I discovered to my delight that there was an independently owned hobby store about 5 minutes from where I work, so I wandered along during my lunch hour for a browse...
It was one of those places that doesn't seem to have been updated since it opened 20 years ago, but to be honest, I didn't mind, as these tend to be veritable treasure troves of faded and long forgotten OOP kits. The elderly proprietor wasn't the most convivial of fellows, which was a bit of a drawback given the chaotic lack of order. Boxes were piled in no particular order, some behind others, others tucked away at obscure angles and in weird places. But that was where the delight ended.
I decided to "support my local" by buying something. There were a few candidates worthy of attention and in the end, I settled on an Italeri Dornier D0-217 K-2 in 1:72 scale, which did not have a price on it. I know from experience that these go for less than £8 all in on eBay, and had seen it in another hobby shop selling for £9.99. So, after having a brief chat in which we discussed the pro's and con's of internet vs face to face buying, and after picking up a couple of small sheets of plastic card, I asked him to price it all up.
He wanted £15.00 GBP for the Italeri kit. I was stunned. I asked him to check, and he told me "it's all up here", tapping the side of his head. I haggled to no avail, and as I had no small change for the plastic sheets (and with a £10 miniumum on credit cards), I somewhat reluctantly paid up and left. I could've just walked out, but for some reason, seeing the state of the place, I figured "what the hell".
Now if the difference is between buying and paying instantly, or waiting a week or so for an eBay kit or mail order from Hannants and such-like - then I certainly will not pay an almost 50% premium for the privilege of being ripped off face to face. I gave it a go, I did my bit to keep this old geezer in clover, but never again! This is one little hobby shop that can wither and die for all I care...