As a retailer who does both local and long distance sales I think I can offer some thoughts on this topic so you can determine if you should purchase long distance or should stay with a local dealer.

There are pros and cons to both, of course. Typically on mail and internet orders, the cost will probably be less, which is why many want to go that route. Sometimes the local store is quite a bit more expensive, or they're not a particularly knowledgeable dealer on the product you want to buy. When that happens you go long-distance to purchase.

Sales taxes come into play as well, but keep in mind that if you have sales tax in your state, you are never 'clear' of paying the tax when ordering out of state and are supposed to declare it by law, though most do not. It doesn't exempt you from it, however most states do not enforce collection of it as a "use" tax at this time.

When you buy long-distance, certain things are outside the control of the selling retailer. In most cases the furniture delivery is handled by a third party shipping company or delivery service, and your long distance retailer is limited to what they can do for you via telephone. While most delivery services do a good job, at the end of the day they're as good (or bad) as those two guys on that particular truck.

Ask yourself honestly if you can accept less that a perfect delivery? If you can't, then you might want to stay with your local store. In my experience, the local store delivery team will usually be superior to the delivery service in most aspects.

Give some thought to refusing a piece for minor flaws or imperfections coming to you long-distance. Obviously if something is broken, torn, or heavily damaged you want to refuse it. But if there is a small nick, scratch or staple pull on the bottom of the piece of upholstery, then refusing delivery may be a poor choice.

When you refuse a piece from a Delivery Company, its going to ride around in a truck for several more days and be handled several more times. It goes back to the Delivery Company Warehouse and is handled some more, then back to the manufacturer for repair after a week or two more go by. Then after repair, it starts the journey back to you. Average turnaround on refused pieces is 6 to 8 weeks. That's a long time to wait for something that might can be touched up in five minutes in your home.

A local dealer can better service you should problems arise. They are close enough to get to you promptly for service calls.

If you experience a problem in delivery or quality of goods on a long distance purchase, my advice is to grab a digital camera, take a quick photo of the piece in question and email it at once to your selling retailer while you keep the delivery team on-site (give them a ice-cold drink and a few cookies and that can buy you fifteen minutes!). Get on the phone with your selling retailer and if they can pull up your digital photo they can advise you whether best to keep the piece or put it back on the truck.

In the age of digital photos, most suppliers want to see pictures of an item that a customer considers defective, so be prepared to get decent close-up shots (not with a cell phone camera) to facilitate any issues.

Hope that helps some of you in your decision making.

Duane