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What Is The Point of CDW (or even Crutchfield)?

poofyhairguy

poofyhairguy

Lifer
So I got another CDW catalogue today that was meant for the previous occupant and it made me wonder how they can continue to exist. I mean the prices in this catalogue (or any I have seen from them) are not even on the same planet as competitive compared to the deals to be had on Newegg or Amazon. Yet obviously they have a solid customer base because they keep sending new catalogs.

I know it is tradition on this forum for people to bash on companies, products or situations that don't apply to them but I am not trying to bash on CDW. If I had to assume they do a great job of jumping through the paperwork needed to allow people to spend what is not their money for work (aka big corporations or government entities) so deals don't matter. My question is broader than that, hence why I added in Crutchfield to the title (another company with completely uncompetitive pricing for over a decade that seems to focus on consumers).

How do companies that sell not their brands (aka not an Apple) at uncompetitive prices continue to exist? I am not talking things like tractors where there is some sort of regional monopoly given to your local dealer, I mean things like technology where there are many sources.

Thank you in advance.
 
I can say for crutchfield car audio, 15 years ago the selling point was that you were getting a turnkey DIY solution with decent company support to help you through the DIY installation. Thus, the total product + install price would still be less than a comparable B&M retailer (ie Circuit City/Best Buy).
 
I think CDW is more into the commercial sales / support then selling to individuals like you do on amazon / newegg.


It looks like they are mostly a service industry then a warehouse like amazon and newegg.
 
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Hmm....with CDW I can...

1) Send an email to my rep with some Byzantine style licensing request.
2) Rep researches it, delivers me a quote.
3) I click a button to turn quote into order, enter a PO num and I'm done.

We are also a couple hours away from one of their main distribution sites...so even with UPS ground we get most things the next day.

From an enterprise standpoint, couldn't live without them.
 
Ever try buying 60 or 100 or 200 identical computers from Newegg? Chances are they won't have stock.
Have you asked Newegg to image the HD for you with an image you uploaded?
 
Other than Dell and a Microsoft VAR we use for all MS licensing, CDW is our primary supplier. Their published prices are stupid, quotes always come back from our sales rep at 25-35% less than published.

And as kn51 said, they have licensing experts or have good contacts with all of their suppliers and manufacturers. They're a single point of contact for almost everything we need.
 
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When I was car stereo shopping 3 or 4 years ago, crutchfield was very competitive with their pricing and had free shipping and installation kit, etc.
 
Above posters have already answered this. If you work in any kind of medium to large scale IT, you will appreciate vendors such as CDW. They actually make your life easier, and as mentioned, no one ever pays retail...

As for Crutchfield, rich, old white guys use them?
 
Beer4Me said:
As for Crutchfield, rich, old white guys use them?
Click to expand...

Were great in the past. When swapping out a head unit was a 30 minute ordeal of matching orange, black, yellow, red, purple with stripe, purple, etc.

But I have to imagine they see the writing on the wall. Head units/amps/harness integration are so complex now...and jumping through all that...all to play low bit rate MP3s doesn't make much sense.
 
slag said:
When I was car stereo shopping 3 or 4 years ago, crutchfield was very competitive with their pricing and had free shipping and installation kit, etc.
Click to expand...

They still are. I have been shopping around recently and their prices are competitive. They may be $10-$20 higher but take into consideration they include both the wiring adaptor and mounting kit (for most cars) it's a solid value. Plus they offer phone support if you run into problems. Had to use their phone support once and the issue was solved in minutes. I've used them for around 15 years off and on.

kn51 said:
Were great in the past. When swapping out a head unit was a 30 minute ordeal of matching orange, black, yellow, red, purple with stripe, purple, etc.

But I have to imagine they see the writing on the wall. Head units/amps/harness integration are so complex now...and jumping through all that...all to play low bit rate MP3s doesn't make much sense.
Click to expand...

And then there is this. In a lot of new cars you cannot even replace the stereo as it's integrated into other systems of the vehicle like HVAC. And it's only going to get more common. Plus with more and more manufactures offering Android and Apple support on the factory stereos the need to upgrade is reduced. It's going to get to a point of speaker replacements only for a lot of vehicles.
 
Newbian said:
I think CDW is more into the commercial sales / support then selling to individuals like you do on amazon / newegg.


It looks like they are mostly a service industry then a warehouse like amazon and newegg.
Click to expand...

When you (are a business and) need 50 of a specific item by 10am the next day, CDW can do it.
 
Crutchfield also carries stuff you simply can't get at the big box stores.

Or if you want to buy from authorized retailers so you get manufacturer support.
 
I still use Crutchfield for car audio head units - the installation guide, adapters, mounting kits are all thrown in for free. Worth the extra 15-20% over Amazon.

I've also sent a soldered hacked mess of an installation harness back when I decided to bypass the factory amp and use my own amp due to issues. Refunded me the difference and sent me a new bypass one, no questions asked.
 
(or even Crutchfield)
Click to expand...

For home audio, they are a 100% authorized reseller instead of a mix of legal and grey market that might not have a manufacturer warranty. They have (or at least had) top-notch customer service and tech support.

I haven't bought anything from them in years, but that's because my home theater and home office setups are humming along without any real need for upgrades.

The $35 Fire tablet I got on Black Friday does have me thinking it would be nice to have a new receiver with Amazon Prime music support and a Fire remote-control app.
 
Can't speak for Crutchfield, but CDW is still very much applicable. The price you see is not necessarily the price you pay if you put in a huge enterprise order. We ordered a bunch of HP blades at the beginning of the year for a good 20% discount if we had gone with another wholesale provider.
 
adairusmc said:
CDW is huge in government sales. I work in IT for the state, and everything is done through CDW.
Click to expand...

not just Govt

its HUGE in pretty much the entire fortune 1000 sector

id say 99% of our stuff comes from them

similar to McMaster-Carr

i need 10000 of something by 8am - i call them - i have it at 730
 
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kn51 said:
What? Those cheap bastards.

At least Comcast tosses me floor level NBA tickets.
Click to expand...

I remember when we used to order a bunch of stuff through them we'd get tickets to major golf events and other events that's happening near my area.
 
"PCM" calls me about once a month. I initially put up with them because the girl on the other end had a nice voice. But, she moved on and I gave them the old "It's not me it's you" breakup and they still call every now and again.
 
kn51 said:
Were great in the past. When swapping out a head unit was a 30 minute ordeal of matching orange, black, yellow, red, purple with stripe, purple, etc.

But I have to imagine they see the writing on the wall. Head units/amps/harness integration are so complex now...and jumping through all that...all to play low bit rate MP3s doesn't make much sense.
Click to expand...
It was NOT fun trying to replace the factory nav stereo in my Lincoln LS with a Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT. Takes a damned EE degree to do correctly (which I happen to have 😛 ) and no one has the correct pinouts / harness for it.

The non-nav factory stereo is dead easy.
 
Well for one thing, CDW is mostly business sales, and business people don't care what the price is because it's not their money, it's the company's money. Harsh but true. Sometimes it is more efficient to have all of your IT purchases centralized with one business instead of buying stuff from multiple vendors.
 
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