Okay I hope you don't think this comment is
but I usually 'browse' online - free chapters, reviews, and all that...
I tried to buy locally, in person, whenever I could but...
1) my pin money decreased
2) At least one of my former favorite booksellers kept not having the latest in series I was looking for and
then didn't keep faith when I tried to order with them and pick it up (sold it to someone else repeatedly. Tried to claim I wasn't the one who put it on reserve with my name clearly on the paper slip poking out of the top. Sent it back without even bothering to call or email. Wiped out my details in front of me and pretended they lacked the info...)
I complained to the chain, but there was no apology or recompense for these incidents. When you buy a book from Amazon, it simply arrives, with no goofiness.
3) Closest bookseller kept claiming that books I knew were still in print...weren't. Wanted me to buy whatever she had in stock, as opposed to books I actually asked about. I bought lovely journals and calendars from her, but could only get the latest titles in the series from her, and they generally had to be special ordered - always slow - always full retail. I was trying to support her Indie store but I just couldn't keep that up.
The other biggest bookseller I can reach has had similar issues, just on a larger scale. They have neat trinkets, and usually something I can use in a pinch (for a birthday or whatever) but don't stay stocked on what I like best. Maybe my taste isn't as mainstream as it used to be, or maybe these are just leftovers until they work up the courage to restock, but either way, I usually come in and am ignored until I determine they don't have even half of what I wanted. Maybe I end up with a small purchase if the lines aren't too long. Then I go home and order what I really wanted, often at a healthy discount. That's not showrooming.
4) The fascinating odd titles they used to pile up on tables at the big brick & mortar stores are just...gone. Odd beautiful tomes on spy codes and clothes from the Middle Ages used to jump right onto my basket. There were books on legends of Native peoples, humor through the ages, homes made from gorgeous caves and controversial works of history or archaeology that tried to solve mysterious ruins or lost civilizations - and didn't sound too goofy :P Who knew? Maybe I'd find the history of all major domestic inventions with old photos and woodcut illustrations or joke books claiming to be Steve Jobs or Bill Gates' Secret Laptop?
These impulse buys were what drew me back for so many years. I never knew what unusual gem I would find next.
Alas, such times are no more.
[Though i I can still get fascinating catalogs from Edward Hamilton
http://www.hamiltonbook.com/books ]
Would I pay a cover charge to browse? No, because I can't afford to eat even further into what little money I can spend on books. And what would I see even if my circumstances dramatically improved? Just more of the same 'big names' and leftovers? What would be the point?