Jed I definitely see your side of the argument and you do make some very good points. You’ll always have people who prefer “bricks-and-mortar store” who can touch,feel and hold the merchandise but E-commerce (online sales) is the direction Retail and just about any type of sales is headed.
Your first argument is that it is unethical to demo a product in a store and purchase it from someone else but I think you lost focus of the position of Sales. Part of a Salesman’s job to to not only educate them selfs on the product but to educate the customer on how this product will benefit that customer. Now if that customer decides he can either 1. get a better deal somewhere else or 2. dosent feel like sale technique met there expectations and decides to purchase some were else then That general nature of the business. For example if I am looking to buy a car and test drive a car at one dealer Am I obligated to purchase from that car lot ??? As a good consumer the best bet would be to travel to a few different dealer test drive a few different cars and find the best deal and service. Does it mean I was unethical cause I test drove a car from 2 or 3 dealers and purchased from another .. No.
Another one of your arguments was that purchasing online hurts the economy that is just not true. Online sales has has put literally BILLIONS of dollars into the economy It has open doors for disable, handicapped and people who just cannot drive to a store and purchase products, it enabled small business owners who just don’t have the startup costs to flourish. It allows companies to sell products globally increasing sales and providing product to regions were they normally wouldn’t be available.
To make a long story short online sales is no more unethical than shopping around and finding the best deal. It provides a new level of competition and everybody knows when competitors compete the consumer wins.
right helping people out is never a bad Idea and I have no problem helping people out. Where the problem comes is when people come in to pick my brain knowing they are planning on turning right around going online and finding the cheepest price they can, instead of doing their own research and footwork. The people I am talking about never planned on giving me or any other retailer their business. They just plan on leaching as much information as they can from me and others like me and then turning around and in a way sticking it to all of us. Now the person who has a hard time figuring out technology and needs some help figuring things out I never have a problem with and those who know me know I am the first to help that kind of person out, But I have a real problem with leechers.
jed
I understand your point of view but I think you totally missed mine. first My point wasn’t that purchasing from someone else is wrong, but coming to me picking my brain (Person A) because you know that I know more than person or (business B) knowing full well you never plan or planned on puchasing from me is. Part of the price of my product is me. It cost my company thousands of dollars to train me and it cost me countless hours and money to know what I know so purchasing from person or company B and then expecting me to give the technichal support and product assistance that is part of my price is unethical. As to the e-comerce helping the economy you are right and so am I . As far as small businesses getting their product out there and and making products available for those who cannot access a retail store you are exactly right. Now where I am Right is that it hurts stores that provide the type of service i and many other stores do, In that we charge X amount for a product. Included in that cost is 1 the cost for a retail store front so you can come in and see what product X looks like and what it does. 2 me the sailsman who has the knowledge necessary to help you find which product X suites your needs. 3 The facilities and shipping and support that makes it so you can get product X to your house, if product X is damaged fix product X or get you a new product X and if product X doesn’t fit your needs get you product X that does, all of which costs money. That why X product cost more when you buy it from me than most online stores. The online store has 1 product X and 2 Shipping, and as far as most of the other things I have mentioned not much more. That is why product X costs much less online than at the retailer. Now if you are willing to take that risk on a sight unseen basis and don’t feel you need much product support, by all means puchase online, but do not expect all of the services of Product X from me but purchase online at the online product X price. That is where online hurts the economy. When people use all of my services which cost me and my company money, but then purchase from the online guy who has not paid a penny for the services you just got. Now not all online companies are like that. For example maniac lures Or Rockymountain tackle. Those are online businesses that get a product out to the customer and support local businesses. Completely different market. I am speaking specifically about those that come in and expect me or others like me to work for free not feed our families, but pay someone else for our services. I understand that the price I pay includes the guy in front of me helping me with the product. If I plan on purchasing online I do my own research and I buy knowing what to expect, but if I can’t find enough info and have to go to a retail store to get all my info and waste a lot of a persons time, unless there is a gross reason not to buy from that business or person i pay them for their time, by purchaseing from them. It just seems fair and ethical. In final and to kind of quote you there can’t be a bricks and mortar store if people don’t pay for the bricks and mortar,
jed
Jed, I apologize I completely mistook your original post I was under the impression that you were trying to say people who didn’t purchase from you after giving them advise or educating them were unethical for purchasing online. In my situation what I end up doing allot of the time and tell me if im unethical but I usually hear about a product weather it be online like this site or from word of mouth, research the product best I can whether it be online, library or word of mouth and then check it out at a retail store. If the product benefits me and can improve my experience then its a comes down to price. Sometimes it retail sometimes its online. If that unethical I apologize for wasting a stores time [crazy] but I always considered that to be “shopping around”.
