Overpriced Puget Computer

[jdisman]

Hello Puget Systems and Fellow Members.
Im writing this to suggest that you drastically lower your prices. I have been building computers for over 5 years and work for a company that sells computer componants, and i can honestly say that this website is no differant from any other website that offers to build custom computers in that they all overcharge. For Example, The Spirit AMD edition cost about 900 dollars, doesnt include a video card, has an outdated processor. It seems that the majority of the 900 dollars is coming from lian-li cases which, yes is very nice for a gaming pc but as previously mentioned doesnt even contain a video card. Right now im building a pc and for a phenom II x4 965, msi 890fx mobo, 4 gb 1333 ddr3 memory, evga 250gts, 800 W power Supply, Coolmaster case, after-market heatsink, 500gb harddrive i will be paying around 800$. Which would absolutly blow, "The Spirit" away. My Point, is that yes your company may appeal to those with little to no knowlege of computers but have a large bank account. In the long run, however, you lower your prices and if you appeal to people who rebuild their computers every 3-4 years i beleive you will build a better, and more reliable client base. Maybe even start a buisness relationship with newegg.com as that is where the majority of computer builders buy their componants.

Dont even get me started on your "build a customized air cooled pc, which will regardelss of the hardeware cost you over 1k.

[PCC-William]

Hello Sir,

Thank you for your thoughtful post, but please understand that the price for a fully built, tested, and warranties system is *always* going to be be higher than the simple cost of the parts. We invest many hours into each computer we build: providing pre-sales advice (many folks who get this service never end up purchasing), hand-assembling the computers, carefully installing Windows and making sure all the drivers are up-to-date, testing them extensively (including thermal IR pictures to ensure things aren't getting too hot), double-boxing the finished systems, providing lifetime tech support, free labor for the life of the computer on repairs or upgrades, and warranting the parts themselves for a year. That level of support goes a long way beyond what any parts reseller - even the famed Newegg, which I love, provides.

Now, if we at Puget were making money 'hand over fist' and driving fancy cars, there might be some room for us to lower prices and try to appeal to a wider range of customers. However, I can assure you that is not the case. We balance how much we charge very carefully to cover our costs, but we are not a massive profit center. We are privately owned, with a goal to provide good jobs for our families and a great experience to our customers - and while we aim to be profitable rather than to lose money it isn't the be-all-end-all of our company by any means. When prices come down in the market we adjust accordingly, and I think that if you were to survey those who purchase from us you'd find that while they may agree we are more expensive than some other options buying from Puget is well worth their money.

[PCC-Jon]

I was going to reply, and William beat me to it One other thing I can add is that we definitely are focused on the higher end market. All those things William mentioned -- most of them are the same cost for us whether we're building a $900 PC or a $20,000 PC (yes, we get a good number of orders in that range!). For that reason, we become more competitive as the cost of the system goes up, because the fixed cost of our overhead becomes a smaller percentage cost. When you look at $3,000 post-production workstations, for example, our Genesis II comes in about 30% CHEAPER than Dell and HP.

[WorknMan]

One other thing I can add is that we definitely are focused on the higher end market. All those things William mentioned -- most of them are the same cost for us whether we're building a $900 PC or a $20,000 PC (yes, we get a good number of orders in that range!). For that reason, we become more competitive as the cost of the system goes up, because the fixed cost of our overhead becomes a smaller percentage cost. When you look at $3,000 post-production workstations, for example, our Genesis II comes in about 30% CHEAPER than Dell and HP.

Maybe I did something wrong then I just ordered a PC for my dad from you guys, which was about $1,500 total. I did a comparison against how much the same parts were over at Newegg, and concluded that the markup was about $400. Based on all the positive reviews we've seen for Puget, we figured it was worth not having to go through the hassle of building one ourselves, or having to deal with Dell or one of its ilk, and to have some decent support as well.

So, based on this post, I thought the markup for a $3,000+ machine would be about the same or equal, so I started playing around with the Puget configuration tool on possible builds for myself. (I plan to get mine in a few months, so will probably hold out for Sandy Bridge.) When I got through, the markup on mine was about $1,000. (The SSD drive seemed to be the biggest culprit.) Does that sound about right for a $3,000 - $3,500 Puget build? If so, that's a little too steep for me. For $1,000, I'd rather just build it myself (or pay somebody here locally to do it), and risk having to RMA a part or two.

[PCC-William]

That sounds a bit higher than I would expect, but I know Newegg has some pretty serious sales going this month for an early 'Black Friday' - so that may widen the margin for a time. Normally our prices should be about 30-35% higher than the bare parts cost, no matter what price point you are looking at. $1100 in parts should come out in the $1400-1600 range, just as you found, but a $2500 set of parts should be more in the $3200-3400 range from us. The reason is that more expensive hardware tends to also be more complex - and so require more care when designing systems (dealing with excess amounts of heat that higher-end parts put off, for example). Those more expensive items also mean higher replacement costs under warranty, should anything go wrong.

