Calanctus
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2002
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Folks,
I'd like your feedback on an ethical issue (more than one of these threads here today). I'm looking into buying some speakers. Naturally, I've done considerable research on the Net, trying to pick a set I will like. But reading other people's impressions is not the same as listening myself, so I've also visited a few stores in the area to audition speakers myself. I've learned a few things I never could have learned merely by reading posts on various forums (even forums populated by folks as fine as yourselves).
Soon, it will be time to buy. Armed with the experience of the in-store auditions, I could simply hunt for the lowest possible price on the Net and have my speakers delivered (assuming I can find the brand I want from an online store). But is this ethically right?
Here is what Stereophile's John Marks says on the subject:
"...people using a local audio dealer's demonstration-facility investment and workday time to decide what it is they want to buy, and then shopping for it online and used...is using people's business resources--and emotional resources and personal resilience--in bad faith." (From the July issue.)
After auditioning speakers in-store, am I obligated to buy only from there--even if I find a far better price online? Could I perhaps buy online and trot back to the store to give the sales guy $50 to ease my conscience? Should I not even shop online (and close my eyes if I stumble across some great deal posted in a forum somewhere)? What do you folks do?
Calanctus
I'd like your feedback on an ethical issue (more than one of these threads here today). I'm looking into buying some speakers. Naturally, I've done considerable research on the Net, trying to pick a set I will like. But reading other people's impressions is not the same as listening myself, so I've also visited a few stores in the area to audition speakers myself. I've learned a few things I never could have learned merely by reading posts on various forums (even forums populated by folks as fine as yourselves).
Soon, it will be time to buy. Armed with the experience of the in-store auditions, I could simply hunt for the lowest possible price on the Net and have my speakers delivered (assuming I can find the brand I want from an online store). But is this ethically right?
Here is what Stereophile's John Marks says on the subject:
"...people using a local audio dealer's demonstration-facility investment and workday time to decide what it is they want to buy, and then shopping for it online and used...is using people's business resources--and emotional resources and personal resilience--in bad faith." (From the July issue.)
After auditioning speakers in-store, am I obligated to buy only from there--even if I find a far better price online? Could I perhaps buy online and trot back to the store to give the sales guy $50 to ease my conscience? Should I not even shop online (and close my eyes if I stumble across some great deal posted in a forum somewhere)? What do you folks do?
Calanctus