Author Topic: Support local X Get better deal online - I'm always torn!  (Read 2595 times)

SavingMon(k)ey

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Support local X Get better deal online - I'm always torn!
« on: September 16, 2013, 08:35:08 PM »
So, I'm just always torn on this. I can buy something from a local shop and support them, and make my community stronger with useful businesses that enhance the value of my neighborhood. Or I can go online and get it a few bucks cheaper, even after shipping, and watch the money leave my community (at least part of it). Just as an example, bike tubes. (And yes, I patch the old ones but sometimes you need new ones.) Support my local bike shop? Get them online? It happens with other things as well. What do you do?

lentilman

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Re: Support local X Get better deal online - I'm always torn!
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2013, 09:38:51 PM »
I almost always go out of my way to support the local business, even if they are significantly more expensive.  (By local I mean Mom & Pop shops, not the nearby Walmart)


KMMK

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Re: Support local X Get better deal online - I'm always torn!
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2013, 09:45:40 PM »
I support local, non-chain businesses as long as they also give me good service. I don't go to a business just because they are local, but if I can get the products I want, knowledgeable and personal service, at a price that, while higher, seems fair, I will readily do so. But if you're going to treat me poorly, I'll go online or to Walmart.

Khan

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Re: Support local X Get better deal online - I'm always torn!
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2013, 09:46:29 PM »
It depends on the item and the "local" option, but if I like the local option, then I will go out of my way to support it, and most especially: I won't go out of my way to get something cheaper elsewhere. An example would be book shopping, and for local I'll use the example of a Barnes and Noble(it's local enough, and we don't want it to pull a Borders). I *could* go to Barnes and Noble, and then order books online, which to me would be the most despicable option. I *could* just shop online in the first place, maybe even from Barnes and Noble's own website(thus getting the "cheaper" option while not supporting the local brick and mortar itself.... that still seems bad).

Or I could take my happy ass over to the bookstore, enjoy walking the aisles, and if anything strikes my fancy, buy it there.

I won't support local just for the sake of supporting local(I don't like buying anything in the first place), but if there's a shop worth supporting, and a product I like getting, yes, I'll support them.

Jamesqf

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Re: Support local X Get better deal online - I'm always torn!
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2013, 10:19:38 PM »
For me, the question is efficiency.  If "buying local" means spending a lot of my time & energy going around to a bunch of different stores trying to find what I need, then I'll shop on-line.  So if I need say a tube (or just about any bike part), then it's quicker to stop by the local bike shop.  But if it's computer parts, horse tack, or lots of other things, then it's much more efficient to buy on-line.

seattlecyclone

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Re: Support local X Get better deal online - I'm always torn!
« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2013, 10:42:04 PM »
I happen to live in the same city as Amazon's corporate headquarters, so this isn't as much of a dilemma for me. I can buy online and help pay the salary of some smart, overworked programmer in an office downtown, or I can buy from a smaller store and help out that shop's owners. Either way the local economy is served.

gooki

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Re: Support local X Get better deal online - I'm always torn!
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2013, 04:13:22 AM »
If I have the option to purchase locally made goods, the I try and buy local (food, furniture, etc).

If it is a massed produced product made overseas, then cheapest place gets my business.