If you are looking to buy books, gadgets or just some Christmas gifts, you might like to consider Amazon.com. Though we are a BlogShop ourselves, we have extensively purchased from Amazon and many times with great results.
Why buy from Amazon?
The biggest downside with purchasing gadgets, books and such in Malaysia that at times they come either really expensive, or it’s not easily found. For myself, I was looking for some of the top marketing books during where I was doing my part-time classes on marketing. At that time, I found a list of 20 top marketing books that any marketer should read. Being excited, I drove all the way to Borders at the Curve only to find 3 available, 2 on waiting and the rest would perhaps take 2 months or so.
Being undeterred, I went to Popular and found even worse. There were none of the books in the list. Similar results came from the other bookstores I was looking at. At that time, not many of us purchased online, what more on Amazon, who is one of the largest commerce stores worldwide?
I promptly keyed in Amazon on my Macbook and was transported to Amazon.com. At that time I was also looking for a series of Christian books which I could not find at Canaanland bookstores. Now, Canaanland is a fine Christian bookstore whom I have known personally for some time. Uncle Francis and family have done a great job in bringing in books that have changed my life over and over. And it has been and still is a great place to bump into friends. However, at times they don’t have certain books that we might need urgently.
Needless to say, I bought about two thousand ringgit of books then, with a savings of four thousand ringgit due to buying very good conditioned second hand books and all. Â How did I do it? Read more below.
Saving Money with Amazon
The great thing about purchasing via Amazon is while a purchasing brand new book might save you about thirty to forty percent of the price, buying used books might save you sometimes up to ninety over percent!
For this example, we will use the book, “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More“, a well-known marketing book, especially for online marketers like myself. If you are considering online marketing, do consider getting the book.
Here’s a comparison of buying via Amazon.com and buying locally. (Valid as of 11th December 2013)
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As above, you’ll notice the vast amount of savings via Amazon. Now, not everything is cheaper on Amazon, but at times, it is worth it to buy stuff via Amazon.
Reasons to buy with Amazon
Here are reasons why you should buy from Amazon instead of locally. And also what products you should perhaps not.
- If you can’t find the product in Malaysia, i.e, out of stock with long waiting periods
- There is a significant saving
- The seller has a good reputation
- The chances of DOA (dead on arrival) is slim. DOA usually affects electrical/electronics products. However, if you are looking to buy the latest Google Nexus, buying via Amazon might be the best idea you have made so far.
Finally, how to buy from Amazon (other than having your credit card)
If you are buying multiple items from Amazon, you might want to consider HopShopGo or MyUS. Personally, I got my books shipped separately. And it was expensive, though the significant savings more than made up for it.
However, a friend of mine told me about HopShopGo and how he bought XXL sized clothes from Amazon for really affordable prices. These clothes would have cost him a bomb locally, as he was a huge 6 footer.
Conclusion
That’s it! Have a good time shopping with Amazon for your loved ones. Should you continue buying from your local store? Why not? After all, they are places where you can browse and even flip through books. Usually if I could browse the book, I would buy it from that bookstore. However, if the book is not available, there is nothing to stop you from buying via Amazon.
If you would like to, you could tip us by buying us a gift via Amazon as well =)