Mail-order houses get away with sourcing tons of OEM parts in bulk for cheap, and also by paying their two or three warehouse guys minimum wage for pulling and shipping stuff all over the country.

LBS’ like ours remain committed to hiring experienced staff who are conscientious about customer service; paying them a real living wage; and providing a truly humane work environment for them. On the rare occasions we’ve been asked to price-match a mail-order house and, if asked, we explain why we don’t, most customers understand — but more and more of them are walking out without buying anything. Last time this happened to me personally, the customer said, “I don’t care about your customer service, I want the cheapest parts I can get and I want you to install them for free because I bought them from you. Period. If you don’t give me that I’ll go someplace that will.” And I worry that eventually more and more LBS’s will cave to demands like these, thereby cheapening their own expertise and time in order to make whatever sale they can.

I think we’ll see more of that sort of thing as you and I and other hardworking folks at LBS’s struggle to fight the good fight.