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Message: <blockquote data-quote="perterra" data-source="post: 3164621" data-attributes="member: 103709">I wont do it because it implys to the brick and mortar retailer that what he offers is of no value. I have had it done to me, and in my opinion it's in poor taste. If I buy online, I gamble that it will work for me, if not I pay the return. I have had a customer inquire about a $2500 tig machine, ask if he can try one we had in stock. It took a hour to set it up with a primary cable, assemble gas hoses and get the tig torch together and spent half hour going over the features as he played around welding beer cans together. When he was finished we discussed price, we were making about 10% on the machine, I was paid 20% of the profit. So doing demo stuff is a money loser, $50 for an hour and a half work isnt very lucrative but it is part of the deal. I have had deals where I made a killing and did nothing, so it evens out. He then asked if I could match a price of a competitor, quick calculations said the competitor was making about 6%. When I asked why he didnt try the machine at the competitors, he said well they dont have one, they would have to order it and they wouldnt order it unless he prepaid. I knocked a few bucks off, he wanted a price match and I wouldnt do it. He went on down the road and bought from our competitor.  I wasnt mad or upset, in sales you just accept it as the lay of the land and move on. But I was educated. He later brought the machine to us for what he hoped was a warranty repair. It wasnt, it was a $1200 repair. Where he bought it didnt have a service tech, we did. The machine was auto set on voltage, using an adapter if you plugged it in to 115, it would set for 115,  240 it would set to 240, if it were 460, it would set to 460. But if you plugged it in to a generator producing 130 at idle and the voltage set to 115, then when you strike an arc and the generator speeds up the voltage jumps to 240, it smokes a machine tapped to 115.On his warranty, I could have called the factory rep, said hey bud I need a favor if you can spare me one, I need a good will gesture to a guy who let the smoke out of his machine. The rep would have done it, I dont abuse them and they know when they need a favor I repay it. But I didnt sell the machine, I dont make a dime off warranty, and I save my favors for "my" customers, not my competitors customers. So he paid the full boat repair price, save a $100 or so up front and paying $1200 on the back side aint much of a savings.I suspect optics business isnt far from my business, and I suspect optics retailers dont enjoy going to bed both broke and tired any more than I do. And I wouldnt ask them to.Long winded, but thats my view of the world.</blockquote>

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