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Buy Online vs Local

Buy Online vs Local

  • Buy local, when possible.

    Votes: 39 48.8%

  • Buy local, if cheaper.

    Votes: 17 21.3%

  • Buy local, no matter what.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Buy online; no tax rocks!

    Votes: 16 20.0%

  • Buy online, only when unavailable locally.

    Votes: 8 10.0%
  • Total voters
    80
I like to be able to touch and feel what I am going to buy, but once I know I like a certain item I will buy it online if is on clearance, or on sale with free shipping. I also like being able to drive back to the store to return something if I really don't like it instead of having to hassle with shipping said item back.
 
If I can afford it, I prefer to buy locally with smaller businesses. I do it because it is part of my community. Growing up my dad had multiple small side businesses and while he was trying to make money and grow something, I also saw that it was a passion. I wish one of them had worked out - not only would we have some amazing stuff here in the States, but it could have helped bring some stability to people from one of his home countries. My uncle and aunt ran a small beauty supply shop where I worked multiple summers. To me small businesses is where the local economy runs.

Heck, I'll even drive past dozens of other golf shops to go to one where I know I'll get great service. Now, sometimes I have no choice but to order online, but all things being equal, or even within reason, I like to support the small business owner.
 
I buy local when I can, but my home course doesn't have a pro shop just a few sleeves of balls, a small selection of shoes and a few putters. I have to hit up GG or Academy to buy balls or just about anything else
 
I buy online when local isn't available. when it comes to clubs my local course doesn't have any i go to either an American Golf store or a Nevada Bobs store about 15 mins from my house. The american golf store has a better selection of clubs but the guys working there are kinda pushy about sales and unless they think your really into buying they do not want people hitting the demo clubs. Nevada bobs is the complete opposite poor selection of clubs really nice guys and would let you spend all day hitting clubs regardless of you buying
 
I purchase as much as possible from my local course or a local golf store. I am about 80% local and 20% on line. I believe in the "support your local pro" because they provide extra services that on line stores do not provide. The locals know me and I usually receive a discount without asking but a couple of years ago my wife wanted a new driver and we saved $100 by going on line and buying from a large well known warehouse.
 
I was always a big fan of buying locally but all the Mom and Pop store are just about gone. Now you have to deal with large chain stores that have some strange ideas about customers and service. I still support the local pro shops.
 
Just wanted to add a little tidbit, if your item you purchased is now on sale or even lower in price. You may be able to get more cash back. A lot of stores will give in store credit on the lower price. Just check with the local store you purchased from.
 
I have bought some golf gear/clubs at local stores like Dicks and Golf Galaxy but normally I buy most items either new or preowned online. If you look around online you can normally find most items anywhere from 30-50% off normal store prices....just check out the "Deal of the Day" thread on here.

From my experience there are some people who just do not like to buy items online....whether it be golf gear, books, etc.
 
My family owns a local business so I'll always try my hardest to support the little guy. I will still, however, look out for myself! I buy a lot of stuff online.
 
Smallville said:
I do this too.



Actually, you are supposed to pay sales tax on items you buy online. It's right there on your tax form. If you aren't charged for it at time of purchase, like most of the time when I buy on Amazon, it includes tax, you are supposed to pay it on your Federal Tax form.
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I'm familiar with the "use tax". Unfortunately, I tend to lose my receipts and forget to claim all of my online purchases. As I'm sure over 99% of most Americans do as well. The government expecting the people to tax themselves is a recipe for failure. That's why legislation will eventually shift the responsibility to the retailer.
 
I'd be more willing to consider buying golf stuff on-line if there were more Canadian on-line retailers, but as far as I can tell, there is Golf-Town and not much else. There is a Golf Town store close to my residence, so I can just go there and check out clubs when I'm in a pondering mood.

