Newegg begins their Great White North adventure

Brian Ambrozy July 29, 2008 5:37 PM ET in Tech

For years Newegg.com has been the primary “go-to” site for computer and technology enthusiasts. Often they have the lowest prices on their massive selection of inventory, and their customer service and quick shipping cements their place in the hearts of consumers – as long as they’re in the USA.

Often our Canadian readers and forum members would longingly glance at the prices and selection available to their American counterparts, and let out a resigned sigh as they went to their own online retailers.

Apparently, that is about to come to an end. NewEgg has a teaser page at newegg.ca. While no launch date has been announced, the page does mention “2008″ – which leaves us with, at the worst, four months of speculation :)

I wonder if they’ll change their slogan. “Once you know, you Newegg, eh?”

30 Comments:

1. Buddy J

   Dept. of Propaganda

   
   29 Jul '08, 5:44 pm

   I'm glad industry has finally embraced Canada and they can finally move past their Third World status. A glorious day indeed.
2. Snarkasm

   The Photographer.

   
   29 Jul '08, 6:26 pm

   "Once you know, you Newehgg."

   
3. kryyst

   CTRL+ALT+DEL

   
   30 Jul '08, 8:07 am

   Bout time. Though we actually have some decent chains in parts of Canada so the Newegg deals are good but not OH MY GOD good. The biggest challenge will be when it comes to shipping costs and duty charges if they are shipping from the states. If they setup a Canadian warehouse they can ship out of then it becomes much more promising.
4. Zuntar

   Modder extraordinaire

   
   30 Jul '08, 9:28 am

   I hope for all our northern brethren that a local warehouse that they can ship out of is indeed the plan!

   Beauty eh!!
5. lemonlime

   Veteran Icrontian

   
   30 Jul '08, 9:51 am

   NCIX has been my Canadian newegg for quite some time. I think having another big league player on the market will help to keep prices down all around. Everyone wins
6. Leonardo

   F@H Reign of Terror is back!

   
   30 Jul '08, 10:54 am

   If they setup a Canadian warehouse

   I would imagine they will do that. If they didn't they'd have a hard time competing effectively with NCIX.

   Somewhere and NCIX executive is frowning and exclaiming to himself, "Argh!."
7. DanG

   Not Y2K compliant

   
   30 Jul '08, 10:55 am

   Quoting lemonlime

   NCIX has been my Canadian newegg for quite some time. I think having another big league player on the market will help to keep prices down all around. Everyone wins

   I've gotta agree with this, for the most part, pricing has been bang on with what Newegg.com offers.

   My only complaint about NCIX is that if I order something that's in stock, most of the time, it takes a couple of days to ship it. Hopefully the opening of Newegg.ca will encourage NCIX to step up their game.
8. Buddy J

   Dept. of Propaganda

   
   30 Jul '08, 1:01 pm

   It's the shipping that's killer. Even if NCIX or Buy or whatever have stuff in stock, the shipping prices are killer. I looked into having something shipped to Mike D. the other day. Shipping in the US was $12. Shipping in Canada for the same item a similar distance was $35. Crazy!
9. Leonardo

   F@H Reign of Terror is back!

   
   30 Jul '08, 3:26 pm

   Yeah, international shipping is expensive. Canada to Canada shipping is not that much different than US domestic shipping. If Newegg runs a warehouse in Canada, then shipping costs in country shouldn't be too bad.
10. Buddy J

    Dept. of Propaganda

    
    30 Jul '08, 3:42 pm

    No Leo. From what I found, Canada -> Canada shipping is almost double US -> US shipping.

    I shipped Mike a ProWater 850i last week. From Oklahoma to Mike's place in Canada, it cost me $30 using the USPS. If I'd ordered a ProWater from a Canadian online store to be delivered to Mike, the shipping cost averaged $35. As a comparison, if I'd ordered a ProWater from Newegg to be delivered to me, the cost would be $12.
11. Leonardo

    F@H Reign of Terror is back!

