Company name: e-doors.com (The Door Superstore) Web address: www.e-doors.com Your overall recommendation ( 1 to 5 stars): 4 stars Comments: Marty was very helpful and delivered a beautiful entry door for a very reasonable price. I'm giving this supplier 4 stars instead of 5 because after I made the order, I felt there was a little bit of a lack of communication. I would have liked an email order confirmation and shipping notification without asking. However, the door arrived in great condition and I'm very happy with my purchase. He was also quick to follow up and ship some brick mould that was missing when we went to install the door free of charge. Company name: Art Tile Direct Web address: www.arttiledirect.com Your overall recommendation ( 1 to 5 stars): 5 stars Comments: I got a great deal on the tile for our kitchen back splash and fireplace surrounds from Christeen at art tile direct. She sent me lots of samples for no charge to help me make my decision. She is able to make custom art tile when given a line drawing or you can choose any color combination for any of her existing art tiles. Field tile is also very reasonable. I would highly recommend. Company name: Vintage Tub and Bath Web address: http://www.vintagetub.com Your overall recommendation ( 1 to 5 stars): 5 stars Comments: I ordered my cast iron clawfoot tub and faucets from Vintage Tub. They were a pleasure to work with, had great communication and held my tub in the warehouse until I was ready to have it delivered. The faucets are beautiful and I would highly recommend. Company name: 1 Stop Lighting Web address: http://www.1stoplighting.com Your overall recommendation ( 1 to 5 stars): 5 stars Comments: Very good customer communication. After placing my order, one item was discontinued, but they "compensated" me for the inconvenience by giving me a 10% off coupon on my entire next order, which worked out rather nicely when ordering lights for an entire home. Their search feature is a bit antiquated so it may be hard to find things online, but they are a great company. Company name: Lamps Plus Web address: http://www.lampsplus.com Your overall recommendation ( 1 to 5 stars): 5 stars Comments: Well established lighting company. Good customer service and price on products. Items arrived quickly and as described.

I had a bad experience with Homeclick. I ordered 2 Toto Drakes and they shipped the wrong bowl on one of them. This was after waiting 3 weeks. It took 6 weeks and many hours to get the correct one. I would have been better off going local and paying above MSRP with all the time I spent on the phone. I wish I would have posted or searched here first. The toilets are great though.

I'm actually surprised this doesn't happen more often. I have only been burnt one time ordering anything, and it was before the inet stores were mainstream and it was a mail order made through advertising in legitimate gardening mags. I paid up front, and it was to a legitimate "name" I knew professionally and the check was cashed immediately. And the business number was always on an answering machine and the calls never returned, the merchandise never came, and the money never returned. I pursued it through some government agencies I knew that particular business to be governed by. Yep, the business had new owners, they had quality problems and were inexperienced, and they just got in way over their heads. They had no business cashing checks for new orders, however when they knew darned good and well they would not be filling them. It was through the mail, across state lines, and if I had pursued it any further, would have been nasty for them, I'm sure. The funny thing is, one of the fairly prominent gardening mags several years later actually listed them as a source for certain kinds of material. LOL. So, I no longer bought that magazine, because those articles could not have been written by anyone current in that industry. I have ordered material of all sorts from many places in the world over the inet. It's a wonderful alternative to being locked into the few box stores I won't shop at who are dominating many rural areas. Yes, I am careful from whom I order, and often make sure they've had references from friends first or are companies I already know and trust. It's also a great equalizer for home based businesses, in that they can compete against the 'giants' on equal footing since they don't have to maintain a billion dollars worth of store fronts and overhead. One of these days, down the line, I think they'll be more highly regulated, and until that time, one just has to be careful.

I have been shopping online for ~10 yrs. The deals in the early days (1998-2001) were crazy. This was back when Amazon only sold books. Anyhow, I started shopping online because I was a single parent and had two small children. So it was a great convenience for me. I have bought almost everything you can online. Buying online now is almost second nature now and probably spend more than 10k a year online. I now buy online because of cost, convenience, availibility. I pay with CC for everything and haven't had any problems for 8 yrs. In the early days, I had people get a hold of my CC numbers and charge stuff. The CC companies took care of everything without much hassle. Technically, I don't know if the info was stolen online or from a local store. I wish the online grocery stores made a comeback. I would love the UPS guy to delivery the kitty liter, rock salt, soda, etc, while I just pick up the perishables. The best deals were probably in the early days with many items free with rebates and promotional codes, mostly computer or electronic items. The biggest amount saved would have to be on the biggest ticket items, furniture, hardwood flooring and other home improvement items, typically saving 20-50%. It also seem the higher end items have the greatest potential for the biggest % savings. I have had at least a dozen transactions over $1k.