It’s been awhile since I looked into building a PC, so I’m not sure what some of the better stores may be, or which may have swapped hands/changed approaches and aren’t as reliable as they once were.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice!
The last computer I built (not for me) was a mix of Amazon, Memory Express and Canada Computers (got the list from PC PartPicker).
Amazon had the memory and CPU I wanted; MemEx had the mobo, PSU and case; and CC had the monitor. I tried to get everything from MemEx though, but they just didn’t have everything I needed.
May be worth mentioning that NewEgg is now hellah anti-consumer. I would avoid them at all costs.
Pre-2014 or so I was 85% Newegg or more.
Post, I’ve been 85%+ Amazon. I buy from B&H when I can, but honestly Amazon tends to dominate the PC partlicker list.
To clarify - I removed Newegg from the vendor list. Won’t even look at them.
I haven’t been able to leave them entirely, but I try to avoid B&H as much as I can. They were sued by the federal government twice over civil rights violations, particularly for their treatment of Hispanic employees. It wasn’t just stuff like not promoting employees and paying them less, but Jim Crow-era stuff like not allowing them to use certain bathrooms, as recently as the past decade. Once I could’ve written off as some bad manager, but the Feds sued them again a decade later and it was basically all the same stuff, so to me that’s a cultural problem.
I also worked at a manufacturer where they were by far our biggest reseller, larger than everyone else combined including our own direct sales. They were a giant pain to work with; every interaction felt like they were flipping us a giant middle finger. Our accounting team especially hated dealing with them; we got some new people in who figured out they were always trying to claim discounts and refunds they weren’t entitled to. If our people pushed back and could show they weren’t allowed they would cave, but it took a lot of their time every month. I try now to buy from their smaller rivals like Adorama or AbelCine even if it might cost a little more; most of them were so much nicer to work with.
Oh jeez! Good to know.
Amazon is no saint either, obviously; it’s getting hard to buy from anyone if you learn too much about them!
That’s for sure!
Depends on what you want. Newegg, eBay, Amazon, Jawa.gg, Liquidation.com, Shopgoodwill.com, FB Marketplace, Craigslist, Garage sales, Auctions
I get computer parts from all these sources.
Newegg, Amazon, BestBuy. Every so often one or the other will come out with a great price on a component. I keep my ear to the ground on Slickdeals and /r/buildapcsales and cherry pick anything that sounds good.
Can I have some of those negative downvotes?
spoiler
This took me a minute to see what was wrong here, but that’s really strange, isn’t it?
Bizarre.
Usually Newegg and Amazon, sometimes NextWarehouse for things I’m not in a rush for (they do a lot of drop shipping from the distributors/manufactures themselves so it’s sometimes cheaper but also slower). B&H is also worth a look, sometimes they do price drops on things & end up being cheaper than the other places.
There’s a local Best Buy near me that’s in a special tax district (lower sales tax) so I could try checking them out but usually the prices there are marked up so much that it’s not worth it IMO.
There aren’t any Micro Centers near me, it’d take a fair amount of travel to get to one.
For cheaper items, I unfortunately use Amazon. I try to do my research and avoid scams. For more expensive items, I’ve used a variety of methods such as eBay, my friend, and a stranger posting on (also unfortunately) Facebook Marketplace.
Microcenter, Newegg, Scamazon. In that order.
Since Fry’s closed only Amazon and Newegg remain as primary part sources, both of which are shitty companies. Closest Microcenter is ~500 miles away.
Mostly Amazon, myself.
If one wants an occasional old gizmo that’s no longer made, eBay can be helpful.
Specifically for cables – which aren’t that pricy relative to other items people buy, and are often marked up a lot by retailers – I’ve gone to Monoprice for quite some years. Useful if getting a bunch of cables.
I got an old gaming laptop on eBay for like $300 that I take with me on work trips. The person just upgraded or something and wanted to get rid of it.
I know people sometimes have bad experiences on ebay, but I feel like if you message the seller and feel out the situation in advance, you can avoid a lot of the problems. I always try to buy from individuals vs. from someone whose entire business is selling on ebay, and I’ve never been burned.
