Who is your favorite dealer ?

DXengineering
HRO
Gigaparts
MTC
Universal
R&L
Ham Station
Associated Radio

did I forget any ???

I tend to shop for the cheapest price, and "in stock"

I always Loved the old AES paper catalog, too bad they are gone.

I'm gonna go with MTC.  I like them the most, though I do some business with HRO because they're just down the street.

Mostly DX Engineering, I have enough of their stickers to wallpaper the living room.

Occasionally buy from HRO and MTC.

Elecraft.

I voted for DX Engineering.  They have the best communication and tracking of purchases and should be the model all the others emulate.

HRO has been great. Only downside is that the customer can't look up a previous order, only employees can do that.

I've come to notice that everyone sells most all items for list price and the only discounts happen when the mfr offers them.

I've bought from Gigaparts a good bit.  Recently I just drive up to R&L.

Me MTC Paris TX 35 minutes away.  Best trades I have ever had.

You left out Cheapham.com

by “ham radio dealer” I meant a place that sells Kenwood, Icom, and Yaesu

Going to give Universal & MTC a shot.  Placed an order with R&L a little while ago and was not pleased.  Won't be ordering from them ever again.

HRO mainly because if it ships from the local one it gets here quick and I can drive there if I really want to.

MTC for most of my stuff and HRO second.

The guy I dealt with for my FlexSystems radio was a real prick.

Associated Radio

HRO and DX.

DX, they price match, they know their stuff.

DXE are pricks run by a prick - and yes I have lots of experience with them (25k spent here?).  They do carry really nice stuff though and have the best website by far.

HRO are normal peeps and always friendly in my experience.  I try to buy from them more than others.

MTC has a great reputation but don’t carry much of what I want/need.

I love that if my order is in before noon at HRO
it's here the next day if it ships out of the NH warehouse.

I patronized MTC for a long time because of their support of FOtime
but stopped after some weird customer service and shipping issues.

I've always had good service from R&L, they are often cheaper too.

was your bad experience used gear ?

No, was a new purchase.  
I usually use a cheap HT in the vehicle in case someone wants to do a smash & grab.  It's happened to me before, I don't keep expensive stuff in there anymore because of it.  I dropped the old UV-5R I kept in there and cracked it.  They had one of the 7 watt UV-82 for only a couple bucks more.  I was curious if the extra wattage would actually make a difference with the other antennas I had around.  I know it won't matter when using it as a standard HT.  In the vehicle I have a Comet SBB-5 and at home I have a Ed Fong antenna about 30' up on our tower.  I thought this would be a good way to test the extra power. (It made a little difference but not much.  I have a write up on my other shooting forum about the test if anyone is interested.)  I also wanted to check out R&L a little before I placed any larger orders later on this year and early next spring.

The radio they sent me had some of the LEDs out.  Called them and told them about it.  They acted like it wasn't any big deal and I should just live with it.  Told them that wasn't acceptable for a new radio.  They said they would exchange it and to send it back.  A week later I pick up the new one at the post office.  It was the same box I sent them, taped with the same tape I used, returned to me in the same package I mailed it to them in.  I opened it up and turned it on, the same LEDs were still out.  Hooked it up to the computer and it had the same dozen frequencies, tones & PLs as the one I returned.  It had the same small scratch near the antenna connection and the same air bubble under the plastic film on the screen.  It was the same radio I sent them.

I called them back to get the story.  Talked to the guy that packaged it up (supposedly).  He said he DID grab another radio from another box and put it back into the original box they shipped me.  Said it was the same accessories but a different radio. So according to him he opened a brand new box to pull out the radio and ship it back instead of doing an outright exchange, who does that?  Even if that's the case, why didn't he check it to see if it worked properly?  It would have been right there in his hand, he knew what the problem was, take 5 seconds and look at it.

He absolutely insisted it was a different radio and wanted to argue about it.  I thought about driving down and exchanging it in person and having a discussion with them (I'm a little more than an hour away from them).  I decided it wasn't worth the time, gas and most importantly the blood pressure it was sure to cause me.  I ended up telling them they lost me as a customer forever and giving the radio to a friend who didn't care about the LEDs.  I intended the radio to be used in the vehicle and want to see things clearly while driving.  The LEDs are important to me, my problem was clearly not important to R&L.

