Poll: Buy online or locally? (1 Viewer)

[Bill_D]

Jeff,
In the "active thread" that DerekF alluded to, these are actual posted comments from a dealer in your neck of the woods(VA):

Beieve it or not, clients that utter the "D" word (discount) are politely shown the door.
I have no problem with the fact that you want to get the most for your money but that does not mean that a local retailer is bad, arrogant, etc. for charging list price.
I must concentrate on clients that are extremely demanding and that have budgets that most here can only dream of.

Downgrade my willingness to deal with the dealer to b.

 

[Rick_FL]

I always try and buy my equipment locally, and since I use Amex that has BVG, I just get a pricematch to the lowest internet price(up to $250 per receipt, $1000 a year)

 

[Evan M.]

Brae, it is very obvious that you have had problems with your local audio buisnesses and you are very pationate about shopping on-line as an alternative. I do not blame you. Me being someone who has had wonderful luck shopping in my local area feels bad that many people out there such as yourself can't experience what it is like to be treated as a human in these establishments. The only thing that confuses me about your post is how you feel people have been "bashing" you for shopping online. I re-read my and other posts about defending local shops and i could not find anything that could resemble bashing. What we were talking about is people who unnessesaril "use" a salesperson and lure them in believing that we are going to purchase from them when all along we just wanted to listen to the equipment and buy on-line. All we were saying was that if that was the intent then just tell the salesperson your intetion and he could set you up and not waste his and your time. If you read one of the first posts in this thread someone said that "you have to be an idiot to buy something at m.s.r.p." to me that is bashing. If for whatever reason you feel I have bashed you than I do apologize, it was not intended.
Eric, is that 20% good salesperson thing true or is that assumed. I hope it is assumed because if not the future is not looking good for local buisnesses . I agree with you that this should not turn into a flame war. A lot of good points have been brought up and I have learned a lot as well. I would hate to see this thread (in my opinion one of the best threads going right now) turn into an argument.

 

[Mark.D]

I plan to literally buy about $15,000 worth of AV equipment and $12,000 in custom HT seating from on-line sources... Before I make such purchases, I plan to check out the local high end AV stores for the hardware to scope it out and listen to it first hand. For the custom HT seating, I plan to travel from Atlanta to Boca Raton, Fla. to see Acousitic Innovations showroom first hand... to me a $200 priceline round trip air ticket is worth it.

Buying on line is gonna save me a couple thousand dollars in taxes... not to mention I'll also save another grand in shipping (these places offer free shipping, at least the AV guys do that I found) plus I'm also saving a few thousand buy on-line pricing vs. retail.

Heck yeah I'll buy on line to save 5 grand.

M.

 

[Rick_FL]

Win the lottery mark? share with me
Install a bowling alley while you're at it

 

[Brae]

I always try and buy my equipment locally, and since I use Amex that has BVG, I just get a pricematch to the lowest internet price(up to $250 per receipt, $1000 a year)

This is a very limited program that Amex offers. First, list price for my receiver is $1400 and cheapest list is $826. I would have had to pay 'more' than what I did by buying at a no-negotiation shop.
Also, this is only good for products that are found on the internet, and that have manufacturers that support the product with a warranty for your Internet transaction.
Sorry, Amex's program isn't good enough. Now, imagine trying to buy a Sharp 9000 for under $5K when the local dealers want several thousand dollars more. Again, this program is useless. So, for my receiver (it would be a loss), my speakers (not available online), and the digital projector this is worthless.
Now, if I were buying the $179 Wal-Mart TV special ...

 

[Rick_FL]

Brae: I know, it has it's limitations. I still use it though.

and BTW, I would never buy a 180lb projection TV over the net. I would buy it locally, and still pricematch it to the net, even if I only get $250 back

 

[Eric_L]

The 20% number is not an arbitraty figure, though it is liblerally deduced.
Here is where I got the primary info:
http://mediaresearchak.org/gallup_poll.htm
Note: salesman is not a category, but car dealers and stockbroker are - which are sales professionals. Most would agree that 'salesmen' in general fall somewhere above the scourge of the land (car dealers) and Stockbrokers. I pick a midpoint, 20% (because the math is easier than 19%!)
I then deduce that if only 20% of people find a profession trustworthy, then only 20% of those professionals ARE trustworthy!
As a sales professional (My profession falls in the 23% category) I find that to be about true.
Now, that's not to say that 80% are untrustworthy scums, but trustworthy has to be qualified. I consider it a blend of these traits: Competence, integrity and empathy. A person can be any one of the three, but without the other two they cannot be trusted for their advice. Most salespeople err on the side of competence, not integrity or empathy.
So there you go, I read a heck of alot into that statistic, but I think it is fairly well rationalized. I think most folks could back it up w personal experience as well.
Of course, that survey also has room for bias, for example, 'Rich People'. I doubt that only 43% are trustworthy, it is just an artifact of class warfare that some people try to foister upon us. Same for Catholic Priests. I'm sure that at least more than 50% can be trusted with confessional materials!

