One time I bought a pair of Oury lock-on grips from an online company that also sells on Ebay. Then for some reason all the talk about supporting your LBS I read about every now and then here and elsewhere made me feel a bit guilty. So on a matter of principle, I cancelled my Ebay purchase, and the shop was very gracious to do it. (I still do business with them from time to time.) I then went to the closest LBS that I've frequented in the past for their services. They didn't have the Oury grips in my color but said they could get it for me. It was a few dollars more--no big deal. I was told it would come in a few days or next week (don't remember). It ended up coming in a bit later than expected, and on top of that I paid a bit more. I wasn't very impressed. Many, many years ago when I was relatively new to online shopping, I purchased expensive parts from them. Looking back, I could have saved loads of money if I knew about online prices.

Many of us want to support our LBS, but we also want to be money-wise. I'll purchase some stuff every once in a while from a bike store because it's more convenient or they carry it, but also to establish relations. But shopping online gives me more buying power.