Why was Plunker hammered for shopping around for the best price?? I simply don’t get it. If he doesn’t want to give his business to big chain stores why is that a problem? It’s his own personal choice.
I can’t answer for sure as I am not the one that jumped him, I suspect that it was objected to that plunker walked into a retail establishment, looked at the merchandise, handled it putting wear on the equipment, compared it to other equipment all the while taking advantage of the building, lights air conditioning/heating, sales staff etc. In a store that he in another post has mentioned goes out of its way to support fly fishing by giving space for free tying classes, with out the intentions of ever buying anything from that store. He then returns home and goes online and buys it from an organization with no store that doesn’t have the taxes, fees salaries etc. and then doesn’t pay his states sales tax which most states require that you pay, even if you buy outside the state. In other words he wants his cake and to eat it also.
Like I said I didn’t flame him but this would be my guess
Had BPS had the best price I would have bought it there.:shock:
There are three Honda Dealers in my area…went to all three. Should I have paid the first one extra, just because I walked in to their store? Should I have purchased a second and third one from the other dealers because I drank from their water fountain? Jeez People:rolleyes:
Eric- Saved $37.43 +/- $.10 ( all total 'bout 25%) Bought Nothing on Sale.
…please note my post said I saved taxes…paid state thank you very much…did not have to pay the difference in city sales tax from my location to theirs (which by the way would have been more than the BPS pays themselves…IDB tax incentives you know) Did not have to pay for shipping either, and there was a size that BPS didn’t have
Ducksterman- Have not purchased anything from Amazon…ever…cannot qualify an answer…don’t do B&N or BAM either. Besides you know us folk in Alabama can’t read good anyway;)…have some favorite locals that I spend a lot of time at…
If I can catch grief for not buying from BPS yesterday because I prefer to buy from Ma and Pa types…how is it different from this?
[i]Big Box.
Posted 03-20-2008 at 12:49 PM by Eric-WD
Tuesday I walked into the Cabellas which is in Post falls Idaho, about two hours north of where I live. it was impressive and I would love to spend a day there. In the hour or so I was in the store, two employees asked if I needed help which I didn’t.
When I actualy got down to it, fly wise they had a good selection, more of everything than my local shop, but my local shop has or can get everything I need. I didnt buy anything at C’s.
Yesterday I bought some hooks at the local fly shop. When I walked in the owner recognized me, we spoke about fishing for about 10 minutes, I mentioned a place I was thinking about moving, (half way across washington state) He mentioned 5 or six rivers to fish in that area.
I guess my point is, If we allow the local fly shop to be replaced by the big box retailers we are loosing a lot more than just a store, we are loosing a resource and a bit of our heritage.
#1 Many states require that you pay a “use” tax when you buy out of state or online and don’t pay sales tax, or pay less sales tax than you would have locally. This sure sounds unConsitutional to me. Interstate commerce cannot be taxed by the states. This is why there is a movement (vehemently opposed by the more populated states) to outlaw the use tax
#2 Why is it that when one mentions that they shopped at a big box, they get slammed by some, whereas when one mentions Orvis, there is a quiet humm of approval? Isn’t Orivs just a smaller big box, housed in a lot of fly shops? Personally, I would never go back into a straight Orvis shop again, after being snubbed by every single employee at the local, in favor of the guy in loafers and khaki. I shop a lot in the local fly shop, but use discount retail, and the internet most of all. I can’t afford fly shop prices. My latest purchase was from a garage sale, advertised on Craigslist. Got a screamin’ deal (anyone have an extra set of regal jaws laying around?). I also have purchased and traded with people here on FAOL, which were some of the best deals (love the people here) and better bargains…
Guess we’re just lucky here in PA as far as the quality of help in the Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas.
The Cabela’s in Hamburg hired several guys that used to work in local fly shops that went out of business (before Cabelas opened ) Those guys are just a joy to deal with. They all fly fish, and most tie their own flies. They post local stream reports, and provide all the little things that a Ma & Pa shop does. I don’t imagine all the Cabelas fly shops are as well run as this one is - it probably has a lot to do with the fly shop manager, and the Hamburg Cabelas has a pretty good one.
