SXPS 1640 Offers: Does Dell think consumers are fool ?

Currently there is a BIG SCREEN DECEMBER SAVINGS being campaigned by Dell, USA.

For the SXPS 1640 the current BIG SAVINGS price ($1149) is higher than normal usual HOME DEALs ($1099) for the approx same config (Processor, OS, RAM, HDD, Screen, Warranty, etc ..) !!!

So, Does Dell think consumers are fool ?

 

Funny you should mention this. Back in August when I was in the market to purchase a new laptop, I checked out Dell's site and noticed that it took an inordinately long time to decide what i wanted and what price I wanted to pay. They have several different combinations for customizing laptops and the prices are always different. For example, on the XPS16, they would show two or three models on the main page and if customized each on separately, you would get different prices. If you configured the cheapest priced one first, you would notice a sharp increase in price when outfitting it with a faster processor, but if you went back to the beginning and picked the higher priced one and then outfitted it with the same processor, the price wouldn't be so high, as if Dell has a "standard" price level set for certain models. Hard to explain, but I get your meaning here. I don't think it's a matter of them thinking we're fools, or else they would only offer one way to customize each and every model. you have to be rather saavy in your customization, not to mention the option for calling a Dell Rep (something that hadn't occured to me when I ordered mine) and supposedly you can get even better deals. In any case, i have no regrets for what I purchased from them and i believe the pricing was rather fair considering what I got. To this day though, if I try to configure the exact same laptop, the pricing is much higher than what I paid, mainly because I bought during their promotional "back to school" period. You WOULD think that since it's the holidays, that they would be getting some crazy deals together, but as I suspect, after the holidays, there will be price drops, but not by much. If you read about Dell's business practices, they don't keep much in stock in their assembly plants, which keeps costs down for them, but at the same time, it doesn't leave much bargaining power to the consumer...unless of course, they build you a lemon and you argue and fight with half a dozen folks in the CS department that they cave in in give you something either equal or better than what you had.

Perhaps this is why it is SO important to purchase the warranties. They don't specifically state it on their site, but with the warranty, it bumps you up to the next level of bargaining power when it comes to repairs, replacements, etc.

 

lol agree with both statements! From time to time they play with prices, drop it 50 bucks then increase it even more lol... its all marketing, the funny thing is that many ppl fall for it!

Myself I feel ok I got the Best Buy model which was only $899... while same specs on dell's site were $1100... If it wasnt for great BB deals I would of never purchased a dell's computer... a lot of complaints and prices are a lil high.

 

Ok...So you are saying sometimes its better to buy from Best Buy rather than Dell online store, if your specs are matching ?

 

Always. no, ALWAYS check all of Dell.com for the best price (Main section, Deal section, As Advertised section, etc).

They play games with their pricing on a daily basis

 

I found this out too when I configrured my computer, I ended up going for the middleoption because the highest machine had a compulsory bluray drive, which I don't feel the need for at the moment given the price

 

Just keep hitting F5 until a price shows up you like. I've had prices change in the middle of customizing a machine.

 

Well, truth be told a lot consumers are fools. Well not so much fools as just uninformed and hasty when purchasing. One of the biggest things I have seen Dell and other manufacturers do is say offer $250 off of a system one day and then $500 the next. Sales sky rocket when the $500 off is available.The base price of the system drops and most think "Deal! I am going to buy now."

However, most of us don't want the configuration they offer and change something. Well, The price of say a 320gb hard drive on the new deal has increased by $50 and the LCD by $100. Whereas when the system had a $250 discount those components were cheaper and net you a better deal, if not identical to the new config in the end.

Not to say that you can't catch true deals but It's a game with the numbers in the background we don't always see and if you aren't careful, what someone thinks is a deal ultimately isn't. It is a good idea to play around with builds from day to day and from different launch pages and compare.