Could I be a Retail Wretch?

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.

@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. 

Gosh no wonder I have closed my business........

As someone stated above, it's an issue of class.  Either you have it or you don't.  Giving a dealer the opportunity to match a price is a touch of class.  Going into a dealer with the sole intention of using his facility and knowledge in order to then go on-line to purchase lacks class.  To the OP, next time you step into a dealer's store, right from the get-go, tell them you only there to listen and gather info for an on-line purchase.  A class dealer will still give you some assistance (assuming a potential real customer wasn't also needing attention).