Buying on-line or local tack shop? Are tack shops a dying breed?

[Paddocks]

What do you guys buy the most off the horse websites? (boots, gloves, rugs, grooming equipment?) do you prefer buying on-line or going into your local tack shop for a more personal shopping experience?

 

[honetpot]

Went today to my local small tack shop. It may not be the cheapest but what it does offer is service. They go to all the training and are knowlegdeable. My friend works in a large agricultral shop, the horse dept in doing great and sales are up despite the recession because the staff know the stock and try to give the customers good service.
So its not just about price.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

My local tack shop is so ridiculously expensive you are actually cheaper buying stuff online and paying the express next day delivery service!

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

I think to some extent a lot of shops are a dying breed - not just tack shops.

Shops don't seem able to compete with internet on price or choice etc so unless you are offering something original that really isn't widely available I would guess the internet has now become the 'shop' of choice. The concenience of the internet - being able to buy stuff 24/7 is another reason for its popularity - if you have a 'normal' 9-5 job you aren't necessarily around when the tack shops are open and then weekends are filled up with horses and other stuff so being able to sit and order a pair of breeches for example at 9 at night from your sofa is way more convenient as well as usually cheaper.

Tack shops are like dinosaurs - they need to change or they will die. In the current economic climate I don't think it matters how nice the shop is or how good the customer servie is when you can save £££'s. I realise its not what tack shop owners want to hear but shop habits have changed. Consumable stuff like feeds and supplements will always be bought from shops but clothing, rugs etc will be bought elsewhere.

 

[Kaylum]

Our local tack shop offers more than just a tack shop. It does saddlery repairs on the premises, they will sell your saddle for you on a comission basis, they will let you take saddles away for you to try, they offer rug repairs/washing and blade sharpening and they sell feed. So its an all round horse service. People tend to go into the store to have a look at what gear they have which is quite top of the range.

Shopping online of course will always be the cheapest way to shop but not always the best. i.e. deliveries, faulty goods, returns, customer service etc. but thats because anybody can set an online store up and the competition is massive, so good stores will survive. We had our online business at the start of the .com revolution, we had a fantastic reputation and sold the business just as the market started to compete with us and we were one of the first traders on ebay and we even did Yahoo auctions LOL!

 

[NeverSayNever]

I definitely am one who buys online these days. With the rising cost of fuel it's just as cheap to return things that aren't suitable via recorded delivery, and often less hassle. There just isnt the selection in shops these days. The only time I have bought anything from a shop recently was a girth which I needed asap and couldn't wait for. The only other thing would be a hat or BP so that it was properly fitted - in saying that my latest hat was the same as my old one so i ordered online.

 

[Magnetic Sparrow]

I have several local tack shops to choose from, so tack shops all the way for me. I like to see things close up and assess the quality before I part with my money.

 

[horsey mad matt]

if it is my birthday or christmas i will often go and spend a bit more and know what i am getting we mostly get our feed from the tack shops around here. and if there is anything i desperatly need

 

[Pheme]

I try to buy locally, but the only saddlery we have locally now is a big warehouse chain brand, which doesn't stock high quality gear. It's arrival has driven all the other saddleries into the ground, so now I'm forced to shop online mostly. I can buy brushes and some rugs at the saddlery, but anything else has to be ordered from a better saddlery's website.

 

[Faithkat]

I'm an old-fashioned body and I like to see and hold in my hand before I buy. You also have some "come back" if the purchase needs to be replaced.
I have ventured into online shopping twice recently with a couple of instances where I have bought on-line from the same company (sadly, their product is only available from their website) and, although the product is lovely - when it finally arrives - the "service" is so appalling I would not buy from them again. On both occasions I have had to order over the phone as the website ordering process is so crap (wrong price comes up at the "checkout") and to actually get the wretched things delivered took a fornight despite umpteen phone calls and assurances that they had been despatched. Both purchases were presents so there was a deadline and I got to the stage that I very seriously considered driving to Norwich to collect them (I live on the central South coast!) . .. . never again

 

[Fransurrey]

I did go through a phase of buying online, but if I can buy local, I do. Clothing I like to try on and now I'm a semi-cripple I absolutely need to try on shoes with the orthotics. I find the stuff online and then ask my local shop if she can supply them and at what price.

