"Market pricing", a suggestion & some cautionary advice

[MplsBob]

With the high demand for the new Intel Conroe processors and compatible motherboards, a number of merchants have decided to engage in "market pricing" where they jack up their prices as "market pricing" and pocket the extra cash.

I can only tell you what my response has been and I surely wouldn't want to imply that you must do the same.

I have noted who the "market pricers" are. In the last couple of days I have purchased hundreds of dollars of equipment and none of that went to vendors who have been engaged in "market pricing".

That includes one motherboard that will be returned to NewEgg. A couple of hours after placing that order, I discovered that ZipZoomFly had been selling the same motherboard for $179 and that NewEgg had charged me $70 extra just for the pure joy of being able to do business with them.

I quickly disco0vered that www.pricegrabber.com/ is an excellent way to discover who is playing nice and who is engaged in gouging. All you have to do is identify the item you are seeking, such as 'Core 2 Duo E6700' and click on 'Search' and look at the results. On the Intel E6700 Core 2 Duo processor I just now saw the following prices (in ascending order): $568, $645, $699. I will leave it to you who is engaging in outright price gouging and who is not.

===================================

As an aside I would also caution you to be particularly careful in looking at the description of the product at the merchants site. If it isn't almost exactly 'Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Dual Core Processor' you may be lead astray. Intel, bless its soul, has a set of 'Duo Core" processors (without the '2') and you might end up buying the wrong thing altogether.

 

[Auric]

Knowledge is power.

Too bad newegg are tards 'cause they could have simply price matched and still made a healthy profit but I am guessing their policy is "forcing" you to instead return it for a refund in which case they will lose money in processing alone. If it is not too late then call them to cancel and the procedure may be simplified upon their approval by refusing acceptance from UPS/Fedex. Who knows, they may even refund the shipping price but they are still tards for trying to price gouge.

Years ago it was safe to recommend newegg but no longer (indeed not for quite awhile now). Their target market has shifted from the savvy to the gullible nub who now rightly eschews the gouging of their local chain store but yet falls for the same thing online due to heavy advertising on "enthusiast" sites and a positive word of mouth based mostly upon an ever receding past but lagging current reality.

Indeed, the general consensus seems to be that newegg is somehow "cool". Well, if a profit grubbing corporation can ever be cool from the consumer POV, they certainly have not been for some time as they have increasingly played games with both prices and shipping charges (particularly the deceitful use of the term "free"), have meaningless "sales", and create demand with a low price on some item (forum buzz) and then dynamically jack it up rather than being content with higher volume.

I could go on but meh... 'nuff said.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: MplsBob
That includes one motherboard that will be returned to NewEgg. A couple of hours after placing that order, I discovered that ZipZoomFly had been selling the same motherboard for $179 and that NewEgg had charged me $70 extra just for the pure joy of being able to do business with them.

So basically your complaint is that you didn't bother to comparison shop at all before buying? Seems like with the proliferation of web sites that exist for exactly that purpose (Pricegrabber, Pricewatch, Froogle, etc.) it shouldn't have taken you hours after the purchase (particularly given that most people put a good amount of time into something as major as the motherboard) to discover such a large discrepancy.

I hate artifically high prices as much as the next guy. But when it is a known fact that many vendors are raising prices on a product in response to stratospheric demand, most people do at least a little basic price comparison.

Originally posted by: MplsBob
As an aside I would also caution you to be particularly careful in looking at the description of the product at the merchants site. If it isn't almost exactly 'Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Dual Core Processor' you may be lead astray. Intel, bless its soul, has a set of 'Duo Core" processors (without the '2') and you might end up buying the wrong thing altogether.

If you shop by reading the model number and nothing else, this will not be a problem for you. Core Duo model numbers start with T, L, or U (not E) followed by a 1 or 2 (not a 6). That is assuming you don't notice the socket, amount of L2 cache, and Front Side Bus speed are all different (if compared to the E6700, at least).

 

[crt1530]

Anandtech's own Ric Romero.

 

[MplsBob]

Actually I had fallen victim to my own trust in NewEgg. I was stunned to find that they would endanger their own reputation for a few extra bucks. It is greed, just plain greed.

I know better now.

 

[jimmyj68]

One more thing befoire i retire - One of the dumbest moves NewEgg made was switching thier shipping to UPS. Just this week UPS trashed a Viewsonic monitor I ordered. If i could have gotten downstairs faster I would have refused the delivery but the guy made a beeline for his truck and peeled out. I'm sure he knew the product was probably trashed.. The bottom of the box ws broken open and one cable the users manusl and the CD were no where to be found.. Hooked it up and turned it on and the screen looked like a modern art painting. That was "free" shipping. I dropped Viewsonic becuase their packaging is not designed for the rigors UPS. Ordered a BenQ and paid the extra for FeDex. Arrived in almost pristine condition - and the packaging was much more robust.

