Supporting Local Audio Stores are we?

For what it is worth I continue to support Larry at Hollywood Sound and have done so for years. Although now it is a 90 minute drive, but has always been worth the time and dollars spent with him. Yes he is a B&M dealer, heavy into all things analog, vast experience of about some 30 years or more. Know of many more folks that make the drive. He does business as it should be conducted. Thats why he has lasted all these years.

Jmcgrogan,

"That might be insulting if it came from a real man, considering the source, all I can do is LMAO."

Who are you anyway and why do you care?
The comment was neither to you or about you, it was a joke between friends..so who cares what you think in the first place? The difference between me and you is I would say that to his face, I doubt you would say that to mine.
EDIT
I think you assumed I was talking to you, there are many named John and reading closer you may pick up on the fact I was joking with the dealer "John" cheers

Hi Larry,

Given the context of your writings, it looks like you are establishing price by attaching values to service, product availabilty, demos, expertise. Given that there will always be customers who appreciate and happily pay for these attributes, do you then end up with a business that caters exclusively to the very few who are willing to pay 40% or 50% of the sticker price for these benefits? Seems to me you could do a whole lot better selling services a la carte to shoppers who need them. Bundling the service with the product is a solution for some, but it's patently obvious that, for the majority, they would prefer a choice. What if i call you with an order for a product, need no help or guidance in selecting it, just a fast over the counter transaction. If i pay your service surcharge without receiving or needing the service, am i not paying more than i should? If you want to call that extra payment 'supporting' my local dealer, i wonder what i get in return for said support, other than the uneasy feeling that I'm 'supporting' a business model that may no longer be relevant. i do apologize for being so blunt, but the answer to the thread is that, no, for many of us, we do not support our local dealer. Why? We think we can do better with our audio spending dollars elsewhere. It really is as simple as that i think.
i guess as long as I'm in this deep, i may as well articulate another belief i have regarding pricing and its impact on the industry. i believe that nothing has marginalized, isolated, satirized and damaged the high end more than the price structure neccessary to 'support' the infrastucture. When less consumers buy into the value proposition, retailers buy less product from manufacturers, they in turn need to derive more profit from weaker sales to support their business, and the end result is 50k amplifiers. So, in a very real sense, supporting my local dealer contributes to this flawed system and perpetuates the damage done to the industry.
It takes a brave man to ask the question you did on a used equipment forum full of value shoppers; hope you take the answers you receive in the spirit they're offered! I'm certain we all want the high end industry to succeed and be profitable, but it looks like we're on shaky ground based on the evidence before us. Maybe the high tech industry will save us from the death spiral that has become the high end industry; people do love music and are buying audio equipment; they just don't see any value in buying ours anymore, sadly.

Chadnliz, if that wasn't meant for me, I apologize. As I read it I was the only 'John' on the thread. Yes, it is a common name (thanks Mom), but I was unaware of your inside joke.

As to 'who am I?', I seem to have been here much longer than you, though you do seem to be much more active than me in these threads.

Peace,
John

Chadnliz, I have noticed your last few threads on Audiogon that have been said quite vitriolic and venomous, as if one had a trailer and the roof had gotten a nasty leak, ( I am not implying that you live in a trailer btw).
May I suggest some chill pills? and learn to relax, try some camomile tea, listen to some Mozart, and Breathe.
Everyone is not out to get you.
As the only John on this thread says,
Peace.