Long lines. Traffic. Crowds. Chaos. Welcome to the holidays.
Chances are many of you reading this story have already been brave enough to venture to the malls, outlet stores and anywhere there was an advertised sale for holiday gifts.
I've never been one to hassle with that. I try to pick a time to buy gifts when I think the malls are less crowded with hurried and stressed-out shoppers.
Usually that involves taking a day off from work. Of course, the checkout lines are still long. You still have to wrap and mail the gifts. And the traffic ... well, there's no getting around that.
Still, I reason, it could be a lot worse.
This year, however, I said, "Enough." Shopping is fairly painless 11 months of the year, so why should the holiday season be any different?
For years I'd read about the joys and perks of shopping online: It's faster, easier, more convenient. But I'd always eschewed online stores because I wanted to see the gifts in person and examine them to make sure I'd made the right choice.
So I used a different tack for buying Christmas gifts this year. Venturing into the World Wide Web.
I'm not alone. According to national news service Business Wire, which focuses on retail trends, Internet-based sales for the holiday season will be $21 billion up 19 percent from last year with 67 percent of consumers planning to purchase presents online.
"Convenience is the No. 1 advantage," said Samantha Freeman, account coordinator for Amazon.com, the No. 1 online retailer. "You don't have to go to different stores, which saves a lot of time."
I was looking to save time and money.
Armed with a budget of $730, which is what the average American will spend on Christmas gifts this year, according to Gallup's annual holiday spending survey, I decided to see if shopping online is all it's cracked up to be.
Net options
My online shopping experience began by compiling a list of everyone I still need to shop for. I came up with a list of 15.
I then contacted everyone on the list, asking them specifics about what they wanted for Christmas. I told them I would buy their gifts online and that they were on the honor system to not read this story.
Next I did the math $730 divided by 15 meant I had roughly $42 to spend on each person, allowing that I would spend more on some than others.
Then, with list in hand and a calculator at the ready, I was off.
First stop: www.dillards.com to buy Mom a bottle of Pleasures by Estee Lauder.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the perfume. I looked for Estee Lauder and found nothing. I went to www.amazon.com.
Amazon had four sizes, ranging in price from $25.99 to $52.99.
I opted for the big bottle. Tack on $4.98 for shipping, and I spent $57.97.
The whole shopping experience lasted 17 minutes or, about the same time for me to drive to the mall and walk to the Dillard's store inside.
Next up was my stepdad. My mom suggested a Ralph Lauren shirt or a bottle of Aramis cologne. I kept the Amazon Web site on the computer, but decided to give dillards.com another shot.
After clicking on dress shirts under the men's section of the site, I realized the shirts were a bit pricey for me, starting in the $65-$70 range. I thought maybe going to www.polo.com might be better. Wrong. The shirts were even more expensive than on the Dillard's Web site.
I gave up on the shirt idea and went back to amazon.com, looking for DVDs.
Years ago I remember watching the Steve McQueen action-thriller "Bullitt" -- featuring the famous car chase through San Francisco -- with my stepdad. He remarked that it was one of his favorite films and I knew he didn't have it. I found it new at Amazon for $13.99. The site also suggested other companion films to purchase, such as "LeMans," "The Getaway" and "The Great Escape." I decided to add the latter DVD to the list for an additional $11.21.
I then went to dillards.com to buy the Aramis. I found a 1.7-ounce bottle of the cologne for $35 and, after a lengthy registration process -- name, address and e-mail -- was prepared to buy it. I considered adding $5 to have the present gift-wrapped. The total, counting tax and shipping, was a hefty $51.07.
I went back to Amazon. It was a smart move. I found a larger bottle, 2 ounces, of Aramis for $27.30, which was $7.70 cheaper than at the Dillard's Web site. Gift-wrapping the present was cheaper as well, $3.49.
So, I included the cologne in my shopping cart, along with the two DVDs. The total: $69.42.
I'd now spent $123.42 of my $730 budget and only about an hour of time.
My sister, Suzanne, was easy enough to buy for.
She wanted a pair of knee-high black boots from Victoria's Secret. After typing in www.victoriassecret.com, I realized the boots weren't an option. For one, most of the boots were $99 a pair -- $59 more than I planned to spend. There also were too many options. I couldn't begin to narrow the selection.
Instead, I purchased her an online gift card. The options were $50 and $35. I opted for the $35, since it was closer to my original $40 budget for her. And, because the gift card was sent via e-mail, there was no shipping cost.
Then I got busy at work, so I decided to continue shopping online at home. It was 10:30 p.m. by the time I got around to buying gifts again.
Home comfort
At this point, I'm in a T-shirt and boxers -- hardly suitable attire for shopping at the mall. Of course, convenience is supposed to be a major benefit to shopping online.
Next on my list was my brother, Eric, who decided to get creative on me for his Christmas gift wish list: a bottle of Curve cologne for men. (I'm sensing a family pattern.)
