Buying components in the UK

[Mazmanmaz1]

I recently moved to London for work from California. I'd like to build a new system but don't want to ship components from the US. Anyone know of a decent online store in the UK where I can get the components I need for a new gaming rig? Thanks.

 

[Harvey]

Welcome to the forums.

As a former California resident, I'm sure you know about Newegg. Last April, they posted this announcement on their blog:

Thousands of Newegg Products Now Available in the United Kingdom and Australia

By Ivan B. on April 8, 2014 in Newegg News

Great news, international readers! Starting today, we’re expanding Newegg to include shoppers in the United Kingdom and Australia. Customers from these countries will now be able to shop on Newegg.com and enjoy the same low prices as our American clientele.

We’re not quite ready to unleash our entire catalog, which includes millions of products. Instead, we’re starting out by offering thousands of items as we begin our international expansion. Don’t worry though; we’ll be adding new items frequently as we widen our overseas reach.

“We want to ensure our new international customers have the same great experience our customers in North America have come to expect. Although the initial selection of products available in the UK and Australia represents only a small subset of the Newegg catalog, we’ll be greatly increasing the selection in the coming months.”

–Soren Mills, Chief Marketing Officer for Newegg North America

There's more info at the above link.

Prices on the UK site are noted in £. I don't know what they're doing about shipping, but I would imagine the total cost would have to be reasonable to be competitive in that market.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mazmanmaz1]

That's helpful - thanks!

 

[WildW]

I would expect to pay a heap of duty if importing from outside the EU

First of all, if you want anything in the UK you are going to be buying online. If you are desperate for something simple like a new mouse then there are retail stores PC World and Maplin, but they really aren't worth looking at for anything more complex. Think of Best Buy but not as good.

Some of the well known UK sites - I'll keep to those I've used regularly for now. Others will probably argue with my comments, everyone will have favourites.

http://www.scan.co.uk - has possibly the widest range of enthusiast class kit. For example I seem to recall they had the widest range of solid state drives when they were just starting to appear a few years back. They have a daily page of today-only deals.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk - another enthusiast specialist, e.g. lots of watercooling stuff, deals change weekly.

http://www.aria.co.uk - similar again. They have some pretty good very limited deals that update every day - typically 20 or so of each item at much reduced prices. Their range is a little smaller than those above, I think.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/ - a bit smaller range than the above. More known for their custom systems. I've only really used them because they have a real shop I've occasionally visited.

http://www.ebuyer.com - are a little bit more "pile it high, sell it cheap" than the above. They ship for next day delivery until 11pm which is nice, although in my experience that isn't guaranteed. More businiess oriented stuff - wider ranges of things like printers than the enthusiast sites.