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Same Part, Same Supplier, Different Prices

Posted by timothy on from the guess-which-way-they'd-go-if-equal dept.

linuxwrangler writes "Infoworld's "Notes From The Field column this week includes a comment from a reader who found that Dell listed several different prices for the same part. Intrigued, I grabbed the first part number I found (a 512MB memory module #A0193405) and found that the list price is $289.99 which the price offered to "large businesses". Meanwhile, the GSA/DOD contract price is $266.21 while "home users" find the list-price discounted to $275.49 and "small businesses" fare even better with a $246.49 price. InfoWorld contacted Dell who responded, "Each segment sets its own pricing, and consumers are free to pick the one that's cheapest." Buyer beware."

5 of 412 comments (clear)

  1. My Life is Dilbert by RicJohnson · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is nothing. Dell always has sold to the business market for more.
    I found this out years ago when I had to upgrade 300+ computers. I went on to their site, found the best price for the most power, and then called up for the best bulk price
    The system I picked was the Dimension, with the latest tech. But the salesman wanted me to buy the 'business optimized' OptiPlex. I pointed out that each unit was MUCH more expensive for the same power, he tried to sell me that new technology was not good for business - I should use 'proven' hardware (i.e. 1 year old chips at top prices).
    I told him no thanks, please give me a price on 300+ Dimensions as I specified them.
    He did give me a price, but when I went to my boss to get the check, I found out that the salesguy called him and told him to but the OptiPlex! Then my PHB believed the vendor, and I eventually got fired cuz I would not support them. (The drivers for the network card would not support the latest Windows)

    1. Re:My Life is Dilbert by JoeShmoe · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, I can give you a very concrete example of the difference between buying "home" and "business" lines of computer.

      When I was contracting for a major corporation, they wanted to rollout new software to 4000+ PCs. Since there were only two or three different models of machines I recommended using a little known utility by Binary Research called Ghost.

      One model used in one division was Compaq Presario. The wise ass IT manager of that division decided to save a little money by getting the cheaper home units instead of the Deskpro 2000 units everyone else had.

      Well, come time for rollout and about 75% of the hard drives in the Presario units died after being ghosted (obviously, not the one unit we had tested on). After a couple weeks of panicked calling with 3rd level engineers at Compaq, the bottom line was that they couldn't help us with the problem. They had a room full of engineering documents on the Deskpro line and could literally follow the path of electrons if that was what was needed to fix the problem. If we wanted that kind of help with the Presario line, we would have to go find the random Taiwanese board maker who had slapped together the motherboard and see if they could figure it out.

      Well, smart ass IT manager decided to secretly have a few of the now-broken hard drives put in Deskpro units then send them in to engineering. Compaq took one look at the barcodes and realized they had been swapped. Ironically, having the bad drive in the Deskpro they were able to discover there was a bug in Matrox's firmware that caused the drive to report it as having 16 heads when it only had 15 heads. Compaq theorized that the Ghost program was operating at a low enough level that the Maxtor drive was trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole and breaking itself.

      Anyway, bottom line is...if the computers work out of the box, it doesn't matter what's in them. But if you ever plan to use computers to something other than what they current doing, then you need to know that the vendor will actually stand behind them and not tell you that you are SOL. Companies may pay more of a premium for that kind of guarantee, but if you looked at the cost involved in swapping out a few thousand machines because you can't get a problem conclusively solved, that premium might not be so bad after all.

      - JoeShmoe
      .

      --
      -- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
  2. Does it affect warranty and support? by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I am wondering if it is like the extended warranty model the computer companies are using. You buy the consumer version of a computer, and you get 90 days or a year, small businesses maybe two years and large corporations a full three years. Parts bought through the corporate division might have a cross-ship arrangtement, but the consumer division might have a delay, where they wait to see the defective part before sending a replacement.

    This is all speculative though.

  3. I work in education.. by Sime208 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ..and found this out recently.

    The guy that deals with buying equipment called Dell up wanting some machines like what he'd bought his kids.

    For his kids, Dell charged 300gbp per box.

    For the school, they wanted around 30% more!

    Dell's excuse was really laughable. Something about "For schools, the computers can be further upgraded before purchasing so it gives you the option of upgrading at the point of sale.". They could be upgraded for home use too, so that didn't really wash.

  4. Re:Marketing vs IT by siliconjunkie · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My contacts, for example, are marketted as daily wear. However, they're the exact same contacts that the manufacturer sells as their multi-use contacts, just in a different box. For people willing to pay for the "multi-use" contacts, the company simply makes extra money. It doesn't hurt them any.

    The thing you need to be careful of is the "invisible stuff" you buy when purchasing a product. like: licences, warranties, etc...

    For example, if I buy a processor from Intel in the Intel branded box, I get a warranty. If I buy the *same* processor in an "OEM" box at a discounted rate, no warranty.

    This is just one example, but also consider this: You buy these "daily wear" contacts, and they have their usage guidelines printed on the side of the box. The "Multi-use" contacts may allow for the contacts to be worn under certain circumstances that differ from the "daily wear". Now, you, as consumer, save a few bucks on the "same" contacts, but use the "daily wear" in a manner than is inconsistent with their labeling and you go blind one day. You can bet your ass that the contact lens maker is going to claim that you were indeed "using their product in a manner that is inconsistent with the packaging" when you attempt to be compensated for damage to your eyes due to their product.

    Just some food for thought (IANAL, however).