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Comment by joering2 | Hacker News Reader

I stopped being their fan when their return policies changed. Now there is something called "Restocking fee" and I have to pay for shipping?? I don't think so.

I use Newegg to research products but once I find what I am looking for, I search for the model on Amazon and end up purchasing there, knowing return policy is much better for customers.

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Heh, me too. Also, I just discovered http://pcpartpicker.com/ yesterday. Looks pretty cool. I might do my research there and buy on Amazon. I might feel a little less guilty. :) The restocking fee policy (which screams "shady retailer" to me) on Newegg is only reason I stopped shopping there.

OTOH, Newegg seems to have a much larger catalog of tech items than Amazon.

Also the search feature on Amazon is quite bad: try searching for '16 gb ram' and sort by price. It will insist on showing you 2 gb packs also.

Everything except the default sort order sucks. Which doesn't inspire confidence that Amazon isn't listing the items with the highest margins on top.

> http://pcpartpicker.com/

Built by an HNer: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1883123

I love pcpartpicker. It's great to see someone reverse engineering the pc part sales cycle. The fact it helps people communicate complete builds and see compatibility between parts is a nice feature too

Thanks, Alex. I've really appreciated the feedback and encouragement you've given me.

I discovered the site because of this thread. Big thanks as I just picked up an I5-3570K with a $60 discount.

Out of curiosity, how did you hear about pcpartpicker? (I created it, so I'm always interested to know how people find out about it. Hope you find it useful!)

Nice website! Do you have any plans to add server hardware to the lists?

Definitely. No ETA yet, but that is on the roadmap.

Saw a build on a post in the the hackintosh sub-reddit, the link to which was posted here on HN. Great site.

Since you're here, I'm going to file a bug. :) I just noticed that the following motherboard isn't showing an amazon price for me: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz68xud3h...

although amazon has it: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Intel-DDR3-Motherboards-GA-Z6...

Thanks! I've fixed up the motherboard price for Amazon, though the price I list is when fulfilled from Amazon.com directly and not from their marketplace merchants.

Nice site, very useful. Do you scrape all your data?

Yeah I was surprised by those changes as well when I had to return something. The CSR I spoke to apologized then sent me a prepaid label and charged me no restocking fee.

So great customer service but the charges almost seem arbitrary when the CSR can just apologize and wipe them out...

> So great customer service but the charges almost seem arbitrary when the CSR can just apologize and wipe them out...

Only a fraction of total customers has your experience, so the cost -- marginal if only for a minor fraction prohibitive if for majority of users -- of keeping you happy as a customer is marginal. But they can't do that for everyone.

From their FAQ: Does Newegg.com pay the return shipping cost for defective merchandise? No, Newegg.com does not pay the return shipping cost for defective merchandise. We are not responsible for product defects, because we do not manufacture the products we carry.

However I had the same experience as you when trying to return a defective mouse:

Me: I'm not going to pay return shipping. CSR: Ok, we'll send you a shipping label.

It's confusing and arbitrary.

What's worse is that you have to return it to their CA facility and wait a couple of days for them to decide to ship out a replacement, which is a two week turn around time for customers on the east coast.

Overall Newegg's level of price competitiveness and service is slipping; I see no reason to order from them unless avoiding the sales tax on that order is worth it.

Newegg.com does not pay the return shipping cost for defective merchandise. We are not responsible for product defects, because we do not manufacture the products we carry.

Under the Sale Of Goods Act 1979 in the UK, that's actually illegal.

In some US states, too; many of our states have a code modeled on the Uniform Commercial Code. In Massachusetts, at least, all items come with an implied warranty of merchantability and fitness for purpose, e.g. that it's worth selling and useful. Sellers cannot legally waive those warranties.

As a buyer, my only responsibility is to allow the seller to pick up the item from me. If some site tries to pull a New Egg on me, I point them to the relevant laws, and make a very gracious offer - not only will I allow them to pick the item up, I'll even pack it all up for them in a box.

Lesson: Check your local laws before assuming that these "no returns" or "restocking fee" policies have any weight.

Yeah I asked a CSR about this. They said their policy is that they don't offer one but will give one without questions if you ask. I guess it's to reduce costs by charging people who won't bother asking. It is a strange policy, but I can live with it.

Wow ... I've spent thousands of dollars on merchandise from Newegg and it's a bit sad that it may have come to an end. What I really appreciated was competitive prices and excellent service. Perhaps you can't have both and stay in business.

It's a very sad day.

Likewise, I've spent thousands. Stopped buying with newegg when they sent me a defective HDD and told me to RMA it with Western Digital.

What? Amazon is no stranger to restocking fees on electronics.

Can you elaborate? Both pages below imply that you get 100% if you return within 30 days.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_r...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_9...

In contrast, the newegg page mentions the restocking fee clearly (2nd item).

http://www.newegg.com/HelpInfo/ReturnPolicy.aspx

I bought an Acer Aspire Timeline laptop on Sept 16, 2009. I returned it on October 10. Amazon took a 15% "Partial Refund Deduction" off the refund amount.

Thanks for the info. I guess it's more complicated than I thought.

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