Newegg CPU price Drama

[speed4life]

I just got my sdhipping info from ncix.com.

Barcode: 22211 156996 248 S/N: BX80562Q6600SLACR 07-24-07 10:42 PM

It's a G0 stepping. Everything including Overnight shipping $304.00. Will have it by 1030am tomorrow. I for one am glad NewEggs prices are bull. They made me shop else where. Thanx NewEgg! Oh and before I forget NCIX you guys ROCK!!!

NewEgg Who?

 

[asgallant]

Less then a week ago when if I wanted to know what a fair price for a product was, I went to Newegg instead of Google or pricegrabber and I think that I wasn't the only one. That's the amount of confidence I've had in the company and it's image. They pretty much managed to destroy that as it was and there is no statement explaining thier new pricemodel for CPU's (mind you, everything else is still pretty much cheaper then at other Esellers). When someone gave or linked a price on this forums people would go to Newegg without giving it a second thought. It will not ruin them, noone said it would, but it will force everyone who knows that Intel wholesales this CPU's for 266$ check the competition so new pricemodel can be concidered a stupid move just for that.

I doubt that this represents a new price model for NewEgg's cpu sales - it is one processor that has had a lot of hype surrounding it over the past few days. I can understand though if some people choose to distrust NewEgg as a source of price data (though it is no more rational to completely distrust NewEgg over this one incident than it was to trust NewEgg without checking alternatives to begin with).

There is one important caveat while in general "Consumers are lazy; they are not willing, on the whole, to seek out the lowest prices or even consider alternative goods unless they have been explicitly informed of them" The internet IS changing many former business practices. People who buy CPU's are far more likely to look around on the net than the average consumer. While vender loyalty IS important (as displayed by the rampant defense of Newegg in the face of the facts that lower prices are better for all of us and this is encouraging others to follow Neweggs lead) because of this practice, people who shopped almost exclusively with Newegg are now going else ware. IF they just had a higher price it probably would have had FAR lesser impact (most would have assumed they were selling the older/higher priced items). Many have seen the price jump from the selection page to the cart (this could be problematic in some legal jurisdictions like having a different UPC shelf price from the item price). THAT is what I believe is pissing people off and while in the past bad word of mouth spread slowly and locally the internet HAS changed that. It is always true that $1 of bad mouthing undermines $1000 (or more) in advertising and since it’s harder to regain lost customers than lose them (assuming new customers just go with the best recommended vendors). Does Newegg have good customer service it seems so but that should not necessarily be the end all I personally, have had good and bad experiences from all 3 of the top venders. We should never except less, sales must be as good as customer service, its not much comfort to me to know I'll be taken care of AFTER I get shafted (I prefer not to get shafted in the first place 😱 )

True, those who shop for CPU's are more likely to be savvy consumers than the "average" consumer, though the fact that they bought the Q6600's at the elevated price anyway I think argues that enough are still too lazy to bother checking other sources.

PS: I'm not against Newegg selling at whatever price they want I do feel its in our interest to support the others when the price is right (even though others may have personal reasons to disagree the differences in service are not that different)

I agree. I usually end up buying from NewEgg, though on occasions when the price differences were high enough, I have purchased elsewhere (ZZF, Directron, Upgrade Source - which, sadly, was bought out and replaced by the horrible Atrinity). I also won't help or defend those who blindly trust that any retailer has the best prices. If someone can't be bothered to look up prices elsewhere, or even ask around forums like this one for where the best prices can be found, then IMHO they deserve to pay extra (just like all those people who buy their tv's, sound systems, appliances, or computers from places like Worst Buy, Short-CircuitCity, or Hole-in-the-Walmart).

 

[widcard]

Newegg Core 2 Extreme QX6850 $1,480.00
3 Business Day Shipping $4.99,, ZipZoomFly same chip $1,050.00 Free shipping. Now i'll stand over here and let you gentlemen continue.

 

[systemlord]

You just have to be the smart shopper here!

 

[YO_KID37]

Newegg Core 2 Extreme QX6850 $1,480.00
3 Business Day Shipping $4.99,, ZipZoomFly same chip $1,050.00 Free shipping. Now i'll stand over here and let you gentlemen continue.

Newegg.com has become the new Tigerdirect.com

 

[Synthetickiller]

Other than the CPUs, other stuff has gone up in price.

Asus p5k deluxe w/ wifi, was 220 last night, now its 240

Samsung spinpoint 500 drive, was 110, now 120

Everything on the site is going up in price. Newegg better watch it, they might lose a lot of customers. This is crazy.....

 

[spotter]

newegg has multiple suppliers. different suppliers sell things at different prices. When one supplier runs out, they fill in from another supplier that might be more expensive.

