A few of us were sitting around the other day talking about this very issue. The specific instance: I needed a digital camera, and my choice was shopping at a local camera store, where the employees are knowledgeable but that expertise typically results in a more expensive product; or shopping online, where prices are lower but employees to answer questions are nonexistent.

I argued that if I go into the local camera store and spend a bunch of time asking a helpful and knowledgeable employee questions – all the while planning to purchase the camera online or at Best Buy – I’m cheating the local store by intentionally wasting the company’s resources.

Sign up for our newsletter!

* indicates required

Another person in the group disagreed: She saw no problem soliciting the local guy’s knowledge and then leaving the store, ostensibly needing to “think it over,” while immediately heading to Best Buy or the internet – that was her plan all along.

I said her plan seemed dishonest. She said my plan was a waste of money.

Then a third person jumped into the conversation (actually, we forced her to choose a side), and she offered a third option: Since she already buys photos at the local store (“better quality,” she says), she had no problem asking the employee all about a camera even if she had no intention of buying it there. After all, she says, she’s already a customer, and they’re already making money from her purchases.

So from an ethical standpoint, what’s the right thing to do? Buy from the merchant that shows you the product – even if it costs a bit more – justifying the higher price because of the merchant’s expertise and personal service? Or solicit the product information from a local merchant, then turn around and demand the same price being offered by a national retailer or website or threaten to take the business elsewhere?

The foundation of any business is providing service to customers; local businesses tend to do that best because they hope the customer is a neighbor who will come back again. The internet, on the other hand, shows no favorites, nor do those who use it extensively for shopping: It’s a free-for-all daily, with the best price changing by the minute.

But if the lowest price is our only purchasing criteria, what kind of economy – what kind of country – will we have in a few years? Will we kill off local businesses in favor of buying everything online, and is that really a good idea?

Like I said, it’s hard to imagine a topic we all know more about than shopping.

What’s less obvious is how much we know about shopping ethics and how those ethics will impact our future.