Replying to Support Your Local Shops?

First, let me be very clear about this - this is not a thread about bashing internet shops.  I believe they serve a huge purpose to a lot customers in our industry, most obviously for those who could not otherwise find the gear they want locally.

This thread is mainly about exercising good form and not being a douche.  I see a lot of NSers talk about going in to a shop to try on boots with the purpose of buying it later online to save a buck.  This sucks.  And you're hurting our industry.  (There is a difference between doing this vs. trying on boots but no local shop has your size so you have to buy it online in order to get the boot you want.)   I say all this not just because I used to run a shop and am therefore biased, but because of the simple fact that it wastes people's time, professional training, valuable experience, and one of the main points of having a shop to begin with - so you can go in and physically try/test/drool on the gear you want. 

As a professional boot-fitter, nothing is more frustrating than having spent over an hour with someone, tried on every boot on the wall and found the perfect boot for their feet, only to never see them in the store again because they went home and bought the exact boot somewhere else, usually for cheaper.  Boots are usually full price in shops because shops need to recover the cost of the fitting process - this is what you are ultimately paying for.  If you want to pay less, just buy it online without ANY of the fitting process.  That's what's fair, in my opinion, because you get what you pay for.  Go to your favorite shop, pay regular price, get the boot you dreamed of with a boot-fit guarantee to back it up.  Get it for cheaper online, you save a bit of cash but you get what you deserve- little to no service to back it up.

Luckily, for most of the year, most prices are the same online vs. shops.  But once things start to go on sale and you've tried on the boot you love, ask the shop if they'll match the online price.  Your local shops want and need your business.  In fact, you could argue that they need it now more than ever.