The Bass Pro in PA also has some decent help in the fly shop there. Does the name Bobby Clouser ring a bell? He’s the son of Bob Clouser, and worked in Bob’s shop for many years before deciding to accept more stable employment. Bobby is the fly shop manager at the Bass Pro in Harrisburg.
All that said, I usually try to support local fly shops first. The number of them left here in PA is dwindling, but there’s still some really good ones left.
I was afraid I would have been BANISHED for cracking on the Golden Fleece… I have two gift cards from Orvis that I can’t do anything with because they will hit me with full blown tax, and shipping… you know sports fans that amounts to an additional 25% cost for doing mailorder with them…$100 worth of cards will only get you around $75 of goods…think i’d rather go to BPS:D:D:D
Anyone that invests in selling to sportsman is on my good guy list. They could be putting their money toward an anti-sportman cause instead they choose to serve me. Cabelas, Gander Mountain, Bass Pro also put their money into the supporting local sporting organizations with very generous gifts of mechandise and use of their facilities. I feel lucky in that our local TU VP, works for Gander, retired guy who loves to talk fishing and make a little money to suppliment his retirement. The local shop is very fortunate indeed to have such a knowledgable man working there. Local fly shops aren’t very local these days, I tend to do more internet shopping than anything else but love to put my hands on most of my fly tying materials, especially saddles and capes.
Fisherman are such a diverse group, I find it interesting that they fight each other a whole lot in some circles. This board is about as friendly and tolerant of others views as I have seen for a chat room. If we all stuck together we could fight the real problem these days. Have you heard of the sea kitten yet? http://www.peta.org/Sea_Kittens/about.asp
Quit giving people that serve us and our kind a problem and start focusing your contempt for organizations that support places that try to forward ideas about sea kittens.
Plunker you ask the difference? The cabelas in that post is two hours from my then home. I went in not to buy anything, but to see for the first time a cabela’s store. It was on the way home from a job fair my wife was attending. I wasn’t shopping for anything. Before I left I didn’t buy anything for fly fishing but I did buy some things to eat on the way home. I then purchased some hooks the next day from the local guy, who’s prices were a little higher than the cabelas. since that time I have gone to the now local cabelas and purchased merchandise. My point in that blog is support your local shop when possible.
I don’t think if you had done what you did, and checked all local retailers and then went to and purchased from one of them anyone would have had a problem. (mostly I think you got flamed for the tone of your post) and Note it was not me that flamed you.
I apologize for offending the Blue States, Red States, and the States that can See Russia…
I apologize to the Stock Holders of the companies I have “maliciously, and without provocation, wrongfully maligned.”
I do solenmly swear that I will faithfully giveth all my disposable income willingly to the Morris family…
I promise that I will learn to tie all my dry flies with materials found only at my local BPS…and will gladly pay whatever price they ask.
I will never again seek a lower price, and will seek out some impulse item to buy each and every time I visit a BPS (wether I need it or not) so that I cannot be accused of “Using” them indiscriminatly…
As a matter of fact perhaps I should post my Visa Card number for all of you guys to buy something from them as my own personal pennance.:rolleyes:
I used to buy all of my tying materials from a internet retailer, but happened to go into the local store one day, that by the way, I was told by some folks "charges too much " for their materials. I was suprised at how competitive the prices were, and now it’s the only place I buy my stuff at. And when you add shipping in, it’s a little cheaper than the internet prices I was paying. And if I need something that’s not on the shelf, they order it for me. The “Fly Shop” 50 miles up the road is a disappointment to say the least, as the last time I went there, the staff seemed to think they were doing me a favor by answering any questions I had. I guess they didn’t need to sell that Scott rod I bought at the fly shop in Orlando!
It isn’t that you ‘comparison shopped’. Everyone does that to an extent. Most of us should probably do it more.
I also have no problem with your ‘dislike’ of the ‘big box stores’ although I disagree with your reasoning there. I think you are wrong about the whole thing. But that’s up to you, your opinion, whether based in fact or not, is your opinion.
It was the ‘they are evil, awful, and bad’ post followed so quickly by the ‘but I go there to look at stuff’ post.
