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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 2421784" data-attributes="member: 19675">Yes.Yes.  Ed's been in the biz longer than I've been alive, and figured out that the $5000 hit he was taking on some of the high end guitars getting labeled as "used" was too much.  Since adopting that policy, he gets sight-unseen orders from around the world, because people know that the guitar they get from Ed is going to be in pristine condition.Every person who buys a car at that dealership pays for wear and tear.  Its distributed among all buyers as a part of the dealer's overhead, along with salaries, physical plant, insurance, heating/cooling, utilities, theft, etc., which is reflected in higher base prices.  Eventually, the test vehicle is sold as a program car at a greatly lowered price.But what we're talking about ISN'T a test drive.  On a test drive, there's the possibility that the driver may buy the vehicle at the location of the test.What we're talking about is:1) Consumer A hears about Product A, and decides if he's going to buy it, he is going to buy Product A at Retailer A.2) Before buying Product A, Consumer A goes to Retailer B to examine Product A already knowing that Product A will be bought elsewhere.3) By doing so, Consumer A raises Retailer B's costs in relation to Retailer A, and Retailer B cannot recover that cost from anyone else except Consumers B+ C + whomever.LGS's DO account for that cost, and Online retailers don't have to, and it is driving LGS owners nuts.  Online retailers suffer NO wear & tear on their product due to browsing- virtually their entire W&T is shifted to the LGS's bottom line-and the consumers complain that the LGS's aren't matching the online retailers' prices.That IS a good question.  Here are some (not definitive or exhaustive) answers:1) It still results in a higher price for the LGS.2) If the online retailer IS a predatory pricer, they can drop their prices indefinitely, and the cycle can continue until the RPG publisher declares bankruptcy.  Most online retailers are NOT after the millions in the business of selling games.  They are trying to reach, and eventually monopolize, the OTHER products for which gamers are the core target market- the multi-billion dollar scifi/fantasy/superhero movie/book/tv/game products.  The RPGs can be sold at a loss if it gets the gamers to the website to buy "Mighty DragonballZ X-Men vs Alien Predators 2: the video game and DVD box set" at $100/pop.3) Like any retailer, the online retailer can refuse to sell to a particular customer, especially a competitor- here, the LGS.4) Timing.  The online guys would ALWAYS have the product first, and being first counts for a lot in business.</blockquote>

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