I primarily grow veggies so prices are very easy to compare across dealers.  I have a spreadsheet where I track about 250 different varieties across about nine different vendors.  There are a few dealers that offer a little value add and exactly ONE that I would call a supportive and responsive dealer.  I will name names since I only have good things to say. 

Seedway gets the largest amount of my seed dollars followed by Johnny's Seeds, Jordan Seeds, Harris Seeds.  Those three are where I spend most of my dollars.  Of those three Seedway is far and away the most supportive.  I have dedicated rep with a cell number that he answers.  They have office staff who can answer technical questions.  They will replace seed that if there is poor germination, etc.  Prices are "OK."  Some are a little higher, some are a little lower.  They don't carry everything I grow and they don't carry some varieties I prefer, but they do provide SERVICE. 

Johnny's is second mainly because they carry varieties I can't get elsewhere.  They are rarely the cheapest.  I do have a dedicated account rep, but he is not as responsive as Seedway and is not proactive in calling me about new varieties.  He sometimes answers his cell.  We only do a grand or a little more in seed with them so I don't think we are that "big" of a customer.  The big plus with Johnny's is that their seed ships VERY quickly, they have an excellent inventory system, germination is usually good.  They won't usually replace seed if things don't go well.  I have received pepper seed with germs as low as 70%.  That is legal, but it is way below what I would consider acceptable. 

Jordan Seeds is a small, family run dealer.  I use them as a discount seed source.  They are usually the cheapest on some of my common varieties.  Germination is always good.  Order processing is very slow unless you order months in advance in the slow season.  It was so bad this year I couldn't plant peppers I ordered three weeks prior because they took over two weeks to package the order and then ship.  This was "expedited" service.  Luckily these peppers were just trials for me and I will just save till next year. 

Harris is mostly for flower seed.  We sell a lot of wholesale flowers and Harris is about the only source for a lot of the better colors and varieties.  Flowers are a market where it is fairly easy to source direct from the breeder.  Prices suck sourcing direct unless you are doing 5-10K in business with them.  It is usually cheaper to buy from Harris.  They are very supportive, offer early season AND loyalty discounts. 

Which brings me back to my spreadsheet.  I check all of my vendors every year in December.  Each variety has a price for the that variety from each dealer.  It becomes very apparent which dealers get discounts from the breeders and which do not.  Some dealers really hike prices from year to year.  Some consistently raise prices 3%-9% every year, while others do not.  The amount of seed price hikes over the last 5 years has been on the order of 20-50% for many varieties.  I can't figure the reason either other than they are testing the market.  Hence my shopping around. 

When I plant in the greenhouse I record sku, source and seed lot.  I notice that some dealers ship me the exact same lot for up to three years.  The price on these same lots has gone up every year, but obviously they are sending the same seed so that begs the question on price. 

I think price and service go hand in hand.  The mark of a good dealer is one who is supportive, responsive, delivers on time and has your back.  Who cares how much they make as long as it works for you.  If prices go wonky, then it is time to shop around.  For me, Seedway has been the most supportive and responsive.  Hence they have received the largest number of my seed dollars for the last decade. 

I would still like a hat though.  :-)