Scott...
Great subject.
Price matters. But no less than service and product knowledge.

Once all the homework has been done, it is just human nature to buy at the most economical source. Regretfully, a lot of so-called brick and mortars are in for quick, high volume sales with transparant markups and markdowns. (George and Dano are notable exceptions.) My experience locally has revealed a distinct lack of knowledgable help...and mininal, if any, help after the sale.

I really do WANT to deal with local stores first, even if it costs a few bucks more. But if they don't offer the desired product... or have the desired product but lack product knowledge and can't back up the sale with service... no deal.

A personal for-instance (yes, I will mention the name. Don't sue me): Mars.

I did the homework on a $3000 kb that I could have bought on line for less.

The Martians didn't know a whole lot about the keyboard, but they hyped the warranty and offered a floor model a few hundred bucks below list. They convinced me the warranty was my fail safe guanrantee of satisfaction.

Within 30 days the keyboard failed to operate properly. Not only could they not fix it, they were aggitated by my phone calls and said they had no idea where I could go for service, outside of sending the KB back to the manufacturer myself. And, because it was a floor model, they would not refund or exchange it.

It took weeks, several hundred miles of travel and tons of time for me to find a qualified, authorized service rep that could honor the warranty. I just could not believe the retailer could not supply the information I found on my own.

That was my last purchase from Mars (by the way, how are they doing?)

I have since purchased 2 other keyboards, two speakers, a monitor and an amp...most of them online...all with a minimum of 30-day satisfaction guarantee. I tried to find what I wanted at a local retailer. The only mom & pop retailer in my area are nice folks and personal friends... but are so Technics and Peavey oriented they will hardly aknowledge there is anything else out there. So, I ended up going online.

One of the online stores has even called several times to make sure I am satisfied offering any other assistance they could.

We all want the most bang for the buck...however it is foolhardy not to factor in the value of having a knowledgable, willing retailer that really cares about making sure the product, service and customer are well suited to each other.

As Charles Barcley says: "I may be wrong, but I don't think so."

Eddie