Myloyalties areto my wallet and I generally shop on price. I've only had problems buying on the internet one time and that was with a Yahoo store about 5 years ago. I have not purchased from another Yahoo store since that time because Yahoo would not offer me any help in resolving my problem. And guess what? I will never buy from a Yahoo store even if they have a better price.
I use google to search for product information and nextag.com and pricegrabber.com to find the best prices shipped to my zipcode.
My last purchase was a Lowrance LMS-339c color Sonar/GPS unit that I bought from
http://www.deepblueelectronics.com. I was originally going to buy the 334c for $599. It would have been $624 with shipping from Bass Pro or Cabellas, but I got the better 339c on sale ($699 at Bass Pro & Cabellas, w/o shipping) for $654 and FREE! shipping from DeepBlue. So for only about $30 more I got a much more capable unit, and it came with the speed sensor.
I bought Lowrance's Fishing Hot Spots Elite online from
http://www.thenerds.net (excellent service - I received my maps in 2 days and did not pay extra for the fast service) for $53 shipped - Cabellas and Bass Pro wanted $99 not including shipping.
Last week I bought a brand new, in the box, Pflueger Trion 66L ($90 at Cabellas - Bass Pro doesn't carry it) on Ebay for $54 delivered.
I've been very happy with my shopping skills.
I bought my plastic welder from Harbor Freight, and two props in the last 4 months (ugh!) from BoatUS.com two more very good comanies to deal with.
Another eason I use Price Grabber and NexTag is because consumers rate the companies they have bought from and you can get some idea of how they are to deal with. I've purchased 2 digital cameras over the internet using Digital Camera Resource (
http://www.dcresource.com) to read reviews and link to sellers and not had a problem either time.
Sure, I give my local marine dealers some business, but I have two boys in college and a wife who have become accustomed to their lifestyle so I do what I can to make certain I get the best deal I can for my purchases, and I always figure shipping into the equation. If a local company has what I want and it is only a few dollars more, I may be willing to pay the extra for instant gratification, but any company that thinks it doesn't compete with the internet is run by fools.
Buying over the internet is safe and thrifty.
woodNfish