[illegal_in_ca]

Interesting. I also find myself picking up tech from NewEgg more often than Amazon. And I recently ordered most of the supplies for a cocktail party I was having at Walmart and Bed Bad and Beyond.

Amazon prices might beat local retail, but they are only sometimes competitive with other (often more specizlized) online retailers at this point.

Also, at least for me, shipping New Egg, Walmart and BBAB was faster than Amazon. I don't have Prime however.

[untog]

The issue I have with NewEgg is returns. There's always some condition, or expensive fee for return shipping. By comparison, Amazon makes it very easy

[agwa]

The flip side to Amazon's easy returns is that I regularly receive used/returned merchandise from Amazon that was advertised as new.

[ubertaco]

It wouldn't be such a big deal, except that the last three times I ever ordered from NewEgg, I got the wrong product entirely once, a damaged product once (that was listed as new, yet the CPU socket pins on the motherboard I'd ordered were bent -- hard to do without opening the box), and had something where I paid for two-day shipping arrive after several weeks.

In those three cases.... * I returned the incorrect product in exchange for the item I'd actually ordered, and was charged a restocking fee despite it being Newegg's error. * I returned the damaged motherboard in exchange for an undamaged one, and was charged a restocking fee despite it being Newegg's error. * I contacted support about the slower-than-paid-for shipping, and was told, effectively "it'll get there eventually; no refund on shipping speed."

Those three experiences burned me on Newegg entirely. I'll pay the extra $10-20 to get the product somewhere else with less headache, especially since the restocking fees mean I come out close to break-even on price.

[SwellJoe]

Is that new? I don't remember ever having that experience, but I haven't had to return anything in a long time.

[Sleeep]

If you have an American Express card Newegg participates in ShopRunner and ShopRunner is free if you have an American Express card. ShopRunner provides free two day shipping both ways on eligible items (all items I've ever bought have been eligible).

[nsb1]

I buy from NewEgg whenever I can to show my support for their active patent troll hunting efforts. That's a worthwhile cause even if their prices are slightly higher.

[SwellJoe]

And, NewEgg also generally has excellent customer service, in my experience. So, it's not like I'm trading away convenience or confidence in the vendor. I've bought hundreds of more items at Amazon than NewEgg in the past several years, but I'd bet my gross dollar spend is similar at NewEgg because I've bought a half dozen servers and computers.

[illegal_in_ca]

Agreed, NewEgg customer service is excellent. Easy returns. I've probably spent more in raw dollars at NewEgg than at Amazon, even though I've made maybe 10x as many Amazon purchases.

Edit: I have NewEgg Premier though, so I get free shipping on certain items and free RMAs. Cheaper than Amazon Prime. I'm always amazed NewEgg doesn't get more love around here.

[zitterbewegung]

My newegg account got permamently banned so I shop at Amazon. I don't even know why.

[SwellJoe]

I do remember I had to jump through a couple of hoops to get something (about $8000 worth of something) shipped to an address not on file with my credit card, which is not something Amazon has ever done (I'm always shipping to weird places because I travel mostly full-time in an RV), but it wasn't too traumatic.

I can't imagine why they'd ban someone permanently. I mean, they want money, right? That seems weird. But, also sucks.