choster - 6:51 pm on Jul 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

Namaste, I spend most of my disposable income online and have a short list of preferred online retailers, but I do search on items like electronics to get a sense of the "street price" and what sort of premium I will be paying for the trustworthiness of an Amazon.

The elasticity of price, security, usability, and so on vary widely by the kind of product and price range being offered, and the wants and sophistication of the user. Price is much more important to me when buying a book than when buying a painting. If I can't get large, detailed photographs of a sweater, I won't buy no matter how cheap it is offered. On the other hand, I feel I can make an informed enough decision about a microwave oven's looks from a thumbnail.

As everyone has noted, confidence-- confidence that I'll get a product that looks/functions like the one you show, and that I'll like it, and that you don't have shady employees snatching my credit card number-- is key. Some things that lower my confidence in your site include

- anything which blinks, but especially flashing ads which to me seem like they are designed to take advantage of people's ignorance, such as those that resemble a Windows error message or announce that the person viewing the ad is lucky customer #1098232, click here to collect your prize
- I don't even bother to open keyword-keyword-keyword.com- or keywordkeyword.com-like domains, like I wouldn't buy a used car from a corner outfit called Crazy Achmed's. Three times out of four Achmed is a fine, upstanding businessman and pillar of the community, but that fourth time's a doozy.
- obvious off-topic clutter, like banner ads for mortgage consolidators on an auto parts site. Also looks very amateur and shady
- lectures about why I should be using either IE or Netscape. Being a Mozilla user, I've gotten both. Are you selling web browsers? Then shut up!
-I may not go through with a purchase if you are a Paypal house, depending on the product. Webmasterworld, yeah, I expect they'll be around so I'll do it. I'll happily Paypal over cash to sculptors for their sculptures. Computer parts, though, not on your life.
- On a similar note, I strongly prefer American Express and will pay a small premium (<2%) to be able to use it-- I only keep a Mastercard for emergencies.