How does Dell (Dell Outlet in particular) do it?

[slackerinabox]

I just picked up the following system from Dell outlet:
Athlon X2 4200
250 Gig HD
1 gig ram
DVD-RW Drive
Windows XP Home

$369!

There's no way in heck that I could have built a system like this using even the cheapest of components for anywhere near that, let alone one with a warranty. How can Dell do this? I understand that selling in such huge volume helps but, really, are they taking a loss on these systems?

 

[Zolty]

link?

 

[Colt45]

damn that is cheap.

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: Zolty
link?

Sorry, sold out already. www.delloutlet.com for other deals.

 

[Drakkon]

buying in huge volume helps as well....and having an exclusive contract with intel and now AMD and your buying in HUGE ammounts definately helps
also when that was returned they charged whomeever a 15% restocking fee most likey on that proobbly normally ~1K system and thus they already got a ~$150 for it and unless they had to replace compoennts in it unlikely they spent taht much repackaging it and getting it back online for sale...

 

[dullard]

1) Bulk = cheaper for the parts.

2) Dell has special deals where the part suppliers have their own warehouses for the parts right at the Dell assembly plant location. Note: this is subtly different from buying the stuff and storing them at your own warehouse. Why? If another company buys an item, and puts it in their own warehouse, then it loses value every day that it is in that warehouse. They could buy a chip at $100, but by the time they sell that chip a month or two later, it is only worth $70. Dell does it differently, with the supplier's warehouse right next door, they buy it and use it that very same day. No losses = major savings. Of course, this also means your Dell could be delayed by 8+ weeks if there is a supply problem.

3) Gullible customers. Sure they may lose a little here or there on savvy people like you. But for every freedomsbeat212 there are 100 people paying $1000 for that exact same computer from Dell but with a 4-year warranty and other pure profit add ons.

 

[kalster]

i bought a similar setup , 3800+ instead of 4200+ for 299, pretty good deals to be had on outlet

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: kalster
i bought a similar setup , 3800+ instead of 4200+ for 299, pretty good deals to be had on outlet

How are you enjoying the system? Is it loud and overheat or has your experience been pleasant? Also, is it relatively easy to upgrade?

Thanks!

HAHAHA.. I just hijacked my own thread..

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: dullard
1) Bulk = cheaper for the parts.

2) Dell has special deals where the part suppliers have their own warehouses for the parts right at the Dell assembly plant location. Note: this is subtly different from buying the stuff and storing them at your own warehouse. Why? If another company buys an item, and puts it in their own warehouse, then it loses value every day that it is in that warehouse. They could buy a chip at $100, but by the time they sell that chip a month or two later, it is only worth $70. Dell does it differently, with the supplier's warehouse right next door, they buy it and use it that very same day. No losses = major savings. Of course, this also means your Dell could be delayed by 8+ weeks if there is a supply problem.

3) Gullible customers. Sure they may lose a little here or there on savvy people like you. But for every freedomsbeat212 there are 100 people paying $1000 for that exact same computer from Dell but with a 4-year warranty and other pure profit add ons.

Point #2 is interesting and very saavy on their part - especially in a rather volatile market. I would just hate to be a Gateway or a eMachines, even. I've spent 3 weeks trying to find a sub-$500 system that doesn't suck and, frankly, no other company can touch Dell's deals.

I guess the days of buying parts at computer shows and building a rig for the best deal's over - not that I'm complaining, less cuts on my finger to deal with.

 

[Exterous]

Tempting....too bad I hate dells. Maybe I could just change the case to make myself feel better

 

[kalster]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212

Originally posted by: kalster
i bought a similar setup , 3800+ instead of 4200+ for 299, pretty good deals to be had on outlet

How are you enjoying the system? Is it loud and overheat or has your experience been pleasant? Also, is it relatively easy to upgrade?

Thanks!

HAHAHA.. I just hijacked my own thread..

it should be here tommorow, from what i have read upgrading shouldnt be that hard, it only has a305w cpu, so high end graphic cards are sort of a reach. i am thinking of putting a 7600gt or 7900gs in it, from my calculation of power consumption the stock psu should be able to handle it

 

[akubi]

was it new or refurb?

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: akubi
was it new or refurb?

