When you need an item for your home, what's your favorite online place to shop and what's your favorite "bricks and mortar" store to shop for such items?

I head to Sears.

I run down comparisons between eBay, Amazon, and Walmart (online). Sometimes a deal will be ultimate at Walmart, sometimes I can look up products displayed on eBay (you know the ones with brand names you’ve really never heard of) I typically verify their usage on YouTube or forums. But those are my main three. I like to think I’m a liberal and would love to shop local more often, but local prices just don’t fit my budget at the moment :X Hopefully someday I’ll make at least 60k then I would be more than glad to shop “retail suggested” prices.

Bed, Bath, and Beyond
Macy’s
Target

If it is for bedding I also would go to Bloomingdale’s if I can wait until I am near one.

Usually in that order. All brick and mortar, I rarely shop online.

After comparing prices for both online and in store, I usually end up buying at WalMart or Target. My new laptop was purchased from Staples online.

For major appliances, I like to check out Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Sears. Bathroom fixtures would be the first two places, since I don’t think Sears sells toilets and faucets. Yet. Personally, I’ve found that online shopping for these things confuses me more than it helps me. I have to physically go to the stores and see every detail.

For small appliances, it’s usually Walmart for me. Ditto for kitchen goods and storage things. Bedding varies, depending on what I’m looking for. Sheets have to be high quality, so I usually end up ordering them online (Overstock.com is pretty good for that) but for blankets, comforters or quilts it doesn’t matter so much since they’re not touching my skin. I’ll buy them anywhere I find something I like.

For inexpensive decor, I like Pier One and Target, either online or the stores.

Walmart, or Lowe’s if I can’t find the item at Walmart. It isn’t so much that I love these stores, they are just what is available and where I can afford to shop. There is also a nice, locally owned and run hardware store by my house that I like to buy things for the house. It’s not expensive, and I like to support local business when possible.
I really don’t shop online, not at all, I really like to be able to touch an item, see it, scale it, try it on, whatever the case may be. Does Craigslist count?

Big Appliances: Home Depot
runner up: Sears

Small Appliances: Sears
runner up: Bed Bath & Beyond

Home Decor: Home Goods
runner up: Target

Furniture: Jordan’s Furniture
runner up: Home Goods

Home Decor or small items: Home Goods or Pier One or World Market.

Why limit it to a few stores? I use Google shopper and the internet to search for the cheapest price everywhere. I have found prices ranging up to double the lowest price I find. Or half the highest price I find.

Recently we bought a refrigerator. We shopped all over and figured out what we wanted, and then added in delivery and installation costs. Lo and behold, we got the best deal at a local vendor we have been using for years. They gave us a loyal customer discount and delivered it exactly when we wanted it (delayed due to road construction that made it impossible for them to access our house as soon as we wanted). They even came back to fix a small problem they had created the first time.

As the internet starts to have to pay taxes in each state, I think we’ll start to see that brick and mortar stores are much more competitive.

Appliances? Best Buy.

Small Appliances? Amazon.