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I've been shopping on Amazon.com for years and have always had a good experience. Just within the past six months I've ordered from them three times. Amazon has what I need--from baby basics like diapers to books to clothing, electronics, and more--at the price I want, usually with free shipping. When I don't use Amazon for shopping, I often use it as my main price comparison. That's what I did this summer when I was shopping for a new bed. Yes, they sell beds, too.

My experience
My most recent purchase was of some baby products. With two kids, I find it hard to shop in stores (who am I kidding? It's hard to get out of the house!) so I've been doing a lot of online shopping in the last few months. I like that I can do my one-stop shopping at Amazon. Where once they only sold books, they now offer a huge catalog of products (not all directly through their warehouse). I purchased an assortment of stuff including an economy-size box of diapers, some nursing clothing, nursing pads, a SwaddleMe blanket, and a stroller. I chose the free shipping method but had to pay shipping on the nursing clothing since it was offered through a participating store. Amazon will ship things separately if the entire order isn't ready. The diapers arrived in two days. The SwaddleMe blanket arrived in four. The nursing pajamas arrived in five days. All of the products arrived in good condition.

I have used Amazon for years. I originally used it as a research tool at work to look up book information. Sometimes their info was more comprehensive than publisher Web sites. Then, maybe around 2000, a friend mentioned that Amazon started selling toys. From there, Amazon launched a slew of other "departments" on its site including "Electronics and Computers," "Grocery," and "Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry." It's great for someone who wants to "get in and out" of a store quickly, albeit an online store, but still manage to hit all of the stores. It's like a mini mall with a search field.

As the site has grown, the home page layout has gotten more and more cluttered. Still, I can always find what I want through the search field or through the department menu (now located on the left-hand side; they used to be tabs at the top). I do often get distracted by all the advertised items on the home page. But I usually don't mind scrolling through them to see what's new.

Amazon remembers your recent purchases and makes recommendations for future purchases based on your history. I even get emails sometimes advertising on-sale items that I've previously purchased.

Another nice thing about the site, are the reviews and user lists. I remember clicking through at least 20 lists to find the best items to add to my baby registry when I was pregnant with my daughter. I cross-referenced their usually shorter, less comprehensive reviews with the ones on Epinions, but loved the fact that I could get suggestions from real people.

Free supersaver shipping
Amazon offers free shipping on purchases of $25 or more (the catch is that the products must ship out of Amazon directly, not through one of the other stores showcased on the site--those are subject to individual shipping fees). Though the free shipping option means the package could take as much as 7-10 days to arrive, I've been very happy and pleasantly surprised with the speed. I am thrifty and though I wanted a copy of the newest Harry Potter book the day it came out back in July, I opted for the free shipping and expected it a few days after the book's launch. To my surprise, it arrived the day the book went on sale. Other shipments have arrived with almost as much speed. Other than when I ordered a stroller that was on back order, I've never had to wait more than a week for my free shipping packages from Amazon.

Price adjustments
I'm not sure if this is a storewide policy, but I learned in the summer that Amazon has a price adjustment feature. I preordered Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows several months in advance and was happy that my price adjusted when the price was dropped on Amazon. It was automatic. I've since heard that this wasn't a one-time perk and that Amazon offers this on other products. I haven't checked into this yet.

Billed when shipped
Another great thing about Amazon is that they don't bill you until your item ships. For instance, I ordered a bunch of baby supplies in the summer and received them in four separate shippings. The first of which arrived the very next day after I received email confirmation that it shipped (two days after my order). I was disappointed to see after I transmitted the order that the stroller I coveted was estimated to arrive after my due date. But, alas, I received an email about a week afterward saying it had already shipped. I was so shocked to see it that quickly.

Some drawbacks
I have two issues with Amazon. One is that you usually end up dealing with an assortment of companies. This means that you often can't take advantage of the free shipping perk and have to rely on individual shipping timelines. In my experience, though, I've never had a hard time with any of the participating companies. They all seem to be reliable and, other than some sometimes slightly high shipping fees, have gotten me my products in good condition when I wanted them.

The other issue I have with Amazon is that it's impossible to find coupons! Yes, they have their year-round free shipping offer, and, yes, they offer products at competitive prices, but what's a good coupon-finder to do when none are offered? Because of this, I can often get a better deal by going directly through the participating companies' Web sites instead of through the Amazon portal. For instance, I purchased Halloween costumes last year directly through Target instead of through Amazon's Target listing because I was able to get free shipping and $10 off.

Overall
For its competitive prices, one-stop shopping convenience, huge selection, easy navigation, previous reliability, and free shipping (usually), Amazon is a site I return to again and again. Highly recommended.