Welcome to the board 100--always good to have another opinion to cast into the mix.

I reckon I'll have to comment on this:

I've had at least one discussion on this point alone in the past. Many ofthe "better" bowyers/dealers generally have a long list of people waiting to get a bow they have already paid a deposit on. Would it be right for them to cause that paying customer to wait that much longer so they can cater to potential customers? Or should they be working onfilling ordersthey have already gotten money down on?

I think a "try before you buy" program is a great thing if the shop can make a go of it, but implying that only the "better" stores/bowyers offer them is just flat wrong. Most of the better bows I've shot were made by one bowyer that has very little help, and a long wait--and most of them are doing the right thing, in my opinion, by taking care of paying customers first. The best that many can do is take some extras they have on hand--missed weights, cancelled orders, etc.--and spend a lot of time,money, and their weekends offtravelling to different tournaments so as many folks as possible have a chance to get their hands on the bows.

If you have any experience at all with the archery business, you knowmost stores are small operations, and even if they can get enough bows for a program without causing customers to wait, they can't afford it.Keeping $10,000 worth of bowsaround as dead inventoryfor folks to try out just isn't feasable for a lot of operations. Many stores and bowyers aren't in business to get rich--they just love the sport.

For the record, I'm speaking from several years of first-hand experience.

Chad