Why tech is getting more expensive in SA

[Intox]

When last did you get a quote for shipping?

Every reason listed is pretty accurate. There are other costs that haven't even been listed either

and somehow Wootware are immune to those costs? I guess they ship using magic and unicorns
Shipping costs have gone up but not to the point where their product are on shelves here is R2800 more than their local competitor Wootware.
How about Amazon, they have upped shipping costs but a purchase from them still manages to land here at my door for 1.8K less than what the distro stock retails for.

Aramex charges less than R500 from UK to SA for a 1KG package using global shopper.
Nybox using Aramex $26.57 for 1KG from the USA to SA
Scottshipping can export 1KG with sufficient dimensions for a single GPU for R897 to the UK from SA, single package retail shipping price.

These are retail shipping rates as well for a single 1KG, distros definitely do not pay retail rates for shipping.

Yeah they can spew all the BS they want but the simple fact of the matter is that we have an excellent comparison locally between Wootware and distro stock.
Even with the distro having much more purchasing power their stock on shelves cost quite a bit more and it's especially egregious with the 6500 XT.

 

[RedViking]

I gave up on the idea of a "new" computer a few years ago purely due to the cost of the whole thing.

It's insane. Even from a businesses perspective, it hurts really badly.

 

[Dolby]

Yeah they can spew all the BS they want but the simple fact of the matter is that we have an excellent comparison locally between Wootware and distro stock.

So let me get this straight - you're comparing a product that you've imported yourself from Amazon versus something that came through a distributer - and you're not understanding why there is a price increase?

You don't understand how and why a distributor exists - but you'd like to live to give your 2c and say they rip everyone off ?

 

[Intox]

So let me get this straight - you're comparing a product that you've imported yourself from Amazon versus something that came through a distributer - and you're not understanding why there is a price increase?

You don't understand how and why a distributor exists - but you'd like to live to give your 2c and say they rip everyone off ?

Are you high?
Wootware is a local shop and they are selling the 6500xt for cheaper than Amazon and for much cheaper than the distro stock.

That is the point, if Wootware can bring in stock so much cheaper, then the distro is ripping people off.
If it was. 10% difference maybe you could argue they add some value but 4200 vs 7000

 

[TheMightyQuin]

Are you high?
Wootware is a local shop and they are selling the 6500xt for cheaper than Amazon and for much cheaper than the distro stock.

That is the point, if Wootware can bring in stock so much cheaper, then the distro is ripping people off.
If it was. 10% difference maybe you could argue they add some value but 4200 vs 7000

You seem fixated on this ONE item...this ONE example. Maybe there is some kind of outlier involved? Maybe the Wootware item is NOT the same item?

You cannot judge the whole industry on your ONE anecdotal piece of evidence.

 

[Dolby]

Are you high?

Not at all - I just it find it funny reading your comments when you have zero idea on how things work

So, let's say a large retail chain also wants to stock that GFX card - how do you handle it in your world ?
Does the buyer / category manager have an Amazon login and Scotts shipping details, at each store location in the country?

Do Amazon offer payment terms / technical advice/ local certifications nowadays as well ?

Do you think they'd do split shipments to the different branches (based on store forecasts, obviously)? If not, who will do the warehousing?

What about product that is slightly tweaked for our market ? A different box design or slightly different firmware? Does Amazon offer that service ?

How about marketing? I mean you're tech savvy - but what about the people that aren't and don't know about this new product or the features / benefits? Amazon as well? They'll do co-founded marketing with the chain? Print brochures and posters? Maybe Amazon will give a percentage of their sales as marketing funds?

Now, 6 months down the line, they realize these GFX have faulty capacitors (the model) - do you reckon Amazon will take back the remaining stock ? I'm not talking about the ones that have broken - I'm talking about the actual broken devices ? And if so, at whose shipping cost do you think that'll be for ?

Those that have broken but require a tiny repair - who does that ? The managers assistant in the back office with a soldering iron?

