skiflyer
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2008
- Posts
- 118
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- 0
I'm on the side of wasting a dealers time is unethical. Stealing I think takes the discussion too far... but that's neither here nor there.
Be practical about it. If that mode gets too prevalent you're putting people out of business and you don't get to take advantage of the free auditions anymore. You're only screwing yourself.
On the other side of the coin, I'm not going to feel obligated to pay a dealer because I walked in and got awful service. I'm also not going to feel obligated because I walked in and got phenomenal service. I set a margin that's worth it to me. It's significant at about 15-20% depending on the items I'm buying. If the online store is going to save me 25% I'm up front with the dealer and tell them, man, I really appreciate the help and I'll almost certainly be back for more, but do you know your supplier is distributing in such a way that I get a quarter off if I buy it online?
I think I've run into precisely two situations where markups at the dealer were greater than what I felt their services were worth. The first one I bought anyway because I wanted it NOW DAMNIT! The second one I also bought anyway because I told the dealer, and he told me why, and the reason was warranty based, and I verified, and he was right and that was worth it to me.
Anyway, your mileage may vary... but if you waste retailers time you're driving down the quality of service you and everyone else gets.
Be practical about it. If that mode gets too prevalent you're putting people out of business and you don't get to take advantage of the free auditions anymore. You're only screwing yourself.
On the other side of the coin, I'm not going to feel obligated to pay a dealer because I walked in and got awful service. I'm also not going to feel obligated because I walked in and got phenomenal service. I set a margin that's worth it to me. It's significant at about 15-20% depending on the items I'm buying. If the online store is going to save me 25% I'm up front with the dealer and tell them, man, I really appreciate the help and I'll almost certainly be back for more, but do you know your supplier is distributing in such a way that I get a quarter off if I buy it online?
I think I've run into precisely two situations where markups at the dealer were greater than what I felt their services were worth. The first one I bought anyway because I wanted it NOW DAMNIT! The second one I also bought anyway because I told the dealer, and he told me why, and the reason was warranty based, and I verified, and he was right and that was worth it to me.
Anyway, your mileage may vary... but if you waste retailers time you're driving down the quality of service you and everyone else gets.