no that is not unethical, shopping around is quite another thing altogether, although I do believe the fact that you can look, feel, touch, and see the product should be part of the price difference consideration. If it is a matter of a couple of dollars i would support the fact that the retail shop you go into gives you that opportunity, whereas online you really don’t have that option. A case in point was a customer I had a couple of days ago. He came in looking at the most expensive sony flatscreen we had, but was having a hard time justifying the cost, so I showed him another TV that looked very close to the same quality, but cost about 800$ less. He really liked the way the other TV looked and decided to look up reviews online and found an online retailer that was quite a bit less and was planning on purchasing there. Now he had spent around 5-6 hours with me discussing the benefits of different TV’s and such and Asked me to match the online price (which there was no way we could). I then explained to him exactly what I have explained to you on this post. He still had to think about it, but in the end we found a happy medium, I was able to get him a better price and he felt the fact that he was able to first find out that there was an alternative and that he could check it out before he bought it, worth something. It ended up being win win for both of us. I think my main point in all of this has been to make sure and put a value to the fact you can talk to someone and see, feel, touch, etc. products at a regular retail store vs online and factor that into your buying decision rather than just going on a complete “lowest price” basis. Anyway thanks for reading and considering these novels I have written i appreciate the fact that you didn’t just take it as an attack (which it was not meant as) and were able to understand the points I was trying to make. Hope to fish with you someday,
Jed Burton
Ya that would be great Im even in the market for a surround sound for my DLP I definitely will consider BB over a online retailer. Keep up the good work [;)]
By the way I don’t work for Best Buy I work for RC WILLEY. Jason is just trying to get me to acknowledge his apparant lack of technical knowledge for even considering shopping at bestbuy instead of shopping where the truly elite do (RC WILLEY in orem)[;)]. Nice try petty,
jed
Let’s also not forget the ability to take whatever it is you bought home with you, right away. That’s worth a lot to me sometimes.
Just last week I bought a Sony Bravia 32" lcd from the RC Willey here in Syracuse. We had originally went in to buy a more inexpensive TV to replace the old one in the bedroom. When we didn’t see anything that we liked in our price range, we expanded our range and started looking at LCD’s. The guy was more than helpful, especially considering that he had to put up with our 2 and 5 yr old and still try and explain everything to us. When it was all said and done we ended up paying less than the sale price. Not once had I entertained the thought of shopping around because the person that helped me was interested in helping me get the best value. I never once felt any pressure to buy any of the tv’s that we looked at, and when the deal was done, I asked HIM for his card instead of him pushing it on me. And now, when I need something else I’ll definitely go to him first. Why? Because he made me feel like my needs were more important than his.
Many times, however, I have gone and shopped for the best deal (for many reasons and not all of them has to do with price) and I don’t feel like that is unethical in any way. If I had decided to go another route on buying this tv, I know that I’d be going back to him for my future needs. He would have made more from me in the end, even if he had lost that one sale. In addition to that, I will also refer anyone looking for electronics to him. That will translate into more money going his way.
But I know one thing, if he had shown me, in any way, that he thought I was obligated to buy from him, I’d have walked away. Because there’s others that can do the exact same job without making me feel like I’m just another number.
While typing all of this I tried to think of any company that I felt cared about me and was willing to help, regardless of the fact I was ready to buy something or not, and I could only put one name on that list. That was HOOKED FISHING TACKLE. James Ferrin and his staff knew how to make you feel like your every need was important.
There’s my two cents. Good luck to everyone who took the time to give their opinions. I never meant to attack anyone and I hope that I didn’t offend anyone. I was just giving my perspective on buying.
