Imperceptible Materials
The best thing about online shopping is I don't have to meet people. The worst thing about online shopping is I don't meet people. This works for canned beans and batteries, but fresh foods? Furnitures? My distrust triumphs over my innate desire to stay indoor. I just have to feel the roundness of the cabbage, see the greens, touch the bouncy fruits. This size of potatoes calls for a hearty curry, this size would make nice midday snack.
And then there's the art supplies. If you do craft, workshop activity, or anything adjacent, I've found no better substitute to actually trying them out. No amount of review or product details can tell you if something will work for you. Photographs fool the eyes, reviews contradict each other or made by people who knew nothing of the product, details escape marketing copy.
Sometimes we simply lack the knowledge to properly filter the information. Back when I bought my first watercolor pens, I was completely naive and disappointed that it performed so badly on a random scrap paper. Very streaky, no blending can be done. So many people liked this product, did I get a bad batch? It was not a bad batch. I was expecting it to perform miracle on a paper I wouldn't use actual watercolor on. When I switched the surface, it worked like a dream. Suddenly, I remembered people who had left 1 star reviews, saying that the pens were patchy and the colors dull. Oh.
A friend of mine bought us a Japanese sketchbook. The paper inside was so thin you could see through the next sheet, but it was so nice to draw on. In theory, I know that heavier paper is not always better. Instinctively, I reached for pen and pencil. After drawing for a while, I realized that the thin sheets were in fact very strong and they were woven with visible lattice. I reached for my brushpen. The ink didn't bleed at all, and this bled on my notebook which had paper twice the weight (but was your normal copy paper otherwise). A juicier ink, then. Still, it resisted. I did a light wash. The paper buckled a bit, but straightened itself back remarkably after drying. Two layers of light wash. Now I knew what to get the next time I would need a new sketchbook. I looked up the prices online and was struck by many similar reviews: "The paper is so thin. Disappointed. Useless for anything but tracing."
Someone might like a pen a lot, but the heft (or lack thereof) isn't for me. Someone might review from a point of view completely remote from your use case. Something might react badly with the specific temperature and humidity of your area. Sometimes, it digs into your hand or skin uncomfortably because the way you wield your tools is different. Often, these are all things you can't readily voice out but immediately feel when you have the materials on hand.
This makes me yearn for more workshop/experience center kind of place where you can test things out before you buy and consult with the shopkeepers. With the disappearance of job security especially for the lower rung of professions, you don't get enough people staying long enough to actually know what they sell inside out, even for the nicest most well-meaning ones. These kind of shop takes up more space and considerably more effort than a mere warehouse you use to move things in and out an online storefront, so they tend to be more expensive. I have certainly tried things out only to order them online, so I'm part of the problem. I wonder if there's a good business model for this.
Anyway, it doesn't matter if you prefer buying online. Point is, if you decide to take the plunge and acquire a new tool, make sure you take time to manage your expectation and learn them. Read reviews, but take them with a grain of salt. If you leave reviews online, try to give context to your reviews so they would be actually helpful.