Listed as a Dell Authorized Refurb

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: Exterous
Tempting....too bad I hate dells. Maybe I could just change the case to make myself feel better

hell, gut the thing and use only the cpu, ram, hd, dvd-drive, etc. You'd still be saving money.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Exterous
Tempting....too bad I hate dells. Maybe I could just change the case to make myself feel better

Haha... good luck trying to change the case. They use non-standard motherboard standoffs and the front USB/Audio header is also nonstandard. The only Dell that would have the possibility of changing the case is the XPS 700/710 since IIRC, they are filling it with standard components to appeal to the DIY people, but you'd spend a lot for that machine anyway.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: kalster

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212

Originally posted by: kalster
i bought a similar setup , 3800+ instead of 4200+ for 299, pretty good deals to be had on outlet

How are you enjoying the system? Is it loud and overheat or has your experience been pleasant? Also, is it relatively easy to upgrade?

Thanks!

HAHAHA.. I just hijacked my own thread..

it should be here tommorow, from what i have read upgrading shouldnt be that hard, it only has a305w cpu, so high end graphic cards are sort of a reach. i am thinking of putting a 7600gt or 7900gs in it, from my calculation of power consumption the stock psu should be able to handle it

You should be able to go up a little higher. The 305W PSU is rated as Mean Output, so the PSU should be able to go up to ~400W. There are plenty of threads about it on the Dell Community Forum.

 

[kevnich2]

If it works, go with it. I used to be VERY much against buying from Dell, HP, Gateway, etc until Dell got their prices down this low. Now I stopped making my own PC's and I started buying Dell's. I really have no complaints but I also have a business account so I get better support when it's needed. There are occasional hardware issues but that's to be expected.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Well....to put it plainly, outlet = refurb. If they sell it to you at a loss, they claim the loss on the original sale AND decrease their inventory, thus saving holding costs. Between regular item's overhead and the fact that they sold a "remanufactured" item, they come out better than they would if they scrapped the item....and that's all their really trying to accomplish. The longer they keep the item without selling it, the more money they've wasted.

So, their incentives in selling cheap is to make the 1st quarter look good for Dell.....there should be quite a few good deals between now and March on there. Find a standard item, such as the Dell MP3 players or Axims and watch for the price to drop. When it does, compare the price of the computers/laptops and you can tell that they're really trying to move inventory. If you don't use those standard items as benchmarks, I've found it's hard to tell the best time to buy. Especially since so many of their systems are the same, in a different form-factor or case.

 

[krunchykrome]

Dell does not hold any inventory. They require suppliers to maintain inventory facilities (at the cost of the supplier) within 15 minutes from dell production facilities. This way, they are able to maintain a negative cash conversion cycle. Customers order a computer, and Dell receives money before the computer is even built. Dell receives the cash before they even own the inventory.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Dell does not hold any inventory. They require suppliers to maintain inventory facilities (at the cost of the supplier) within 15 minutes from dell production facilities. This way, they are able to maintain a negative cash conversion cycle. Customers order a computer, and Dell receives money before the computer is even built. Dell receives the cash before they even own the inventory.

Dell Outlet is refurbished computers. They were built, shipped, and returned....then serviced. So, in this case inventory does exist and if Dell doesn't hold the inventory, they must pay someone to hold it for them.

 

[ElFenix]

you know all that junky software that comes on the system and is the first thing you delete? a lot of it, the maker pays dell to put it on the system in the hopes that you upgrade to the full version for $49.95.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Dell does not hold any inventory. They require suppliers to maintain inventory facilities (at the cost of the supplier) within 15 minutes from dell production facilities. This way, they are able to maintain a negative cash conversion cycle. Customers order a computer, and Dell receives money before the computer is even built. Dell receives the cash before they even own the inventory.

Dell Outlet is refurbished computers. They were built, shipped, and returned....then serviced. So, in this case inventory does exist and if Dell doesn't hold the inventory, they must pay someone to hold it for them.

Yea, I don't anything about Dell refurbished computers or where they're kept.

I was referring to new computers.

 

[DrPizza]

How the heck did you find such a good deal? Were you refreshing the page for months or something?? How often are there such deals??
Which category is best? (home, or business/education?)

Tips for getting a good deal?

 

[KK]

yeah, I got a XPS 410 c2d E6300, 1 Gig Ram, DVD,DVD-RW,dual tv tuner with remote,some type of video card(7300 maybe), 250 GB HD for $629 over christmas.

 

[DeviousTrap]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
How the heck did you find such a good deal? Were you refreshing the page for months or something?? How often are there such deals??
Which category is best? (home, or business/education?)

Tips for getting a good deal?

http://www.dealscans.com/dell-outlet-deals/