Online or in store?

It occurred to me recently that I absolutely cannot get to grips with in store fabric shopping.  I was at another sewing show yesterday and I was mooching around the fabric stalls and it occurred to me that I just don't like shopping for fabric "in real life". As you know I'm pretty new to all this sewing stuff, and I still haven't quite gotten to grips with what fabrics are, and sometimes the descriptions aren't too elaborate.  I just sort of stand there stroking the fabric and not too sure what to do next, it's even worse if I'm buying for a specific pattern that requires a specific type of fabric.  Then if I do end up buying something, it ends up costing me way more than I thought (I get carried away sometimes), I buy more than I need and then I get home and go to wash it only to find that I have no idea what washing instructions are needed for it. It frustrates the heck out of me.

Whereas online, I know I can sit with a mug of tea, search through endless pages, search for very specific fabric types for specific patterns I'm planning to make, do that last minute recheck of how much I need so I don't buy too much, and I can budget, I can put things in my basket and only click "checkout" when I'm happy.  I don't think I've ever bought anything online and been disappointed with the quality, feel or colour.  I know that if I buy something super cheap from eBay then I'll set my expectations low and use it for cheap disposable projects. Otherwise, I use places that have a big selection, and some even have videos posted of someone scrunching and holding the fabric so you can get a feel for the drape.  And when it arrives and I've inevitably forgotten the washing instructions, I can go back online and check.  It also makes it super easy to reorder in the future, instead of going back into the shop and asking if they still have that kind of blue-ish light cotton with the kind of circle pattern and them looking at you like you're nuts.

Does anyone else feel this way about online vs in store?  Or am I missing a technique or something?  It'd be really interesting to hear people's views!