Buy local they say

[rbertalotto]

So we try to buy local.....I just visited my local RV dealer to buy a part for my water heater and possibly. A whole new heater. I have no.problem.paying a few dollars more for something to buy local. The ignighter for the heater is around $8 online...at th he dealer $19.95....The heater is $429 from many online dealers and I can have it in three days. At the dealer $599 and a two week wait!!! I ask checked on solar products. Everything that I knew the online price for was 40 to 50% higher......."Buy local" they say....

[sandsys]

26 minutes ago, rbertalotto said:

So we try to buy local.....I just visited my local RV dealer to buy a part for my water heater and possibly. A whole new heater. I have no.problem.paying a few dollars more for something to buy local. The ignighter for the heater is around $8 online...at th he dealer $19.95....The heater is $429 from many online dealers and I can have it in three days. At the dealer $599 and a two week wait!!! I ask checked on solar products. Everything that I knew the online price for was 40 to 50% higher......."Buy local" they say....

Because local has to pay for retail space, utilities for that space, furnishings for that space, and people to staff that space. Warehouses are cheaper and workers there don't stand around waiting for customers to arrive.

Linda

[docj]

27 minutes ago, sandsys said:

Because local has to pay for retail space, utilities for that space, furnishings for that space, and people to staff that space. Warehouses are cheaper and workers there don't stand around waiting for customers to arrive.

If you think about it, a hundred years ago local stores didn't have all that much stock and customers ordered through the Montgomery Wards or Sears catalogs to get what they wanted.  Today, most local stores have only a limited selection of what is available in the marketplace and many of us use Amazon and other online sources to obtain the specific things we want to  buy.

Maybe the model that no longer works (if it ever did) is having large stores distributed through out the country each needing to have a fairly broad array of merchandise to sell.  Large areas of retail space staffed with competent sale staff is expensive.  Has anyone been in a Dillard's or Macy's lately to see the paucity of customers on a weekday afternoon?  That's a clearly unsustainable  model.  

[rickeieio]

I always give the local folks a chance to get my business.  I'll pay a little more to have a friendly face/place for returns, warranty, etc.

A while back, I was looking to buy a Milwaukee Fuel impact wrench.  I bought it locally for over $100 savings over Amazon.

OTOH, a couple years ago, we needed two sky light domes for the camper.  Two local rv dealers wanted over $100 each.  I found them on Amazon and eBay for half that.  But wait, there's more....  The seller in both cases was a business here in Indiana.  They had their own web site, from which I ordered the domes for $25 each.  It pays to do a little homework.

[Larry Burkett]

We found that out this spring when a brake went out on us. We were in Tennessee and were in a spot. From the local distributor, a rotor, caliper and brake pad was $2400 and 2 weeks to get it. We got the parts on amazon in 2 days and it cost us $977.00. 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Larry Burkett
changed

[docj]

6 hours ago, rickeieio said:

A while back, I was looking to buy a Milwaukee Fuel impact wrench.  I bought it locally for over $100 savings over Amazon.

I'm sure you know this, but when you price something on Amazon, it may or not be supplied by Amazon, itself, or one of its "marketplace" vendors.  Sometimes that isn't always easy to figure out.  My experience is that a significant percentage of marketplace items are priced above other sources. Never assume Amazon has the cheapest price unless you've compared it to other sources.  

Lately, I've noticed that the delivered prices of heavy items on Amazon are being increased to cover shipping costs.  That's not surprising, especially since Amazon would allow me to return those heavy items at no cost to me.

[Dutch_12078]

34 minutes ago, docj said:

I'm sure you know this, but when you price something on Amazon, it may or not be supplied by Amazon, itself, or one of its "marketplace" vendors.  Sometimes that isn't always easy to figure out.  My experience is that a significant percentage of marketplace items are priced above other sources. Never assume Amazon has the cheapest price unless you've compared it to other sources.  

Lately, I've noticed that the delivered prices of heavy items on Amazon are being increased to cover shipping costs.  That's not surprising, especially since Amazon would allow me to return those heavy items at no cost to me.

It's really quite easy to figure out who an item is sold by and shipped by in the Amazon listings. Every listing has a box on the right on the web page that lists the "Sold by" and "Shipped by" details below the "Buy Now" button. Some items are listed as sold by a vendor and shipped by the vendor, others are listed as sold by a vendor and shipped by Amazon, while many of course, are listed as sold by Amazon and shipped by Amazon. In the Amazon app, the same information is shown below the "Buy Now" button below the item details.

