Great Nathan. So one key attribute is you are looking for service oriented
customers willing to pay a fair premium for your time and expertise. Very
true for me also.
Bob
On Sat, Jun 16, 2012 at 10:01 AM, Nathan Wajsman <photo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> Maybe, but not always. These days, all things considered, I probably spend
> more money on cycling than on photo equipment. And most of that spend has
> gone to my neighborhood bicycle shop (10 minutes walk from my home), where
> I have bought two relatively expensive bikes (each around 1200 Euro) and
> two cheaper ones (in the 500 Euro range) during the 4 years I have lived in
> this part of Alicante. In addition, I have bought one bicycle online, from
> Wiggle in the UK, one of the world's two main online bike shops (the other
> is Chain Reaction Cycles, also in the UK).
>
> So why do I shop locally so much? Because the local bicycle shop treats me
> like a valued customer and not an idiot to be milked. When I have a
> problem, they fix it at a fair price (which sometimes is zero). Last year,
> I wanted to buy a new set of shifters for one of the bikes and I went to
> the neighborhood shop to check the price. The price from the Spanish
> distributor they work with turned out to be around 300 Euro, compared with
> less than 200 at one of the UK online shops. They shop owner told me that
> they make very little profit on this item anyway, and he suggested that I
> just order online and they would install it and just charge me a modest
> amount for labor, which still saved me 80 Euro or so.
>
> Sadly, there is no camera store in Alicante or anywhere in Spain for that
> matter that would give me this kind of service. So all my equipment
> purchases are online.
>
> The bottom line is that the local shop survives (indeed, they thrive and
> have recently moved into larger premises down the street) because they
> provide value that their customers are willing to pay for, within reason.
> This applies to most other trades as well.
>
> Cheers,
> Nathan
>
> Nathan Wajsman
> Alicante, Spain
> http://www.frozenlight.eu
> http://www.greatpix.eu
> http://www.nathanfoto.com
> PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
> Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/
>
>
> YNWA
>
>
>
> On Jun 16, 2012, at 5:30 PM, Tina Manley wrote:
>
> > Unfortunately what some retailers do to survive is slash prices, import
> > everything from China, and ignore quality - the equivalent of selling
> > photos for pennies through micro-stock agencies :-(
> >
> > Tina
> >
> > On Sat, Jun 16, 2012 at 11:24 AM, Robert Adler <rgacpa@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> >> I actually can't think of a better forum (other than including the LUG
> and
> >> Leica R) to figure out a business model that may work. To me this is the
> >> "Big Box" economic model. It has killed many small businesses. But there
> >> have been many that have survived and thrived.
> >>
> >> So why have some retailers survived? What about their commodities
> appeal?
> >> How can we apply that to photography?
> >>
> >> These are hard questions, but we have many photographers in these forums
> >> who have what I think of as "institutional knowledge" in the business of
> >> photography. What are niches we can excel in to not have to give away
> the
> >> store?
> >>
> >> Sort of an open ended question that I hope yields some ideas we can
> banter
> >> about and try.
> >> Best,
> >> Bob
> >>
> >> On Sat, Jun 16, 2012 at 8:12 AM, Bob Whitmire <bwhitmire@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>> wrote:
> >>
> >>> That's because an ever increasing number of people can't read worth
> >> squat.
> >>>
> >>> --Bob
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Jun 16, 2012, at 9:43 AM, John Hudson wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> since an ever declining number of people are attracted to quality
> >>> in-depth
> >>>> writing.
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> _________________________________________________________________
> >>> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> >>> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> >>> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Bob Adler
> >> http://www.rgaphoto.com
> >> --
> >> _________________________________________________________________
> >> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> >> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> >> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Tina Manley, ASMP
> > www.tinamanley.com
> > --
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> > Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> > Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
> >
> >
>
> --
> _________________________________________________________________
> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>
>
--
Bob Adler
http://www.rgaphoto.com
--
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