How come you cant buy Dells in stores?

i was wondering this. like, you can buy most other brands of laptops in a store like bestbuy, or even walmart. why is that?

 

because dell markets to the users that want customization. Some users need a small HDD, but better graphic card... that's my reasoning.

 

The Dell system makes a lot of sense. The customer gets to customize and it only takes a few days to get the computer. No inventory to keep and pay for, no unsold inventory etc. Great way to sell such a customizable product.

 

There is more to Dell besides customization. By not having a retail presence, or selling their computers and laptops in stores, they have a lot more control over what they produce. Most other computer vendors have to plan a lot more for how many computers they will produce, which stores they will ship them to, etc. Any computers that don't get sold in a certain period of time become a big problem (you can see part of this problem when you go to a CompUSA and see them trying to continually mark down and close out older models). Dell doesn't specifically have to worry about any of that, and they can judge things based solely on orders received, etc.

 

it's cheaper not to have retail stores since they require....

- a team of people to search out locations
- a team of people to handle securing the location (local business licenses, permits, etc.)
- a team of people to staff the location (employees who want paychcecks and health insurance)
- a team of people to manage the individual stores/employees, and then another team of people to manages regions of stores, and then another team of people to manage those regional managers
- a team of people to handle all the HR issues of the aforementioned teams
- a team of people to handle all the legal and insurance issues
- a whole lot of cash to pay for the leases, insurance, permits, taxes, distribution, inventory, wages, insurance, lawyers, executives, janitors, carpet cleaning, signage, electricity bills, ad infinitum, ad nauseum

thus endeth the lesson

 

Costco sells Dell computers, both online and in their stores.

Dave

 

like the man said correctly, it costs too much and isn't needed:

because this business model works better than everybody else in the world for pc and laptop systems at this point in time, and because michael dell has had the b*lls" to stick with it...

 

hmm...i know i like to test things out before i buy them. i just wish i could have tested a dell laptop before i bought it. oh well, i hope it turns out good when i get it

 

they sell direct instead of thru retailers to cut costs, this is what we're taught in every business class.

 

take a look here Dell going into retail! Dallas and New York get shops

 

Even customizable laptops are not available readily in stores. Standard configurations are 512 MB RAM, 100 GB 5400 RPM HD, WXGA, DVD burner with integrated graphics, and a standard battery size; for the most part it works for many people but others want/need/must have more or less of a particular factor and a 'canned' system won't do.

Lots of Dells are made in Malaysia; many HPs are made in China.

For the most part, except for Sony, the canned systems lag behind the 'latest and greatest' features by a couple of months.

 

Yep. I live about 20 minutes from where the new Dell store will be opening. In the case of my e1705, I wish I could have seen the screen in person before I made the purchase. Otherwise, I really like the online customization that Dell offers.

 

I just bought my 2nd Dell notebook because for the configuration I wanted (2Ghz Dual Core, 100GB HD, ATI X1400, DVD R/W, 9-cell battery, etc.) nobody else was even close to Dell's price. Retailers typically have to mark-up electronics about 15-30%, which is about how much more HP, Toshiba, etc, were charging for a laptop with the same config.

 

YOU CAN TRY OUT A DELL BEFORE YOU BUY IT!!! (only for home systems) Search for Dell Direct store on dell's site or heres the link

http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/dds?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=anavml

that is what ive done but i had to drive like 3 hrs away to the nearest mall location, its just a small booth in the mall where they have laptops people can view and ask questions, you cant buy it there but place an order there and they will ship ur dell to you, worth the trip, decided not to buy dell

 

darn...there is a store like 15 mins away from me. oh well. i might as well wait for my laptop to come in