Mohacsy's Safe Portfolio Member Forum

[Elroy Jetson]

I look at my own buying habits after I compare prices between Amazon vs Lowes or Home Depot. Due to a new Lowes opening close to our home we rarely shop at Home Depot now, but I always check their price online before I go to Lowes.

I've been putting in a garden.

Not surprisingly I bought 50 pound bags of round beach rocks, cement and stepping stones at Lowes. These items are most economical when the retailer ships an entire railway car of these heavy items to a local warehouse.

I purchased mats of sedum plants at Lowes because they were cheaper than any online nursery after shipping costs. But I bought 60 peanut grass plants on Amazon from a nursery in Florida. Lowes could have ordered them for me but their price would have been 11 times higher.

After comparing prices I bought potassium-magnesium-sulfur fertilizer on Amazon. I bought several packets of California wildflowers at Lowes for $3.50, but quarter pound bags of California poppy seeds on Amazon from Outside Price which also has their own website.

Why did I buy Outside Pride seeds through Amazon rather than http://www.outsidepride.com/ ? Because I trust Amazon to refund my money if I'm not happy with the Outside Pride products and the price is the same on Amazon vs the vendor's website.

People like myself who compare costs are collapsing the volume at higher priced retailers, whether than retailer is online or brick and mortar.