Supporting Local Audio Stores are we?


I know, money talks, bullshi* walks...
But having owned an audio store for about a dozen years, I know how tough it is to 'make a living' for a mom and pop store, without some sugar daddy/momma in the background funding the enterprize.
So, I am wondering if the nice folks of Audiogon support local businesses?
As I stated, "Money Talks" and I get it, we all want the best 'value' for our money. The question is...when does the price versus local support begin/end. When does the follow up and or service/set up outweigh the raw savings?
To be clear, I am not talking fantastic discounts, but a few percentage points off retail. I remember a painful transaction that I had once, during which a customer had taken home a particular CD player two weekends running, only to purchase elsewhere because he 'saved' $53.00 (on a $500. item). OUCH!
I contended that without the long term audition, he had nothing on which to base his purchase? How does everyone else see this?
Right now, its obviously a tough financial climate out there, but looking to more normal times, I am wondering how many of the readers/writers of Audiogon would forego price for service/set up? OK, forget buying great used pieces for fractions of original retail, everyone must probably assume that that's good for everyone, including the dealers, as this frees up customers who are now, 'back in the hunt'.

It will be interesting to hear back, it's been some time since the Brick and Mortar (at least for me) question was aired out.

Best,
Larry
lrsky
Direct from builder and used are the wave of the future I am certain.

My dealer hangs in there being open only on weekends except for appointments and has been in business this way as far back as I remember. I think it is a second source of income for him.
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Seems like we all want the moon but are expecting to pay the price of a thrift store shirt.
Some bitch about how much the dealer pays for item X from manufacturer Y, and sells for Z.
I think you may possibly have to work in retail to understand overheads etc, and not come out with figures out of your ass that you think you should be paying, or how much profit a company should be making. If you can't afford it or don't like the price, and are truly miffed when somebody makes a profit, then buy second hand. I mean who goes to work for nothing? except for maybe the pope, oops forgot he belongs to the richest entity on the planet, and then preaches about ending starvation, but that's a different topic.I used to work for a large department store,
possibly the most famous in the world, our mark up funnily enough I was in furniture, was wait for it... 150/170%!, now that may seen a lot of 'mark up' from what we paid for it, and you would be correct, BUT, the overheads, when they are all taken into consideration including the 110,000,000 million pounds sterling tax per year, (that awful three letter cuss word), staff, utilities, maintenance, land tax (huge amount due to size of premises in the most expensive part of town) etc etc, the profit margin whittled down to not a large percentage at the end of the day.
I try not to buy new because I think hi-fi gear, especially
as we are a dying breed, a mere grain of sand in the desert is way way to expensive. I would be interested to know how much a pair of the Martin Design Coltrane speakers selling at $295,000 costs the manufacturer to make, not really a good example so maybe a mass produced speaker manufacturer like Wilson, Dali or some such company would be a better example. An earth shattering price, a lottery win speaker for 99.9% of the population, and the other 00.1% should have better ears, more sense, and less money, oops back to the subject of money again,lol.