Cold! Newegg now charging shipping for most refurbs.

[RobsTV]

I agree that refurbs just got a lot colder.

Refurbs would save you about 20% in the past, but for that savings you missed out on
all the things that come with non-refurbs. For motherboards, these can include, USB ports,
TV-Out, SPDIF connectors, and even a warranty. For example, Shuttle will not support end
user warranty, so all warranty claims must be handled through reseller, and as you all know,
that means you only have a 15 day warranty. Most manufacturer's are not like Shuttle though,
and with most you do get a warranty beyond the 15 days.

Other times, I had thought I was getting a good deal on a refurb case. Then, after it arrived,
I checked for other cases in NEW (not refurb), and actually saw the same case I paid $30
delivered now priced at $35 delivered Brand New!! My mistake for not checking new first.
Point is, the flame definitely went out on refurbs.

Last point. Beside shipping, looks like prices on popular refurbs went up as well.
Have bought dozens of Asus A7N266-VM boards for $39 delivered, and now they are $47.25 + $5 shipping.

Yes, the shipping charges will affect many refurb buyers.
Free shipping was the extra that made this a deal.
Now that it's gone, the slight savings you get with refurbs is not worth the risk.

 

[Wag]

I suggest people send them an email directing them to this thread.

I was burned 2x on their refurbs and am not going to try again if they charge for shipping.

If enough people stop buying refurbs from them, they might reconsider.

 

[jfnz24]

If I had to guess, they are now charging for shipping due to FedEx raising their shipping costs. This, of course, is due to higher gas prices (or so they say), and probably will not reverse for a while, if at all. So again, prices go up, and the little guy (who has been receiving lower pays due to wage freezes/decreases/layoffs) gets screwed.

Hopefully, Newegg will lower their shipping costs to the actual cost instead of a flat-rate, but I don't forsee that anytime soon.

 

[VaG]

I have only purchased Newegg refurbs once and it was 2 Radeon 8500DV All-In-Wonders. One was was $20 more than the other but they had the same exact description so I purchased both. The more expensive one came with only the card and no accessories (which hardly makes it an all-in-wonder). The cheaper one came with all the accessories but the card was dead. I decided Newegg refurbs weren't a game I need to play again, even if shipping was free.

 

[formulav8]

Yeps. My refurb days are most likely over. I won't even waste my time anymore trying to be one of the first to see the inventory updated.

It also looks like, it doesn't mater if you by 1 or 20 different items.

They add the complete $5 shipping for each item. Its look the shipping cost doesn't start to go down until you buy 5 or 6 tiems. Even then it is maybe a $1 or $2 off of each $5 or whatever the shipping charge is.

So, They will not get near as much business from me. Just for this reason. Whether it is buying new stuff or refurbs. And I have spent, literally thousands upon thousands of dollars of there.

I will do most of my buying at ZipZoomFly.com though. They have better prices than newegg on quite a bit of stuff. I think they still have free 2nd day on quite a few things. Haven't been there in alittle while though.


Jason

 

[SinSystems]

luckily i scored a stick of pc3200 512mb for 66 bucks last night ...free shipping

 

[RobsTV]

Yep, the shipping charge per item also annoyed me for as long as Newegg has been around.
Many a time I was about to make a puchase at Newegg because they were cheapest, but not when shipping was factored in.

They are making money off shipping!!!!

An example from this morning.
Needed 3 vga coolers. Newegg had them at $8 each + $4 shipping EACH, or $36 delivered.
$12 to ship?

SVC had the same coolers for $6.50, and $6.50 to ship first one.
Added 3 to SVC cart, and shipping jumped up to $7.36.
Total for 3 delivered, $26.86.

I have ordered many items such as motherboard and memory, and in some cases Newegg simply put the memory in the same box as the motherboard, yet charged me for shipping anyway!

 

[sujanks]

polar freezing cold.. not good..

 

[breweyez]

looks like frys business will go up:Q

 

[ActuaryTm]

Originally posted by: jfnz24
If I had to guess, they are now charging for shipping due to FedEx raising their shipping costs. This, of course, is due to higher gas prices (or so they say), and probably will not reverse for a while, if at all. So again, prices go up, and the little guy (who has been receiving lower pays due to wage freezes/decreases/layoffs) gets screwed.

