Welcome aboard!
Nothing wrong with buying online. You will have to rely on a retailer and online reviews and discussions like here. Brick-and-mortar shops in this relative niche are hardly viable if not supported by a large online section, or live by selling standard stuff by a few well-known brands with huge marketing budgets. With stones even worse: physical shops hardly offer more than two brands, and a limited number of series. Not sure the vendor knows them really well.
By the way, with knives as with a lot of other things in life, the first impression is often totally wrong. It says more about what you're used to than what you're actually handling. As a novice I felt uneasy with knives with the slightest different balance point, before learning to adapt my grip.
Apart from detailed specifications, it takes me a few weeks of use, getting rid of the factory edge, a few sharpenings, some fine-tuning of the geometry and perhaps adapting some technique before really getting to know a new knife.
A visit to a shop wouldn't have learned me much more than a few basic data tells me and I can deduct from them, even without a salesman around me.
There are of course serious retailers who love their job, sharpen and repair themselves and invest in a long term relationship to their customers. You may find a few as sponsors here.
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