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Forum GAS wrote:
It amazes me all the questions on brand forums about should I buy this camera or another camera. Sometimes it is about different brands. You ask a bunch of brand fanboys, what do you expect? I wonder if we went to a camera store and talked to a sales rep, would we get better advice? I realize, some salesmen are better than others. But in a store, you can actually see, hold, and operate a camera and its lenses. I used to sell retail. Recently, a poster asked whether he should buy camera a, b, or c from different brands. He gave limited information on his background. From that, I provided my opinion. But realistically, I could have asked a lot more questions to get a really good feel of whether the specialized type of camera was a good fit for him. But I’m not getting paid for all this expertise I could provide. I’m not going to spend maybe 30-60 minutes probing this guy. Compounding the issues are: actual stores are disappearing, stock is low, not all cameras are easily viewable in person. But for the vast majority of buyers, is this really an issue? Can a store still provide a better answer for a buyer?...Show more →
I find you get the exact same "fanboy" (or biased, whatever you want to call it) advice in the stores, often lots of misinformation, and while there are lots of incredibly nice and helpful people, I have never been in a camera store in my life where the staff knew half as much as many folks who participate on forums. In their defense, I also think the average customer probably doesn't care about the granular details, and the staff are usually required to cover many brands, but I also feel like the knowledge should be there to guide their recommendations. They will still be partial to the brand(s) they shoot and they will especially be partial to the brands/models with the highest margins or kickbacks. Most camera store staff are on commission (or bonus structure), which all but guarantees they are not working in your best interest, similar to a realtor, electronics, or car sales person. Customers ask them questions and generally they regurgitate press release bullet points or whatever the brand rep told them. Some stores are certainly better than others though.
I've never fully been able to wrap my head around how bad the 'fanboyism' is with camera brands in general. I feel like it didn't used to be this bad but maybe it has. The amount of effort some people put into convincing themselves their choices are the best is frankly astonishing, especially when they aren't on the company's payroll haha - if you're going to spend all your time white knighting for a brand, at least get paid for it! In the beginning, I never would have guessed it was something people cared so much about but it's really quite something.
The biggest value the physical stores offer in my opinion is being able to see/touch gear before you buy, being able to get things instantly (if in stock), and ease of returns without having to worry about shipping damage or anything like that. Especially things like camera bags which are hard to buy sight unseen, you can just bring your gear to a store and see if it fits. In my case I almost always know what I want before going in, so I'm an easy customer, but I still reward the local store(s) and salespeople that treat me well with my business rather than buying online. I never buy expensive camera gear online anyway due to the abuse they can end up taking in the shipping process.
To you second point, I think it's reasonable to put as much effort into your reply as the person asking puts into their question. If someone is expecting thoughtful, lengthy replies from a question with zero context, they probably aren't going to get it. It's not your job to probe for information when half the time they just disappear anyway. I find a lot of the time people asking one line questions like that only signed up to do so, and they are often gone shortly after without ever replying. I personally enjoy helping folks out where I can, but I'm much more likely to do so if it's a thoughtfully written question or a question from a well known member who makes plenty of their own valuable contributions.
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But if a customer was pretty adamant about a specific brand, we'd still help them or let the 'brand expert' help them (we weren't on commission). Back then a lot of customers indeed came to the store to get our advice about what they should buy for their intended end uses. 
but, they can't create "gear envy" if you educate yourself and use common sense (hoping that works)