Thanks for the great advice and reminders, Ron. I also do a ton of research but do fall prey to the gizmo that will help my golf game, the gadget that will reduce the amount of cons I have to pan, or the latest greatest tri-rippled secret sluice plastic gold pan. As in everything, it seems back to basics is the cheapest and most dependable way to do things. Classify, sluice, classify, pan, finish pan, Jetdry, and a sucker bottle. I often hear that there's more money to be made in inventing the next super shaped plastic gold pan than the amount of gold got from digging in a stream. How true.

It has been this way since the 1849'ers and it will continue into the future ... the suppliers made all of the easy money because it was in the pockets of the miners pockets. This being said I find myself spending between 500.00 and 1500.00 a year on new equipment. The buyer be ware but I love the new things that have some substance to their claims. The ones that don't I resell with a real good story on how it works or should have and the things that worked well they are filling the bed of my truck .... now where is that ...?

Well I am glad I am so restrained then. We started last year and have spent about $500 on equipment. At this time I can not think of anything major I am planning on buying. Though it seems you never have enough buckets. I like to get mine at the local Firehouse Subs since that money goes to their charitable foundation. Hmmm, maybe on second thought, a high banker would be good.

Yea...I get the biggest kick out of seeing that black ribbed matting they are trying to sell for $30 or $40 for a 3 foot piece. Go to your local farm supply store and buy it for a couple dollars a foot along with all the pressure and suction hose you could ever need for half the price too.

I resent the fact that you lump merchants into a Greed button pushing sales people group. I run a very small shop out of my home (I can’t afford a brick and mortar store at this time but wishing for the future). I cater mostly to my local club. Maybe a dozen sales a year outside of the club. Not a lot of sales but enough for me to make a few orders a year. I don’t even typically make enough money to pay the gas to go to the club meetings from what I make off sales during the meetings. But I feel I am providing a service to my friends. See a lot of customers have this fantasy that the shops are making all this money. Well guess what? They are not. By the time the merchant orders the piece of equipment, pays todays crazy shipping and handling rates to get it to the store the cost has gone up drastically. I am not kidding shipping is a HUGH cost. Then put that piece of equipment on the shelf and maybe if you’re lucky enough it sells in a couple months. If not then the merchant sits on it for who knows how long. And that ties up money that could have went to purchase something else that moves a lot quicker. But we as merchants want to carry everything we can because we usually get one chance to try to sell an item. And if we don’t stock it then you go somewhere else like the internet. Now, also add the cost of selling at shows, table rentals, club meetings, swap meets. The merchant has to pay for gas, motel, and food. Not to mention if they have a brick and mortar store someone has to be at the store while they are gone. Oh yea lets add in insurance, electricity, taxes, rent/mortgage, employee wages. Now most of the shops I have been in also have WIFI in the building. That is a cost. It just ticks me off to see a customer in a store using the merchants WIFI surfing the web for cheaper prices. Not much more of a way to be disrespectful to a merchant then that. Now add the cost of advertising, catalogs (I bet you think we get the catalogs for free? NOPE we have to pay for them also. Then if we have our logo put on the cover it almost cost more per catalog then the $1 you get charged and that is only if the merchant even charges for the catalog). So now where is the big $$$$? I have NEVER sold someone a piece of equipment that all I was looking at was the $$$ signs. Most all of my customers I talk to and get to know. Ok I love to sit and talk, just ask my wife. This helps me to make sure they are getting what they feel should be getting. I want the best result for them as it might generate another sale or 2 for me. I also have what I feel is GREAT after the sale customer service. I think that is part of my job as the merchant. I have even encouraged folks to take a month or 2 and make sure the piece of equipment is really what they are wanting. Most of the time after the buyers initial excitement has worn down a little they still make the purchase. I live in Montana and there are only a couple small shops scattered across this large state. And I think that me giving my customers the opportunity to have a hands on chance to actually touch and feel the equipment rather than looking at a catalog is pretty cool. And most of the time if I am selling something I am also running it at the claim. I encourage my customers to come and run the equipment for themselves and see how it works for them. Yes I have bought several pieces of equipment that I will not sell because it does not perform to how I believe it should and if asked tell my customers how it worked for me. But I also tell them how I was running it as maybe they have a better way. Yes it is a buyers beware world. But that applies in everything we do every day even the simple task of filling our rigs with gas. But to group merchants and manufactures as mining the miners is not a fair statement about all. I have talked to another merchant that is also on this site several times for help and suggestions and feel that he also is honest as the day is long and would rather have a happy customer then screw someone for the all mighty dollar. So take my rebuttal for what it is and think to yourself maybe a merchant does not like a negative customer that feel the merchant is only trying to push the greed button. We are not all the same

good call Maurice, When I was a contractor I heard the same thing. Just because some are that way does not mean all are that way. As consumers we have to shoulder some of the responsibility for ill given support. It is hard to make a living out there as most know and that includes the individual business owner. There are some that take advantage of those who do not shop or understand the products they are looking at enough to shop for other like products. If the overpriced shops were not allowed to get away with overpricing by buyers doing their homework there would be better competition out there and the honest shops would make more so fellow miners shop around and understand your product you are interested in.

This is just my opinion