This week the man and woman in the street were asked their thoughts on online shopping—whether they make use of it and why they choose to make purchases through that medium. Their views follow:
Muriel McRae: ‘For me, I don’t like it because I like to see my things so I prefer to go into the store and buy my things. I don’t able with promises. I went through that with my phone and it took three weeks. I went through that with my laptop and I had to take back my money so I don’t like those things.’
Ariel Young: ‘I do shop online. I buy clothes. I buy books. I think when you buy stuff online it’s way cheaper. I mean, you’re going to go in town and you’ll get something that’s like $3,000 and a week later you know, you wash it and it’s gone. So a lot of people when you buy stuff online and you bring it in it’s way cheaper. It lasts a lot longer than buying something here and then a month later you can’t wear it. I would buy makeup here because I get to test it. I like the up-closeness, being with it; I can check it out. A lot of times you buy stuff and it’s fake, especially online. With makeup on a whole, for example I would buy brushes online but I wouldn’t buy foundation online.’
Alana Norville: ‘I’ve been shopping online about three years now. I mostly buy my electronics online because it’s more economical. As of recent I bought my phone and I went to [named store] for example with my phone. I just wanted to know what was the normal price for my phone. I paid about $60,000 for it online but when I got there it was $147,000 and I’m wondering who are they trying to rob? My brother usually buys all his clothes and his jewelry and watches online. He sees it as a quality thing and the shirts that he would normally buy, he would say, `They’re going to sell it for how much money in the market, why should I pay this for it?’ So basically there is a lot of stuff selling in Georgetown but many times many people prefer to go to the sources to get their stuff, plus you get to avoid the sunburn and avoid the hassle of all of it.’
Shenecia Cameron: ‘I don’t do online shopping personally, I tell my cousin whatever I want and he does it, I don’t know how to do it. I mainly buy electronics, I think it’s cheaper. I got my phone, two phone cases and this screen protector for like $50,000 alone online. I think it’s really cheap because in Guyana I can’t get it for that amount.’
Shamika Higgins: ‘I shopped online once. I bought a book because I couldn’t find it here. I had a long run around for it, so a friend took me to another friend who does online shopping and I got the book. I would shop online if it’s something edifying for me, a book especially, or something that I can’t find here or something that you can find here but it’s selling at some exorbitant price. Also, maybe something rare. In response to GPO’s online shopping system, in my book, cheaper doesn’t always mean efficient because mails get lost here.’
John Forde: ‘I shop online sometimes, like every other month and I’ve been doing so for about three years. I started because there were things that I needed that weren’t here such as clothing—the type of clothing and brands I was looking for at reasonable prices. I also buy electronics as it’s generally cheaper online, even with shipping.’
Malcolm Moses: ‘I shop online because it’s cheaper in regards to purchasing something here. The money that you would spend to go into the store to buy something, you would find it cheaper. A typical example is a TV. You would spend about $50,000 on a TV, a 32-inch TV and then you would get one for about $30,000 inclusive of shipping and handling, with tax. I buy mostly electronics, sometimes clothes, it depends. You would spend money on something at a Chinese store and it will last you two days when you can spend your money and invest and you’ll get something that will last for three years.’
Osei Browne: ‘I shop online because I find costs are cheaper sometimes. The things that I like, if I do find them here they’re pretty expensive or they’re not to the quality that I’m expecting it to be. For example, I like technology so like phones and computers, I find them to be way cheaper online. There are also certain brands that I like too, sometimes it’s about 100-200% more here and I get them really, really cheap online. Depending on the shipping company it might cost more though, it depends on which you use. I stick to one or two shipping companies and if it’s really expensive then I just ship to my aunt and then she might probably ship it over in a barrel or box.’
Daniel Griffith: ‘I’ve been shopping online for about five years now. You get a wider variety of product choices at a cheaper price in comparison to if the item was on the local market, plus you get genuine stuff. Also, a lot of products on Guyana’s market are old and high priced. For example, some boutiques sell jerseys at a cost of $7,000 and $8,000 when it’s available online for US$5, which is equivalent to $1,000. It’s exploitation to the fullest.’
Grace Pendleton: ‘I don’t shop online due to the fact that there’s some uncertainty in my mind about the quality of the products purchased there. When shopping in a store, you’re able to examine products to see whether or not they meet your standards in terms of quality but this is not possible when shopping online. Another uncertainty of mine is the security of payment information. Shopping online might be more time efficient but I’m not willing to do it at the risk of my Visa card information being in a domain where it can be stolen. Those are the two main reasons why I don’t shop online.’