If you look at a wider range of companies I think you'll actually find that our markup makes more sense than many. Dell and HP, for example, undercut us a lot on sub-$2000 systems; they mass-produce them, and make bare minimum profits there. In mid-range systems we are closer in price, but then once you pass about the $4000 mark - or to look at it another way, once you cross to dual-CPU systems - we suddenly are 10-20% less expensive. We are still making the same sort of margins there as we do everywhere else, but the bigger companies suddenly seem to price gouge... I think to make up for their losses on more basic desktop computers. Apple is similarly more expensive, but across their entire range of Mac Pro systems (the only computers they offer that are really comparble to what we offer) at all price points.

[kevanesh]

For those on a budget that doesn't allow for a boutique build, of course it makes sense to DIY. However, there are others who weigh the value of time and minimal hassle over money. Besides being a bargain in that realm, Puget showed limitless patience, and met my high expectations for professionalism at every step of the presale and post-sale process. They're not greedy. Jeff Stubbers showed me a way to knock $800 off the price tag, without sacrificing performance. For all he knew, I was going to pocket the savings. Instead, I used it to upgrade sound, and much more.

If you've roamed this forum, you know that quality is what Puget sells, and that costs money. Don't begrudge them a return on the investment they have to make to sustain that over the long term.

Maybe I did something wrong then I just ordered a PC for my dad from you guys, which was about $1,500 total. I did a comparison against how much the same parts were over at Newegg, and concluded that the markup was about $400. Based on all the positive reviews we've seen for Puget, we figured it was worth not having to go through the hassle of building one ourselves, or having to deal with Dell or one of its ilk, and to have some decent support as well.

So, based on this post, I thought the markup for a $3,000+ machine would be about the same or equal, so I started playing around with the Puget configuration tool on possible builds for myself. (I plan to get mine in a few months, so will probably hold out for Sandy Bridge.) When I got through, the markup on mine was about $1,000. (The SSD drive seemed to be the biggest culprit.) Does that sound about right for a $3,000 - $3,500 Puget build? If so, that's a little too steep for me. For $1,000, I'd rather just build it myself (or pay somebody here locally to do it), and risk having to RMA a part or two.

[WorknMan]

For those on a budget that doesn't allow for a boutique build, of course it makes sense to DIY. However, there are others who weigh the value of time and minimal hassle over money.

Yeah, I was simply double checking to see if I had made some kind of mistake in my calculations, since the impression I got from Jon was that the more you spend, the less of an impact that the Puget markup would have on the overall price. But I guess what he was trying to say is that Puget becomes more competitive on higher priced builds because the competition likes to jack up the price of similar builds, so the price difference isn't quite as drastic as on budget builds.

At any rate, I'll have to do some further price comparisons as it comes closer to the time I am ready to purchase. I expect that Puget will be more based on the level of service that they offer, but everybody has a price vs convenience threshold, and I'm not sure what mine is yet. I'm fairly computer literate, but I HATE anything having to do with hardware

[Eric Garay]

Premium system builds should offer premium performance. As a technical writer-reviewer, I'm typically very unforgiving when a premium system shows up and fails to meet those expectations. That system has to measure up above the typical DIY build, or else it gets a kick in the pants. After sampling Puget's Serenity system, it proved to be a testament of what they do all the time with every system build.

Prices can be higher especially with special configurations like RAID, multiple graphics cards, large data storage, or server builds. But, Puget puts a lot of time, research, scrutiny, testing, and validation in to every system build which ensures you get top notch performance without having to worry about the system ever failing you. And, typically, these systems last you much, much longer than the average DIY build. Since we all don't possess the means to do the same, it's Puget's efforts that give their systems that extra value.

[nick wyckoff]

I'm 65 yrs old, grew through an Apple II, various IBM compatibles and relied on Dell (1999-2009) until I found Puget. I'm not a novice, but I rely on tech support when funny things happen with these complex machines. Customer support from the others had collapsed to almost zero. The quality of the products out of the box (crapware pre-installed, bad dvd drives, etc.) was not good. I have bought probably 20 desktops for home and business over the years, and finally wanted a good one. My choice was a Puget i7 that did cost $2,000+, but was a blessing.

1st, it has remained mouse-click fast for more than a year, meaning I click and it happens without seconds of delay.

2nd, it runs FSX, a computationally complex program, easily.

3rd, I needed Puget's tech support when my fiddling with a cheap usb port add-on crashed the bios. I telephoned Puget and found myself actually talking to a human tech person who talked me through a repair in 5 minutes.

The price has been worth it. Its all about a correct initial configuration (they are honest in the build process), and lifetime tech support.

nickww