Good Thread. Honesty and integrity is the only way to deal with this issue. I have demoed stuff at a dealer with no intention of buying (not on the internet either). I tell the dealer, I'm not buying but would like to hear speaker X. I ask them only to demo it to me when all customers that are buying have been helped. They are always very accomodating, and although I don't buy the speaker, I usually end up buying other things from them down the line. I do these demo's to educate myself on what I like, don't like, might buy someday in the future, might dream about when I win the lottery. Dealers like to demo those $70k speakers--even when they know you aren't buying them--it's a lot more fun than demoing the economy bookshelf speakers (but that's what frequently pays the rent).
As to Leafs comments. I don't think there's anything wrong with that if you are upfront about it. He's not going to the interenet to get a better deal. It's like buying a car. I do the same thing with the dealers there. I tell them I'm going to buy car Y. I tell them there are 4 dealers in my general area and I'm going to visit each one. The one with the best deal gets my money. There are no hidden agendas--it's basic competition.
As to Leafs comments. I don't think there's anything wrong with that if you are upfront about it. He's not going to the interenet to get a better deal. It's like buying a car. I do the same thing with the dealers there. I tell them I'm going to buy car Y. I tell them there are 4 dealers in my general area and I'm going to visit each one. The one with the best deal gets my money. There are no hidden agendas--it's basic competition.