When I ran a million dollar book sale (ran for 2 weeks, so that's pretty decent gross) we had multiple suppliers for many books including the publishers. It wasn't always cheapest to get the book from the publisher, as sometimes middlemen had stock they had to let go of. Other times the middleman was much more expensive.

Everyone's complaining about newegg screwing them, perhaps newegg is getting screwed by their suppliers and hence just passing on the costs to their consumers.

Anyone who buys something at newegg w/o checking prices elsewhere first (it takes 1 minutes to hit froogle, pricewatch and pricegrabber) deserves their emptier wallet.

 

[Gneisenau]

So what your saying is by me putting a order of one q6600 in my cart at the price that I clicked buy (320) and by the time I went to the final check out screen it said 345 is not wrong? Don't you think they should have honored the price that I added to my cart at???? Or the guy that had his order canceled when he paid 320 and then had to pay the extra? I did not end up buying it from there but that is just plain wrong.


Message edited by turpit on 07-26-2007 at 06:20:32 AM

It would depend on the reason the page shows a price increase. I doubt the order system know much about your order until you go to check-out. Then it take the items in your cart and checks them against it's database. If you put an item in your cart and check out 3 days later, you can't expect to get it for that price. If you did see a price change, either you were unlucky enough to have had a price increase in the past 5 min., or there is an error on their website.

Now if Newegg knows the price listed is wrong and does nothing about it, then that is illegal. If they are in the process of changing the prices shown on all the pages at the time you add it to your cart, then there is no harm. It's just bad luck on your part.

In general I don't think it's any more greedy for a company to want to sell something for a higher price, than it is for someone to want to keep their money and not pay that higher price. (Ok numbers of transactions are vastly different, but I'm talking one for one.)

It only becomes greedy when either party sells high because they are a monopoly or otherwise control the overall price of an object or service or back out of a previous agreement when they are still capable of fufilling it (Which New egg may be guilty of.)

 

[akahuddy]

Good to hear a voice of reason here spotter...

 

[W-Molders]

buy a 6750 for 200 wait 18 months and get the q6600 for 200 or under or an even better quad for around 300

 

[robx46]

Can't believe some of you guys are bashing newegg. Do you so quickly forget about how well they treat loyal customers? I can't even say how much I saved by buying stuff with the special promotional codes you get in email, or stuff that was just on sale for everyone.

For years I have wondered how they even make a profit as it feels like I'm almost stealing from them sometimes. Even their OEM products are practical, I've bought them a bunch of times and they always work just like retail. And a lot of the OEM stuff is stuff that we don't need the bundled crap for (such as cables, optical drives, and even graphics cards and if we need drivers we can get them online).

They allow people on the lowest of budgets to get something they need, whether it is via OEM or just a great sale, or even the large variety of brands they have at different prices that cater to people of all incomes.

Never have I bought something from newegg that was cheaper anywhere else, talking local retail stores or online retailers. And even if I did buy something there, like some of you guys with the quad, and found out it was cheaper somewhere else, then that is my bad. But that wouldn't happen because I always shop around before buying at newegg, just in case. And if something is cheaper elsewhere, I go elsewhere.

If newegg jacked up the price on something as they did, you can bet that they didn't want to. And you can bet that they surely knew that people wouldn't be happy about it. But as the guy said above, having known how newegg operates, I highly doubt this was something they themselves decided to do just to screw customers.
If it keeps happening for a long period of time, say for even half as long as they were giving us amazing deals, then maybe start to complain.

And for all we know, maybe it was our faults. Maybe when we bleed them out of stock buying products that are amazing deals, perhaps they aren't making so much profit on some things. If people only purchase the stuff on super sale, then they may have to jack prices up on some things. That is business.
Sales and great prices are intended not to sell out the things on sale, but to get you to do all your shopping there and to sometimes buy things that aren't always on sale.

And there is nothing wrong with that consider when something isn't on any special sale, it is still almost always just as cheap as you can get anywhere else. And when you add in their speedy service and products arriving in great shape, you should buy from there if the price is the same elsewhere or even if newegg's price is a couple dollars more expensive.
Since their shipping deals are better than anywhere and considering only 3 states pay sales tax, you'll still make out better than anywhere else.

So if they do need to sell something higher than they want to, lets not grill them. Perhaps don't buy that particular product, buy it elsewhere if there is such a big difference, but continue to support them buying other things.
You people who are saying you will never shop at newegg again because "how dare they" not have the best deal on every single product, you people will only contribute to the problem and if this is the trend then they will need to jack up prices from losing customers, and those of us who remain loyal to them have to pay.

