A rant about online shopping ...

[aggiesal]

I know everyone shops online, including myself.
But I will preface this with, I shop when I've already touched & inspected the actual product.

This week, I had to fix my bed, which is a Cal-King bed. The mattress is extremely heavy and bends.
So when I took it apart, I decided I have to change the bed skirt.
If you don't know what a bed skirt is, here is an example.


Now that the mattress is off the bed frame, I might as well change the ripped up, ratty bed skirt with a newer version.

So, I started first at a bed store, which shockingly, they don't sell them.
Next stop Target. Online they have a large selection but the store doesn't sell them.
On to Kohl's, again no bed skirts.
From Kohl's I went to Home Goods, still no bed skirts
Ross was in the same plaza so I walled to Ross. They had bed skirts, but only in Queen & Full sizes. I did find a Cal King Mattress cover, which was needed so I purchased it.
I then went to Walmart. Now, I never shopped at Walmart, but I gave it a try. This place was a Super Walmart. It had everything, literally, except a Cal-King Bed Skirt.

Why am I mentioning this?
This was just a bed skirt. Not an emergency item at all.
But there will be a day where something will be an emergency and no local store is stocking it.
I've already seen this happen, when my daughter was in dance. A girl tore her dance tights a couple of hours before their recital, and couldn't find a local store that sold them.

When you need something, let's hope it's not some life threatening emergency item needed, because it's only sold online.
Thank you for letting me rant.

[Raven123]

1. I agree with you

Many of my online purchases are made simply because I cannot find the items in local stores. Very frustrating.

[druidity33]

2. Well...

it sounds like you were able to find bed skirts at a couple of stores. What was the color selection like? You know of course that a California King size bed is pretty freaking rare. It's not uncommon for retail establishments to abjure "never sell" items. Did you ask at Customer Service to see about ordering your item? That's what we did in the olden days. Even places like Sears never had everything in stock.

[aggiesal]

4. Here is what I actually found. ...

I was looking for a light brown bed skirt to complement the bed frame.
Ross bed skirts were all gray, regardless of size, & they had about 6.
Walmart actually had bed skirts as well in Black, White & Gray, but none in Cal-King, each color had about 4-6 units.
Cal-King actually are not rare. The salesperson at Kohl's told me that whenever Cal-King anything arrives, they are gone in a day.
I did go to the Customer Service at Target & Kohl's but nothing overnight. Everything 3-5 days delivery.
I didn't want to keep the bed unmade for. 3-5 days, so I put the ripped, ratty bed skirt back on, probably for about another 6 months when I flip the mattress.

We used to have a Sears Catalog Store only, when I was in college, until an actual store moved into town.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Bed skirts are out of style now.

People don't use them much any more.

[Sanity Claws]

9. Right

I remember when they were in style but now things are more minimalist.

[canetoad]

5. Couldn't agree more

Our largest hardware chain in Oz is removing items that, shall we say, don't march out the door.

Instead the ever-obliging staff whip out their phones and announce that it can still be bought online. I want it NOW! Their competitor is only a kilometre away and I'd rather drive there.

[delisen]

6. It might be worth a bespoke approach

Buy the material you want and take that and the old bed skirt to a seamstress.

I have had cushions and clothing made and been surprised to get affordable estimates in my town.

[Ms. Toad]

11. I can't compete with ready-made and make anything close to a reasonable hourly rate.

It used to be different, but the cost of patterns and the cost of fabric, alone, puts custom made stuff out of the range of most people. I haven't done any custom sewing for hire for years.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

7. I do a lot of online shopping because that's where the good stuff is. Can't find jack shit local to me.

It's like I live in Mayberry or Hooterville, lol.

[flvegan]

8. I find it easier to "shop" online before heading to the store.

Example: Target. Item: Bed skirt.

I can see each item, price available sizes, more if I click on the link. I can see if it's available at "my store" which I've preselected, or at another nearby store. It tells me not only if they have it in store, but how many they have and in which aisle it can be found.

Running to 6 stores, that's a lot of time and gas I don't want to spend if I don't have to.

[aggiesal]

12. I did exactly that before I went to Target ...

I showed the Salesperson & the Customer Service person the online bed skirts,
and none of them said they were online only.
Both were surprised.

Kohl's is across the street from Target.
Home Goods & Ross was about 1 mile away from Target.
And I back tracked to Walmart across the street from Home Goods, before heading home.

[BidenRocks]

10. An AI search for an item

Near Me!
It's a start and beats wasting gas.