Maybe that wasn't a dumb move on NewEgg's part after all - don't like UPS? Pay the premium for FeDex. ZZF ships almost everything "free" and uses FeDex almost exclusively.

 

[Zebo]

I rarley order from Newegg anymore.. harder to find stuff, over priced shipping, overpriced mechandise compared to better competitors. MWAVE is my first stop (granted they are playing preorder games currently) but normally they have the best price on combos, fastest service and little known lienent RMA policy. ZZF is cool - ClubIT is trying to make a name and giving outstanding service and price. Tankguys same way...Then maybe newegg. Monarch no comment.

 

[Arcanedeath]

Its sad but I have to agree newegg has gone down hill recently unless I purchase "sale" items I tend to find it cheaper someplace else and in many cases by a large amount, its still better than retail but I used to expect more from Newegg, but not anymore, I normaly just use it to find the item I'm looking for w/ a good description and pictures and purchase someplace else w/ a better price / service.


edit: on the plus side Newegg does tend to have good weekend / 1 day sales guess I just have to hunt harder for those.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: Auric
Knowledge is power.

Too bad newegg are tards 'cause they could have simply price matched and still made a healthy profit but I am guessing their policy is "forcing" you to instead return it for a refund in which case they will lose money in processing alone. If it is not too late then call them to cancel and the procedure may be simplified upon their approval by refusing acceptance from UPS/Fedex. Who knows, they may even refund the shipping price but they are still tards for trying to price gouge.

Years ago it was safe to recommend newegg but no longer (indeed not for quite awhile now). Their target market has shifted from the savvy to the gullible nub who now rightly eschews the gouging of their local chain store but yet falls for the same thing online due to heavy advertising on "enthusiast" sites and a positive word of mouth based mostly upon an ever receding past but lagging current reality.

Indeed, the general consensus seems to be that newegg is somehow "cool". Well, if a profit grubbing corporation can ever be cool from the consumer POV, they certainly have not been for some time as they have increasingly played games with both prices and shipping charges (particularly the deceitful use of the term "free"), have meaningless "sales", and create demand with a low price on some item (forum buzz) and then dynamically jack it up rather than being content with higher volume.

I could go on but meh... 'nuff said.

After counting the number of 50-cent words used here, I could probably afford a Conroe mobo.

Well, ok..."tards" is probably worth only 10 cents...

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Slugbait

Originally posted by: Auric
Knowledge is power.

Too bad newegg are tards 'cause they could have simply price matched and still made a healthy profit but I am guessing their policy is "forcing" you to instead return it for a refund in which case they will lose money in processing alone. If it is not too late then call them to cancel and the procedure may be simplified upon their approval by refusing acceptance from UPS/Fedex. Who knows, they may even refund the shipping price but they are still tards for trying to price gouge.

Years ago it was safe to recommend newegg but no longer (indeed not for quite awhile now). Their target market has shifted from the savvy to the gullible nub who now rightly eschews the gouging of their local chain store but yet falls for the same thing online due to heavy advertising on "enthusiast" sites and a positive word of mouth based mostly upon an ever receding past but lagging current reality.

Indeed, the general consensus seems to be that newegg is somehow "cool". Well, if a profit grubbing corporation can ever be cool from the consumer POV, they certainly have not been for some time as they have increasingly played games with both prices and shipping charges (particularly the deceitful use of the term "free"), have meaningless "sales", and create demand with a low price on some item (forum buzz) and then dynamically jack it up rather than being content with higher volume.

I could go on but meh... 'nuff said.

After counting the number of 50-cent words used here, I could probably afford a Conroe mobo.

Well, ok..."tards" is probably worth only 10 cents...

You can't insult someone because you aren't well-educated enough to understand them. Not that you shouldn't, it's actually impossible. If it bothers you, buy a dictionary, although a computer with internet access works almost as well.:disgust:

 

[iamaelephant]

I hate thev words "price gouging." They are simply doing what any responsible business should be doing - getting the best possible profits they can. It's called capitalism and its a beautiful thing.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: myocardia
You can't insult someone because you aren't well-educated enough to understand them. Not that you shouldn't, it's actually impossible. If it bothers you, buy a dictionary, although a computer with internet access works almost as well.:disgust:

omg, I have been pw3nd.

I am humbled.

 

[Some1ne]

It's called capitalism and its a beautiful thing.

Yes it's called that, but no, it's generally not. It's a functional thing (though sometimes only nominally so), but hardly "beautiful" for a rather large number of people...unless you happen to be a newegg exec, in which case price-gouging is as splendiferous as an entire forest of the most rare and beautiful foliage.

 

[getbush]

A store has the right to put any price they want on an item. Consumers have a right to not buy from that store and go to a competitor. That's how it works. Anyone who doesn't shop around deserves what they get. Buy from whoever is cheapest at teh time you need something. Who cares if the store "gouged" on something you wanted in the past. If people bought them at that "gouged" price, then that is what the item was worth, maybe more.