Why no OCUK Price Match?

budwozza

budwozza

budwozza

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I believe that OCUK do not have a price match policy - and that the most likely reason they don't is that they are usually very competitive?

However there are occasions where OCUK are beaten by competitors, for instance I am looking at a certain item that I can get for £47 cheaper from elsewhere (it costs less than £280).

If it was only a couple of £s then it wouldn't bother me as I would rather support OCUK due to their good service and deals. But £47 is a fair wod of cash to stay loyal.

What do you guys think? If OCUK did consider price matching, how about a price match thread so only the OP can see the comments (like the customer service forum), possibly getting a better deal and still supporting OCUK.
 
Unfortunately in the continual drive to be the cheapest, many retailers forget other areas such as support and customer service. It would seem OCUK try to find that balance, and in this industry, trying to compete with the amazons of the world is a hiding to nowhere, they have volume in a way no-one else can. However, asking can't hurt!
 
"prices are pre-discounted for your convenience"

TBH I used to buy most of my stuff from a website beginning with E, but I don't like how they don't give paper receipts as it can make getting an RMA with some companies a right ball ache.

I bought the majority of my last build from ocuk, I've got my sons Christmas PC spec in my OCUK basket right now and probably won't bother looking at the competitors even thought I could probably save £50

OCUK customer support and after sales is probably the best of any of them by far or at least that is the impression I have from the various store forums I'm a member of
 
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Never heard of price matching with PC Hardware. Used to see a lot of it with DJ gear back in the day mind and you always had to call the shop so that would be my first port of call.
 
Sometimes they do sometimes they don't. It pretty much depends on whether they can still make money on the item. I tried to price match a CPU a little while a go and they wanted to but couldn't because it took it under cost price. Fair enough really. Margins are pretty small on gpu's/cpu's as far as I am aware.
 
It's not difficult for a company to offer low prices on certain items: it's called a loss leader. But if you ask one company to match everyone else's loss leaders then they will go bust. If this magic company can offer one product that you want cheaper - and with the same service, including free delivery for many - then try comparing a few things that you don't want.
 
As said above, a lot of companies use loss leader products to drag the consumer in..

OCUK do their best to lower prices, as we all saw yesterday from Gibbo's "Haggle" thread..

All you can do is ask, over the phone, they may be able to give you a good deal, they may not... its worth a go.
 
For individual item purchases, if you ask nicely OCUK will often do their best - which is more than most retailers in the industry will even consider.

If you're buying a basket-full then I tend to have the attitude that it's swings and roundabouts, certainly OCUK legendary customer service makes a huge difference and I'm not going elsewhere just to save £10 on a £1000 build
 
I would imagine it depends entirely on when OcUK bought that stock in.

For instance, they may buy 200 gpus at £400 on 01/11... and the cost to them may drop to £375 on 01/12. In the meantime, a competitor has bought stock at £375 as the market value has dropped. This means that OcUK are carrying stock at a higher cost, which they need to recover.

The balancing act is knowing when to buy stock in, and to keep levels low enough for when the price changes, so they're not taking a hit.

As mentioned above, there's also opportunity for other sellers to undercut them and do loss-leading sales, which would further exacerbate the issue. I find OcUK generally offer good deals, and the customer service is second-to-none, so if there's a few £ in the cost, I'm willing to pay that (considering the free shipping option for forum members).

£47 is a fair whack though, and in that instance I'd go elsewhere.

Worth asking in the customer service section though http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=116 :)
 
It isn't a service we offer, but we will try and help out when we can. No harm asking when you order on the phone, but it isn't something we can always do as we always have competitive pricing. But if it is just a pound or so, for the sake of a small amount, it is worth ordering from us anyway for the good service, right? :)
 
Damn it 5ub do you constantly sit on the forum searching for any mention of your name?


I swear everytime someone mentions you, your posting not 5 minutes later. :) :)

-either that or your stalking me-
 
Depends on what it is, you can always ask.

But it's not like OCUK are struggling for every bit of business, I should imagine an extremely tidy profit is being made. That's what I like about OCUK, they don't pander.
 
At the end of the day OcUK is a business, if they matched every price we could find on the net they'd probably barely make a profit.
Yes at times they are more expensive, but the customer support and service by far makes up for that.
I've seen a few posts recently where people are whinging that OcUK don't have the exact product they are after discounted to the ground, just for their convenience, and frankly I'm shocked that people really expect everything just to be sold off dirt cheap.
Without making a profit they'd never be able to give us the awesome deals they do give us, on selected products.
 
In about 2006-7 I bought a some stuff from a biggish competitor site, they messed me about for weeks with faulty items and other problems. In the end I cancelled the order and paid an extra £3 from Overclockers, they delivered next day. £3 extra but you actually get the stuff.

I don't compare prices now and wouldn't ask for a price match if if I did, I occasionally buy games from the rainforest or high street, but for components (not that I buy that much) its always here (or the store in Newcastle-Under-Lyme).
 
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