Am actually going to try on/collect my Dublin Pinnacles this afternoon. The lady who ordered them is threatening to nick em because SHE likes them so much and she's matching the online price, so I need to get them quick before they are *cough* 'lost' in the tack shop!! See, you don't get that sort of banter with a computer!

 

[soulfull]

I do both. I am lucky in that we have 4 tack shops a Robinsons and country wide to chose from.
I do still buy a fair bit online as it is cheaper and I don't have money to waste.

One of my local tack shops is very expensive

I am also guilty of occasionally viewing things in the tack shop but still buying online, although I do try to avoid this


I won't buy online just to save a couple of £ it has to be a significant saving as I am aware if we do the local tack shop will die, which I would not like to see

 

[MissMincePie&Brandy]

I would love to use my tack shops more than I do, but I'm often so specific in what I want, the only way I can find certain pieces of tack, clothing and equipment is online. Also, you can save serious amounts of money by buying rugs online off season, compared to the prices in the tack shops.

I'd never buy a hat online, as I usually have to try on dozens before finding something that fits properly, and I buy all consumables, and all basic things from my tack shop.

 

[Kenzo]

Much prefer to buy from a shop rather than on line.

Apart from having a real life shopping experience where you can browse at things properly, look at sizes and the quality etc you don't have to worry about things being delivered, going missing in the post, being signed for, chasing up orders or retuning the wrong items or sizes.

Also it's nice to go with a few horsey friends and browse with them, stop for a coffee/snack etc, plus they can stop you from buying ridiculas things...but sometimes you just end up spending more.

 

[Fransurrey]

I would love to use my tack shops more than I do, but I'm often so specific in what I want, the only way I can find certain pieces of tack, clothing and equipment is online. Also, you can save serious amounts of money by buying rugs online off season, compared to the prices in the tack shops.

I find it online, then ask in the shop. The shop is so tiny that I am almost 100% UNsuccessful if I just turn up and see if she has it, even some feed. I'm in an area surrounded by 16hh+TBs and warmbloods, so having a 12hh exmoor, well...lol!

I just phone her up and see if she has a supplier for it, she orders and I actually have it QUICKER than ordering online. The boots I mentioned earlier are a prime example. I went in on Saturday and they arrived yesterday! Always worth asking if they'll match the price, too.

For feed I just text her about a week before I think I'll run out and it's normally there in a couple of days. Saves me having to queue up in the local but large shop and wait while they finish gossiping about Buster's new shampoo or Titty Totterington's new hunter!!!

 

[riding_high]

i normally buy from tack shops as i like to see what i'm buying, alot of the times that i have bought from the internet the item has been wrongly described.

i've bought headcollars, numnahs, girths and things like that off the internet as they were much cheaper.

 

[Capriole]

I quite like buying over the internet, but sometime we have a drive out to one of the big tack shops that have internet presence and catalogues anyway, just for a look at stuff, try things on, get a new hat fitted etc., anything I dont know the fit of or how it will look to just order online.

I wont go in the 'local' tack shop anymore. They dont have enough choice/range/sizes and Id rather have things sent to me straight off than wait for them to be ordered in. The main reason I wont shop there though is the staff are obnoxious.

 

[Ranyhyn]

Apart from supporting my friends local tack shop while it was open, I always buy from Ebay or less often, Robinsons/Ride-away etc. I can't stand buying in shops and everyone is looking for a bargain and you just cannot find them in small tack shops as they have overheads to be considered...

 

[Megibo]

we buy rugs and supplements offline sometimes..

prefer just to go to the local tack shop though

 

[Swift08]

Definitely prefer buying from a shop. I suppose I am very lucky that there are 3 tack shops all on route to the yard which aren't expensive and usually have what I want. If I can't find what I want there is also Robinsons which is in the other direction but handy to have so close. If all else fails I resort to online shopping which I hate doing as I like to see what i'm getting.