One of the reasons I like American Musical is the payment plan & the "low price" guarantee. I've checked out full compass before, but being an @ home dad - I can't afford to drop most of a month's salary on a whim anymore. And trust me, I
love to walk into a music store and flash a wad of cash. I like to see the local wannabes scramble to get me whatever I ask for. Sure beats the days of having to beg some schmuck behind the counter to ring me up for a fuckin' pack of strings.
Again, I've gotten good service from 'em for the most part, and I don't think the prices are so bad. But then again, I live in the middle of nowhere & don't have easy access to the gear I want.
Ebay: Yeah - it's a seller's market. I rarely buy on ebay unless I'm buying something that's pretty obscure. I always set a "buy it now" price of maybe 10-15% less than street & if you ship from the US to Canada, well, you can usually get close to street. I've never failed to sell within 12 hours, & via Paypal - the money usually shows in another hour or two. That's always cool.
I used to have my ebay options set to e-mail me whenever a Neve component showed up. If I knew shit about electronics, I could've bought the pieces to rack up a really good pre by now... for way cheap.