So saying you won't buy from them again even if their prices are as good or better on other products just makes things worse. I'm sure most of you, just like myself, have spend thousands there. Had we bought elsewhere and newegg didn't exist, you would never have saved as much money as you did.
Just newegg existing has saved some of us hundreds and thousands of dollars.

And this is why I'm baffled when people complain that they just might at some point have to one time pay a few more dollars for something.
Please, don't be spoiled and dismiss newegg and all they have done in the past.
At the very least, go ahead and be pissed about a price increase on a product or two, but come on, don't abandon them. Still buy what makes sense there, that is what will keep them going strong and bring down prices.

And if some of you guys can just wait, don't you realize that if people aren't buying a certain product that they have to soon bring that price back down? And newegg is probably glad to do that.
I think bashing them at this point is way way way too early, and just disrespectful.
Without newegg, my rig wouldn't be as good as it is without being in debt. For real.

 

[twofoot]

If you want to effect the economics, instead of complaining about their existence, you might try here Under 3 stones for the revered Q chip, GO stepping available - some by request, some luck of the draw. If you're tired of eating Eggs, change flavors.

 

[widcard]

The intention of this post i started was to make people aware of the simple fact that they could buy somewhere else, that Newegg was not the only game in town, previous posts from other enthusiast had already pointed that out. Now if people want to flame Newegg becuase they don't like what they see, Thats their right to do so. To me i see two camps here, with one camp saying, If you get raked over the coals well so be it you deserve it, while the other camp is watching out for the new guy and his old freind the enthusiast.

 

[ds367]

I reserved my Q6600 at tankguys and will have it around the 10th with G0 stepping for under $300 guaranteed. That is why I skipped newegg this time. They should have been able to get the G0's in this soon for under $300! Shame on you newegg.com! Shame! I expect more!

 

[ryanthesav]

hahha

 

[Synthetickiller]

The whole price changing on CPUs, MOBOs, HDDs and other items is just unacceptable. Newegg is taking advantage of customers by upping prices when they know that people will not just be buying a Q6600 or other quad or a C2D, but enough components to assemble entire computers.

A good example is the samsung spinpoint 500 gig drive. Its been 110 bucks for months now. All of assudden, its 120 bucks. Clearly, they are taking advantage of people. I'm amazed the raptor didn't go up to 215 bucksfor the 150 gig version.

The Q6600 went from 300 to out of stock, then 375, then 365. I'm not sure if its dropped again, but this is absurd. This isn't the stock market.

For the record, I did buy all my equipment (save for the radiator, cpu water block and tubing) from newegg b/c of thier excellent return policy. I am pissed that the mobo i ordered jumped up 20 bucks for no apparent reason. They also failed to supply me with a receipt for my antec p180b case so I could get the 50 dollar rebate. I'm hoping antec will accept the email newegg sent me so that I am eligible. I've NEVER had that happen to me before and I've been using newegg for years, ever since I can remember them existing actually.

Something is clearly up...

 

[cb62fcni]

Hmmm, I've been unable to access Newegg's site all morning. It still sounds like an isolated incident, last night when I was speccing out a new computer they had good mushkin DDR2-1066 for 135, down from 175, and they had an 8800GTX for 519, down from 540-something. I'd guess the parts you selected were just in higher demand. This HAS to be an automated system that they're using, there's no way bean-counters would be able to adjust prices as often as is happening. Have you contacted them to see what's up?

 

[DJ_Jumbles]

Hmmm, I've been unable to access Newegg's site all morning. It still sounds like an isolated incident, last night when I was speccing out a new computer they had good mushkin DDR2-1066 for 135, down from 175, and they had an 8800GTX for 519, down from 540-something. I'd guess the parts you selected were just in higher demand. This HAS to be an automated system that they're using, there's no way bean-counters would be able to adjust prices as often as is happening. Have you contacted them to see what's up?

I can confirm that they are using an automated system, but I don't know how it works other than by dynamically changing price based on stock levels/volume moving. There is no way, like you said, for any person to make all these changes to prices in one day, let alone the volume in a month.
The automated system that they are using apparently also comes up with some of their "deals", too. I was on there yesterday and bought 2GB G. Skill 4-4-3-5 RAM for only $115. Saved $35.00. If you look at their memory right now, it seems as though it's dropping like a brick, especially the DDR2800. Between the instant and mail-in rebates, you can get some quality gear for a hell of a lot less money now than even 2 or 3 weeks ago.

I've never said that the Egg isn't a great place to buy from, what I've been saying is that their pricing model needs some serious tweaking just for the consumer to not feel as though they're getting raped on the price just because they want a hot item.

