Why are LFS prices so high?

[boodwah]

Toto,
If someone pecked my brain, ordered online, then came to me for support I would not like it. But don't get me wrong, I don't pretend to know what it is like to be a LFS owner/operator. I have owned a couple of small businesses that have failed so I do know what failure is like. And both failures were MY fault. But they were not comparable businesses to LFS's. One business was an electrical contracting business and the other was a tube amp repair and customizing business. But that's beside the point.
The first time I asked for advice at the LFS was for the pump to put in my sump. He reccomended a Mag Model 3 for my 90 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump down below. It had a difficult time pushing the water up the pipe. I took it back and traded it for other items and ordered a Mag 750GPH pump for less than they sold me the model 3. Since then I have used this forum almost exclusively for advice. I use my LFS for advice on livestock, consumables, and items I need quickly and I buy there.
BTW, all I ordered online was my heater, skimmers, lights, test kit, and pumps. I bought my tank, stand, canopy, live rock, sump, plumbing, power strips, timers, hydrometer, bio-balls, filter media, food, supplements, and everything else local. BTW, my LFS is the one who reccomended bio-balls. I'm going to phase them out after reading about them being nitrate factories here on RC.
I did order a claening crew online but that was because my LFS did not have any snails and only 6 big hermit crabs and did not expect to get another bunch until next month.
And I bought my first skimmer at the LFS, a Red Sea Prizm. That is what the LFS reccomended and it was what they had on the shelf. I found out here that it was not enough. My Won Brothers WU-200 is pulling much more crap out of my water.
I have spent much more money locally than online, but a majority of the useful information I got was online.