Do You Actually Save Money in a Microcenter Store?

[Redinit]

Depends, for small purchases I usually save money, but for larger buys, tax is 9.25%, so sometimes it's better for me to buy at NewEgg.

 

[piasabird]

When Gas is like $3.70 a gallon or so and tax being high, I would have to save more than 15% overall compared to the price of a PC to make a trip worth it.

 

[sm625]

Has anyone ever gone to microcenter to buy something advertised only to find it magically not be in stock? Or do you order online and pick up at microcenter?

 

[mnewsham]

Has anyone ever gone to microcenter to buy something advertised only to find it magically not be in stock? Or do you order online and pick up at microcenter?

not really, they will be out of stock sometimes of course, but from my experiences it's not on any specific deal items or anything, I have bought 3 or 4 of their AMD/Intel Motherboard/CPU combos with no problems, great deal!

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Great place to check out cases too. Prices are usually competitive.

 

[Charlie98]

Great place to check out cases too. Prices are usually competitive.

Being able to look at the cases has probably saved me from a bad purchase or two...

Has anyone ever gone to microcenter to buy something advertised only to find it magically not be in stock?

If you go online, you can pull up your store and find out how many of that item they have in stock.

 

[GMasonDragonDad]

Being able to look at the cases has probably saved me from a bad purchase or two...

If you go online, you can pull up your store and find out how many of that item they have in stock.

Yes, the web site said they had the item in stock at my store, but none were on the floor. I had to ask an associate to go to the back room to get one. (WD Red 2tb)

 

[Automaticman]

Yes, the web site said they had the item in stock at my store, but none were on the floor. I had to ask an associate to go to the back room to get one. (WD Red 2tb)

Yeah but that's not bait and switch tactics, that's just life at a large retail store with a lot of inventory. It can be hard to keep up with what's being received in the back and entered into the computer before it makes its way onto the floor.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Do I save money? No, not really, I end up using MC out of convenience more than anything (saving time), and 40 mins is not convenient. Unless you're buying a CPU and maybe a motherboard in combo, its not worth a 40 minute drive. But that's they're hope, is that once they get you in the store for the CPU and maybe the motherboard, that they hope you'll end up buying other items, as their case/psu/video card/etc prices are typically not that good unless they happen to be on sale or rebate, but at that point you're giving up selection unless they already have what you had already made your mind up to go for online.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I just found out that I could get the Microcenter house brand ink cartridges for my printer at about half the cost of the name brand. They seem to work just as well as the originals.

Since my wife loves to print stuff, could save 50 bucks a year maybe. I also got a good deal on a close-out Dell prebuilt computer and a gpu on sale. Have to be careful buying graphics cards though, as others have said.

 

[KentState]

I've saved money on the last few MB/CPU/RAM combos. Then again, it's really close and with Amazon charging tax makes it a better option at times.

 

[mfenn]

Yeah but that's not bait and switch tactics, that's just life at a large retail store with a lot of inventory. It can be hard to keep up with what's being received in the back and entered into the computer before it makes its way onto the floor.

I agree. You can also just order it right from the site and go pick it up. You'll get it for the price listed.

 

[Charlie98]

Yeah but that's not bait and switch tactics, that's just life at a large retail store with a lot of inventory. It can be hard to keep up with what's being received in the back and entered into the computer before it makes its way onto the floor.

It took the sales guy almost 20 minutes to find my Define Mini case last time... with a store chock full of product and not enough room to properly organize it in any manner it's not surprising, and I wasn't offended.

When I went down to buy my Plextor SSD, on the other hand, it took them almost 30 minutes to find the thing... it should have been in the security cage right by the registers, but it wasn't.

 

[mnewsham]

When I went down to buy my Plextor SSD, on the other hand, it took them almost 30 minutes to find the thing... it should have been in the security cage right by the registers, but it wasn't.

at my local MC the SSDs are kept behind the build your own computer desk and they are kept under lock and key at all times, since they are all centralized there is no need to run around looking for one.

 

[Meghan54]

MC's cpu/mb combos kick everyone else's prices to the curb. Thankfully, MC tends to carry most of the popular motherboards, but it is true....MC doesn't carry as extensive a selection as Newegg. Neither does Fry's. But what can you expect from a B&M store vs. a warehouse/online only seller.

Granted, MC's list prices on their cases, gpu's, memory, etc. can be higher than Newegg, but I've never had a problem getting the three MC's I've shopped in the last year---Cambridge, MA and the two in ATL---to pricematch Newegg's price on anything.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Microcenter is great for CPUs and motherboards. For other things, their prices are generally higher than what you could find online if you shopped around.

Up until about a year ago the local MC nearest me (Duluth, GA) would price match Amazon and NewEgg. Now they won't if it is below their costs.

While I have bought a pair of CPU+mobo combo's since October of last year, and some other things that would have been more expensive to ship do to size or weight, I found buying RAM through Amazon cheaper.

For instance, I recently bought 16GB of RAM from Amazon for $5 less than MC when compared to MC's price after rebate. Save $5 and no rebate headaches. But compared to anyone else, MC just is 'the source' these days.