 

[cbhm]

From Newegg's standpoint, if people are willing to 375 dollars then why not raise the price. It's their duty to their shareholders to maximize profits. Dare I say it is capitalist. Newegg does not have a monopoly on q6600's so just go to zipzoomfly or some other e-tailor instead of complaining about simple economics.

i thought newegg isnt a publically traded company and thus has no shareholders

 

[Meegus]

The 'shop elsewhere' arguement doesn't address an important issue.

People go with places like Newegg because it's comfortable and for a long time, consistent. You knew that you weren't going to get 'rock bottom' prices (Newegg has always been 1-2% higher than the least expensive) but you were going to get a modicum of customer service.

People feel betrayed by the radical price hike. It's like Newegg hasn't delivered on their implied promises of the past few years.

As Seth Godin would say, "Eventually you have to milk the purple cow", but it's a shock to people when it starts to happen.

I think Newegg could have blown everyone away by sticking to their business model and NOT raising prices above the tray price. Short term profits be damned, they could have gone for the long term customer, the repeat buyer. They could have bought emotional capital, customer loyalty and instead of discussing how pathetic their money grab was, we could be talking about how we won't ever go anywhere else because the Egg took care of us.

This is a black eye for the Egg. No doubt about it.

 

[spotter]

i thought newegg isnt a publically traded company and thus has no shareholders

they have owners. Those owners are their shareholders. You don't have to be publically traded to have owners. Most likely it has more than a single owner (at minimum, multiple family members) each owns a share of the company.

 

[widcard]

Newegg Core 2 Quad Q6700 Kentsfield $619.99
Free 3 Business Day Shipping,, ZipZoomFly same chip $590.00 Free shipping. I'll check back on these prices later tonight, but this still shows a pattern that makes people uneasy.

 

[Synthetickiller]

From last night, the q6600 dropped from 365 to 325 but still higher than when the price cuts occured (299).

I saw the Q6700 @ 619, and the QX6700 for about 980. What does zipsoomfly want for the qx6700 if they even have any? I know there's about a 400 dollar price difference between the qx6850s on both sites.

I agree w/ meegus on all his points. Newegg is starting to worry me. If they keep this up, I'll be shopping elsewhere for good deals. I've been shopping w/ them b/c of

1. customer service
2. consistent prices
3. fair and often lower than the compeditor's prices

I hope those days are not at an end.

Most likely, this is a reaction to the price drop frenzy. Now when penryn arrives, will this happen again? I hope not!

 

[MadHacker]

well if i had 1000 of these Q6600 processors and new i would be getting more in a few days I'd sell them for $300, but if i sold 500 of them in 1 hour... then obviously my price would be to low. Ideal price for a vendor is selling the last one as the next batch comes in. and if they have to raise their price to do so, that makes sense to me.

I think it would be stupid for newegg to sell all their Q6600 CPU's in a short time when they can raise their price so that their stock last long enough to get more.
Anytime someone runs out of stock faster then they can get more... should raise their prices.

 

[FarAway Builder]

Ah, so much excitement on this topic! I'm a bit of a hardware noob, but THIS TOPIC I understand in plenty o' detail.

As in any kind of free market exercise, NewEgg has the right to offer a product at whatever price they want to. If people want to buy, they can. That's the free market, and it's always important that the buyer beware!

That said, certain firms (and NewEgg is the best example in the PC etailer space) carve out a niche for themselves where they can charge a premium (small or large, it depends on the firm and the niche) for superior products and/or service. NewEgg is able to charge a certain premium based on their superior service, and they've definitely developed a level of trust with a large stable of repeat customers that's pretty exceptional.

Markups in e-tail outlets are always pretty slim, but the volumes are pretty big, so even a slim mark-up can net you a big difference in terms of total profitability. 2% premium mark-up in a business that only averages a 5% Profit Margin means you're at 7%--40% more Total Profit than your competitor!!

NewEgg is free to try to make money however they see fit. Getting a realtime pricing system that aggressively prices to match demand and their own inventory is certainly one option, but there are some trade-offs there.

The two biggest downsides are:
1) Perceptions of gouging can quickly alienate a fanatically loyal customer base, especially if your current premium is built on a level of established trust w/repeat customers.
2) If you start screwing around with pricing transparency, that'll drive customers away in a hurry. While prices change over time, you don't like to think the price will change in the 15 minutes between when you put something in your shopping cart and when you go to pay for it. That's just a bad client experience!

There's a sweet spot in the middle there--let your prices move to meet the market, but let your clients feel like they can trust you--but that probably has more to do with pricing transparency than with rock-bottom pricing at all times. A lot of the negative pub for NewEgg around this issue has been due to a lack of pricing transparency, I think.