Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
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It can be very expensive to ship heavy items such as UPSs and printers
individually. This is one situation in which local big-box stores like Best
Buy have an advantage over online vendors. The online vendor has to
charge you for the cost of shipping, directly or indirectly, and that cost can
amount to $50 or more for a heavy item that you need quickly. Conversely,
the big-box stores receive inventory items by the truckload or even via
railcar shipments, so the cost to them to have a single item delivered is
quite small. They can pass that reduced cost on to buyers. If you're buy-
ing a heavy item, don't assume that it will be cheaper online. Check your
local Best Buy or other big-box store: you may find that it actually costs
less there, even after you pay sales tax. And you can carry it away with you
instead of waiting for FedEx to show up with it.
• Most direct resellers are willing to sell for less than the price they adver-
tise. 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 the fly-by-
night operations if they are to make a profit and stay in business. If we're
ordering by phone, 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. Of course, if you're ordering from a web-
only vendor, dickering is not an option, which is one reason why web-only
vendors generally have better prices.
• 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, a defec-
tive product, or no product at all, you can invoke chargeback 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 compa-
nies, so they tend to resolve such problems quickly. Even your threat to
request a chargeback may cause a recalcitrant vendor to see reason.
A Cunning Plan
Nearly all retailers refuse to refund
your money on opened software,
DVDs, etc. and will only exchange
the open product for a new, sealed
copy of the same title. One of our
readers told us how he gets around
that common policy: he returns the
open software in exchange for a new,
sealed copy of the same product,
keeping his original receipt. He then
returns the new, sealed copy for a
refund. That's probably unethical
and may be illegal for all we know,
but it does work. Recently, though,
some stores, including Best Buy,
have begun annotating the original
receipt when you make an exchange.
Oh, well. It was too good to last.
• Some vendors add 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 they discourage using credit cards because their
business practices result in a relatively high percentage of chargeback
requests.
• Good vendors allow you to return a defective product for replacement or
a full refund (often less shipping charges) within a stated period, typically
30 days. Buy only from such vendors. Nearly all vendors exclude some
product categories, such as 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.” Beware of
the phrase “All sales are final.” That means exactly what it says.
