This is the big problem. Stock. If a local store does not stock what I want then there no incentive for me to buy from them. I can order it as easy as the shop. Like Rob, eventually I will give up on a shop if everytime I look for something they don't have it in stock.

The other "issue" local shops have is knowledge. I suspect I'm pretty much normal in that before I decide to buy I research the crap out of whatever I'm interested in on the internet. I go to a shop for advice and I likely know more about that specific item then the sales person. There is very little value added. This is not a knock on the sales person. How can they know everything about everything?

My policy has to do with supporting local business. If the price is close and the item is in stock I'll buy locally. If not, I try to order through a Canadian internet seller and if that fails I order internationally via the web.

Quote Originally Posted by Rob MacLennan View Post
They do provide something, that the online shops can never provide for you; the ability to see the items you want to purchase, in person. Why else do so many people go to those brick and mortar stores, so that they can 'check out what they want to buy online'?

With that said I have stopped dealing with a store I've dealt with for decades because they no longer seem to stock anything I'm looking for any more and, when I try to order something in, it seems to take forever. When I asked them about a specific item I wanted to buy I was told that it no longer existed, but purchased directly from the manufacturer online. That didn't stop me from dealing with other shops though.