I have to concur. It’s like the local Mega Lo Mart killing off local grocery stores. Economy of scale and high volume lets the Big Boys operate on razor-thin margins, whereas the local guy still has to pay the rent from what he sells.
Want a prime example of a failure-story (vs success-story), look at Radio Shack. They grew from a one-man shop to being the Starbux of electronics. A Radio Shack on every corner, or so it seemed. Their bread and butter was the geekboy building radio-sets and gizmos for school science projects, the DIYer putting up his own teevee antenna, and people who’d rather buy “no name” stereo stuff where they can just drop if off at any store to be repaired vs mailing it out to Podunktown, USA, at considerable expen$e.
Need a cheap-ass record-player needle? Need a V15 cartridge for your real turntable? Need a PL259 for your antenna cable? Free tube-tester in every store and being able to order tubes? Jackpot! Hobbyist electronics books? Teevee antennas and cables and clamps and poles? Ceebees? Mikes? Antennas? Speakers? You name it, Rat Shack had it!
Then their oh-so-wise Management™ decided they should abandon all those geeks who made RS what it is, and start selling phones, phone-plans, and become a “Me, too!” company competing with Best Buy, Circuit City, all the other bevy of stores that sold phones and phone-plans. It was easy money, right? Instead of parts-on-cards hanging on walls of pegboard, they were relegated to 1-2 sliding-drawer cabinets. You couldn’t buy a damned coin-cell for your watch or phone-plug for the one that ripped off your headphones without enduring the Mandatory Sales Speech asking what carrier you have, would you be interested in buying a contract that offers less for a higher price, etc., ’til the point where you were tempted to just tell the drone to screw off and then walk out without buying anything.
No rainchecks.
No price-matching.
No putting aside a sale item for even 15min ’til you could rush to the store.
The absolute WORST in customer service. (ohhhh, just ask me about the wireless keyboards that were on sale…)
And you wonder why they’re bankrupt today??
You could take lessons from them in what not to do in business.
Anyway, it’s a struggle. Any small business that wants to compete with the Big Boys needs to do something different, and better. Else, you’re just another “Me, too!” company.
Honestly, I don’t know what to say or suggest that could help. If you can’t match prices, maybe you can concentrate on service? Become an authorised repair center? I honestly have no idea.
Fwiw, I have ordered things from Amazon at (reasonably) higher prices, primarily because of their a-to-z return policy, and speedier shipping, even if I’d have to meet the minimum order for free-shipping by buying other stuff. Cheaper but having to wait the better part of a month, and having to pull teeth to get a refund or exchange (sending pix, videos(!), etc., to get anywhere), made it worthwhile for me to spend the extra bux.
Anyway, dunno if any of my diatribe helped in any way, but there it is.