Are buying cases online worth it?

A

AcidicRage

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 18, 2002
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What I mean is the comparison of price vs reliability vs speed. I noticed the cases online are much cheaper than stores like CompUSA, Fry's, etc. But including the shipping, it's about the same price as offline store retailers, maybe just a little bit less. But is the price worth it for perhaps extra hassles?

I've read lots of reviews on neweggs, and from other sites that most of the time cases bought online come in a crappy condition which is not the fault of the casing, but rather the shipper like Fedex or UPS. How true is this? -- because on a lot of the reviews, and other sites, the cases arrive in some bent or some part busted. Then RMAing would be a pain and a hassle because of the shipping costs that it would take to send it back if there is ANYTHING wrong with it, eh?

So if you factor in price vs the reliability vs the speed of the shipping... is it really worth it to buy cases online? I've bought lots of hardware online and offline. Usually when building a new system, I tend to only buy cases and HDs offline (because of the awesome deals usually at Fry's or elsewhere). Pretty much newegg/zzf and a few other online sites for all my other parts. It just seems to me it's much easier to deal with the case if there are any problems... but then again, the price makes up for online buying too. So... what do you guys usually do?
 
I've never bothered buying a case from a store--they're overpriced, and you're at the mercy of what they carry selection wise. (i take that back, I bought a cheap one for my brother from the Geeks since their warehouse is around the corner from me)

I've bought about 15 cases total, and only 2 of them were even slightly damaged from shipping-- 1 of them had a decorative thing that hides some screws broken off on a 5 1/2" drive bay cover, and the other had a busted hinge on the front lower USB door, but it was pretty easy to fix with a little rigging. (both on very cheap cases, mind you, that were packed less than wonderfully) Other than that, they cases were always great.

shipping times-- Newegg is amazing as always, 3-4 days MAX, and occasionally 1 day as I'm not terribly far from their California warehouse.
ZipZoomFly was very quick too, though I was in New Jersey when I had them ship me a case.
 
heh well here in Australia, near where i live, i have a pc shop where i called up to see if they could stock an aurora 3d.

Day 1: was a friday, said they would give me a ring back later on that day, they didn't
Day2: was the next day, called them up why they hadnt returned my call, said their Gigabyte retailer didnt call them back, and that it was closed on weekends
Day 3: was on Monday, did the same procedure as Day 1, and they have never returend my call.

so i ordered one night at www.pccasegear.com.au, next day was shipping, day after it had arrived. Online all the way ;)
 
Ive always bought my cases online. I love Newegg and there large selection, but I guess if you need it right away you can pay a higher price and go to some store. If you can wait buy online
 
haha i only bought one case from a store and it was from geeks also i live 5 mins from warehouse other than that i bought it from newegg came in great condition and came to my house in a day and a half
 
Biker said:
haha i only bought one case from a store and it was from geeks also i live 5 mins from warehouse other than that i bought it from newegg came in great condition and came to my house in a day and a half
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hah! you Oceanside nerd ;)
 
I have no problems with buying on-line, just look at the reviews, pics all that, make sure it is what you want. If it comes broken, RMA it, not a huge deal, just time is pain in the ass.
 
i've had no problems ordering cases online, and the selection is so much better than what you can find at retailer stores.
 
I got one from Directron a couple years ago. Best experience buying a case online. I ordered a case with a window but the one I got was without the window. I let them know I got the wrong case and wondered if they could ship the window panel. They apologized and sent a new case with a window and I didnt have to ship the wrong case back.
 
ralfyboy said:
i've had no problems ordering cases online, and the selection is so much better than what you can find at retailer stores.
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Ditto!
I never would have found a HD server case with removable mobo tray so cheap in a retail store = $42 delivered. :)
 
I would say online for two reasons which I think everyone here can agree on:

1. Online is cheaper, lower markup because lower overhead (it takes more to staff a store and have inventory than just have a warehouse somewhere and a website)

2. And I think this is even more important that a few $ difference is the selection. You aren't going to find many quality cases out there in a retail shopping environment.
 
Well ive bought both of my cases online (from newegg of course!!) and they arrived in good condition and in reasonable time. No dents / broken or missing parts.

AcidicRage i was skeptical too but after going to Frys and seeing their outragerous prices, i decided buying online was my best bet. BTW i havent regret my decision

So go ahead and buy the cases online and never get ripped off by high prices in the stores.
 
Bassist-X said:
I would say online for two reasons which I think everyone here can agree on:

1. Online is cheaper, lower markup because lower overhead (it takes more to staff a store and have inventory than just have a warehouse somewhere and a website)

2. And I think this is even more important that a few $ difference is the selection. You aren't going to find many quality cases out there in a retail shopping environment.
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^^^ well said.
 
I order online, there are few places where I can buy cases in my area. Best Buy, insanely overpriced if it's not on sale. Virtual PC's (website LOL ), they carry a tiny selection of the uber generic cases WAY overpriced.

Never had problems from Newegg or Xoxide, my cases have always come in perfect condition, you have to remember the small percentage that get shipping damage are louder than the ones that don't. I have a small amount in my savings that I reserve for when Newegg runs free shipping or a really great rebates on cases.
 
My experience has always been that the boxes that the cases are shipped in always look beat up when they arrive at my door, but I haven't had any cases that were damaged in shipping. It's only the box that gets roughed up

I also want to echo what a lot of people have already said. You can't beat the vast selection of cases that you'll find on the internet.

 
I've only ever bought cases online, and have been totally satisfied with the experience. :)

Only once have I had one arrive damaged, and that was a case I bought from Xoxide. I called them up, had to leave a message, got a call back from them 1/2 hour later, and they shipped a replacement case out the next business day, no questions asked. They even let me keep the damaged case! :D

Some online retailers like Xoxide will double box their cases (overpack the retail case in another box.....they started doing that because it was cheaper than replacing all the damaged cases UPS was causing them), and some, like Amamax will offer that service at a nominal extra charge. Check them out and see what they have. :cool:
 
I'm getting ready to give myself the P180 for my bday. I will buy from Monarch because I live jusr south of ATL and if ther is a problem I want to be able to return it without the shipping fees.

All my other pc purchases have been online.
 
online isnt always cheaper.....i remember wen i got my sonata locally for $60 while online retailers had it for $120ish ;)
 
yeah i have sorta a dilemma, P180 at fry's for 129.99 but online its cheaper but shipping evens it out
 
seems like an easy decision to me. Same price and wait with the possiblity of delays, or get it in your hands now.

 
Big Fat Duck said:
yeah i have sorta a dilemma, P180 at fry's for 129.99 but online its cheaper but shipping evens it out
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dont forget tax at frys ;)
 
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