>I will wrap this up with a vow. I know better than to say things like "I will never buy from Amazon again." I know already that I will. But this I can do -- if I buy something on the recommendation of someone at a brick and mortar, I will buy it from them, not online.

I'm not going to get this exactly right, but one of the "rules" that the Talmud imposes on Jews is that you don't mislead a storekeeper*. So going in to browse is considered bad form, and going in to try out the merchandise that you know you're going to buy elsewhere is a definite no-no.

I can't say I always follow that one, but it does make me mindful of the behavior.

* And yes, the storekeeper is also not supposed to mislead the customer.

Tamar