I've bought both locally and from Jim. Locally you will probably have tax, and if you buy from one of the forum sponsors, you probably will have shipping. When I purchased locally, it's been from two different stores...one was GC and the other a small private store. Both local stores were more than willing to work with me on the price without any hassles at all. When you buy locally, you can visually inspect the guitars and listen to the tone. If they have more than one of the same model, you can even A/B them back to back.
If you buy from Jim, he has a nice buy-back policy as others have stated where you can trade up for a more expensive guitar after a year providing it's kept in good shape.
Both ways have their benefits. Are you looking for a keeper or a stepping stone?
