Stap found that he ended up buying more than he first intended- the primary goal of retailing, regardless of channel or product/service - and he ended up happy and willing to do so again - the secondary goal!!

Bike related - I needed new tandem wheels, found a new handmade set of hand built on ebay, turns out they were carefully build by a specialist LBS in Denver who use ebay as another sales channel, bought 'em, arrived safe and quick, as part of the transaction we talked road bikes, the proprietor stocks RockyMountain, so a second order went in for a steel/carbon, Ultegra, Ksyrium Elite equipped source of joy.

I am a happy fan of online shopping (but I buy air tickets from a person, not a site, and I'd advise all to do the same)