[HollowHead]

Originally Posted by Flying-Dutchman

Without brick and mortar stores, how are you going to actually inspect the item first before buying it on Amazon?

Doing anything like that is beneath contempt. HH

[sharpshooter]

What do you mean by "inspect"? Remove the item you're going to buy from the box so you can kick the tires? Or view the display item?

Touching a display item at a brick and mortar store is largely old fashioned. For TVs etc yes, sometimes. 90% of the time I'm fine reading online reviews and ordering that way. You can gather a TON more information about a product by researching online than you can by looking at it in the store.

Back in the day people mail ordered stuff all the time from catologs. For some it was the ONLY way, and still is unless you want to drive into town and waste your day. "Going shopping" is a luxery, not a necessity. A lot of folks hate it.

[guns54]

Ordering on line is helping them, Its only helping them to close?

[PaulMason]

Originally Posted by sharpshooter

What do you mean by "inspect"? Remove the item you're going to buy from the box so you can kick the tires? Or view the display item?

Touching a display item at a brick and mortar store is largely old fashioned. For TVs etc yes, sometimes. 90% of the time I'm fine reading online reviews and ordering that way. You can gather a TON more information about a product by researching online than you can by looking at it in the store.

Back in the day people mail ordered stuff all the time from catologs. For some it was the ONLY way, and still is unless you want to drive into town and waste your day. "Going shopping" is a luxery, not a necessity. A lot of folks hate it.

The Sears catalog used to sell a whole house.

[captainstormy]

Originally Posted by RenoF250

I don't know how Gamestop and Radio Shack are still open. Who goes to RadioShack anymore? Gamestop is just games you could get a bunch of other places. I think the other should fair much better because they offer convenience or sell something you do not want to order - clothes, tools etc.

Gamestop is still in business because they have a great business model.

Yes, you can buy a new game anywhere. But after your done with it, you can trade it in for store credit, and you can also buy used games.

Personally I rarely buy a new game. I might be 1-2 new games per year, but buy many many more used games for half the price or less.

It's also the only physical retailer of games for most people. Even here in Columbus, there are only 2-3 small mom and pop game shops left and they are bound to close soon I'm sure. In my home town in Central KY, Gamestop is the only place aside from Wal-mart you could buy anything game related.

As for Radio Shack, I don't have a clue.

[RonS]

Radio Shack survives because when people who don't do the Google thing need to replace the battery in their wireless phone, they can take it in and get the right battery pack, with the correct pigtail. Same with other small electronic repair parts. I wanted to replace the connector on a nice, old set of ear phones. Went to Radio Shack and picked up a nice gold plated plug and fixed them up. Not worth shipping an item that cost less than $5.00. Same with a polarized D plug AC cord. Needed it, wasn't worth ordering it and they had a selection. I don't see them expanding much, but I sure hope they stay around.

[kylenewman]

Originally Posted by captainstormy

Gamestop is still in business because they have a great business model.

Yes, you can buy a new game anywhere. But after your done with it, you can trade it in for store credit, and you can also buy used games.

Personally I rarely buy a new game. I might be 1-2 new games per year, but buy many many more used games for half the price or less.

It's also the only physical retailer of games for most people. Even here in Columbus, there are only 2-3 small mom and pop game shops left and they are bound to close soon I'm sure. In my home town in Central KY, Gamestop is the only place aside from Wal-mart you could buy anything game related.

As for Radio Shack, I don't have a clue.

Problem with their model is developers are starting to require online game passes. This makes a used game cost an additional 10$ to enable online play. Also their in big trouble as the industry transfers to digital distribution.

[Dennis in MA]

Originally Posted by PaulMason

The Sears catalog used to sell a whole house.

And provide a household of clean asses all year!

Originally Posted by RonS

Radio Shack survives because when people who don't do the Google thing need to replace the battery in their wireless phone, they can take it in and get the right battery pack, with the correct pigtail. Same with other small electronic repair parts. I wanted to replace the connector on a nice, old set of ear phones. Went to Radio Shack and picked up a nice gold plated plug and fixed them up. Not worth shipping an item that cost less than $5.00. Same with a polarized D plug AC cord. Needed it, wasn't worth ordering it and they had a selection. I don't see them expanding much, but I sure hope they stay around.

And a useless free battery a month. Don't forget that!

[Southwind]

You're right. I misread, sorry.

Originally Posted by Flying-Dutchman

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2576293.html

http://ycharts.com/companies/AMZN/profit_margin

“For all of 2012, the company booked a net loss of $39 million, or 9 cents per share, down from a profit of $631 million, or $1.37 per share.”

Amazon’s total profits since inception are $5.1 Billion. Bezos’ net worth of $23 Billion is from his stock holdings created from a bubble not from profits.

http://ycharts.com/companies/AMZN/pe_ratio

If you want to invest in a company currently with a 3,633 p/e ratio because it is a media darling, go for it.

Problem is Newegg.com or some other online company may trounce it one day.

[JW1178]

Add GNC to that list.

The world is constantly changing, so is business. One thing fades away as something better comes along. Better get with the new business model or you'll be out of business.

1 For you "tire kickers", we have something better now for the most part, it's called the reviews sections. So you can't actually look at it yourself, but word of mouth speaks volumes. The only problem is when it comes to new products. On establisthed products, you can have great advertising, sells well, and has all this scientific backing saying it's the best of the best, then you go on forums and reviews, that can all change. This has pro's and con's, but in the long run, the pro's outweigh the cons.

2. Small business employ people, but so does the shipping business and other big business. Saving money on one product leaves the consumer with more money so they can buy more, so it works out in the end.