 

[Eric_L]

I should add, that in my OWN practice, the discount/premium I charge is directly related to the customers PITA factor.
(Pain In The Ass)

I also haggle the same way, if I used an hour of the salesman's time, and he was helpful, then I am willing to spend more.

I can't emphasize enough how important is is to have a good relationship with a salesperson. Really, try it. I have first name relationships with a wine specialist, a movie rental clerk, (who's queer as a $3 bill but knows movies very well), a shoe salesman, a tailor, a computer vendor, a software vendor and more. Heck, even the manager of Home Depot!

Each one of these people know my likes, dislikes, needs, etc. I have developed a trust with them where I can walk in and say 'I need something, what do you suggest?' and I can walk out happy. That saves me time in the store, time being frustrated with a product I don't like, and the pleasure of getting the right product most times.

When they goof, I tell them, so they can improve and serve me better next time. Ya, sometimes they're busy. That's the price of being good.

Please, go out and develop these relationships yourself, you will have to dig through many weeds, but you will come to appreciate the real pros you unearth.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

Evan I didn't state the following:

I've even been to some stores where the product was priced higher than the mfg suggested retail

Personally I can't see the logic of how this can be construed as bashing, I think most would see these posts as an assessment of logic, after all, most people believe in getting the most for the money spent.

 

[Evan M.]

Robert, I stand semi-corrected. I agree I did misquote you, my bad and I do apologize. I always hated doing that damn bibliography back in the college days . however as someone who has purchased things at m.s.r.p. on several occasions because of the incredibly good service and people who i know will do all they can to help me if i need it, i did take offense at the "idiot" comment. However as you stated in your prior post that you have seen people purchase items for above the m.s.r.p. and shops that get away doing this then I can see your rational. I must not have read that other post. I however see this as terrible business practices and think that the owners of the stores are doing a great disservice in taking advantage of people who simply did not do their research. I think everyone has bought things spontaneously at one point or another. I myself have not ever seen this practice first hand so when I read the idiot comment I thought it was in reference to people who pay m.s.r.p.
About your posts as being "an assessment of logic", whose logic are we referring to? of course people want to get the most for their money. That is common sense. However what that money is representing in the overall purchase varies. When I buy a product for a bit more than I could have paid on-line, I know that some of that extra money goes into the convenience of going home with it that day, the service and help that they provided, and the service that I know I will get if something were to go wrong. To me this is getting the most for my money. Maybe to you getting the most for your money is getting a great product for a great price and sacrificing some of the things that I just mentioned. If that were the case I of course would not care because A) it is none of my business and B) everyone has a different thought process when purchasing something, neither is right or wrong.
Again I do apologize to you and the forum for misquoting you, I know that is a no no and could hurt the integrity of the poster and the forum overall. I hope I was able to shed at least a little light on my thought process. I know I get wordy so i am sorry for the long post.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

No prob Evan, maybe it should be me apologizing as if I posted a longer and more thorough post then I might not have been misquoted (I looked over my original post and can now see it at your previous view point). The irony of all these posts are that people who fail to research somewhat deserves what they get, but it's a shame that some bad dealers and manufacturers are there to take advantage of them.
I see nothing wrong with paying more for speed but in reality the amount of wages some make per hour makes me question a financial decision such that they should maybe wait a week for delivery for either a superior product (for example some can order a Denon 3802 online vs a 2802 locally for a similar price) or even the same product as for some the difference might be a weeks wage. As others stated earlier it might just simply be a matter of economics or simply the bargain hunter (a principle that states that a person should never pay full price, I fit this category and will admit it) or most likely a combination of both.
I also believe though that some of the online dealers should also be dealt with as well, there are a lot these individuals that do put great customer service and products that should maybe get more hype and consideration than some that seem to me maybe living on their name. I do find it shocking that some won't even consider checking out products from these companies as it seems most that do own them are more than willing to do a demo and all one would have to do is to find one near you and some common free time to try this out (check out www.audioenvy.com thats what made me build my subs two years ago). Just looking at how most of act on these audio forum sites (we all seem to get along for the most part and it seems we all do go out of our way to help one another) I don't think it'd be too hard to find a very "kick ass" type of setup to demo and have fun hanging out with someone who shares this hobby as well.

 

[Evan M.]

I agree with you Robert. I think some of us traditionalists are missing out on totaly dismissing shopping on line. I know there are many fine buisnesses that we are missing out on. To be honest with you I have heard of so many nightmare stories about people buying from on-line markets that i think it scares people and we don't mind paying a bit more for the reassurance. I will probably be purchasing my first item on-line when i purchase the SVS sub I have my eye on. At any rate, this thread has been a really good learning experience for me and hopefully others who ask themselves the same questions. That is why I like this forum. The people here are very helpfull and open to good deabate (as long as it doesn't get out of control of course ).