Market Research: Buying local vs. online. Please help!

[Richer]

I'm just finishing up a project worth 65% of my grade for one of my business courses, but I need some help! Please feel free to contribute if you can, any comments would be greatly appreciated. Please keep in mind that my research relates to buying aquarium products/livestock online vs. in local stores. I've gotten responses from fellow students, and some outsiders, but I obviously need the opinion of people who matter the most... the hobbyist!

When purchasing aquarium equipment and livestock, it is believed that a potential customer makes his/her decision based on five categories:

- fragility (how easily something is broken during shipment, regardless of whether or not the vendor replaces the item)
- how perishable the item is (fish/coral/frozen food)
- ease of shipment (the higher the weight/size of the item, the more it'll cost to ship, ie. salt)
- technical aspect of the item (how beneficial would it be to buy local so that you can get some local technical help, the Neptune controller comes to mind)
- availability (obviously, if the product is only available at a local shop, or only online, you'd only buy from there)

I believe these categories apply to most people who debate between buying local and online... except maybe perishability. Please rank which one of these is most important, with the most important at the top and the least important at the bottom and post any comment that you may have. Anyone who responds will be entered in for a draw for $20 at a yet to be determined shop (yes, its only 20 bucks, I can't afford more, I'm a student :P ).

Thanks for your participation!