 

[emperornemesis]

"“Shipping costs have skyrocketed to around 400% the price of what they once were,” Raftopoulos said." Strange to notebthat buying from Amazon or Ebay, the price of shipping has actually gone down. The same applies when buying from Aliexpress for instance as the volumes have allowed courier companies to provide a cheaper service to SA than in the past. In 2011, a single imported Android tablet would be shipped for almost R800, now that same size device can be shipped for little more than 100. Personally, I think what is at play here is the age old SA business tactic of "**** everyone through the ears to get rich quick". This explains why cars manufactured in SA are less expensive in Lesotho and Botswana than here, both new and especially used. In this case it also applies to distributors. We have retailers like Matrix and Incredible corruption that cannot purchase goods themselves as they have to go through official distribution channels, each step in the channel adding sales tax and profits. In some cases by the time it gets to the consumer, up to four different middlemen would have made a down payment on their Sport Cars.

 

[ToxicBunny]

"“Shipping costs have skyrocketed to around 400% the price of what they once were,” Raftopoulos said." Strange to notebthat buying from Amazon or Ebay, the price of shipping has actually gone down. The same applies when buying from Aliexpress for instance as the volumes have allowed courier companies to provide a cheaper service to SA than in the past. In 2011, a single imported Android tablet would be shipped for almost R800, now that same size device can be shipped for little more than 100. Personally, I think what is at play here is the age old SA business tactic of "**** everyone through the ears to get rich quick". This explains why cars manufactured in SA are less expensive in Lesotho and Botswana than here, both new and especially used. In this case it also applies to distributors. We have retailers like Matrix and Incredible corruption that cannot purchase goods themselves as they have to go through official distribution channels, each step in the channel adding sales tax and profits. In some cases by the time it gets to the consumer, up to four different middlemen would have made a down payment on their Sport Cars.

So unfortunately the reality is for the guys doing bulk shipping, prices have gone through the roof, and shipping items is all a complete fsckup atm (eg, Japan KFC running out of spuds recently)

Where the consumer (via courier companies) see a price reduction, is through the volume of courier shipments which have skyrocketed.... If courier shipments of items had stayed static, the consumer would have seen an increase in the price of those shipments.

 

[Hunted]

One thing that has contributed to the cost increase was shipping, especially Sea Freight shipping. In my 20+ years in the export shipping business I have never seen it so bad as it was last year.

The East West trade rates sky rocketed to levels never seen before, which meant that the trade to South Africa got affected as well. Shipping companies did not even bothering to send empty containers to South Africa for export use, since they are making killing on the east west trade.

Traditionally the reefer shipping rates were the money cow for the shipping lines, but last year the rates for shipping dry cargo shot up far more than for reefer containers for fresh fruit.

Some trade lane rates rates increased by 4 to 6 fold, which means the consumer will pay at the end of the day.

Looking at Maersk for 2021 they increased their profit margins to +-USD 48 billion vs +- USD 29 billion the previous year. They make you think the shipping crisis was bad, but yet they made more money than ever.

The butt hurt we normally get from parastatales in ZA is also present elsewhere.

 

[Apogee]

Anyone else also noticed that while the prices increased, there is a definite decrease in the quality of builds of laptops?

In 10 years I did not have to make any warranty claims, but now recently I had 2 brand new Dell models that picked up hardware issues that needed to be replaced within 3 months.

Just yesterday I set up a brand new HP laptop out of the box, and on the first startup was presented with a BIOS error message:

 

[Hunted]

Anyone else also noticed that while the prices increased, there is a definite decrease in the quality of builds of laptops?

In 10 years I did not have to make any warranty claims, but now recently I had 2 brand new Dell models that picked up hardware issues that needed to be replaced within 3 months.

Just yesterday I set up a brand new HP laptop out of the box, and on the first startup was presented with a BIOS error message:

View attachment 1242578

Chasing the money will do that I guess. More Demand cause rushed production and one of the 3 pillars will have to give and in this case quality.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Anyone else also noticed that while the prices increased, there is a definite decrease in the quality of builds of laptops?

In 10 years I did not have to make any warranty claims, but now recently I had 2 brand new Dell models that picked up hardware issues that needed to be replaced within 3 months.

Just yesterday I set up a brand new HP laptop out of the box, and on the first startup was presented with a BIOS error message:

View attachment 1242578

Beyond just build quality, the chips and such are getting towards all sorts of physical limits of the manufacturing so the error rates are probably a bit higher than they would have been 10 years ago.