I'm struggling to see the strategy play here. Etail - low overheads = lower price vs retail which has higher overheads and stock limitations. So to open stores of a traditional kind seems mad. Pick-up stations, possibly, but it still brings overheads. Rent+insurance as a minimum. As others have said, this can only impact on ebuyers prices negatively for the consumer.
Not sure if this is a good move
Hmm. I've used ebuyer for 12+ years but less and less frequently due to worsening prices and delivery. Would be nice to have somewhere else on the high street to shop but would take a lot for me to abandon the convenience of amazon/scan next day delivery (or Novatechs pick up at lunch time if I'm prepared to drive).
Whilst I'd love to see some competition for DSG, (Comet RIP), I think that it's a pretty daft move to suggest going from etail to retail at this point. Unless you can get a very desperate landlord then rents are going to really cut into your margins. Lord knows we could do with some new blood on the high street - all I can say is that the local "For Sale or Lease" notice makers must making a mint of money - judging by the number of empty shops around here.
Funnily enough I used to avoid eBuyer because their website was poor, they had a dodgy reputation and, quite frankly, they weren't any cheaper than Scan, (who also had a better range, and that oft-overlooked thing called post-sales customer service).
These days though they do get a look in - along with Aria and Amazon (of course, but mainly because as a Prime member it's "free" next day delivery). Used to be a big Scan recommender, but when they "modernised" their website - making it as poor as everyone elses - they went down in my estimation. Final nail in the coffin was when eCig's turned up on the Today Only.
I know, I'm fickle!
Career status: still enjoying my new career in DevOps, but it's keeping me busy...
ebuyer I've always found to have excellent customer service. And for some stuff I have found them to be cheaper. They used to do a good range of stuff, but recently it's got a lot worse. Browsing the ebuyer site has always been more difficult than Scan. And I don't think Scan's layout is too bad, though I do prefer list view to gallery and wish they would reduce the spacing back closer together how it used to be. But it's still easier to browse than ebuyers.
ps ecigs I agree - bad move Scan.
Yes, the thought of a High Street shop is good - but it has to be close! I am about 20 miles from Novatech - so a 40 mile round trip. At 40 MPG thats £7.50 in delivery charges! Unless you need something that day, it's cheaper to buy online and pay postage. Even more so if you buy from SCAN with the free shipping - after the 20 initial useful posts on HEXUS and ongoing contribution of course.Originally Posted by cheesemp
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On the distance issue; having a showroom on a few busy highstreets is probably a useful aid to selling certain products (TVs, stereos and suchlike). You might not make a special trip to visit, but a lot of people work nearby, there will be passing trade from general highstreet footfall, and there's a decent dose of brand recognition from having such a presence.
If you are buying PC components, then there's no reason to see it in the flesh, and better to buy online anyway for the handy DSR (you won't be able to return instore if you open the component, but under DSR you can)
The clothes shop Next has been hailed as a good example of high street etail because you can buy online and if you are not happy you can return to a shop. That sort of risk reduction could work really well in the computer & gadget market. I bought my last TV from PC World rather than a bit cheaper from Ebuyer just in case there was a problem. There wasn't, but just the potential aggro of returning something like that via courier put me off.
I used to buy stuff from Novatech, but then they closed the local store and I haven't used them since. There is a gap here.
Ebuyer seem to have got left behind in the last couple of years online as they looked like they would dominate the market - a few bad customer services gripes and a crazy free shipping policy where they seem to choose to hold on to your order for 2-3 days before shipping it out haven't done them any favours.
People don't want to wait 7 days to get something delivered nowadays and they have plenty of competition who offer the same price (or better) and free next day delivery ... as I say they need to move with the times as their old business model is now somewhat flawed.
The ability to return to a shop rather than having to deal with a courier or whatever potentially could be great, especially for bigger purchases (both in terms of physical size and cost).
Overall though I'm not sure how they're going to make it work, since as others have said surely their costs will increase.
That is annoying, but I don't think it is any worse than Amazon who must be their main competition there. Most people don't have free Scan delivery, we in this forum are an oddity.
Good for those who've had good experience but from talking to people over the years the feeling is very mixed. I've had a couple bad experiences with eBuyer, customer services that was rude accusing me of being a liar and unhelpful when didn't dispatch an item worth hundreds, and they had the cheek to keep the money. Took a lot of effort and time to get my money back, had to do a chargeback with my bank. Was happy with them until those two experiences where you experience their 'unique' way of insulting customers then ignoring them.
