Of course, the flip side of that is demonstrated by a high-end gallery that my girlfriend and I visited in Beverly Hills while we were starving college students. They carried the work of her favorite artist, Erte. The staff were incredibly welcoming and helpful, and one of the salesmen gave us the full tour, lovingly describing every piece. None of them cost less than several thousand dollars. I became embarrassed at wasting the poor guy's time, and sheepishly admitted we couldn't possibly buy anything in the store. And he smiled and said "Not now, perhaps. But we're not going anywhere."
Ten years later I bought an Erte sculpture from them for my by-then-wife's birthday. We later bought another piece from them. Sometimes being nice to the smelly proletariat pays off.