I’ve purchased a ton of gear online, both because a lot of the gear I WANT isn’t available locally (like you said WeaponZero), but also because I’ve been suckered into falling for too many Sportbike Track Gear clearance sales to count.
BUT, I’ve also purchased a lot of gear locally and wholly support Eon’s argument in favor of buying locally. I’m close to the guys at the local Suzuki dealership, having purchased two bikes, two full exhaust systems, a ton of parts, and a bunch of gear from their establishment. They’re great guys, and based on a few products I bought where I knew what the cost to the dealer was, I know the deals they give me are perfectly fair given the economy and their struggling business. Still, their “deal” prices can be higher than the normal prices on STG. Yet I go in there not to buy something I’ve seen a picture of, but rather to try things on, talk to the guys behind the counter, spend hours with them looking through catalogs for the best value in a 3rd party pair of front brake rotors, etc. Yes, they have worse selection. Yes, they have higher prices, but the pricing is usually the result of operating at much lower volume (which means their distributors sell to them at higher cost).
Here’s the catch: doing it the Amazon way (to use the extreme example of online mass-sale) is always cheaper for everybody involved. They don’t need sales clerks or specialists to answer your questions. They don’t need to worry about ordering too many different products in case they don’t all sell. They deal in such high volume in such a variety of products, that they can be incredibly cost efficient in distribution and storage, and they can set their prices such that they lose money on some things in order to draw customers in to buy the profitable things. Did you know that a huge portion of the products Amazon sells are at a loss? Copies of the last Harry Potter book were pre-sold at a HUGE loss just to attract new customers and further brand loyalty with existing customers. Big online stores don’t play by the same rules that small mom and pop stores do, and it’s a big mistake to think that, because you got a jacket for $130 online, that $200 was an unreasonable price at your dealer. It could be, but I don’t know that it is. They have to eat, after all.
But just because it’s financially cheaper, don’t think that you aren’t sacrificing something. Amazon only works when you know exactly what you want. The problem with the Amazon approach is that it messes you up when you actually need the person-to-person interaction, the ability to see before you buy, and help finding out what product will be right for you. There are plenty of occasions when I don’t need that, but to ever have the option when I do, I feel I have to do my part to keep deserving local businesses alive.People wonder where customer service went, but they don’t need to wonder. Customer service is gone because people voted with their wallets in favor of cheap products over good service. Companies listened.