Most of my PC components come from Overclockers UK, Scan or Amazon. First two uses a variety of delivery companies and prefer DPD with advanced tracking. I dislike Amazon using Yodel because so many friends have had damaged parcels, obvious because of the huge dents or cardboard missing, so they refused to sign for it.
After saying all this, maybe getting your item there and then isn't such a bad idea because who wants to wait in at all? For trust as Willzzz said I go to John Lewis for some tech items plus 2 year warranty is better than most that only offer a basic 12 month warranty. European directive states it should be 2 year as default. This never gets reinforced.
In any case the Sales of Goods Act is better and you can discuss this with the store if the warranty just expired and they'd usually agree, or claim up to 6 years but is more difficult because of what is classed as a reasonable length of time. Ie, a £20 chip pan can't be expected to last more than 12 months whereas a £200 fryer should last at least 2 years.
That's the problem, though, squaring that circle. I broadly agree with crossy's reasoning.
I recently wanted some goods, while in-store in John Lewis. They had then in the warehouse, mand in other stores, but not in that branch. So I ordered at a till, paid, and picked them up at my local Waitrise the next day. It suited me perfectly, and worked very smoothly.
But .... it seems to me to only be part of the issue with ordering online, versus in-store.
I prefer to shop in person, and will, if need-be, pay a premium over buying online because it's not online, and therefore, I get to see the product physically before buying, and don't have to mess about with couriers delivering, and in the event it has to go back, don't have to mess about with couriers then, either. In other words, I pay a premium for avoiding the hassle of couriers, and not having to sit around waiting for them to show up, if they actually do, in quite a broad time window.
I have no problem with eBuyer, from persinal experience BUT still prefer not to buy online, as above. If they can come up with a retail model, maybe something like that JL/Waitrose model, then I'll be far more likely to use them. Until then, I'll use my local high street computer shop (or JL, if they stock what I want) even if I pay a premium to do so.
Sorry, but you're wrong about that two years and the European directive. It's a common misunderstanding, and there are several detailed explanations in old threads on this.
Basically, it's a misunderstanding of the term "warranty".
Consumers nearly always read that as referring to the warranty on goods. That is NOT the context in that European difective. The other meaning of the term is a specific type of clause in a contract, and nothing whatever to do with product warranty. That is the meaning in the directive.
It is "warranty" as a contract term, not warranty as in guarantee.
What that Euro directive says is that ALL EU states have to meet minimum standards in consumer protection legislation. Part of that, and it's not the only part by the way, is that consumer protection has to apply for at least 2 years. The UK consumer law already applies for up to 6 years. Not all EU countries did have 2 years. They had to change.
That consumer protection, from the EU directive, was implemented into UK law by amendments to the Sale of Goods Act, and indeed, several aspects of the SoGA were changed to reflect the requirements of the directive where UK law did not already meet, or exceed, the minimums.
If you want to verify this, read that directive carefully, and in full. Don't just look at "2 years" but read the bits about what needs to be at least two years. It isn't product warranties. It's consumer rights.
Neither manufacturers nor indeed, shops, are obliged to offer a product warranty AT ALL. Regulation on such warranties is, in fact, pretty light, but some of the laws on that include that, where such warranties are indeed offered, they must be in plain English (not legal gobbledygook) and, in so far as the consumer knew of and relied on the warranty when buying, are enforceable in court.
My tailor, for instance, offers (last time I looked) a 3 month warranty on goods. But .... 3 months unlimited. You don't like the colour, you're covered. You don't find it comfortable, you're covered. The washing machine is faulty and chews it up, you're covered. The dog ate it, you're covered. You dropped cigar ash on it and burnt a hole, yup, you're covered. Your 5 year-old used your best shirt for material for a school project, you're covered. Aliens stole the sleeves, you're covered.
Okay, they might not believe the last one, but you're covered, For three months.
They aren't obliged to offer that, or any warranty, but if they do, they can be held to it.
They ARE covered (as they sell direct to consumers) by the Sale of Goods Act, whether they want to be or not, and can't get out of consumer protection rights even if they want to. But they don't have to offer any product warranty at all, never mind two years.
I agree, I don't know any other retailer that will give you a full refund on a faulty product at any time within the warranty.
Beats OcUK, Scan, Ebuyer, Aria, Novatech and any of the others by a mile.
As much as I like Ebuyer, in spite of its flaws, I can't see this working.
In any event, Ebuyer can't hold a candle compared to Scan when it comes to customer service. It may not always be the absolute cheapest, but it does help that I get free next working day delivery with Scan too to keep me coming back to it.
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