It costs me $5 to get to Cabela's and back in the car. More than twice that if I take the truck. Add in nearly 8% for sales tax and the fact most local gun and sporting good stores simply do not carry the hardware and accessories the the likes of us want and the 15 bucks that Triad or others charge is not really out of line.
When my wife called Triad to purchase a gift for me she said they were great to deal with. Happy wife, happy life. If there is something inexpensive I desire and the shipping is upside down, I wait until I have a more significant order. That holds true with with anyone I'm doing mail order business with.
Our culture has become a bunch of "got'a have it now and it better cost next to nothing" winers. Small, specialty merchants don't have a lot of margin to give. That 10% discount costs them 20% of their mark up. Smalls don't have much profit so the minimum handling has to come into effect. The shipping box is not free to them. Who's processing the order? Employees need to get paid even though sales might be down and a the owner has to sign a note on his or her house to make payroll. It might be a couple of months before the owner can make a draw and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Some high dollar merchandise doesn't move quickly tying up the revenue to keep the business open. They are in business to make a living and do better for their family and maybe create a few jobs in the process. Most don't charge retail to begin with just to get your business and we want more?
I'm not trying to get in a discussion about this. I just saw my old man run a sucessful engineering business. He was always dealing Architects trying to beat him down on fees. Then the bastards woudn't pay their bills on time, sometmes never in full. But I digress.
Ok, ok, ok, I'll get off my soapbox. It is Small Business Saturday though.
I'll keep buying from Triad. They always seem to have what I need when others are on backorder.