Hopefully, Newegg will lower their shipping costs to the actual cost instead of a flat-rate, but I don't forsee that anytime soon.

The $5.00 fee, while certainly additional in comparison with the past, is still quite nominal, especially for personages of the eastern cost persuasion. One would be extremely hard pressed to find an example of another company offering such significantly discounted items and such reduced shipping costs. Also, the additional fee appears to not be fixed, as a number of items at first glance seem to have $4.00 fees as well. Edit : out of curiousity, at second glance, some items still have "Special Free FedEx Saver Shipping", while some heavier items (like monitors, especially of the CRT variety) will run up as high as $30.00 in shipping costs, as they should as they are more costly to ship.

As "actual cost" was previously mentioned, would be remiss if it were not mentioned that refurbished items are shipped using FedEx Express Saver service, like many of NewEgg's products. Those that feel they have complaints should first view the FedEx Express Saver rate table, and notice that the minimum cost (granted, the costs should be lower for a business, and certainly moreso for a business with the volume of NewEgg) for such service is $7.70. Most of the eastern coast is zone 8 or 7, which means the minimum cost would be $9.35 on average. Again, shipping volume would likely dictate a slight discount; however, view the cost of the average three or four pound package and I believe the point attempting to be made is quite clear.

Had the fee changed from no charge to $5.00 +/- 25% and the shipping method been changed to ground service, I could see cause for complaint. In most business lines (and in personal lives, for that matter), time equates to money; and I for one still consider it a great deal when a company offers a speedier shipping option (in comparison with most ground service) at a lower cost (again, in comparison to ground).

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: Cheetah8799

Originally posted by: hans007
well...

the thing is they changed it, so that they pay for shipping it back if its broken.

Since when will they cover return shipping? I'd like to see a link to their site where they state that. All I've ever been told by their customer service reps is that I have to pay the return shipping.

last week i returned something, and on the last page it has a link, to print a pre paid shipping label. i think they just started doing that though.


i guess refurb has now gotten pretty cold for me as well (i had to return that last refurb is was missing everything including proprietary power adapter) since i have to pay tax already and now shipping too. sucks being in CA and NJ

 

[cmetz]

Newegg's prices have been going up noticeably on everything I've been looking to buy, and then on top of that many items now have shipping charges, further accelerating the increase. Meanwhile, a few folks I know have recently had unsatisfactory customer service experiences with them. If Newegg wants to be more expensive then their competition and have no better customer service, that's their choice - but one which has an obvious consequence.

In my case, I've been shifting to ZipZoomFly for my needs. I'm getting the same level of service and lower prices.

I really liked the old Newegg. I'll miss them.

 

[gimpsoft]

wait whats this

Important: Your order contains a refurbished product(s). Please read the following before you proceed:

Newegg.com does not test any product, including refurbished items. Refurbished items therefore are only tested by the original manufacturer. Due to varying qualities between manufacturers, YOU ARE TAKING A RISK BUYING REFURBISHED PRODUCTS.

Refurbished merchandise are OPEN BOX products that contain components that have been owned by other clients and returned to Newegg.com. The products are sold considerably under cost. Newegg.com guarantees all refurbished products for 15 days only. CPUs, however, only have 7 days for refund. All refurbished items are considered OEM "barebone" parts.

Barebone means Newegg.com can only guarantee the item by itself, no other accessories. No matter what the product description says, refurbished products may not have all the other accessories. Newegg.com is limited to the barebone part of the item itself. Do not be upset or surprised if your refurbished product does not contain any cables, adaptor, manual, CD, drivers, fan, etc. Newegg.com will not send you any missing accessories, even if it is an essential part.

While Newegg.com does not like to discourage sales, only the experienced PC enthusiast should purchase refurbished items and know how to deal with missing accessories. Only buy refurbished products if you are willing to resolve defects and/or know how to find missing accessories.

Refurbished products do have a considerably higher return rate than brand new items. If you are just looking to get a good deal, please only buy new products.

