News Newegg’s New PC Building Service Might Hold Stock on Rare Components Behind Pre-Assembly Paywall

[JoBalz]

I used to purchase almost all my PC equipment from them. I have noted that in particular over the last year or so that the experience has gotten worse and worse. Shame, really.

Same here. Bought almost all my parts and monitors from Newegg since the early 2000s. But the last few years, their prices are not always the best, you also have to watch that you're getting the best deal and that it's actually from Newegg and not a 3rd party. First I began gravitating to Amazon, then the last year to B&H which is very competitive in their pricing and ship fast (and often free 2nd day shipping) as long as item in stock. They may not have the extensive selection of Newegg or Amazon, but they usually have the parts of major manufacturers (AMD, Intel, Samsung, Western Digital, LG, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, etc.)

 

[DataMeister]

I pretty much stopped using Newegg after they started shipping things from China that took a month to arrive. The combination of Amazon and B&H Photo provides just as good a selection now days.

 

[Sleepy_Hollowed]

Well, on the bright side, people will be getting machines instead of scalping.

On the downside, this won’t help anyone but those looking for new systems during the electronics shortage. This could last 2 years.

 

[sdmf1974]

Of course newegg is doing this. Is anyone surprised? NEWEGG is one of the worst retail companies out there if not THE WORST!
And there return/exchange policies are borderline illegal. Newegg sucks DONT BUY FROM THEM!

 

[Truckinupga]

I saw the writing on the wall when Chinese investment companies starting buying up huge chunks of Newegg not that long ago. Now since Newegg has gone public on the stock exchange they've gone from bad to worse, it's solely about profit for them now. Newegg has always been my go to place for my small business repairing and building PC's, as well as for my own parts. I guess it's an end to an era where customer satisfaction was king and price gouging was Illegal. Looks like I'll be taking my business elsewhere.

 

[closs.sebastien]

why do all medias and websites and ads use these so old "computer-assembly" photos.. with a computer aging from Pentium 3 ? vga and dvi.. and old cases.. and a soldering-iron.. do we need that to make computer-assembly ? I didn't know that...
general - non-specialized website, I can understand... but toms-hardware.. hey guys, do you know what you are talking? .. computers, isn't it?

 

[Joseph_138]

This is entirely the fault of all the people who have been buying complete systems, just to pull the video card out of them. They are encouraging retailers to build systems, rather than sell individual components. They make more money selling you a system, than they do selling you a video card by itself, so why wouldn't they do that instead? They also get the chance to unload a bunch of excess inventory, that may have have been sitting around a while, by throwing it into prebuilt systems.

 

[Questors]

This article is not reporting. The article would be just as valid to state there is a possibility that Alicia Vikander will personally deliver the parts to customers.

Alicia Vikander? Please. I am all in.

New egg will totally lose my business over these types of moves. They're literally changing their business model from selling components of various types, to anything you actually want they want to bundle. They're not NZXT, maybe they'll have the stock, but I'll just switch to B&H or amazon for my components then. Si's get the components aswell. Just another stupid cash grab that I can see evaporating as soon as the semi conductor shortage ends. Shamless money grab, Nvidia beat them to it with the 30 series Ti's tho. This is just shameless profiteering. Because buying that i7 cpu you didn't want for a video card wasn't bad enough, now they want you to get a complete system. If you want a complete system, you can already get those (and with good supply) from other system integrators. ugh <face palm>

From above, to below

Why? It's just business and the business they are in is highly combative and competitive. They are just taking advantage of it. If they have stock but Best Buy, Amazon, BH Photo doesn't then they can sell it at the price they want and bundle it with other parts.

As of this morning Amazon has stock of the RX 6700xt for the low low price of $939 and it goes up to around $1,000 depending on the card. This same card once had an MSRP of around $479. Pretty much every online retailer is taking advantage of the current shortages. If you want a XBOX Series X or Playstation 5, Gamestop is doing the same by allowing you to jump the queue ONLY if you are a Gamestop Rewards member.

To below. The responses below are the point.

I remember when newegg was associated with trust and integrity.
Evidently those words don't go with their business anymore. Maybe it will all be great, but like their shuffle sham, don't bank on it.

