>But when you consider the tiny profit margins that some of these stores are >working on

I had to snip this comment out. Tiny profit margin? *ROFL*

Retail sales markup can be anywhere from 100% to 500% on items. The higher the cost of an item, the smaller the markup, but you are talking about very large ticket items.

The way electronic equipment is designed and built these days, the cost to produce it is relatively low IMO. I believe profit margins are high enough and the manufacturers/vendors/resellers don't deserve my sympathy one bit.