AKA: “Look, alotofcomputercrap.com has it for 50% less! Let’s buy from there!!”
I’ve done a lot of purchasing in my various roles at my various employers, and I’ve come to rely on two vendors for handling 90%+ of what I’ve purchased. Firstly, NewEgg is my default vendor for most anything hardware-wise; RAM, hard drives, monitors, mice, etc. Especially if you need some commodity part or an uncommon adapter, they will almost always have it – and have it a LOT cheaper than Staples or OfficeMax will. Go to Staples and you’ll see a 56Kbps modem for $35 (here) (yeah, not everyone has broadband); on NewEgg, you can get one for $8 (here). Sounds like good stewardship. And the shipping will get it to you often in one to two days, even when you get the standard 3-Day (which is often free).
I’ll usually compare the NewEgg price to the price that Provantage has; if Provantage has it, it’ll often be cheaper. Provantage doesn’t have the same large selection as NewEgg, but it has a greater selection in some stuff than NewEgg does – for instance, server racks. And Provantage has one trait I’m continually amazed by – they’ll get stuff faster to you than you’d think possible. I’ve ordered software on a weekday afternoon, AND RECIEVED IT THE NEXT MORNING. If you’ve ever ordered from Dell or any other larger vendor, they take that long just to validate your credit card, much less even start fulfilling it. So the one factor that might keep you from ordering online – namely, getting the merchandise ASAP – is no factor if you hit up either one of these guys for your stuff.
One other mention I’ll throw out there is Froogle – i.e. Google Product Search. Given a product name or identifying code, it will check a ton of online shopping sites to get you the best prices out there, and often including the taxes and shipping costs as well. Occasionally (rarely) someone might beat NewEgg or Provantage on price – this is your best way just to make sure. The best way to do this is to get the part number for whatever you’re shopping for – that way, GPS finds results that are exact, not just every variation on a product line, including any accessory for it that’s available. Of course, make sure that the vendor that might be offering a lower price is offering the exact same thing you’re shopping for (not some crippled, refurbished, or knockoff version), and that they’ve got a decent feedback rating, if you decide to use them. And remember, if the price is way lower than the competitors, you should be very suspicious – this is the Internet, after all.
And please note: I have no relationship, affiliated or otherwise, with any of these guys – I’m just recommending them because way too many churches go and pay full retail at Staples, Office Depot, etc. when they could get their stuff a lot cheaper online.
Any other online store recommendations? Any bad experiences with the above sites?