    
    30 Jul '08, 4:06 pm

    o u c hhh
12. redchief

    Senior Noob

    
    30 Jul '08, 4:30 pm

    delivery cost in Canada include kibble for huskys
13. kryyst

    CTRL+ALT+DEL

    
    30 Jul '08, 4:31 pm

    The problem I often see is that US distributors will often ship USPS where as many Canadian distributors only ship via currier like UPS, Purolator or FEDEX and as soon as you do that they jack the price way up, even if that actual cost to currier something isn't that high, they just charge a huge premium.

    I would say 90% of the time my favorite local retailer is en-par with any big online retailers when you facort shipping.
14. Brian Ambrozy

    The Icrontic Guy

    
    30 Jul '08, 4:42 pm

    Quoting redchief

    delivery cost in Canada include kibble for huskys

    

    
15. Leonardo

    F@H Reign of Terror is back!

    
    30 Jul '08, 4:50 pm

    The problem I often see is that US distributors will often ship USPS where as many Canadian distributors only ship via currier like UPS, Purolator or FEDEX

    That's why I don't order much from Newegg anymore. I can purchase competitively priced items from other vendors for half or sometimes even one-third the shipping cost. Newegg doesn't offer USPS Priority. In Alaska, USPS Priority is a huge plus.
16. Black Hawk

    Metaphysically wrinkle free

    
    30 Jul '08, 10:56 pm

    Quoting Leonardo

    That's why I don't order much from Newegg anymore. I can purchase competitively priced items from other vendors for half or sometimes even one-third the shipping cost. Newegg doesn't offer USPS Priority. In Alaska, USPS Priority is a huge plus.

    Care to share a list of vendors? I have the same problem here in PR.
17. Leonardo

    F@H Reign of Terror is back!

    
    30 Jul '08, 11:56 pm

    Yes, here are some of businesses I've purchased from recently where net cost was actually lower than Newegg:

    Buy.com
    Petra's Tech Shop
    Sidewinder
    2CoolTek

    All of these vendors filled orders fast, had clear checkout procedures, processed my orders quickly, and delivered fast. If I recall correctly, USPS Priority shipping was an option with each of them. None of them always have favorable prices on everything, but most of they prices are very competitive. Several years ago Newegg caught most of the other online tech stores with their pants down. Things have changed. There are many other vendors now who provide what made Newegg so strong - good prices, good selection, quick shipping, and good customer service. Actually, while some sellers are catching up, in my opinion, Newegg is slipping. I'm not against Newegg at all. I've always been treated fairly. Their quick order processing and shipping times are excellent. They have though, become complacent. Although their prices are still good, they are no longer the site for great deals that they used to be.
18. PurplezArctic

    Crashing out at supermarts.

    
    31 Jul '08, 12:42 am

    Prolly won't use though.. Good news nonetheless.

    I use the service from the good ol' folks at the local compy shop.
19. Leonardo

    F@H Reign of Terror is back!

    
    6 Oct '08, 10:47 pm

    I use the service from the good ol' folks at the local compy shop.

    Congratulations on being independently wealthy. Look, I understand small computer shops have to charge high prices to stay in business, but some business models have been superseded by the march of time.

    I shop small businesses when they are competitive. Some of them have awakened to the 21st Century. Many have not. A week ago I purchased a new camera. It was the same price as through an online vendor. I was more than happy to put my money into the local economy!
20. Snarkasm

    The Photographer.

    
    6 Oct '08, 10:52 pm

    ... who says his local shops aren't competitively priced, just like the shop you got your camera from?

    Way to jump to conclusions.
21. Thrax

    Cad

    
    6 Oct '08, 10:55 pm

    It's the conclusion I drew as well, because the overwhelming majority of local stores are understocked and overpriced.
22. Buddy J

    Dept. of Propaganda

    
    6 Oct '08, 11:40 pm

    Yep. I hit every local computer shop in NW OKC two weeks ago. Each one was horribly overpriced and understocked. It's only the chain stores and mega shops like Frys that can begin to compete with online.
23. muddocktor

    Wandering about

    
    7 Oct '08, 12:49 pm

    Quoting Buddy J

    Yep. I hit every local computer shop in NW OKC two weeks ago. Each one was horribly overpriced and understocked. It's only the chain stores and mega shops like Frys that can begin to compete with online.