Like I said, the world is changing. Sometimes for one person it might be great, for another, it might be the worse thing ever. So the only thing to do is change as well. The surfer knows he has to stay on top of the wave.

[bear62]

Originally Posted by RenoF250

I don't know how Gamestop and Radio Shack are still open. Who goes to RadioShack anymore? Gamestop is just games you could get a bunch of other places. I think the other should fair much better because they offer convenience or sell something you do not want to order - clothes, tools etc.

Interesting that you mention that ......... I probably haven't been in a RadioShack in more than ten years.....

[railfancwb]

Originally Posted by norton

I am amazed that sales tax has not been collected for out of State purchases all along.

Personally I would like to see a VAT tax and then eliminate the property tax to fund local schools, library etc. Of course I know what would happen. The VAT would be introduced and the property tax would not go away.

Sales tax has not generally been collected on Internet sales because there are thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of different rates and degrees of partial exemption in the country. State and local governments change the rates and exemptions or partial exemptions regularly. I suspect that even Amazon has not sold into every combination. Zip codes might sound like a way to relate tax rates and transactions but they aren't since the post offices do not consider sales tax jurisdictions when assigning zip codes.

NO Vat, please. "Our" governments already have too many hands in our pockets. Any reduction in sales or property or income tax made as a way to sell people on Vat would be only temporary.


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire

[njl]

Originally Posted by railfancwb

Sales tax has not generally been collected on Internet sales because there are thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of different rates and degrees of partial exemption in the country. State and local governments change the rates and exemptions or partial exemptions regularly. I suspect that even Amazon has not sold into every combination. Zip codes might sound like a way to relate tax rates and transactions but they aren't since the post offices do not consider sales tax jurisdictions when assigning zip codes.

Yeah...keeping track of tax rates for an address (state, county, city) would be a major PITA (or a business opportunity, depending on how you look at it).

Simple solutions:

a) sales tax is collected based on the seller's location

b) sales tax for interstate mail order is collected Federally at a uniform rate, and that money is divided among the states

[captainstormy]

Originally Posted by kylenewman

Problem with their model is developers are starting to require online game passes. This makes a used game cost an additional 10$ to enable online play. Also their in big trouble as the industry transfers to digital distribution.

True, the new games I buy are games like Battlefield and borderlands that I intend to play online.

Most of the games I play though are single player games like Skyrim, Dragon age, Assiasian''s creed or mass effect (never cared for their multiplier) . There isn't any difference in new/used for those.

[ChiTownPicaro]

Originally Posted by norton

I am amazed that sales tax has not been collected for out of State purchases all along.

Personally I would like to see a VAT tax and then eliminate the property tax to fund local schools, library etc. Of course I know what would happen. The VAT would be introduced and the property tax would not go away.

Property taxes should not fund schools. People with kids should just pay the cost and not force everyone to pay for it. It is socialism and it is disgusting. It might cost these people $5,000 a kid, but that aint my problem. Can't afford to pay for your little darling to get an education, well that isn't my problem.

[wavetrain75]

Originally Posted by Dennis in MA

And a useless free battery a month. Don't forget that!

You jerk, now I feel old.

[HollowHead]

Originally Posted by ChiTownPicaro

Property taxes should not fund schools. People with kids should just pay the cost and not force everyone to pay for it. It is socialism and it is disgusting. It might cost these people $5,000 a kid, but that aint my problem. Can't afford to pay for your little darling to get an education, well that isn't my problem.

Using that tenuous logic, property taxes shouldn't pay for anything. HH

[Flying-Dutchman]

From the Financial Times -

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1659b...44feab49a.html

“Credit market investors are falling out of love with US shopping malls as up to 15 per cent of the country’s suburban retail centres are forecast to close over the next five years in the face of online competition.”

[Dennis in MA]

Online competition and high cost to operate. The NEW model for shopping malls is those outdoor thingies. A few strips of smaller stores and several anchors. NO indoor areas at all. Cuts down maintenance, security and cleaning to near zero. Brilliant strategy.

Think of your local mall. How many stores can you name? I can't name more than 10 and I know the thing is 1/3 vacant. ONE THIRD! There are some super-malls near me that seem to do well - because they have so much. The "regular" ones are dying on the vine. And I'm OK with that.

Sucky part - I learned 25 years ago in a RE Fin class that a mall takes 20 years to break even. WHOOPS!

[railfancwb]

Originally Posted by PaulMason

The Sears catalog used to sell a whole house.

And automobiles...


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire

[Restless28]

Originally Posted by Flying-Dutchman

From the Financial Times -

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1659b...44feab49a.html

“Credit market investors are falling out of love with US shopping malls as up to 15 per cent of the country’s suburban retail centres are forecast to close over the next five years in the face of online competition.”

It's just a matter of time until the commercial property debt bubble bursts. My guess is, that fire will take care of many of these properties.

[rj1939]

Staples and Worst Buy have screwed me for the last time. I'm only in China Mart about four times a year.

[larry_minn]

Regards Sears (and Wards) I bought my first pump shotgun thru Wards. (true the barrel was more then a HINT to left) :( IIRC Western field a mossberg knockoff)
My grandparents had a Sears house. My cousin just remodeled it. Two story with basement.

[GeorgiaGlocker]

I don't think JCP will last much longer although they have gone back to placing items on sale. Just saw a commerical about them a couple of days ago. I am really surprised that Kmart is still around.

[ChiTownPicaro]

Originally Posted by HollowHead

Using that tenuous logic, property taxes shouldn't pay for anything. HH

Some thing we all use like clean air and clean water. But roads and schools are not amongst them.