YOU ARE TAKING A RISK BUYING REFURBISHED PRODUCTS.

they do clearly warn you

so if you buy refurbished product its your own fault if its defective/DAO for beeing cheap

so stop complaining & about shipping yes they are overcharging a bit



what i do really complain is i find there site slower then ever before i don't know just ISP beeing a B*** to me

 

[SigFawn]

i hope you all stop buying them, then maybe I can get in before they go OOS. when you're saving 60 bucks, i don't care about 5 bucks. if 5 bucks breaks the deal, then it wasn't worth it in the first place. you wanna save 5 bucks go dig the change out of your couch

 

[MontyBurns]

Newegg, like every other online retailer, has always charged for shipping. The only issue is whether or not they tell you what they're charging, or just roll it into the price.

 

[Unforgiven]

2 things here:

1) newegg is a fantastic online retailer and if you stop doing business with them because you cant afford $5.00 for shipping then you are really missing out on a great company that has some of the highest ratings on resellerratings.com of anyone in the world!

2) outpost.com (before being bought out by frys) use to offer free next day air shipping on all items when they first started out and it really helped reel in new customers but eventually they went away when the shipping got jacked up so that you didnt get a discount unless it was like over $250 (dont quote me on that, thats just off the top of my head and i havent ordered from them in 3 years)

frankly one of the reasons i do business with newegg is their ability to keep shipping costs low but im not gonna bitch about it if they decide to start charging. if you dont like it find another venue where you can get good customer service and prices and ill tell you right now they are few and far between....

 

[RobsTV]

Two other companies that are excellent, but don't play shipping games are:
Mwave and TCWO

Mwave charges shipping the normal way, by weight and destination, not per item like Newegg.
TCWO charges zero for fedex 3 day. Yep zero.
Both have prices and service in the same class as Newegg.

Reselleratings
Mwave = 8.71/8.21
TCWO = 6.59/8.79
Newegg = 9.77/9.71

 

[VaG]

Originally posted by: Unforgiven
2 things here:

1) newegg is a fantastic online retailer and if you stop doing business with them because you cant afford $5.00 for shipping then you are really missing out on a great company that has some of the highest ratings on resellerratings.com of anyone in the world!

2) outpost.com (before being bought out by frys) use to offer free next day air shipping on all items when they first started out and it really helped reel in new customers but eventually they went away when the shipping got jacked up so that you didnt get a discount unless it was like over $250 (dont quote me on that, thats just off the top of my head and i havent ordered from them in 3 years)

frankly one of the reasons i do business with newegg is their ability to keep shipping costs low but im not gonna bitch about it if they decide to start charging. if you dont like it find another venue where you can get good customer service and prices and ill tell you right now they are few and far between....

1. zipzoomfly 9.16/8.73 (usually cheaper, always faster, and in my experience more realiable)

 

[Dantzig]

I'll never buy from MWave again after the last experience I had with them. HORRIBLE customer service by all four CSRs that I dealt with. Just trying to buy a couple items from them turned into a major hassle.

SVC is another good retailer that charges fair shipping prices.

 

[Wag]

This thread is about refurbs.

The point being made is that for alot of cheaper refurbs the extra $5 brings the price too close a new product to be worth the risk. I agree.

A $32 refurb mobo doesn't look nearly as appealing at $37 when you can purchase new for $42.

 

[Unforgiven]

Originally posted by: Dantzig
I'll never buy from MWave again after the last experience I had with them. HORRIBLE customer service by all four CSRs that I dealt with. Just trying to buy a couple items from them turned into a major hassle.

i couldnt have said it better myself! absolutely TERRIBLE service from mwave.com, in fact here's my review of them from resellerratings.com:

3/26/04 5:41 AM
absolutely horrible service! i ordered a soyo motherboard last night and as i was filling out the billing information they told me that if i needed a different address to "ship-to" i would have to call my credit card company and get them to have my alternate address on the account, then email them back at processing@mwave.com. so i contact my credit card company then fire off an email to the addresses listed only to have it rejected saying that account does not exist. i then tried status@mwave.com and service@mwave.com and get no replies. i call customer service twice only to be put on hold and eventually disconnected, then i call the cancellation department and talk to someone who speaks broken english and when she finally gets to cancelling my order i get hung up on while waiting. absolutely horrible customer service. all i wanted to do was make sure they had everything they needed from my credit card company only to be treated like ass in trying to jump through hoops to get info. first and last time ill order from this company!


after the entire ordeal i was harassed by the lead of the customer service department as he tried to "rectify the situation" and i told him to f*ck off and that i shouldnt have to have the manager call me directly just to get decent customer service. i will NEVER recommend anyone to that company EVER! :|

 

[dahunan]

One thing I cannot understand is even high dollar items such as their LCDs only come with a 15 day warranty and NO manufacturers warranty.