[RV_]

I have found a few times local did beat Amazon and even eBay after I paid more! Very few times but enough to make me go back to shopping around. Now I check online local, and marketplace online and a few other for sale groups as well as some thrift stores.

 

 

[gjhunter01]

9 hours ago, rbertalotto said:

So we try to buy local.....I just visited my local RV dealer to buy a part for my water heater and possibly. A whole new heater. I have no.problem.paying a few dollars more for something to buy local. The ignighter for the heater is around $8 online...at th he dealer $19.95....The heater is $429 from many online dealers and I can have it in three days. At the dealer $599 and a two week wait!!! I ask checked on solar products. Everything that I knew the online price for was 40 to 50% higher......."Buy local" they say....

I had the same experience a year ago with my failed water heater, a local supplier wanted $100 more and 3 week delivery time. Amazon was less cost and delivered in 3 days. For most items, it just pays to shop around whether online or local, there is no one method fits all. The decision on how to spend your $$ is all up to you. 

Edited August 5, 2022 by gjhunter01

[franco-bolli]

Somethings are just not available locally.  Boise isn't exactly a small city, but I'm routinely amazed at things that I just can get here without driving to the next county or further or forced to get it online.  

For instance: a 3 foot sewer connection to the portable tank.  Gotta get it online.
I was looking for the Lucas Slick Mist speed wax. Not available locally.
Scott Toilet tissue (septic safe) not available in stores near by.

There have been others but I can't list (remember?) them all.

We now have 3 Costcos within a 22 mile radius. Not that this statistic is an indicator of anything.

I buy local when possible, unless the store wait time and markup is seriously overpriced then I choose the alternative online.

[Kirk W]

9 hours ago, gjhunter01 said:

For most items, it just pays to shop around whether online or local, there is no one method fits all. The decision on how to spend your $$ is all up to you. 

Sometimes convenience is a bigger factor than cost in our purchase decisions. Amazon delivers right to my door as do most online sellers while I must burn expensive fuel to go to a store as well as spending my time to getting it. And we say Amazon Prime has free delivery, but it really costs $139/year. COSTCO is now $60 & Sam's is $45. Do you keep track to know if they really save you money?

You can further complicate things by defining what you mean when you say to by from the local merchant. The nearest retail store to our present home is a Walmart store, so is shopping there buying locally or do you mean I should travel farther to spend my money with the little mom-n-pop retail store? 

[lappir]

I'm glad that someone else posted this and it's generated a good response from both sides. 

Personally I'm an anti Amazon, Walmart, Dollar General, Casey's, and any of the other companies that continue to grow and grow and only siphon money out of communities and in my mind do nothing else. 

Sure, jobs  are created locally to  run the business and that money stay's locally, but my guess is the majority of the PROFITS go far, far away and for who knows what for. 

Pretty soon local will be a word with little meaning maybe like a rotary dial phone or land line. I have neither, but still know what they are. 

 

Rod

[DJohns]

Jeff Bezos did not build a $500 million yacht with out making money. Buying local (from a locally owned company) is almost a thing of the past.

[Chalkie]

The one place, when I need some odd screw, nut or some obscure little bit of hardware, is Ace Hardware. Yes, it is a national chain but the stores are locally owned.

[Dutch_12078]

3 hours ago, lappir said:

I'm glad that someone else posted this and it's generated a good response from both sides. 

Personally I'm an anti Amazon, Walmart, Dollar General, Casey's, and any of the other companies that continue to grow and grow and only siphon money out of communities and in my mind do nothing else. 

Sure, jobs  are created locally to  run the business and that money stay's locally, but my guess is the majority of the PROFITS go far, far away and for who knows what for. 

Pretty soon local will be a word with little meaning maybe like a rotary dial phone or land line. I have neither, but still know what they are. 

 

Rod

You might find interesting to read what Walmart does for your's and other local communities:

https://corporate.walmart.com/askwalmart/what-does-walmart-do-for-local-communities#:~:text=Each year%2C our U.S. stores,of communities where we operate.

[VC 23RSS]

I like my local Ace.  Good selection and better staff.  The owner told me his sales increased when Walmart came to town.  Walmart purchases much of what they need to maintain their facility from him.

[usbusin]

"Walmart purchases much of what they need to maintain their facility from him."

What does this mean? 

[Dutch_12078]

3 minutes ago, usbusin said:

"Walmart purchases much of what they need to maintain their facility from him."

What does this mean? 

