computer shops

[ian]

I tend to buy most of my computer gear from smaller shops. In particular, I use to buy from a company called cworld.com.au in the york st city store in nsw.
Well they had been around for quite some time, and their prices were good, though in latter years they were stingy and wouldnt give me any discounts.
Anyhow they went into administration. Looks like people who paid deposits may have lost some money but that is not for certain.
I didnt lose any money, but I had paid for stuff in the past and picked it up a few days later when they got it in.
In an industry where the margins are so low, I guess the lesson here is to be very wary of paying for something or a deposit, or even ordering online from some of the smaller retailers. These days I am more inclined to only buy from a store that has it in stock and pay for it and walk away with it there and then, unless it is a very big retailer.

 

[Geoff]

I only order online from sites which I know are reputable, I never go to Froogle.com for instance and buy an item from the cheapest company, because lots of times they are frauds, or have lots of problems going on. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[hpi]

I only order from big and known sites. Never from small businesses.

 

[PohTayToez]

I have yet to have any such bad experiences. I do use Froogle when I'm looking for some sort of specialty item, such as when I bought my soldering iron. Whenever I buy from a smaller site I Google their name to make sure that no one else has been scammed/has had bad experiences with them.

 

[hpi]

I have yet to have any such bad experiences. I do use Froogle when I'm looking for some sort of specialty item, such as when I bought my soldering iron. Whenever I buy from a smaller site I Google their name to make sure that no one else has been scammed/has had bad experiences with them.

Why not just go to the hardware store for a soldering iron ?

 

[paratwa]

Speaking of online stores, anyone ever buy from www.securemart.com ? I am getting ready to buy a Antec 900 case from them, but I have no idea if they are decent to buy from.

They do have an A rating from the BBB, so I am not to worried.

 

[ceewi1]

Wow, CWorld were a very large company with branches all over Australia, I bought a fair bit of equipment from them a few years back, I'm really surprised they're gone. Might have to stop past for the closing down sale, if they have one.

ian, you probably know about these already, but www.msy.com.au are very well priced. They have NSW branches, but I'm not sure if they're local to you (don't expect any discounts, though, even if you spend $10K+ at once).

www.staticice.com.au is a great site to find prices as well.

 

[mep916]

If you ever question the legitmacy of an online retailer, Reseller Ratings is a good place to find reviews.

Speaking of online stores, anyone ever buy from www.securemart.com ? I am getting ready to buy a Antec 900 case from them, but I have no idea if they are decent to buy from.

They do have an A rating from the BBB, so I am not to worried.

Click here for securemart.com @ Reseller Ratings. 7.69 out of 10. That's not too bad.

 

[jimmymac]

The problem is over here in the UK that those Retailers on the "high street" are generally massively overpriced or simply dont stock a decent up to date range.

PC World over here is nothing short of a joke, I would never trust that place with buying a system and when it comes to components in general they just dont have anything. I went in to one the other week to get a SATA extender cable, it took two of them about 20 minutes to realise what I even meant!

Otherwise we have the likes of Curry's and Comet. Both of these are just electrical stores who started out selling washing machines and fridges. They've started doing more computer stuff but still their components and extra's supply is fairly limited.

The only place you used to be able to get half decent stuff was "The Computer Shop" who sadly went into administration a couple of years back.

That leaves it down to the independant shops, but they simply cannot compete in terms of price. I would normally happily pay that little bit extra to get a decent level of service but sometimes it can be 20-30% more expensive.

 

[mep916]

Last year, a really nice, small computer components shop opened up down the street fron my house. The guy was really smart, and he was very excited about his new store. In less than a year, he had to shut down. Too much competition from online retailers'. Personally, I wanted to buy from him, but his prices were simply too high.

 

[epidemik]

I almost got a ps3 online from a small store through froogle.
Luckily, i emailed the company first and when i asked about their policies, all they replied with was "I'm sorry, we would not like to do business with you."
Lol, never ordering from a small store that isnt local after that.