The other points are debatable, because those are decisions on how to run a business, and I come at it from the viewpoint that he's fine with the new people he's getting. I'm new and have bought each time the store has opened for the last 7-8 months so people like me aren't one time shoppers like you seem top think the new customers are.
All that aside though, I think most customers understand that the freebies are to be factored in to the overall cost as well, because afterall weed is weed, especially when its quality. Given that you factor in the freebies in the average cost, each seed comes down to a purchase price of between $4-5 USD. If you're just buying 1 seed at a time for $15 I don't think I'd buy from them either. That's hefty, but even 1 seed gives you 2 of the same free I think? so you're getting 3 seeds for that 15.. at worst you're getting two seeds so it's 7.50 a seed. I've bought 150-170$ worth of seeds (whichever one trips his highest freebie bundle) each time. I know from past grows others have done, and even current grows, that the genetics coming from this outfit are good genetics. So my goal is to stock up on plenty so that I'm never in a position of not having any of these seeds to grow. I've got a 20 cu ft deep freeze for storing seeds and product. My brother in law right now is growing some reggies he dug out of his freezer storage that are from the early 90's, so I'm assuming these seeds im collecting will be viable for a long time as well.
I'm not making excuses for how they're running their business. I'm saying how I see it as a newbie repeat customer who has spent money at his shop every time he's opened up since my first purchase. His new customers aren't one off customers like you describe. We're pretty voracious repeats so far. The subreddit they have is a testament to that I think. It's grown in user base like 15k people in the last year. Hell, it's even harder to acquire any seeds from Night Owl. I've tried to buy his seeds 4-5 times now and haven't gotten a single drop.
When I first started looking in to this outfit that sub had 4-5k followers. Today it has almost 20k followers. You're saying I'm making excuses but all I am doing is providing information on how someone new to the shop sees it. I don't have any reason to make an excuse for them. If I feel thats the quality of the genes are garbage or that the hassle of buying the seeds is too insane, then I'm definitely going to go elsewhere, but so far I haven't felt that to be an issue. I do want to say that your valuation of the seeds at $15 just seems very over priced though, given the content you actually get unless you think you shouldn't factor in the freebies to the cost.
I also want to thank you for your linda-seeds shout out in your sig and the thread you made btw. My brother and I did a large purchase from them together a few weeks ago after reading that thread you put together. We're new growers so building a collection is a big priority right now. Never know if they pass legislation making it harder to acquire or god knows... much easier... the rush on product then is going to make the current stocking problems ridiculous. Imagine they finally legalize growing federally. Good luck finding cheap quality seeds when everyone who has always wanted to starts growing.