It starts as curiosity. Then it becomes a hobby. But not long after, for those who have explored the world of shopping online, clicking "add to cart" becomes a habit.
Or even an addiction.
Jonathan Lenz considers himself a recovering online shopping addict. After spending about $200 at online auctions such as marketplace giant eBay, within a semester and a half of college, the microbiology junior has stepped on the other side of the bidding table.
"I'm actually selling a bunch of stuff online," he said. "I've bought a lot of junk kind of compulsively and realized that I really didn't need it."
And he has found eBay is the perfect way to get rid of bad presents, especially ones from ex-girlfriends.
"You've never used them before and now that you're broken up you definitely feel a little weird having them around and looking at them," he said.
But Lenz still hangs onto a good portion of the items he purchased during his "problem."
Some of his favorite purchases are a 4-foot inflatable blimp waiting for helium, a blow-gun he uses for target practice, a palm pilot, a slew of hard-to-find books readily available online and shuttle mission patches from NASA.com.
And while those keepsakes are unique and well worth the money, Lenz said the difficulty of keeping tabs on how much he spent online led to his problem.
"It's hard to keep track of how much money you've spent until you realize you have to buy your mom a birthday present," he said. "It's not like having a wallet of cash where you can see your money going down."
Other students consider their bidding and buying under control.
BethAnn Stark just purchased her 40th DVD from the Internet, but the history sophomore said her collection is far from complete.
It's been about a year now since Stark investigated Internet shopping, scouring eBay and online stores for good deals. But what started as smart shopping soon became a lifestyle.
"I must admit that I am an eBay addict. Fortunately, admitting you have a problem is the first step," Stark said. "I am a shopaholic to begin with and I love great deals. EBay is a place where I get great deals all time."
Stark said she got hooked during her freshman year after a roommate began to bid on unique items on eBay.
Thirty of her DVDs came from eBay, the others from places such as Bestbuy.com or Disney.com, where she just purchased "The Swiss Family Robinson."
"There isn't really anything that I have looked for that I haven't found," Stark said. "Sometimes you have to get creative with where you look if it's a specific item. It's always disappointing to go to the store and not find what you're looking for, but shopping online you usually find what you want and for a decent price."
But bidding and buying isn't near the extent of her monetary dealings online.
"I do all my banking online," she said. "And I buy clothes, though not as often."
Stark said online shopping at various stores has numerous benefits - but eBay is her favorite.
"Many things can be won very inexpensively; you can find things that are pretty impossible to find elsewhere and there is so much stuff to look at and find - it is kind of cool just to look at things," she said.
And Stark is right, it seems like anything and everything can be found by hitting "search" on the eBay home page, whether the item is located in Chicago or Hong Kong.
From a 1968 Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle to a 1984 Van Halen tour T-shirt in near-mint condition, it's easy to see how people get caught up in the bidding. In fact, Web sites such as eBay and other online stores could be revolutionizing business to consumer relationships worldwide.
Paul A. Rubin, professor of management science, said most Internet shopping sites allow customers to access information and to order items at any hour of the day. And while consumers often get a good deal by checking out some of those Web sites, Rubin said the companies benefit as well.
"A big part of the cost savings to the sellers is not having to pay as many people to take orders over the phone or process mail orders," he said. "The tricky part is that consumers are beginning to look for and perhaps expect the convenience and low prices of Internet buying plus some semblance of the personal contact they are used to from store purchases."
As a result, some online businesses provide customers with the option of partaking in an online chat with a customer representative, Rubin said.
In his Management 820 and 821 classes, students are required to propose and, in some cases, create their own online businesses. Rubin said starting one's own online business isn't difficult and can be done with less than a $1,000 initial capital outlay. The hard part about opening your own online store is attracting consumers.
But more and more people are starting to look to the Internet for just about everything, he said.
"Online purchasing remains a rather small fraction of total consumer spending, so there is certainly growth room," he said. "Each new generation of shoppers is progressively more comfortable with shopping online, which helps, as does the fact that online retail sellers are getting better at building shopping sites."
Online shopping is attractive for many reasons, Rubin said, adding fears of terrorism in high-profile areas such as malls have caused a slight growth in Internet commerce.
"From the consumer perspective, the biggest one may be convenience, both in terms of location and time," he said. "Lower cost is frequently cited as another benefit, including avoidance of sales taxes."
In Michigan, online purchases are supposed to be reported on income tax returns, but Rubin said compliance to that is, at best, hit-and-miss.
Another benefit of shopping online is the ability to "window shop" without being annoyed by salespeople, Rubin said.
But along with addiction, online shopping can have a few other downsides.
"If you anticipate the possibility of a problem with the purchase, you are more likely to be confident in your ability to return it to a bricks-and-mortar store, or scream at someone until they fix the problem than in your ability to return it to an online store," Rubin said.