I used to purchase almost all my PC equipment from them. I have noted that in particular over the last year or so that the experience has gotten worse and worse. Shame, really.

I started using Newegg in its infancy. There were no Internet watchdogs. It was a pure shot in dark of buying, charging on my Visa (which did NOT have fraud insurance then) and hoping everything was legit.

They were a fledgling company with human owners wanting to establish a business with good operating principles. They hit a home run. Customer service was excellent. Selection, shipping time, careful packaging were all on the spot. They had real people to call and with which to talk, not a call center. They built a business on integrity and trust; a customer oriented business. It blew up, in a good way.

Then the owners sold to a holdings group and all personality, customer oriented business practices and integrity went out the window quick fast and in a hurry. I have made a couple purchases at Newegg over the last few years, but not many.

Receiving a sealed empty package and then having to fight with Newegg for the item or a refund (even willing to accept store credit) was a clear signal to me. Since then, their no-return policies have erased the ideals that built Newegg. A business exists make money, true. They also must serve customers to do that, rather than serve themselves. I can and will go elsewhere.

 

[punkncat]

Among the items that have really turned me off, personally is the fact that they are selective about publishing reviews based on negative aspects of a product. Unless it’s a glowing review they may or may not bother to include text along with the stars/eggs aspect.
The other aspect is that I suspect in some cases that they will list damaged or even preopened items on a special sale without disclosing the prior. I recently purchased a case from them that, in spite of a great price, was damaged in the box in such a way that it rocks back and forth. Shipping it back became a bother super fast based on what was paid so I just ate it.
No way to keep the doors open if such is actually the plan.

 

[SJRouge91]

This is so disappointing considering I pretty much bought all my pc parts, and other miscellaneous electronics from Newegg; I did use Amazon a few years ago, but stopped cause of Jeff Bezos is a terrible person, but now it seems I'll have to stop using Newegg as well, especially if they're going to start hiding ALL of components behind this paywall.

At least some brands like EVGA, Corsair, and Asus are selling parts on their own websites, so there's alternatives, and others should definitely follow suit and let us buy directly from them. I prefer just buying an item outright anyway, as opposed to bidding/gambling on them, when it's so easy for someone to come in, and turn a $20 item into $100+ item in the blink of an eye.

 

[cryoburner]

This is just shameless profiteering. Because buying that i7 cpu you didn't want for a video card wasn't bad enough, now they want you to get a complete system. If you want a complete system, you can already get those (and with good supply) from other system integrators. ugh <face palm>

Sure, there are other system builders, but how many offer to build a system for just $100, while providing the exact components one is looking for? Typically, the build fee for a custom system is going to be higher, much higher in some cases, and the component selection is going to be much more limited. And with prebuilt systems, you are likely to struggle to find the exact component combination you are after, and will typically encounter cut-corners and unclear specifications for various parts of the system.

So I think a service like this is great. Sure, it's not going to be helpful for those just trying to get a graphics card in the current market, but it will be useful for those building a new system. And it does sound like the availability of graphics cards is improving anyway, so we'll probably be seeing that situation getting better over the coming months either way.

 

[musapablo]

"Hot"... Maybe 15 to 20 years ago.

Yes, it's actually 'old' tech; still much available in the 3rd world and very usable to many people/businesses, but not the leading edge. A photo showing assembly of AMD's Rhyzen Threadreaper Pro 39xx with a compatible mobo with all those voltage phase modules would be more appropriate.

 

[DaveTea]

I love the stockphoto

I presume your comment of loving the stock photo is sarcastic? I've been building PCs for well over 25 years, and I don't think I've EVER needed to use a soldering iron while doing so!!! I also have an anti stat wrist strap attached when handling static sensitive parts, like MoBo's, which this guy doesn't seem to be wearing!

 

[Mickiey]

On the flipside, high end GPUs would just be snapped up by miners with pockets deeper than many of us.

Am not taking sides, and agree that this article is not reporting.

Soaptrail : "This article is not reporting. The article would be just as valid to state there is a possibility that Alicia Vikander will personally deliver the parts to customers. "