NetMarket review and critique (long and not for virgin ears)
THE GOOD
Layout
Decent layout. I don't care for all that pretty fluff on the page, and I hate those silly non-obvious graphic buttons, but since I'm running with a fast connection, I shouldn't bitch.
Features
The comparison shopping feature is a nice idea that needs better implementation. I decided to compare video cards, and all it did was show me the same information with the products side-by-side. I was hoping for at least a summary of features (AGP, etc).
Order Processing
It would have been nice if they would allow me to save my information without becoming a member, but that's OK I guess. I didn't want to order anything, but I got as far as entering my credit card number without any request to call them. Perhaps their credit card processing just happened to be down at the time? (Might explain the 30 minute hold time Bean experienced, if the problem had not been resolved.)
THE BAD
Prices
I looked at some of my favorite video cards, and their member prices were very slightly better than ebworld.com. Since the prices on EBWorld are almost never BETTER than those at EB's retail locations, I was a little discouraged. Then I checked buycomp.com, and I became pessimistic. BuyComp's prices were consistently 10+% less than NetMarket's. And that's for members! Perhaps guest purchases come with a coupon for a free tube of anal lube? It's possible that BuyComp has some special deal based on volume which allows them to offer items for less. Still, I bet both companies use one of the Big Three (Ingram, TechData, Merisel) wholesale distributors for these products. Since Bean mentioned he didn't get a packing slip, maybe they're being dropped shipped from the distributor?
Here is the difference in prices for a Creative Labs Riva TNT, retail.
BuyComp
Price: $102.95
Shipping: $10.09 UPS Ground
Tax: $0
Total: $113.04
NetMarket (as a guest)
Price: $169.00 (member price is $149.00)
Shipping: $7.95 (standard shipping, shipper not specified)
Tax: $9.86 -->WTF?!?!?
Total: $186.81
Difference: about $73 for nonmembers and about $50 for members. In addition, members pay $69.95 per year for this privilege! (Oh, and it's automatically renewing, just like those infamous AOL accounts!)
Folks, if you're gonna do Internet shopping, NetMarket is NOT the place to do, at least for state-of-the-art hardware!
SUMMATION
As you can tell, I am very disappointed with the prices charged at NetMarket. I was considering joining, but I definitely won't now!
Cheers,
Tim (Who still likes Cendant despite NetMarket) |
