Online Computer Shops Closing

Tech Overhaul

I bought a Q-tec 500ct cable tester from munstercomputers.com a few months ago and it has since been stolen so I went to buy another one. Munstercomputers.com is now gone. They didn't even put a page up stating that they were closed, its just blank.

So I went elsewhere to get the tester. Pcdirect.ie had it listed and I bought it and was sent a confirmation email. This was two weeks ago. The tester never arrived and I was wondering what was going on so I checked the email and rang the telephone number. The number no longer exists. Checked their website and it was also gone. They never put up any web page stating that they had closed nor did I receive any email saying that I shouldn't hold my breath for my tester.

So whats going on? Is there no money to be made selling computer components anymore? Munstercomputers.com is gone, pcdirect.ie is gone and elara.ie is in liquidation. Who’s next?

BTW if anybody has a spare Qtec 500ct tester let me know.

Dingatron

Darnet (dtl.ie) is also gone a few months. Pity as he was a good guy. Very hard to compete with the likes of Komplett etc. I supose?

Khannie

Yeah, people in the know shop at non-irish shops a lot. Marx do good business because they're reasonable and convenient and fast. hitide does business because it has speciality components (also reasonably priced). It's a tough business to be in though. Hard to compete with Komplett who are (at this stage) huge.

leeroybrown

Essentially, it comes down to the convenience of internet. It's no less convenient for me to buy from any reputable European hardware reseller (who does business in a language I understand) than it is for me to buy off an irish reseller. Ultimatley I'll end up buying off whoever offers best value (excluding companies who offer poor service).

Orion

HiTide is run by a guy who also has a regular job as well. So he's not dependant on it for his only income.

Khannie

Yeah, that's true. He also does a quality job with customer care. As do marx.

Orion

Yup - he's very easy to deal with. I haven't experienced his post-sales support though and I've not returned anything to him yet.

Khannie

I got a borked PSU once (normally a quality PSU....one of those one off situations). It died within a few hours of going in my PC. Got a replacement the next day, no questions asked, apologies abound.

smeggle

Dingatron wrote:

Very hard to compete with the likes of Komplett etc. I supose?

Agrees with that. There retailing at slightly above most of the Irish Trade' prices. Also they are an American company who's only claim on the .ie domain was that they had 'Invoices' showing they dealt in Ireland.

What there doing is un-fair trade really and is killing the small business operators. I've stopped supplying hardware/computers myself and just tell folk that they may as well get it from the likes of Komplett. Dell are another cause of this happening but at least with folk knowing of the problems often associated with them things were never this bad.

Reckon your gonna see a lot more small bussiness's going under as well because of it.

Stephen

Er, Komplett are Norwegian, not American. They do VAT returns to the revenue commissioners, so they have every right their .ie domain name.

Any of the Irish suppliers I've ever dealt with always charged ridiculous money and never had anything in stock. Screw that, if they can't compete, then they better not let the door hit their asses on the way out.

pdogs

Another big fan of Marx here. Reasonable, reliable and a personal touch.

jesus_thats_gre

Stephen wrote:

Any of the Irish suppliers I've ever dealt with always charged ridiculous money and never had anything in stock. Screw that, if they can't compete, then they better not let the door hit their asses on the way out.

Went into the laptop shop in Stephens Green the other night hoping to impulse buy a new Logitech Mouse.. They don't keep them in stock because they are expensive and he can order one in... His loss..

Yet they sell 200 euro overpriced fooking routers.

DemonOfTheFall

Ah, but the difference is that every muppet and their friend can't get to the shops fast enough to buy overpriced wireless gear. The next big craze after a mobile shop on every street in the country is gonna be an expensive wireless router shop on every street...