I wanted to buy a Samsung refurb LCD from newegg. So, I called Samsung and they told me they do not offer any warranty for it... Why would anyone spend $550 for an item that is only guaranteed to last for 15 days??

I hope they see the foolishness of their choice to add shipping costs to refurbs.

 

[Lanyap]

DOH, get a grip on yourself . Everybody posting knows the risks of NE "refurbs". They're not complaining about that. Most NE "refurbs" are untestd returns. Most other online retailers like NE at least test returns before sending them back out to customers. Granted, it's still no guarantee that it will work correctly but your odds are better.

Originally posted by: gimpsoft
wait whats this

Important: Your order contains a refurbished product(s). Please read the following before you proceed:

Newegg.com does not test any product, including refurbished items. Refurbished items therefore are only tested by the original manufacturer. Due to varying qualities between manufacturers, YOU ARE TAKING A RISK BUYING REFURBISHED PRODUCTS.

Refurbished merchandise are OPEN BOX products that contain components that have been owned by other clients and returned to Newegg.com. The products are sold considerably under cost. Newegg.com guarantees all refurbished products for 15 days only. CPUs, however, only have 7 days for refund. All refurbished items are considered OEM "barebone" parts.

Barebone means Newegg.com can only guarantee the item by itself, no other accessories. No matter what the product description says, refurbished products may not have all the other accessories. Newegg.com is limited to the barebone part of the item itself. Do not be upset or surprised if your refurbished product does not contain any cables, adaptor, manual, CD, drivers, fan, etc. Newegg.com will not send you any missing accessories, even if it is an essential part.

While Newegg.com does not like to discourage sales, only the experienced PC enthusiast should purchase refurbished items and know how to deal with missing accessories. Only buy refurbished products if you are willing to resolve defects and/or know how to find missing accessories.

Refurbished products do have a considerably higher return rate than brand new items. If you are just looking to get a good deal, please only buy new products.

YOU ARE TAKING A RISK BUYING REFURBISHED PRODUCTS.

they do clearly warn you

so if you buy refurbished product its your own fault if its defective/DAO for beeing cheap

so stop complaining & about shipping yes they are overcharging a bit



what i do really complain is i find there site slower then ever before i don't know just ISP beeing a B*** to me

 

[Lanyap]

Hey, did anyone notice that NE now limits their "refurb" items to 2 per customer? I personally think that's a good thing because it allows more people to order instead of a few people buying up all of a particular popular heavily discounted product. However, I know this change will also be controversial. :Q

Here's my .02 on the shipping. NE has always manipulated their shipping and prices to be competitive with lower cost etailers. Free shipping looks attractive and when you are selling computer hardware and software lower than retail you can do this. NE has been a master at this technique. So when they add $4-5 shipping to almost everything, new and refurb, they are essentially raising all of their prices by $4-5, not just adding shipping. Up until about a year ago they sold by word of mouth in the tech community. Then they started putting very expensive ads in computer magazines. We're talking 2-4 page hard paper ads with color pictures. That has to cost big bucks. I think NE maybe having some financial trouble from the major advertising they have been doing and is having to make it up with this overall price increase. They should at least explain why they they made the changes they did. {I know you're watching NE}.

Bottom line: Most people here who have been ordering from NE will continue to at least look at their prices and compare them with other etailers but will buy from the others if NE's cost is somewhat higher than their competitors.

:Q

 

[metalmania]

IMHO Mwave is good. Although they have slow response time, the CSRs are really helpful. After I complained about a different product I received other than the one showed on their website, they apologized and even refunded my shipping fee after I told them I would keep it anyway.

Originally posted by: Dantzig
I'll never buy from MWave again after the last experience I had with them. HORRIBLE customer service by all four CSRs that I dealt with. Just trying to buy a couple items from them turned into a major hassle.

SVC is another good retailer that charges fair shipping prices.