Should I support my partner's employer or buy the cheapest?

A question about : Should I support my partner's employer or buy the cheapest?

My partner works in a small electrical store which prides itself on personal service. Even though she gets a staff discount, quite often it is possible to buy items cheaper elsewhere. My problem is that if I buy somewhere else then I could be contributing to her losing her job. Should I pay extra to help secure the shop or follow the MoneySaving mantra and buy cheaper elsewhere?

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Best answers:

• Unless you're buying big and buying regularly, your custom is unlikely to be the one thing that tips the store over the edge.
  If you feel that strongly about it, let the boss know how much you can buy the item for elsewhere, and challenge them to price match. That way, they have a chance at capturing your custom, but the ball's in their court.
• If the quality and service are worth the price, then buy it from there. Otherwise buy it from somewhere else.
  You alone cannot prop up the business unless you are a buyer for a large company or something.
  If they have a good business setup, they will succeed. If they do not, they will eventually fail.
• Depends whether you want you want big corporations to take over the high street - or more likely the high street to be full of charity shops or shops to let.
  I try and support my local shops as much as I can - its a case of use it or lose it
• My father- now 87- supported a local electrical retailer. They thoroughly fleeced him. He, as a pensioner, spent over the odds on a not very good fridge freezer, microwave and vacuum cleaner. There was no "special service" just mark up. They charged for delivery (so despite them being local he was worse off) and tried to sell inappropriate items which I took back.
  If he now expresses an interest in an electrical appliance I buy it over the internet and have it delivered, I do not like doing this but need to protect him.
  Either a retailer is customer aware and competitive ( by which I mean that the whole package of what they offer is good value) or they should go out of business and good riddance.
  I suggest your partner starts looking elsewhere for a job with a better company.
  Small, high street and local do not always mean better.
• Apparently one of the reasons our economy isn't doing as well as it could is because of "zombie companies" which should have gone bust but have been kept barely afloat by directors who refuse to call it a day. I'd suggest that they buy their item from wherever they please and the partner looks for a job in a more profitable outlet.
• Local shops are great but why people would pay extra just to "support local stores" is amazing.
  Sorry but unless they are competitive, there's no point.
  Surely that's what we're doing with banks, supermakrets, car insurance, mobile contracts.... we're all changing so they have to be competitive to get our custom.
  Personally, the sooner we let go of the old "high street shops" the better. People want convenience more than a local high street, which is why out of town shopping centres and shopping malls are so popular.
• I think I would naturally tend towards getting it cheaper elsewhere (though I'd feel a bit guilty) but at the end of the day I would listen to my partners opinion. If my partner who worked there felt it was important to support the business then I would do it for them. Friends and relatives are more important than shaving Ј20 off a purchase in my opinion.
• I think the travel agency business is a good example.
  Every town had travel agents both multiple and independent . The good ones would give good and personalised advice. You then made your choice which one you booked with. If anything went wrong you got good help in sorting problems out whether it was a weekend at Butlins or a far away holiday. You were also offered the product that suited you best as agencies sold a wide range of tour operators products.
  Fast forward and the multiple travel agencies launched an aggressive campaign for market share, buying smaller chains and successful stand alone agencies and removing choice. Most smaller agencies didn't survive .
  Look in your high street today few have independents left.
  Now agencies are nothing more than retail outlets for their own in house products. Walk into a Thomas Cook and you will be firmly steered towards their own products even if they have access to a more suitable or better priced product. Staff are disciplined if they sell too many non TC products.
  People have moved to booking on the Internet because they find better and less biased advice online. Staff in agencies no longer have travelled to multiple destinations and you'll likely be served by a teenager who instead of offering advice will tell you to look in the brochure.
  Some people are happy with this others would prefer to still have the more consultative style but that choice is all but gone.
  The electrical goods business is following exactly the same path. Ultimately it leads to less choice for the consumer.
• If the customer service is great and the markup not too high, then support your local shop, but otherwise, as others have said, shop elsewhere, regardless of your partner's job there. Cheapest isn't always best and the post says they pride themselves on personal service, your partner will tell you if that's correct or not, which will make your decision easier.
• Haggle with them. If they're not willing to haggle, then they're going to go out of business anyway.
• If buying elsewhere is going to !!!!! your conscience and/or worry you badly enough to consider it to be a 'Money Moral Dilemma', then you should buy at your partner's shop. I am sure you will only be saving a few of pounds by shopping elsewhere and your peace of mind is surely worth that.
  However, if you are in a financial position where saving a couple of pounds on your electrical purchases (and I doubt there are many in the courses of a year) is very important to you, then of course you should shop around for the best price.
• It all depends on whether you can afford to pay extra to support the local store where your partner works. If you can then do so. If not, don't.
• As there should be no variation between the first and last mass produced electrical item to roll off the production line, the item shouldn't vary from shop to shop. Therefore, choose from the balance of price, service, back-up, delivery etc that you're happy with.
  Equally, if your partner's employer's pricing policy is fundamentally flawed, your single purchase will do nothing to prevent the shop closing.
  I'd offer the shop manager the opportunity to deal with you but if that doesn't happen, buy elsewhere.
  As for jolly ole Guilt, you could treat your partner to a little something with the difference between what you were willing to pay his employer and the price you actually paid for the item.
  Everyone's a winner...
• The key is that they have a business model that is different from the major chains and on-line stores: they provide good, personal service. So it is up to every customer (including you) to decide, for each purchase, whether that level of service is needed or not, and to accept that service is not free. What is not acceptable is to go to a shop like this for advice, then use that advice to buy cheaply over the internet (and in the extreme, come back to the local experts for help using the product purchased cheaply elsewhere).
  The most helpful thing that you can do is let your friends and acquaintances know that good service and guidance is available, so that on those occasions that they need it they know where to go. However, when a purchase is straightforward and you don't feel the need for service, there is no sense in paying for it.
• Sometimes it's not the best policy to buy cheaper - for instance if you need advice on the right product to buy. And how much do you value having a small store that gives personal service that you just can't get online or from the impersonal multiples? I have no problem going to small, often more expensive, stores if it means I save money by buying the right product. If it contributes to keeping your partner in employment, all the better.