    Yep, that's been my experience also around the Lafayette area in LA. And we don't have a Fry's anywhere near us either.
24. kryyst

    CTRL+ALT+DEL

    
    7 Oct '08, 2:10 pm

    Guess it all depends on where you shop. Our local mom & pop shops can't really compete. However we have some smaller chains in Ontario that are extremely competitive in terms of price and product availability. They are definitely competitive to the big box stores like Future Shop/Best Buy and once you factor in shipping and the convienence of local pickup they compete with most online Canadian retailers so far. Newegg is cheap but until I see the Canadian contingent I can't get excited. To many other mega US retailers that are available to Canada screw us with shipping.
25. Buddy J

    Dept. of Propaganda

    
    7 Oct '08, 2:55 pm

    Heh. It's not just the US retailers that screw you on shipping, the Canadian ones do too. I was shocked to see the price of shipping between provinces when I considered having hardware sent from a Canadian retailer to Lemonlime a few months back. Hopefully the 'egg will open some warehouses up there and will be able to lower shipping fees.
26. kryyst

    CTRL+ALT+DEL

    
    7 Oct '08, 4:00 pm

    Yes true enough I wasn't trying to be mutually exclusive to US retailers shipping into Canada. Basically shipping to Canada be it from the US or from inside Canada typically sucks from most retailers. Many insist on using UPS/Purolator and they over charge big time.

    Some retailers will use USPS from the states or Canada post and keep the shipping down but it seems to be the minority and not the norm when we are talking about computer parts.
27. lemonlime

    Veteran Icrontian

    
    8 Oct '08, 7:55 am

    Yep, shipping from most Canadian retailers appears to be more expensive. I took a look around at newegg.ca and to be honest, I wasn't impressed with the pricing. Its at par or slightly more expensive than what I'm used to seeing at NCIX.com or DirectCanada.com. One of the best things about buying from NCIX is that I don't pay any provincial sales tax since all goods are coming from the west coast. That usually helps to offset the shipping cost. They've also got price matching, which I've used on several occasions. If they have a promotion for free shipping, it is even better We've got some very good small shops in the greater Toronto area that generally sell at par or less than NCIX. You just need to know where to shop.
28. muddocktor

    Wandering about

    
    8 Oct '08, 9:40 am

    Looks to me like they have gone live with the new site now. There was a link to it on the US home page yesterday evening, so I'm guessing the doors are now open for business.

    I am curious to see what they are going to hit you Canadians for on shipping. How about one of you guys add this notebook hard drive to the cart and see what shipping will be to your house. This same item at the US store is $110 and free shipping, for reference.
29. Leonardo

    F@H Reign of Terror is back!

    
    8 Oct '08, 11:23 am

    To many other mega US retailers that are available to Canada screw us with shipping.

    OH, not just US to Canada, but US to US also. I'm in Alaska and frequently avoid Newegg because of their inflexible shipping (no US Postal Service Priority). I can order from several other online vendors who offer USPS Priority, which is half the rate of the competing services. I will though, order from Newegg if I have multiple items. Newegg does a great job packing multiple items in the same shipping box, which creates a good shipping economy of scale, even with FEDEX two-day service.
30. lemonlime

    Veteran Icrontian

    
    8 Oct '08, 11:47 am

    Quoting muddocktor

    Looks to me like they have gone live with the new site now. There was a link to it on the US home page yesterday evening, so I'm guessing the doors are now open for business.

    I am curious to see what they are going to hit you Canadians for on shipping. How about one of you guys add this notebook hard drive to the cart and see what shipping will be to your house. This same item at the US store is $110 and free shipping, for reference.

    $14.98 for UPS standard for me

    Seems a little steep for just a notebook hard drive

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