Store auditioning and then buying on-line from others. How do you feel about it ?

That said, my recent bought of speaker auditioning brought up an ethical question:

How committed should I feel to a dealer who gives a crappy audition experience???

I had a couple that left a bad taste in my mouth. In one case I was auditioning Audio Note speakers at the only AN dealer around. The speakers were in a small room and the salesman was one of those
"too much chat" and "stand behind you while you listen" types. I can't stand that, couldn't relax to see if I could get into the sound, and I very politely said "I'm actually fine on my own here, if I could just listen a while." That seemed to slightly chuff the salesman who left, closing the door fairly strongly. Within a minute the store owner came in - clearly having been told by the salesmen that I'd asked to listen on my own - and defiantly pulled up a chair and sat down near me, arms crossed. As in "sorry buddy, this is our store and no one tells us what to do." And he began to chat.

Even if I liked the speaker, they lost a sale for that ridiculous attitude.
Now IF I'd liked the speaker....how committed should I feel to buying from salesmen who acted like that?

I had a similar, though not quite as bad experience when I auditioned another brand of speakers I was interested in.  It was a fairly large store, staffed by younger guys who seemed limited in their knowledge and experience.  Basically I was contemplating buying a $10,000 pair of speakers in a certain finish (ebony). I deliberately took time off work to show up mid-week, afternoon, at a time I knew the store would be quiet.
I was the only one there, with 3 bored salesmen.  And a lot of "let me operate the CD player and tracks for you" stuff, like I couldn't be trusted to even do that without a salesman watching me.   After only about 25 minutes the salesman started the "ok, times up, what did you think?" patter.  It wasn't nearly enough time to make a decision about that much money.  It's not like people were lining up to take up their time.  I was the only customer there and they clearly had nothing else to do.

Once again, left with a very bad taste in my mouth, not wanting to go back there.   Though if I'd loved the speakers, I would have bought them from the store.

But I decided the speakers probably weren't for me anyway.

But...months later I encountered that brand again at some length at an audio show and it re-ignited my interest in the speakers. And when I was doing one of my casual looks through the audio marts, not looking for anything specific, I spotted a pair at a ridiculous steal of a price.   But in the wrong finish.

So what was I to do? I didn't care for the way the speaker store rushed the audition process, yet maybe I would like the speakers after a longer listen. My compromise was this: I knew if I bought the second hand pair I could very easily re-sell them. So I grabbed them as a form of my own in-home audition.   If I liked them and they sounded good in my room, I would sell them and buy a brand new pair in the finish I really want from the store. That was frankly the only way the store had a chance for a sale anyway, since my store audition hadn't sold me on the speaker.

Turns out I didn't care for the speaker and quickly re-sold it.   And holy cow I'm glad I didn't buy it after that rushed audition at the store!

That's the closest I've ever come to breaking my code of listening at a store and buying used. But all things considered, it struck me as a fair way to give the store a shot at my buying a speaker from that store, despite not liking the store experience.

I personally never quibble about price if I'm buying from a local audio dealer.  If I'm buying new, so long as I know I'm just not getting shafted on the price, I'm not going to haggle.  It's my feeling that running a high end audio store is difficult enough - it's not like tons of people get rich off of it.  And every sale counts.  So I don't want to skimp and take money out of the very profit the dealer needs to run his shop.

I've been friendly with dealers and have always been very self conscious about wasting a dealer's time.  I'm always very upfront about exactly where I stand in terms of a purchase.  I never go to a store and ask to audition equipment that I'm not serious about buying from that dealer.

And if I'm just visiting a store to check it out, I'll sit down and listen if a system is already playing, or if a dealer asks if I'd like to hear X or Z system I make it clear whether I'd actually be in the market for those. 
As in "those are out of my price range" and if the dealer still doesn't mind putting it on, that's up to him.

The smart dealers will allow the customers to hear systems that the customer may not think he's looking to buy.  That's how I was "upsold" before on systems.  For instance, I went to a dealer to audition the Joseph Audio Pulsar speakers.  I liked them but wasn't sure they were quite full range enough.  The dealer asked if I'd iike to hear the larger floor standing Perspectives model but I said they were more than I was looking to spend.  Nonetheless, he said no problem, take a listen anyway.  Turned out I was so smitten with the sound, now I'm likely to buy a pair from that dealer.  That's happened to me before as well.

In fact, right AFTER I started contemplating if I could possibly afford those Joseph speakers, a very rare pair of Perspectives appeared on audiogon.  Where it would be financially painful to purchase them new, at less than half price used it would have been a cinch.  It was pretty torturous to let those used Perspectives go, but I felt committed to buying from the dealer after using his time.

So I'm very against the idea of going to a dealer, using his store to audition an item with buying it second hand in mind. 

Although I won't waste an audio store owner's time, on the subject of "value added," for the most part I don't get much value added specifically from the dealer.  From the store and the ability to audition a piece of gear, yes.  But all the rest  - e.g. the idea of a dealer with his audiophile wisdom and experience guiding me through purchases...no...zilch.  

Like many here I've been doing this for a loooong time.  I've had lots of experience, have done the research, know what I'm interested in and why.  I don't need any guru help.   And that's one of the things that irks me most when I go to a certain kind of high end store: when the salesman just HAS to yap on via the presumption he knows better than I and must help guide me.  The most annoying are the salesmen who just can not turn off this chatty guru-mode.  It doesn't matter that in our first 5 minutes of talking I've given obvious evidence I've been at this for a long time, know what I'm talking about and what I want.  They will still go on as if I'm a newbie who needs education and help.  No.  All I need is to hear what I've come to hear, thanks.

The best salesmen by far are the chilled guys who don't swamp you with "How am I going to help you!" patter.  Within a few minutes they immediately recognize whether they are talking to an experienced audiophile or not, and when they see this they don't bother asking all the irrelevant questions, they simply let you hear what you want to hear, and don't hover, or operate the system like you are a dolt.  They just leave me alone to evaluate the sound.

THOSE are the dealers I have always ended up buying from, because they are the ones that make it possible for a confidence-inspiring audition.  Those are the true treasures of the high end audio store.

In all too many experiences of my recent speaker auditioning, the process made me hesitant to want to go back to the store.  (Though, there were certainly some very positive experiences as well).

I was in a local high end store today to purchase some records and it was a thoroughly pleasant experience.  They had some nice speaker playing so I sat to listen.  A salesman asked if he could help me at all.  I explained I wasn't currently in the market even though I really like the brand of speaker playing.  Told him I don't wish to bother him especially if he has another customer who is in buying mode.  But since the speaker was already playing thought I'd listen for a moment.  He was completely pleasant, said they completely encourage sitting, relaxing and listening to anything, and no problem about not being in buying mode.  He'd play any system I'd like.

Good move.  That's the way to treat customers if you can do it.  I know that a number of times over the years I've been in a similar "I'm in the market at this time" mode (and made sure the proprietor knew it), but when the proprietor played me a system or two I was like "Hey, that was pretty damned nice."  It put the bug in me which later turned into my purchasing the item later on from his store.

If I get the itch for yet another speaker, e.g. for a second system, now I have what I heard at the store in the back of my mind.