Online is no longer cheaper! (Amazon, Flipkart etc)
Online platforms make us believe products are cheaper there, because unlike physical stores, online stores do not need to pay huge rent on physical stores, staff etc. People believed this story and have started buying everything online. But online stores have their own cost component physical stores don't have and hence most online stores show inflated price, fake discounts and change a final amount that is way more than what same product costs offline.
I have a few examples:
A small laptop stand shown below sells for 1900 INR on Amazon + delivery fee + platform fee, almost 2000 INR. I bought the same from a local store for just 600 INR, one third the online price.
These are just two examples. There can be hundreds more.
Online brands like flipkart have never made profit- they sold for loss for decades hoping to get rid of competition (physical offline stores)- Now they have a compulsion to make some money, so price is getting increased, new charges are being added, like platform fee and rules are being made stricter- no refund, no replacement etc, with no way to talk properly to a human being on customer care (only complicated AI chat-bots and IVRs).
Sellers on these platforms are frustrated with high commission rates charged by these platforms, plus additional costs they have to foot in case of refund/replacement and for better visibility on these platforms- thus they often resort to shortcuts to make extra money- like sending defective products or poor quality substitutes.
Overall online shopping needs to be viewed carefully. If you have an option to buy offline, check that option first. Even if price is same or within under 5%, talking to a store staff, inspecting the product physically and then buying is far more fulfilling that placing order online, waiting, hoping product is correct and then having to deal with non responsive customer care if there are some issues.
Buying a high value item online is even bigger risk, as they are only interested in taking money- any issue during delivery, installation, service etc makes it extremely complicated and frustrating experience for consumers trying to save a few hundred rupees.
We should not let one or two brands dominate the market, should help local business sustain. Else we will end up paying 2x, 3x in future.
Let me know your thoughts.
Related: Amazon vs Flipkart- My experience * Netflix and Amazon should give a weekend package * goPro purchase from gopro official website vs Amazon * Buying laptop- Online vs Physical stores *
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