Even though everyone does it in West, here in the Eastern Europe we seldom buy hardware online. The reason is that taxes is big, and postman or the guy at customs can steel you your goods if he likes it. So, you people from West Europe and the USA, do you buy more offline or online?
I can’t believe that what you write is true! What country do you come from? I can’t believe it’s the same in the entire Eastern Europe. Personally, since I’ve first registered to Amazon and eBay, I didn’t buy a single thing (except a USB cable once) in a regular shop.