Before the 1990s, there were wholesalers and dealers of all kinds of items. There were probably 20 or 30 different brick-and-mortar camera stores in my area alone. But now they have all closed. My dad owned a wholesale distributorship for Appliances, electronics and computers. When he retired, he sold the business. And apparently he did it at the right time. The wholesale distributor market has been replaced by direct sales to the dealers. Unfortunately this leaves the wholesalers in a bad situation. If they managed to survive for another 10 years, They either became dealers and sold over the Internet, or they went out of business. Even the wholesalers that were supplying the manufacturers have gone to being dealers selling over the Internet.
as far as the brick-and-mortar stores go, the following statement illustrates a good reason why many of them do not want to sell low-end items to the general public.
Originally posted by normhead At this point, I'd like to play with a camera at a store, but I'd probably look for the cheapest price on line after I did. I've paid my bricks and mortar dues and they've cost me a lot of money. I've earned the right to look for the best price.
apparently, that's what a lot of people are doing. They're looking at the product in the stores, then going online and finding the cheapest price. The brick-and-mortar stores either has to match the online price, along with selling online themselves. or has to have some level of service that supersedes the online price. Many of them want to stay in the commercial market. They're trying to survive on people who need the Item now, And can't wait for shipping overnight. And that's not a viable Business plan. everybody is now selling online, even pawnshops and goodwill. And if it can be shipped overnight, anywhere in the world, why go to a brick-and-mortar store that may or may not have what you need. It is getting to where the only place you will find an item in the store, is at one of the big box department stores. I remember when the stores could not match the online price, even from their own company. now they will not only match their own online price, they will match anyone else's online price' ( in-store ).
times are changing. And I don't know whether this is better or worse. I just know it's going to be different.