Buying habits

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1511946]

Comments

[andrewducker]

I also subscribe to Spotify, which is where I get most of my music from, but doesn't count as actually buying it.

And I've rented a couple of movies over iTunes.

[dougs.livejournal.com]

I've counted my occasional one-day membership of Spotify (for example to cover my birthday party) as online download purchase of music, otherwise that box would have gone unticked.

[cybik.livejournal.com]

Buying books is, for me at least, definitely not just a case of "I want that particular book, I shall buy it online." Very often I want to browse, to pick up books that I like the look of and have a flick through before actually buying something. I suspect I'm not the only one, though.

[andrewducker]

I suspect you're right. I do like that. I just haven't done it in an age.

[cybik.livejournal.com]

Part of the joy of working in a bookshop is unpacking boxes and going "ooo, I haven't seen this before!" :D

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes. I go into bookshops to look at books, enjoy looking at books, choose books, ind books. Sometimes I go into bookshops to do this when I have no money and therefore no way of actually buying anything. I just love being around books: when I'm stressed at uni I sometimes go and walk around the stacks in the library to calm myself down.

I do however buy books on Amazon - but much less often. I made a £50 order there on Tuesday, but that was for this term's books. Amazon is great for sitting there with reading lists for four different modules and finding eg exact editions for each of many different exact books.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

Charity shops for books? Secondhand games? YPOANS.

[andrewducker]

Good point about second hand stuff. But I was more thinking about the viability of high street shops in the age of Amazon, triggered by the traditional Christmas headlines of "Nobody is Buying Our Stuffs!" and today's announcement about Waterstones dropping 9% of their turnover (or profit, or something) and sacking their chief exec.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

Huh. I am missing news; I only dimly heard about the earthquake. This is what comes of not switching on Radio 4 in the morning!!!!

And serve Waterstones right for being shit.

[cleodhna.livejournal.com]

I used to work at the Oxfam bookshop on Byres Road in Glasgow. I have to agree that shopping secondhand is ace. Stuff comes through the door there that you would never, ever see in any high street shop or on Amazon. I have some great finds from there. Also, I like to read books in hardback. Nobody likes to buy books in hardback, though, so they tend to be about the same price as a secondhand paperback, making them actually affordable. Bonus.

[aliiis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I lumped second-hand bookshops (which is where I get 99% of my books for me - I only bought the new ones as presents!) in with 'independents'.

[wildeabandon.livejournal.com]

The only independent book shops I've bought from are second-hand ones though. I do mostly buy from Amazon.

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

I only buy CDs and DVDs for other people. Most of those are from HogsHead. All my own stuff is digital, except books. I trawl charity shops and the delight that is Tills for books. I buy from Waterstones when I take Daughter there, because she likes the cafe. I have a lot of digital books, but keep forgetting I have them. Even those I've bought, which is many.

It is virtually impossible to get physical games *I want* for Mac in Edinburgh. No-one even attempts to order games in, even on repeated request. I'm guessing this is due to the necessarily high premium vs PC games. [though ironically multi-platform independent games do terrific business with Mac users]

[aliiis.livejournal.com]

Also, as you mentioned with Spotify - I've either legally or illegally downloaded and/or streamed almost all my new music (and a few TV programmes), for free, but guess that's not the same as buying, with, like, money.

[lpetrazickis.livejournal.com]

I buy games off gog.com and sometimes gamersgate.com. GOG has a fantastic selection of oldies, so it's a nice way to fuel my nostalgia.:-)

[mair_in_grenderich]

I ordered a book three months ago but it hasn't arrived yet...

[mair_in_grenderich]

and I actually bought music on a stall in a local craft fair, but "independent shop" was the closest option you had.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Mostly if I download something I don't pay for it. If I like the thing I downloaded though, I'll likely then eventually buy a physical, legal copy of it.

[dreema.livejournal.com]

same here.

[d-c-m.livejournal.com]

I need to shop from more independent shops...

[atreic.livejournal.com]

Poll skewed by being within six months of our big glut of birthdays-and-christmas. Answers in August would be quite different.

[rosamicula.livejournal.com]

I budget ruthlessly to be able to squander my limited disposable income on fun. Consequently I only buy books in second hands shops, I only 'buy' DVDs if they come free with a newspaper and I listen to new music on Spotify.

I have never in my entire life felt the slightest interest in acquiring a computer game, though I occasionally play bubble shooter or tetris.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

All my music/movie/book purchases this past 15 months have been online, but they would normally have been matched by a shop purchase.

Ah.. just recalled I did buy one movie and one computer game in shops. I'd forgotten because in both cases my elder god-daughter actually chose the item and all I had to do was fish out my credit card.

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Trouble is that half the stuff I want is from Europe/Japan. If they sold it in shops over here, I'd be ecstatic :)

[andrewhickey.livejournal.com]

Until very recently I used to buy most of my music from independent record shops, but for the last couple of years it's been almost all from eMusic (or streamed over Spotify), with only stuff that's not available through either of those being bought from either HMV or Amazon.

I'd *LOVE* to buy from independent bookshops, but I know of no independent (non second-hand or remainder) bookshops in Manchester, just a couple of Waterstones and a Blackwells.

I have bought one computer game in my life - one of the Discworld ones - though I have downloaded a few free-as-in-beer text adventures...

[andrewducker]

Two possibilities here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jul/01/best-bookshops-north-west

I must look at emusic again.

[matgb]

I haven't bought *anything* for ages. SB bought the new Pratchett in Tesco (because they had it for half price and we're skint), and there've been a few games bought for the Wii online.

Our only real purchase is a LoveFilm subscription, which is great.