Could I be a Retail Wretch?

If you owe the shop where you auditioned the gear, it is to be in on any eventual purchase if they are willing.  If you decide to buy, do the research on line and then go and see the dealer and tell them what it will cost you if bought elsewhere (be sure and include all costs including shipping) and ask if they can get anywhere near that. If they match it, buy from them. If they get close, consider buying from them, as the back up from a dealer you bought from is worth more than from a remote seller who probably doesn't give a damn once your payment went through.

I have had great luck doing this - the dealer appreciates my point of view and the fact that I feel obligated to give them a shot at it, and in the event that there are issues with the gear, local support beats remote hands down.

Smart dealers realize that it is business they otherwise wouldn't get and usually offer a better price. If they don't, at least you offered and needn't feel guilty.

I have also had great luck in calling out of province dealers 500 km away and telling them that I am going to buy a particular unit and can do it out of the US or from them if they give me a similar price.   Never been turned down.  There is always a lot of gear with no local representation  that one might want to try.

I see both sides to this and have dealt with elitist dealers who demand full retail while talking down to you.  I have given them second and even third chances... going back into their showroom while considering a new component.

Now... if they treat me poorly after I have given them a second chance I do not feel the smallest bit remorseful buying it elsewhere after auditioning it during their second chance opportunity.

These dealers are living in the 90's and need to understand that full retail is a tough pill to swallow, so they had better make MY buying experience orgasmic, otherwise I don't have much sympathy for them.

I don't expect them to price match someone who is slinging gear out of their garage with a website, but I also don't appreciate the derision and outrage they display when I ask them if they are negotiable off retail.

At this point, I'm done with them and haven't set foot in their store in over 5 years.  I watch them struggle to keep their doors open, yet they are still a "retail only" shop.  In this environment I don't expect them to be around much longer and it's their own fault quite frankly.  I know what they pay for their products and I know what the margins are.  At this point it's either pride or greed or a poorly run business - that keeps them trying to get full retail for their wares.

Guess what, 20 years ago I was billing at MUCH higher rates than I am now - but environments change and you either adapt or disappear.  For some reason the typical high-end B&M feels they should be immune to this phenomenon.  They aren't.  Period.

Ok, here's my 2 cents.

As was stated earlier, we need brick and mortar stores.  But at what cost?

A few years ago I was looking to upgrade my stereo and went to the local store that had helped me in the past (decades ago).  The salesman was very knowledgeable and very personable.  And of course offered some excellent opinions/ideas. 

I left the store with a new plan and wanted to spend some time thinking it through.

Fast forward a month or two, my wife and I were in Best Buy looking for a laptop and I went over to the Magnolia center to look around.  They had a McIntosh C50 on sale as they were replacing it with a C52 and they had an incredible price on it. I called the local store to see if they had anything similar going on and they said nope.

So I bought the one at Best Buy.

Fast forward three or four months and we were back in the same Best Buy and I went over to say hello and ended up talking cars for a while.  The manager asked how I was doing with my search and I told him I was scouring the want ads looking for a used set of MC601's..... He then asked how much I was willing to pay for a used set and when I told him he offered me a new set for very close to what I was looking to pay for used.  So, of course, I took him up on his offer but not before calling the local store to see what they could do.

As a few have stated, some of us work with limited resources.  And some of us just want to not be taken advantage of.  I do buy stuff at the local store even when I realize it can be bought elsewhere cheaper.  I don't mind paying extra to keep the local store in business.  But I won't spend thousands of dollars to do so.

Why yes, you are a retail wretch. Showrooming is stealing IMHO.

@viridian

I may have a different interpretation of Showrooming than you. I think it’s the act of gathering information at a B&M location with NO intent to purchase. I think my experience was quite different. I was committed to purchasing a specific item that day and I did so. The fact that, that store was not willing to sell below MSRP was their decision. So, I shopped elsewhere and made the purchase that day. 

Funny,  I came across a post you made earlier today, in regards to a fellow’s custom amp order not being fulfilled…

“LOL, you are supposed to be a business person. No one talks you into anything; you make a conscious decision to either accept, or reject, an offer, just as all of us in business do. 

And, as clients, we don’t really care what your margins are. We make the same decision you do, we either buy a product because it fills a need and we see it as a value, or we don’t. This is independent of your profit margin.

I bet that there are some excellent business classes at your local community college. You might avail yourself of their knowledge before posting again.”

So, I don’t think an educated consumer is stealing, if they negotiate with a retailer who is unwilling to be price competitive.