Local vs. online shopping

We have a real camera store in Lubbock, the only real camera store between Dallas, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is not a Big Box store with inexperienced, rotating 20-somethings trying to sell cameras, computers and refrigerators to customers, it is a real store staffed by people who are expert photographers and who are devoted to photography and customer service; they want their customers to take great photos. I visit the store frequently and listen to the staff help walk-in people with camera problems, make honest recommendations on new equipment, and provide photographic advice. This is what is quaintly known these days as "full service" and it costs money to have experts on staff six days a week. 

The store sells cameras, lenses and accessories for suggested retail price. The inventory is easily worth $250,000 just so that customers can buy what they need when they enter the store. My local store is in competition with online retailers and Big Box stores who, with lower prices and often no real inventory, offer no support or expertise and just sell cameras and lenses (and good luck if you have a problem with them). Why the price difference? The first factor is volume; it is cheaper to sell to thousands than it is to sell to tens. The second is service; local experts willing to help. The third is sales tax which is 8.25% here. 

I do buy clothes online from retailers like LL Bean and Orvis because it is impossible to get quality cotton field clothes locally. However, I make every effort to buy local items from local merchants; if I can get it locally I buy it locally. The people in our small local stores provide excellent service at fair prices, and that is something I value. During my time at the local camera store I have seen people walk in and take an hour or more of the staff time to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of particular cameras, and then demand a discount equivalent to the price on some online store that provides no service and has no sales tax. You can imagine what I think about this behavior. (And how will my local store pay the man or woman who spent the hour answering your questions and providing you unbiased, honest advice?)  The fact of the matter is that local is quality, local is service, and local is good for all of us. Buy local when you can, it matters.