It means when Walmart needs hardware store items they don't carry to perform maintenance on their store they buy much of them from the local Ace retailer.

Edited August 5, 2022 by Dutch_12078

[rickeieio]

I buy a lot from my local hardware store.  I also buy most of my fasteners from a local "bolt" store.  I can usually buy a 100 ct. box for less than 4 or 5 screws cost at the big box.  Of course, then I need to buy cabinets and assortment trays to hold all my extras........ Not so handy if you "full time".

OTOH, many of you have seen the name "Hillman" on fastener displays in Home Depot or Lowes.  They are in fact local to me.  My darling bride went to school with some of the Hillmans.  Back then, they were just s small business operating out of a building smaller than my shop.

[Kirk W]

My pet peve with chain hardware stores is the packaging. If I need 1 bolt I usually have to buy at least 3. If I need 5 bolts they are always packaged in a dozen. You can't buy just 1# of nails any longer.  I recently read that COSTCO is going to start stocking new cars, but they will only be sold by the sixpack. 

[Chalkie]

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

My pet peve with chain hardware stores is the packaging. If I need 1 bolt I usually have to buy at least 3. If I need 5 bolts they are always packaged in a dozen. You can't buy just 1# of nails any longer.  I recently read that COSTCO is going to start stocking new cars, but they will only be sold by the sixpack. 

😂 As to the non-bold. That lack of packages in multiple is exactly why I like Ace. I like going to a drawer getting just the amount I need. In some Ace locations you can still buy nails by the pound.

[sandsys]

My local hardware store still sells individual nuts, screws, and washers. I can go in and tell them the problem I am trying to solve and they will recommend solutions. And they make keys. I don't know if they can get blanks for electronic keys, though.

Linda

[RV_]

I like them all. I consider any retail store, big or small in a stix n brix, whether Walmart, Ace, a privately owned store, a local store because they employ local folks.

We shop at Wally World, Target, COSTCO, Dollar Tree, and many small locally owned shops. Best Buy I only use to go see things unless they actually have a good buy.

I have friends that just moved to Kentucky he worked for the Amazon warehouse here, and his spousal unit is a camerman for the local TV station. He moved to the Amazon warehouse there and slid right in. He loves it. So even Amazon employs a lot of local folks. We like to go to estate and yard sales because that is where I get my hardware usually still new. I sort it into Harbor freight nut and bolt boxes. 

When I order online and usually get the item the next day. Sure beats using time and electricity or gas/diesel to run around looking for it if the price is the same or just slightly less and it is not an immediate need just resupply. We also do the local thrift stores on Tuesdays because of the military/old-fogey discounts here at all of them that day, and yard/estate sales on weekends. But those are for fun more than just shopping.

I know when we were RVing we went to sales more for fun than to find or buy stuff because even in a 36 foot fiver we had no room for storing hardware and parts we knew we would not use soon.

So we love having all the choices and one being to shop from home. Let's face it, lots of stuff we don't even need new. I bought our last four Surface devices used. Like motorcycles and scooters, that many times have less than 200 miles on them since new even five years old, every Surface Pro and GO2 we bought used was much less than half price and loaded, with not even slight wear and tear. I pass on the abused electronics or the terrible specs ones.

I like progress and new fangled things like smart phones and online shopping, and still like local shopping and retail stores of all kinds. We love having all the choices, life's too short. Be happy!

 

[gjhunter01]

As FTers, we really like Walmart stores. No matter where we were at in this country, we could usually find a Walmart near us and it was great to have the familiar brands available and even the store layouts being similar made it easy for us to shop there.

It used to be that local merchandise meant from your small town, now local usually means USA made. If you think about it, someday local merchandise may mean planet "Earth made". Successful marketing is all about expanding sales and territory.

[Kirk W]

11 hours ago, gjhunter01 said:

No matter where we were at in this country, we could usually find a Walmart near us

And if needed you can take any item purchased at a Walmart anywere to any other store if for some reason you need to do so. We once bought a small, digital camera by Kodak at a Walmart in FL and it failed completely in less than 1 month of light use. When contacted, Kodak would only allow us to return it if it was packed in the origional box and packing materials, which we didn't have because we lived in a 36' motorhome. When we went to our nearest Walmart with only the camera and receipt they first pointed out that the warranty said to return it directly to Kodak but when I showed them the letter from Kodak a manager asked if I wanted a new one and when I said I thought that I'd change brands he refunded my full price and said that he would send it back with store returns.