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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Magus Coeruleus" data-source="post: 958871" data-attributes="member: 1704">I don't know about Amazon and won't speak to the issue of buying from them, but in the case of Wal-Mart, a very good reason not to buy from them is because they have atrocious business practices.  They sell sweatshop-produced goods, they have a bad track record with employees, and they drive local businesses out and homogenize availability of goods and services, which I think is a bad thing.Also, and this applies to Amazon and any big chain, money tends to flow out of the community and into corporate coffers, whereas local purchasing supports the community.  This can have a significant impact on the economic health of your city and town, the diversity of businesses, wages, job availability, etc.Another factor affecting online outlets is that in many cases you don't have to pay sales tax.  This is actually a bad idea, in my opinion, even if it was good for a while the internet as a marketplace was just developing.  If you like to argue straight libertarian, capitalist "vote with your dollar," "survival of the fittest" philosophy, you ought to consider that this only works and is only fair with a level playing field.  The fact that local stores have to deal with sales tax and onliners usually don't means they get an unfair advantage.  It also represents millions upon millions in lost revenue for local government, which provides roads, police, fire department, and other services to both local and remote sellers.  It's just that the local stores are footing more of the bill because they pay the tax (or, technically, get less sales because they pass the tax to you, as per normal).  So onliners get to discount for free.  In the U.S. and most of the industrialized world, we don't really have capitalism, but rather corporate socialism.  Corporate profits are privatized, but corporate expenses and losses are largely socialized.  It's not a free market, but a free ride for big business.Does this make online retailers and big corporate sellers evil?  Frankly, I don't really care to add the overly simplistic alignment system on it.  It's not the real issue.  The issue is that the game is rigged in favor of the big guys.  If that matters to you, maybe it should be a factor in where you buy your stuff.  If you don't care so long as you can get a cheaper product now, that's fine, but arguing that it's all the responsibility of the local retailer to deal with the problem is kind of disingenous.I won't actually argue that people should all buy their RPGs from a local gaming store, because I think there are a lot of variables to consider, but I just wanted to point out those that generalize to pretty much all goods/services.Oh yeah, and if you'd like to help small business and the long-term health of the hobby, but don't want to do so buy spending more money (understandable), there are other ways.  You can start by contacting your elected (or selected, as the case may be) representatives and argue for a more level playing field.  The more you look, the more you'll find that the big guys aren't all big because they run a tighter ship.  Oftentimes it's because they can use their size and power to get unfair advantages.  The possibility that they may have started small and innovative does not change this common reality.</blockquote>

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