I've done both... Depends on what you are trying to acheive I guess... if you are looking for egg production only... hatchery stock is probably best. Just because they cull any hens that don't produce well.... the hens may not be anywhere near the show standards, but they'll be strong egg producers... If you are looking for dual purpose breeds, hatcheries aren't the place to go, they don't care about only breeding the best meat birds that can supply steadily, just about getting enough eggs laid and hatched IMO. So they aren't truely dual purpose...
when ordering eggs from smaller breeders, do your homework!!! I'm a lot picker about who I buy from now than I used to be... most recent bad experience was with marans eggs... ordered 18, only six hatched, 3 hens and 3 roos (I'd have been happy with %50 which is more typical of my shipped hatches)... all hens are solid black and only one roo is anywhere near the proper markings for a marans. They are not laying yet, but should be soon I'm curious to see how dark the eggs are, but I'm not expecting too much at this point.
When ordering eggs I have learned that closer is better! So if they are on the west coast, they aren't for me! I don't order anything farther than an 8 hour drive. Travel does affect hatch rates.