Since then we've been paid for our crops and I'm ready to get a new radio & antenna for the house, a better EDC HT, and in the spring my first HF rig.  The HT is already ordered, a FT-70. The new house radio with either be a FTM-100DR or the Icom IC-2730A.  I'm not sure about the antenna or the HF radio yet.  I AM sure that none of it will be from R&L.

This.  Both are even for me.

Favorite?  Ham City

Perma-ban dealer?  Universal Radio.  Back when I was still active duty I ordered a $30 Grundig radio for the earthquake kit.  It came in while I was out flying so I didn't get to mess with it until I got back.  Turns out it's totally deaf on AM; I even took it to Seattle and it receives almost nothing.  I called Universal and they basically told me to pound sand- too much time had elapsed.  I explained I was on active duty and was deployed when it arrived, but they didn't care.

If they suck over a $30 purchase, there's no way I'd ever spend thousands with them.

The guy with the long coat with all the hooks inside.

Wanna buy a ham radio? Fifty bucks!

He used to sell watches but changed to ham radios.

I like MTC as a mom&pop shop that has a decent enough web shopping site.  I frequent Gigaparts as they have a local store but often not the best prices.

bump

I would probably be shocked to know just how much I've spent at the local HRO, and my "spousal unit" might be rather vexed. Just kidding really, she has actually bought me a couple of rigs there.

I'm a cheap sot, and like to hunt for bargains, but the guys at HRO have been genuinely helpful over the years, so I do all my trade there. I could have saved a bit here and there if I purchased online, but they have earned my loyalty.

Absolutely

Yep, I have no idea why they have that policy.
There is a smaller store in NJ, the name escapes me, I buy lots of odds and ends from them.
Every order takes 2 days to arrive, very fast, they even ship orders on Saturday.

And DX Eng is also the only ham shop where I can also order 4 shocks for my Ford Excursion.  
Via Summit Racing.
Something someone with the screen name 'cheapjeep' might appreciate.

I voted HRO. I have a friend that works there. Also I went to MTC today to look at getting a mobile unit and no one wanted to be bothered in the store. I did over hear them saying that it looked like they sold the same radio to 2 different people.

One of them was probably me.

I don't know that for sure.

I ordered a Yaesu YT-857D today and now it isn't even listed on their site any more...

Gave my vote to HRO for my local store. I am lucky to have one in Phoenix but it is long drive. I have ordered from there a couple times to save the drive and always got my stuff in two days. Being across town helps but one item came from Cali and only took two days as well.

Prices are sometimes a little less but mostly competitive with the other sources and like everyone says, many discounts appear to be mostly from the manufacturer. I also like buying local for the service and great folks the that work there. I took advantage of the Holiday sale on the FT-2DR and FTM-400XDR. It was hard to pass them up with the discounts.

Edit for spelling

You might find one item, a radio or tuner that you want, cheaper at one place than another.  But if you are
like me, you don't order just one item.  Heck, you're paying shipping anyway, might as well fill the bill of
materials you need, right?

So, you need 6, 7 items, and some little stuff like PL-259's or whatever.

Add it all up, plus shipping.

Now check out the same order at any of the other places.  One item might be more expensive, another cheaper,
but the whole order, all of the stuff you want, it ends up being within a few dollars of any of the others.

The shipping is the reason you don't order those six items from four different places.

In the end, I just look to see who has it all in stock and can ship now.  And I've had good dealings with all of those
listed.

I will not buy anything in the local HRO store ( 2.5 hr drive each way) because if it is inop out of the box ( ie MFJ ie chinese connector shorter etc) I have to pay to ship it back or drive 5 hours.

If I buy online, they pay to ship it back

Actually, The Ham Station is in my hometown and I know Dan and the boys. They've always treated me right.

Other than THS I have used DX Engineering and have never been disappointed.

The "Ham Station" Evansville, IN has been good to me for many years. Most recently R&L Electronics in Hamilton, OH has been very very good.

I've bought a ton of used gear from THE HAM STATION

heard rumors a few years ago, that R&L was buying him out because he's retiring   ?