I had a preamp shipped from the El Paso store to Chicago, and it was a bit of an ordeal. I found both locations to be somewhat disorganized, and really didn't seem to be well sync'd up. Also, while it only cost $9 to have it shipped, the packing was terrible. The pre was wrapped with one strip of bubble wrap, then put it loose in an oversized box along with an unsecured power cord.
On the plus side, I got the benefit of the 30 day return if I wanted/needed it, and got it shipped to my local store.
It all all worked out in the end, but it was kind of a hassle to get the stores to coordinate. Maybe I should have just purchased over the website, but I called the El Paso store to work out the deal.
As a side note, it IS possible to buy a used item at a store not local to you, and pay their sales tax. The downside is you can only have it shipped to the address associated to your credit/debit card.
I'm not knocking GC, just offering MY experience.
All that being said, I'd probably do it again if there was a used item I wanted at another store.