While I generally agree on the tax issue since no one pays the local
taxes on stuff they buy on the internet, even though they are supposed
to, I disagree on the other economic points. All you have to do is go
back to the days when everything was local, i.e. the farmer to farmer
and you realize that its not a good economic model to create prosperity
for the country as a whole. Because the scale of things was very small,
it tended to be expensive, which left less money for everything else.
When the industrial revolution began, things started to change and you
could see a net gain for economic units larger than the family farm,
such as cities and countries. The same could be said of big box stores
and internet camera vendors. By keeping the margins small and depending
on volume, more stuff gets produced and sold, people have money to spend
on other stuff which further stimulates the economy, this ultimately
should benefit even your local community. I'm not entirely sure this is
better from a social aspect, as the quality of life can suffer as these
more intimate shopping experiences dissappear. Plus its nice to hold a
camera in your hands before taking a leap!
rg
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> The photographic industry needs your support right now, and I'd like to take
> a moment to convince anyone who is willing to listen why you're better off
> buying from local camera shops than internet sites or big box stores.
>
>
> When you buy something from a local store, there are two major advantages
> for your community (this is from a US point of view, so things may be
> slightly different elsewhere). First, your money is supporting local
> businesses and jobs, and it stays local. It doesn't go to some corporate
> headquarters on the other side of the country. Second, the taxes you pay
> support your local municipalities, such as schools and fire stations.
> Buying online does not support any of these services, which you may need
> some day.
>
> Buying local can also be more convenient in the event you need any sort of
> customer service. The fact that you can talk to someone face to face means
> you can usually get your problem solved in a more timely manner. At the
> very least, having a local specialty shop to go to usually means a large
> portion of the staff knows what they're talking about, and since they want
> to keep you as a customer they will usually do what it takes to make you
> happy (managers especially).
>
> Big box stores (by which I mean places like Fry's, Best Buy, Wal*Mart, etc)
> and internet stores don't care about the customer; they usually care more
> about sales volume. Their prices are low because they move so many items
> they don't need a large profit margin on most things. Their prices are also
> low because their staff is often not as knowledgeable about the products
> they sell as staff are at specialty shops, like the one I used to work at.
> In other words, the box stores tend to hire cheap labor.
>
> A lot of internet stores sell low-quality accessories at high markups
> because they know the customer won't know what they're getting till it
> arrives in the mail ("it comes with a memory card? great!"). I know a lot
> of PDML members probably wouldn't fall for that, but it something a lot of
> everyday buyers have no clue about.
>
>
> There are plenty more reasons for shopping at local stores and specialty
> shops, but suffice to say, if you want local camera shops to exist AT ALL in
> the future, please consider buying from them in the present. Yes, you'll
> probably pay a little more, but it's worth it in the long run.
>
> Isn't it?
>
> John Celio
> (if it weren't for so many people buying online and at big box stores, I'd
> probably still be working at Reed's)
>
> --
>
> http://www.neovenator.com
>
> AIM: Neopifex
>
> "Hey, I'm an artist. I can do whatever I want and pretend I'm making a
> statement."
>
>
>
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