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Publisher1.6 Smart Buying Practices
Until
the early 1990s, most computer products were bought in retail
computer stores. Retail sales still make up a significant chunk of
computer product salesalthough the emphasis has shifted from
computer specialty stores to mass-market resellers such as Best Buy
and Costcobut the majority of computer products are now bought
from direct resellers, via toll-free telephone number or the Web.
Local brick-and-mortar retailers, with their high overheads, simply
cannot match direct reseller prices and stay in business. Nor can
they match direct reseller companies for breadth of selection or
convenience. We frequently order components late in the evening.
Early the next morning, our FedEx guy drops them on the front porch.
All without our having to leave the house.
That said, there are some drawbacks to buying from direct resellers.
You're dealing with an anonymous company, probably
located far away. You must know exactly what you want, and you need
to understand the pitfalls of dealing with direct resellers. Most
direct resellers are reputable, but some are not. Even reputable
resellers differ greatly in their business practices, so
it's important to understand the rules before you
play the game. We've bought hundreds of thousands of
dollars worth of products from direct vendors over the last decade or
so, and have learned some things from that experience. Here are some
guidelines to keep in mind:
Make sure you know exactly what
you're buying before you order it. For example, a
hard disk may be available in two versions, each with the same model
number but with submodel numbers to designate different amounts of
cache. Or you may find that a given hard disk maker manufactures two
models of the same size that differ in both price and performance.
Always compare using the exact manufacturer model number. Before you
buy a product, research it on the manufacturer's web
site and on the numerous independent web sites devoted to reviews. We
use http://www.reviewfinder.com
to locate reviews for specific products. Alternatively, you can just
do a web search with the product name and
"review" in the search string.
Vendors vary greatly. Some we trust implicitly, and others we
wouldn't order from on a bet. Some are always
reliable, others always unreliable, and still others seem to vary
with the phases of the moon. You can check the reputation of a vendor
with the Better Business Bureau. We also check http://www.resellerratings.com, which
maintains a database of customer-reported experiences with hundreds
of vendors.
The list price or Suggested
Retail Price (SRP) published by the manufacturer is meaningless. Many
computer products normally sell for a fraction of the SRP, others
sell for very near the SRP, and for still others the manufacturer has
no SRP, but instead publishes an Estimated Selling Price (ESP). To do
meaningful price comparisons, you need to know what different vendors
actually charge for the product. Fortunately, there are many services
that maintain frequently updated lists of what various vendors charge
for particular products. Three such services we use are http://www.pricewatch.com, http://www.pricescan.com, and http://www.pricegrabber.com. These services
may list 20 or more different vendors, and the prices for a
particular item may vary dramatically. We tend to discard the top 25%
and the bottom 25% and take an average of the middle 50% to decide
what is a reasonable price for the item.
Many
components are sold in both retail-boxed and OEM form. The core
component is likely to be similar or identical in either case, but
important details may vary. For example, Intel processors are
available in retail-boxed versions that include a CPU heatsink/fan
and a three-year Intel warranty. They are also available as OEM
components (also called tray packaging or
white box) that do not include the heatsink/fan
or the three-year warranty. OEM components are not intended for
retail distribution, and the manufacturer may not provide any
warranty to individual purchasers. Buying OEM components is fine, as
long as you understand the differences and do not attempt to compare
prices between retail-boxed and OEM.
As our all-time-favorite,
unfortunately worded ad stated,
"Don't be misled by price
alone." The market for PCs and components is
incredibly competitive and margins are razor-thin. If a vendor
advertises a component for much less than other vendors, it may be a
"loss leader." More likely, though,
particularly if its prices on other items are similarly low, that
vendor cuts corners somewhere, whether it be by using your money to
float inventory, by shipping returned product as new, by charging
excessive shipping fees, or, in the ultimate case, by taking your
money and not shipping the product. If you always buy from the vendor
with the rock-bottom price, you'll waste a lot of
time hassling with returns of defective, used, or discontinued items
and dealing with your credit card company when the vendor fails to
deliver at all. Ultimately, you're also likely to
spend more money than you would have by buying from a reputable
vendor in the first place.
