Re: Loyalty vs being robbed

["Tom Wood" <tomwood2 at flash_net>]

Many local fish stores (LFS) are run by people that expanded a hobby into a
business. Most are very low-volume compared to mail-order or the national
chains. I suspect they operate on a very thin margin. Calling them crooks
because their price structure is less efficient than mail-order seems unfair
to me. Some will negotiate a lower price if you show them a legitimate
mail-order price. If they can get close enough to that price, I try to go
with the LFS. It helps generate cash flow for them, even without much
profit, and increases their volume with the distributor, which might help
them buy lower. Just ask in as nice a way as possible: "I'd really like to
support your store, but the price difference is too big to ignore, can you
come down on your price to get close to this?"

TW