Even if there were more options, the savings would have to be pretty significant. I don't mind paying more at a local retailer - I see the extra money spent as a fair exchange for the extra service I receive (being able to see the clubs up close, perhaps actually try them out first, etc.)

I'm highly reluctant to order stuff from U.S. on-line merchants because of the ridiculous customs brokerage fees charged by UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.
 
I try to buy locally as much as possible, but still do some price shopping online. The business model is completely different for an eTailer compared to a Brick and Mortar shop. But to me there is virtually(see what I did there) no customer service aspect when buying online. I wouldn't feel right going in to a golf store and demoing a bunch of clubs, using the establishments time and resources to just to go home and look for the best price online once I found the one I wanted. Same thing with some of my other purchases I make, I feel a well established relationship with a store can greatly outweigh the savings you can get at a place that doesn't really care if you shop there or not.
 
Well here is the deal. Went to Edwin Watts today and explained my challenge. I also said I wanted a travel bag. They were accommodating . We discovered the bag was not the same and they still gave me $55 off of a $300 ClubGlove bag.
 
sounds like you made out pretty well...
 
LeftySean said:
I'd be more willing to consider buying golf stuff on-line if there were more Canadian on-line retailers, but as far as I can tell, there is Golf-Town and not much else. There is a Golf Town store close to my residence, so I can just go there and check out clubs when I'm in a pondering mood.

Even if there were more options, the savings would have to be pretty significant. I don't mind paying more at a local retailer - I see the extra money spent as a fair exchange for the extra service I receive (being able to see the clubs up close, perhaps actually try them out first, etc.)

I'm highly reluctant to order stuff from U.S. on-line merchants because of the ridiculous customs brokerage fees charged by UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.
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I agree with that. Sadly there isn't much available locally so I do have to buy online and get it shipped from the states quite often. Usually costs around $15 in fees in addition to the shipping charges, but that's because I'm not buying top of the line clubs so the fees are less
 
If I buy something from my Pro shop and an online retailer puts it on sale before I open the balls, the shop guys will give me stuff worth that value without me knowing about the online price. They GUARANTEE lowest price no matter what the time is. I bought a dozen B330 balls for 42 from them, and then TGW sold the B330s for 37 three days later. Next time I was in the shop they have me free tees. It pays to know everyone well at your pro shop!
 
I'd love to buy local, but all the golf stores here are large chains. Thats not buying local really.
 
i tend to buy from my local store as he gives me a good price on my old kit which i can use against my new purchases, i will be visiting them when the new taylormade gear hits to try out the new kit
 
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Buying with out touching the product is not a new concept. When the USA was very young the consumer bought what they wanted from a catalog. Now through technology we point and click and buy what we want. The retailer is slowly going out of business.
 
Sean said:
But they do employ people who live locally. :)
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I've read where a dollar rolls over seven times before it leaves the community, this mean it helps more than one place to buy locally.
 
I have bought online before but prefer to buy local. If I find something is not in stock I will order through my normal golf retailer. Otherwise I prefer to stick with what they have in stock. That way it goes right in my bag!
 
I buy everything possible locally and feel better having a place to go back to, and a human being to talk to directly, if I have a problem with the purchase. I only buy online what I can't find locally.
 
I buy local whenever possible, but sometimes you just can't beat the price online!
 
JB said:
That simply can't happen though. No store front rent, less returns and more eyeballs on products. According to CNBC yesterday, holiday sales did okay this year, but the biggest growth areas were online sales (growing 32%) over 2011 and digital content (growing 39%) over 2011. Whether those figures are accurate, I do not know, but they seem to make sense. Digital content is the future and starting to be the present.
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I sold my retail business a few years back because of all the sales I lost to the internet. People would come into our store, touch and feel our items, let me educate them for an hour as to why one product is better than another, then leave and buy it online only to come back to my shop to have the product installed once they received it. My overhead was way to high be be an "install only" shop, so I sold it. Unfortunately the guys who I sold the business to were closed down in less than a year.
 
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