The actual price you pay may vary
significantly from the advertised price. When you compare prices,
make sure to include all charges, particularly shipping charges.
Reputable vendors tell you exactly how much the total charges will
be. Less reputable vendors may forget to mention shipping charges,
which may be very high. It's not unheard of for
vendors to break out the full manufacturer pack into individual
items. For example, if a retail-boxed hard drive includes mounting
hardware, some vendors will quote a price for the bare drive without
making it clear that they have removed the mounting hardware and
charge separately for it. Also be careful when buying products that
include a rebate from the maker. Some vendors quote the net price
after rebate without making it clear that they are doing so.
Some vendors charge more for an
item ordered via their 800 number than they do for the same item
ordered directly from their web site. Some others add a fixed
processing fee to phone orders. These charges reflect the fact that
taking orders on the Web is much cheaper than doing so by phone, so
this practice has become more common. But be careful. One of our
readers desperately needed an $8 item that he could not find locally.
He ended up paying about $68 for that item after the charges for
overnight priority shipping and telephone order processing were
added.
Most
direct resellers are willing to sell for less than the price they
advertise. All you need to do is tell your chosen vendor that
you'd really rather buy from them, but not at the
price they're quoting. Use lower prices you find
with the price comparison services as a wedge to get a better price.
But remember that reputable vendors must charge more than
scum-sucking, bottom-feeder vendors if they are to make a profit and
stay in business. We generally try to beat down our chosen vendor a
bit on price, but we don't expect them to match the
rock-bottom prices that turn up on web searches.
Using a credit card puts the credit card
company on your side if there is a problem with your order. If the
vendor ships the wrong product, defective product, or no product at
all, you can invoke charge-back procedures to have the credit card
company refund your money. Vendors who live and die on credit card
orders cannot afford to annoy credit card companies, and so tend to
resolve such problems quickly. Even your threat to request a
charge-back may cause a recalcitrant vendor to see reason.
Some vendors apply a surcharge, typically 3%, to their advertised
prices if you pay by credit card. Surcharges violate credit card
company contracts, so some vendors instead offer a similar discount
for paying cash, which amounts to the same thing. Processing credit
card transactions costs money, and we're sure that
some such vendors are quite reputable, but our own experience with
vendors that surcharge has not been good. We always suspect that
their business practices result in a high percentage of charge-back
requests, and so they discourage using credit cards.
Good vendors allow you to return a
product for a full refund (often less shipping charges) within a
stated period, typically 30 days. Buy only from such vendors. Note
that nearly all vendors exclude some product categories, including
notebook computers, monitors, printers, and opened software, either
because their contracts with the manufacturer require them to do so
or because some buyers commonly abuse return periods for these items,
treating them as "30-day free
rentals." Never buy from a vendor who uses the
phrase, "All sales are final." That
means exactly what it says.
Make sure to check carefully for any
mention of restocking fees. Many vendors who trumpet a
"no-questions-asked, money-back
guarantee" mention only in the fine print that they
won't refund all your money. They charge a
restocking fee on returns and we've seen fees as
high as 30% of the purchase price. These vendors love returns,
because they make a lot more money if you return the product than if
you keep it.
Don't accept verbal promises under any
circumstances. Insist that the reseller confirm your order in
writing, including any special terms or conditions, before charging
your credit card or shipping product. The fast turnaround of
web-based and 800-number ordering makes postal mail largely useless
for this purpose. We're not lawyers, and
don't know the legal implications of email or faxed
confirmations, but we've always used them and have
never encountered a problem doing so. If a reseller balks at
providing written confirmation of its policies, terms, and
conditions, find another vendor. Most are happy to do so.
