I'm sure they are. The thing I have noticed is that online prices are very close to the price I get from my lbs unless it's something the online place got surplus somehow. Since I get a fairly large discount from my lbs, I always save money going through them. If they can't make money with my normal discount, they let me know and charge me more.
A well managed shop with decent volume gets free shipping on a lot of stuff, so that's not a concern.