If I was convinced the ‘big box’ stores were the cause of enough woe to the world to occassion the writing of a line like THIS:
“Sorry, the arrogance of the Boxes angers me, and the gullibility of consumers being sucked in to the support of these monolithic entities at peril of our economy makes me want to wade into a stream and wave a stick, while others worry about the failure of our economy.”
Then I doubt that I’d ever set foot in one, let alone write THIS:
“I was in one just today…spent an hour there…laid my hands on some things I want…walked out without buying a thing…came home and ordered the stuff from an independant ma and pa operation online, saved Tax, no shipping, and got a better deal.”
Seems a bit of a contradiction, to me at least.
Shop where you like.
Don’t shop where you don’t want to.
But don’t expect anyone to just buy what you ‘say’ and not notice the contradictions.
Why are we defending BPS? For sure they are not a sponsor and we live in a free country developed by free enterprise where any one is allowed to make mistakes and/or to be wrong. If Orvis was happy/made money when guys went in and drooled on a dozen cane rods then went home and called up Mary (at Orvis) and ordered a nice new one for themselves, hurray for them. Our system is designed to allow failure without which there can never be any success. I actually enjoy going into any/every sporting goods/fly shop any time I get the chance.
I am glad to see that Buddies attempt to post about good useful tying tips has turned in evils of the US economy.
I too like poking around in those types of stores. It gets the ideas flowing. I use all kinds of stuff for flyfishing that can’t be found in your typical fly shop; trolling wire, lead core, mono in any color or stiffness you can think of, braided mono, jigheads, floating jigheads, trailer hooks, split shot and sinkers of all sizes, rubber skirts, corkies, tiny plastic grubs and worms.
I also get all kinds of ideas from looking at other types of gear. Once you start looking outside the “fly box” all kinds of relevant info is gained. I have tied hundreds of flies trying to mimic the patterns of plugs, spinnerbaits, or soft plastics that I have seen at the bigger stores.
Look at the history - both Wal-mart and Cabelas started out as mom-n-pop shops, they just did what most other mom-n-pop shops dream about - they succeeded and grew.
A guy in Arkansas and 2 brothers selling flies in the back of outdoor magazines grew into multi-million dollar companies - sounds like the Great American Success Story to me and i see no reason why they should be punished.
As a side note, i spread my money around, i dont discriminate in my shopping other than looking for the best price/service, which can come from either a big box or a local shop.
Not really sure why so many have to beat up on BPS or Cabellas unless it just seemd to be the popular thing to do. My experience at BPS has always been good and when I first got into fly fishing, the staff there was very helpful and got me started with a decent rod and reel and all the other goodies without costing me a fortune. Prior to going to BPS, I also visited some local fly shops and can honestly say the service and attitude of some of the owners could not even compare with the help at BPS. Forexample: Needed a new net and did not want to mortgage the house to afford it. One local shop stuck a $65.00 net in my hands, saying they don’t carry anything cheaper and made me feel like I was some kind of cheapskate for not wanting to spend that much. Anyhow…out the door!! Found a very nice net at BPS for under $25.00 which does all a net is designed to do.
I still shop at BPS when I need something “right now” but do prefer a local fly shop at Branson, MO because of their outstanding service and knowledge of the Owners and the selection available. I also use some of our sponsors from time to time and appreciate their service and professionalism.
The employees I know at BPS are all fishermen and know the local waters. Most are retired and this is their post retirement job. And they do know trout fishing and fly tying.
I do agree with a few others posting…owning a fly shop in itself is no guarantee of either good service and never will be. I do want to see the good fly shops succeed and and stay in business and if I get what I pay for, will do my best to support them. If not,
then they don’t deserve my business.
Anyhow…so much for that.
Regards
Crackleback (Bob A)
) Those guys are just a joy to deal with. They all fly fish, and most tie their own flies. They post local stream reports, and provide all the little things that a Ma & Pa shop does. I don’t imagine all the Cabelas fly shops are as well run as this one is - it probably has a lot to do with the fly shop manager, and the Hamburg Cabelas has a pretty good one.
I actually enjoy going into any/every sporting goods/fly shop any time I get the chance.