I love my local ski gear shop.
http://www.fireonthemtn.com/
In my three years living on the New Hampshire Seacoast, I've gone to them for all my tuning and boot fitting needs as well as some softgood purchases. Super knowledgable and friendly staff, very fair prices on service. From what I've seen, their hard good prices are pretty good to. Not as good as you see online, but basically only a 10-15% premium over the best prices you'll see online.
The only reason I haven't seriously inquired about hard good purchase from Fire on the Mountain is because they've lacked the skis/boots I've been looking for at the times I've been looking to buy.
This summer I purchased a set of skis and bindings for $550, somewhat online. When I say somewhat, it wasn't a google search it was an inquiry to our own forum member Philpug who works at Start Haus in Tahoe. http://shop.starthaus.com/store/pc/home.asp . I hit him up concerning what he thought of the gear deal I was looking at and he had the same skis and offered to beat the price. Great experience.
Now, if Fire on the Mountain had the same skis as I bought off of Phil for $100 more, I think I probably would've supported my local shop (sorry Phil).
I guess overall, I'm willing to pay a 15-20% premium in the local store vs. an online purchase.
How about you?
http://www.fireonthemtn.com/
In my three years living on the New Hampshire Seacoast, I've gone to them for all my tuning and boot fitting needs as well as some softgood purchases. Super knowledgable and friendly staff, very fair prices on service. From what I've seen, their hard good prices are pretty good to. Not as good as you see online, but basically only a 10-15% premium over the best prices you'll see online.
The only reason I haven't seriously inquired about hard good purchase from Fire on the Mountain is because they've lacked the skis/boots I've been looking for at the times I've been looking to buy.
This summer I purchased a set of skis and bindings for $550, somewhat online. When I say somewhat, it wasn't a google search it was an inquiry to our own forum member Philpug who works at Start Haus in Tahoe. http://shop.starthaus.com/store/pc/home.asp . I hit him up concerning what he thought of the gear deal I was looking at and he had the same skis and offered to beat the price. Great experience.
Now, if Fire on the Mountain had the same skis as I bought off of Phil for $100 more, I think I probably would've supported my local shop (sorry Phil).
I guess overall, I'm willing to pay a 15-20% premium in the local store vs. an online purchase.
How about you?