CD in Oklahoma

Wow, you really had your thinking cap on today, huh? But of course you are right on target for what is happening out there. Not too long ago I moved closer to "town". When I was out farther in the country, I did a lot of my buying on the internet because it kept my fuel costs down and allowed me to "see" things that weren't for sale in town .... especially the older, used things like machines. Turns out I am still doing that mainly because I cannot find the stuff I want nearby. The whole of buying and selling has changed so much what with ebay, etsy, amazon, etc. that I doubt we can ever go back. CL has helped somewhat in being able to buy used things nearby but still, old machines and parts can be found all over the country .... well, world too. As long as there are people out there like you and others on the board and elsewhere who want and love the old machines, sewing or otherwise, there will be people willing to sell them. People who don't own a store or want to get involved in too much selling but are cleaning out Grandma's attic or buying stuff at auctions and yard sales will still need to have a way to sell their treasures.

Now that I have said we can never go back, I just remembered a news story that I recently heard about bookstores. It seems that the big stores are closing more and more but the smaller private stores are starting to grow. Turns out that they are determining what the local buyers want (and not just books but things like planners, notebooks, calendars, etc.) and stocking according to the wants/demands of the "neighborhood". I never thought small, private bookstores would make a comeback but ..... there you go. One never knows.

And hey, bellbottoms made a comeback and if they can, just about anything should be able to do so.

If I can find what I want locally in a brick and mortar shop I'll buy it. But as KLO said many times I cannot find what I want. An example would be odd ball needles or the substitutes I need. There is only one sewing machine shop in town and he has some things, but not all.
I usually buy what I can't find locally from the internet.

Joe

I went looking around at yard sales yesterday and not really much around and one I did stop at I over heard someone asking the seller if she would go lower on a table the seller said no that was a good price for the table and that it would cost more on ebay and craig list not even yard sales and thrift stores are a bargain anymore since the internet,

I think you nailed it in many ways CD but brick and mortar and private local sales will always have their place. For me it just depends on the item.
Rodney

I’d say that the vast majority of people have shopped online at this point, but it’s more often been new merchandise than used. I did just the other day. My wife bought a used Singer Steam Press locally that had a cross-threaded (plastic) water tank drain cap. I found two of them online; one in Australia that doesn’t ship outside of Australia, and one in the United Kingdom that I bought. The shipping was more than the cap, and it came in a bubble envelope 16 days later. I’m sure there are some of those caps here in the states, but I couldn’t find them. The press is worthless without that cap.

That may have been my first international online purchase where the item actually came from outside of the USA. I’ve ordered other things from international websites, but the items have been drop-shipped from a warehouse in the US.

Shopping online is no doubt here to stay, and not really the point of my thread. I’m more interested in how everyone thinks that we’re going to physically get everything where it needs to go, and at what cost, specifically the used things or anything that is out of production like vintage sewing machines and the parts that we need for them that no one is reproducing. And are we going to want or have the flexibility to send the item back once the hands-on inspection has taken place, or is it going to be “No Returns - No Refunds”?

I bought a treadle sewing machine off of that auction site last winter that was “pick-up only, no returns, no refunds”. The “pick-up only” part was the reason that I bid on it, since it was about 60 miles from me. I estimate that it cost about $50 to go get it. (It was a personal purchase and not business related, so I didn’t keep exact cost figures.) I made a special trip to get it, and that’s the only reason the trip was made, so the entire cost has to be charged to that one treadle sewing machine.

The Sellers didn’t have any other sewing machines (I asked) and had snagged that one at a farm auction for the specific purpose to flip it and make a profit, which they did. Nothing wrong with that, but it would have been handy if I could have spread the transportation cost out over multiple items. I put about another $60 into replacement parts to restore it to functioning condition, and I couldn’t see all of that damage in the auction photos. I don’t know if the Sellers noticed the damage or not. That’s neither here nor there. They sold it “as-is”, and I bought it knowing that. I’ve got to say though, it sure looks nice setting in my sewing room, and probably wouldn’t look near as good if I hadn’t have spent so much money to get it to where it is today. LOL

But with the increasing cost of fuel and vehicles, are we going to be able to continue running all over the country gathering up our collectables? And how is that cost going to compare to having a shipping company bring it to us?

CD in Oklahoma

I check the pics, download them, blow them up and focus them to get as much info as I can. Sometimes I've emailed the seller for additional pics. Even then you don't always see all the defects.

Shipping is an integral part of the purchase price. I check the price of the item, or the starting bid (knowing that will probably increase a bunch), then check the shipping costs. Many times I've found the shipping far exceeds the cost of the item. At that point I re-check locally and if I don't find what I need (want), I have to decide if I can afford the total cost, or if I have to do without.

Lately, I've been doing without a lot. And I think that will become the norm rather than the exception. Prices are going up far faster than our abilities to pay.

The one thing I will say is this. So far the shipping costs are generally less than the gas to get the item. When the gas is cheaper, or I'm after a treadle or machine the seller won't ship, I usually declare a road trip.

I'm do for one now.

Joe

I have never bought a machine online and had it shipped. I'm afraid it would be destroyed when it arrived. Actually I buy very little online. I tend to just do without, if I can't find it locally. My husband on the other hand buys online a lot and if I really need something I can't get locally, I have him get it. Doesn't happen often. I find Ebay to be a problem with prices. People locally go on e-bay and see the price someone is asking for something and they immediately think that is what it is worth or the going price (and oh by the way, they always focus on the one that is listed for the most amount of money). People don't realize that they don't actually sell at that price. Anyway, ebay prices are being taken into consideration at the local thrift stores and garage sales all the time. I had a guy that went into the thrift store I go into a lot and asked them about a sewing machine. So they called me and put him on the phone. He had a white treadle machine and someone told him it is old and worth $450 and that he could get that easily on ebay. Usually when I am someplace and I see what something is worth on ebay, I just keep on walking. Someone could ask a million dollars for something, it doesn't mean it will ever sell for that or that it is worth it. Oh well..........

As I get older I appreciate the convenience of shopping online; for example, I get a lot of my fabric online and am seldom disappointed. I'm at the age where most of my in-person shopping is groceries and paper goods and then it's home again, home again, jiggedy jig. I enjoy the occasional garage sale, thrift store, flea market -- but the prices at all those are going ever higher, so I view it mainly as entertainment with an occasional "find".

It's a fact that we'll lose some brick-and-mortars in the future, especially those where people can see and touch an item and then hit the internet to find the same item for less. On the up side, I think we're entering an age where people will better appreciate well-made, handcrafted, one-of-a-kind items. I'm personally hitting the stage where I prefer one quality item over a dozen throwaways.

You're right; our shopping habits will change. And now with the advent of 3-D printers and drones... don't even get me started!

I stopped at a sew and vac store in a small Ohio town today. The only parts he carried were plastic spool pins, treadle belts, and a very small selection of notions. He told me he orders everything from Brewer.

After a short conversation he offered to sell me the store. :shock: