I try to stop in to the Brick and Mortar shops in the cities I travel to. Buying that book that I had my eye on from an actual store that I spent an hour in does three nice things for me.

1. I get the exact thing I wanted because I can hold it in my hot little hands first.
2. I support the dying breed of actual magic shops.
3. I get a fond memory that goes along with that purchase and becomes attached to the item that I take home.

It's all worth a couple of bucks to me.

I prefer the B&M shops to shopping online. However, if the B&M shop is NOT local and has an online shop(there is a local B&M shop BTW)I would order something from the website without concern.
Bill

Some of us are in the middle of nowhere, we have no choice, so we buy on line.

MagicMelvin, there is a magic shop in Elyria called "Yellow Barrel of Magic". They would be a lot closer to you then Illusions in Willoughby/Eastlake or Mr. Fun in Brooklyn.

I would always give my money to a B&M over an online store if they have what I'm looking for. You may pay a little extra, but you are paying for persoanal attention, a little instruction, and the networking. I also like to keep the money local.

I feel that buying an item online after wasting a B&M's time showing you a product demo, or discussing it with you is not the right thing to do.