Micro Center is quickly losing me, a mild rant

[punkncat]

For the past several years I have used Micro Center almost exclusively for my CPU/mobo combos. Back some months ago they did away with the long running deal where you could take $20 off a motherboard with a compatible CPU. And this was almost always ALL the compatible motherboard CPU combos such that you could pick a really nice motherboard with the look and features you want. Lately they offer a couple of package deals and the price on them is somewhat enticing. What is bothering me about it is these motherboards they pair up with are low/mid grade boards at best. They don't offer any discount anymore if you want a really nice motherboard to go with.

They have replaced what was a really nice selection and packaging with that limited choice OR they will do 10% off and/or 0% APR for 24 months if you get their credit card. I suppose this is just the way of the market right now since PC hardware sales are lagging so much that they are enticing people to go into debt in order to build a PC now. Basically punishing anyone that wants to pay with cash with this half crud bundle madness or no discount at all. I mean, it seems the least they could do is offer 10% off for cash as well. The other aspect that is bothering me is they are trying to pull in new customers with this $25 off first time customer thing, but are basically leaving the people who have been loyal buyers/shoppers out in the cold.

When they were offering the $20 off combos, and alongside what is normally some of the best pricing around on CPU (at the least - other parts they sell are commonly NOT a deal) it was worth spending my time and gas money to drive across town to shop there. With this new tactic it just isn't worth it to me. When being realistic and considering my own expense to get there it is suddenly well more attractive to watch for deals that might be $20 more for the part(s) I want but that I don't even have to leave the house to go get.

I would like to think they will reverse themselves at some point. For the time being I am choosing to stay away.

 

[Rokinamerica]

The intersection of same or next day delivery online and the slow death of remaining Brick and Mortar stores.

They most likely have to do something like this because loyal customers like you, are quite frankly, declining in numbers. There are costs in running a physical location, and it is harder (and more expensive) to compete.

Using your own example, the cost to drive there vs savings ($20 on MB/CPU combo) how many customers have already gone the online route? No more hassle driving through traffic, parking and the cost of gas. Saving $20 doesn't even come close for me anymore.

I get why they may feel they need to do this. I don't buy anything tech related in store anymore. They need to do something to replace the in-store customers they have lost due to changing times.

 

[wyliec2]

I hadn't realized the $20 savings had gone away...

Even though $20 is relatively immaterial, t did influence me to buy CPU, mobo and RAM from my nearby Microcenter. I'd used the discount in 5 builds since 2018!!

Like you, their combo packages never appealed to me - if they had a CPU I was interested in, the mobo and RAM would not be at the quality/feature level that I'm going to invest my time and money into.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

20 dollar saving? Ha! It used to be 40 if you bought amd gear. Back in the fx days they were practically giving away boards.

They have been expanding quite a bit to new locations as well so maybe they’ve got increased costs? I’ve bought from Newegg etc but I will say I prefer customer service at microcenter in case of issues. But they should offer discounts for loyal customers. They’ve sold me thousands of dollars of equipment over the years.

 

[Eximo]

I think motherboard margins are near a low point right now. Firstly there are a lot less motherboard brands for Intel and AMD in the US market, so no one to disrupt pricing. And board complexity has been increasing with faster PCIe generations and faster memory buses. And the power requirements of higher core count chips certainly haven't been helping things.

The mid-grade boards are feature poor as a result. People are looking for a deal, so they have to pick these boards to make it seem reasonable.