ORIGINAL: Hemikiller
ORIGINAL: Lamoilleriver
My obligation when it comes to spending money is to maximize its exchange to my benefit. The argument of paying more for an item because the local LHS owner is a nice guy and we want to keep him/her in business is not relavent. Maybe the LHS owner should sell his product for less because he/she wishes to see his customer have more money left over to feed their family?
That's a very short-sighted view. I'm all for saving a buck, but did you ever consider where your money goes after it's spent? If you buy from HK, it's going straight to China's economy. If you spend it at the LHS, it benefits the owner, the community around him, the distributor he buys from and the employees and community there, and then on to the manufacturer of the product (wherever they may be) and their employees, etc etc etc. The LHS is not always more expensive than the online stores, most items are now street priced so that online and the LHS have a relatively level playing field. GP/Hobbico/Tower still loves to stick it to their dealers with their coupons, but Horizon is pretty good about not messing around.
FWIW, you've got it completely backwards, the customer should be taking care of his family and other obligations first. If it's the other way around, he deserves whatever happens to him.
Sounds like a good union man
Sorry, but altrusim does not exist. Companies are in business to make a profit - and profit is a function of cost. The LHS buysjust as much stuff from China but tacks on profit. And it is not my responsiblity to make sure he has the profit to feed his family. So unless he can cut down costs by buying in bulk or saving shipping costs I'll buy online as much as I need.