File everything related to an order step by step, including a copy of
the original advertisement, email, faxed, or written confirmations
provided by the reseller, copies of your credit card receipt, a copy
of the packing list and invoice, and so on. When we order via the
web, we print a copy of each page of the ordering process, and also
use our web browser to save a copy of that page to the
"never delete" folder in our data
directory. We also jot down notes in our PIM regarding telephone
conversations, including the date, time, telephone number and
extension, person spoken to, purpose of the call, and so on. We print
a copy of those to add to the folder for that order.
Make it clear to the reseller that
you expect them to ship the exact item you have ordered, not what
they consider to be an "equivalent
substitute." Require they provide written (or email)
confirmation of the exact items they will ship, including
manufacturer part numbers. Particularly when ordering a PC, leave no
wiggle room. For example, if the vendor promises an ATi RADEON 9800
Pro graphics card with 256 MB of DDR-SDRAM, make sure that the
component list includes that item by name, full description, and ATi
product number. Don't just specify
"graphics card,"
"ATi graphics card", or even
"ATi RADEON graphics card."
Otherwise, you'll get less than you paid fora
lesser RADEON card, an OEM card with a slower processor or less than
256 MB, or even a "Powered by ATI"
card, which is to say a card with an ATI processor made by another
manufacturerrather than a "Built by
ATI" card. Count on it.
Ask
about warranty terms. Some manufacturers provide the full specified
warranty terms only for items purchased from authorized dealers in
full retail packaging. For some products, the warranty period begins
when the manufacturer ships the product to the distributor, which may
be weeks or months before you actually receive the product. OEM
products typically have much shorter warranties than retail-boxed
productssometimes as short as 90 daysand may be
warranted only to the original distributor rather than to the final
buyer. Better resellers may endorse the manufacturer
warranty for some period on some products, often 30 to 90
days. That means that if the product fails, you can return the item
to the reseller, who will ship you a replacement and take care of
dealing with the manufacturer. Some resellers disclaim the
manufacturer warranty, claiming that once they ship the item, dealing
with warranty claims is your problem, even if the product arrives
DOA. We've encountered that problem a couple of
times. Usually, mentioning phrases such as merchantability
and fitness for a particular purpose and
revocation of acceptance leads them to see
reason quickly. We usually demand the reseller ship us a new
replacement product immediately and include a prepaid return shipping
label if they want the dead item back. We don't
accept or pay for dead merchandise under any circumstances, and
neither should you.
Direct resellers are required by
law to ship products within the time period they promise. But that
time period may be precise (e.g., "ships within 24
hours") or vague (e.g., "ships
within three to six weeks"). If the vendor cannot
ship by the originally promised date, it must notify you in writing
and specify another date by which the item will ship. If that occurs,
you have the right to cancel your order without penalty. Make sure to
make clear to the reseller that you expect the item to be delivered
in a timely manner, and that time is of the
essence for the transaction. Reputable vendors ship what
they say they're going to ship when they say
they're going to ship it. Unfortunately, some
vendors have a nasty habit of taking your money and shipping whenever
they get around to it. In a practice that borders on fraud, some
vendors routinely report items as "in
stock" when in fact they are not. Make it clear to
the vendor that you do not authorize them to charge your credit card
until the item actually ships, and that if you do not receive the
item when promised, you will cancel the order.
Even
if you follow all of these guidelines, you may have a problem. Even
the best resellers sometimes drop the ball. If that happens,
don't expect the problem to go away by itself. If
you encounter a problem, remain calm and notify the reseller first.
Good resellers are anxious to resolve problems. Find out how the
reseller wants to proceed, and follow their procedures, particularly
for labeling returned merchandise with an RMA number. If things
don't seem to be going as they should, explain to
the vendor why you are dissatisfied, and tell them that you plan to
request a charge-back from your credit card company. Finally, if the
reseller is entirely recalcitrant and any aspect of the transaction
(including, for example, a confirmation letter you wrote) took place
via U.S. Postal Service, contact your postmaster about filing charges
of mail fraud. That really gets a reseller's
attention, but use it as a last resort.
