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Consumers in general don't seem to have a problem with this whole concept - be it books or golf clubs.
I used to own a retail golf shop. When the online golf stores sprang up with prices that were at or below my wholesale prices, customers would regularly come in for a "free fitting session" - where my staff would spend an hour or more with them finding the combination of clubs that was right for them, however sales continued to decline. It took me about nine months to figure out that these guys who were back at my driving range hitting the same clubs that we fit them in were buying online.
The short story? We closed the retail business.
Now that same customer wants to be fitted for his next set of clubs so he can buy online. He has several choices.
1) Find someone else that will still fit for free and go buy online
2) Pay for a fitting
3) Buy blind, based on Internet recommendations
Most refuse to do #2, and so they are now buying without a fitting - but they are saving $100 on their $1200 purchase, so they are happy.
The retail model evolved, the golf shops are now filled with clerks, the experts went to do something else.
The bookstore with knowledgeable employees is being replaced by a room full of shelves with clerks for the same reasons, and online buying without a person helping you make choices will be the way 90% of all people buy books before it's all over.
Is it ethical to go browse the shelves of your brick and mortar book seller and then buy online because it's cheaper?
You alone can make that call. I know I can't do it. If I take advantage of the fact that this company has stocked the books I care about, and made them freely available for me to browse, with help, then I will give them my business if they are even remotely competitive in price. If they are not, I would have seen that with the first book and walked out of the store.
You will do what your personal ethics dictate.
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