Before I headed over to Amazon.com, I decided to be a savvy shopper and hunt online for bargains. I Googled "curve cologne" and the first link was to www.fragrancenet.com, a discount shop for colognes and perfume. I found a Curve gift set -- including a 4.2-ounce bottle of cologne, a half-ounce travel bottle, deodorant stick and travel bag -- for $39.99 that, according to the Web site, retailed for $70. Shipping was an additional $5.95.
For $45.94 and 10 minutes of my time, my brother's gift was covered.
While I was on the Web site, I wanted to see how much my stepdad's cologne cost. The same-size bottle of Aramis was the exact price as it was on Amazon.
I discovered my mom's perfume was actually cheaper at Amazon by $3.60. Go figure.
My dad's gift proved to be very easy. He'd e-mailed me a link to a T-shirt he wanted at www.chevymall.com.
The C6 Corvette Exterior Color T-shirt -- LeMans Blue -- matches the interior of the 'Vette he'd recently ordered. The shirt was $20 with a $6.95 shipping fee.
I supplemented his Christmas present with a $20 Edgar Allan Poe-style gift card I bought at Barnes & Noble online, www.barnesandnoble.com. There was a 95-cent shipping fee for the card, so I spent a total of $47.90 on my dad. The entire process took about 15 minutes -- far less than it would have taken to drive to a Chevy dealership and then to a Barnes & Noble store.
For my stepmom, Susan, I opted to renew her subscription to Dog Fancy magazine, www.dogfancy.com. It's one of the gifts I got her last year. The cost: $14.99 for 12 issues. She also had Wig Wam size-8 socks on her list.
I Googled Wigwam socks, which provided a link to the company's Web site: www.wigwamsocks.com. I bought her seven pairs of the 650-style socks, which, after $6 for shipping, amounted to $31.20. I spent $46.19 total on Susan.
After doing the math I realized that I'd spent $298.45. I had $431.55 remaining to split between 10 family members and friends.
For one set of grandparents, for whom I had no clue what to buy, I purchased a $75 gift card from Dillard's. There was no shipping charge on the card and the site even allowed me to type in a message of 120 characters or less. The process took me 10 minutes.
For my other grandmother, I returned to Barnes & Noble, where I bought her a $40 Emily Dickenson-style gift card. With the 95-cent shipping fee, I spent $40.95.
For my two uncles, I bought two more gift certificates: one to movie-theater chain Cinemark, the other to Blockbuster. I bought the $40 Cinemark gift card at www.cinemark.com. Shipping added an additional $7.50.
Then I went to www.blockbuster.com where I bought four $10 gift cards. Counting the $2.95 in shipping, my total was $42.95. Unfortunately, Blockbuster will only ship the cards to the payee. I have to order the cards, have them sent to my house and then mail them myself. It's not optimum, but it'll have to do.
At this point, I'd plowed through my family list in relatively quick and painless fashion. For my friends, I found it even simpler.
Friendly shopping
LeAnna asked for the "Star Wars" DVD box set (the gift that keeps on giving). When I mentioned the set would put me over my budget for her, she suggested I buy it used at Amazon. Sure enough, I found one used at Amazon for $32.99, with $2.49 for shipping.
Another friend, Jill, suggested poker-related gifts -- chips, books, cards -- or a shirt. I found a nice $39.99 poker set, including cards, chips and an aluminum case, at Amazon.com. The only problem: $13 for shipping.
I went with a shirt.
At Old Navy's Web site, www.oldnavy.com, I found a business-casual pink shirt for $19.50. I threw in a $10 gift card. I even splurged on a $3 deluxe gift box. 'Tis the season to be generous.
After $5 for shipping, my total was $37.95.
For my married friends Chuck and Ellen, I quickly zeroed in on their gifts. I went to GameStop's Web site, www.gamestop.com, and bought Chuck "Midway Arcade Treasures 2," a collection of classic video games, for the GameCube. The game cost $19.99 new. On the Web site I also found the first "Midway Arcade Treasures" used for $12.99. Tack on $1.99 for "USA Value" shipping, as the site calls it, and I spent $34.97.
Usually for Christmas, I get Ellen some sort of Day of the Dead skeleton to add to her collection. I Googled "day of the dead figurines" and came across the Web site www.directfrommexxico.com. I was thrilled to see Direct From Mexico had a hundred or more Day of the Dead options. I picked a painted clay skull candlestick for $14.25 and an assorted skeleton couples diorama for $17.10.
Because the site featured free shipping in the continental United States, my total was $31.35.
As Roger Daltry sang: "I call that a bargain, the best I ever had."
For the final person on my list, Dennis, I decided to swing by eBay. Dennis has long coveted the life-size Han Solo frozen in carbonite replica from "Empire Strikes Back."
Of course, those models fetch upward of $2,000, which was slightly out of my budget. On eBay, however, I found a 12-inch Han Solo in carbonite figure with a buy-it-now cost of $17.99. Including $9.95 for priority mail shipping and $1.30 for insurance, I paid $29.24.
After about four hours shopping, I calculated I'd spent $673.39 of my $730 budget.
That means I have $56.16 to splurge on me.
Back to Amazon.com ...
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