PC pricing Question

[PanteaDropper]

Why does it take so long for obsolete tech to go on sale? 

 

if i wanted to build a AM3 PC, it will still cost me the same price as if i wanted to build a AM4 PC.

why does it take so long for components to drop in price?

[Max Caulfield]

You don't buy old parts new...

[Enderman]

When a product is discontinued the amount of that product on the market starts decreasing, so the pricing stays the same or goes up.

If you want older products at a lower price you buy them used.

[vanished]

1 minute ago, PanteaDropper said:

Why does it take so long for obsolete tech to go on sale? 

 

if i wanted to build a AM3 PC, it will still cost me the same price as if i wanted to build a AM4 PC.

why does it take so long for components to drop in price?

Glad I'm not the only one who notices this foolishness.

 

Most retailers are either clueless about the actual market value of what they have, or they actively refuse to accept the truth.  You will generally see this every time a new GPU launches.  I usually give the example of the new GTX *70, which usually launches at around $350, trading blows with the previous gen's GTX *80 Ti, which can be $600+.  Obviously as soon as it launches, that last gen *80 Ti is worth at most $340, since no one is going to pay more than they need to for that level of performance, and not to mention it's now old tech.  But, most stores will stubbornly keep the price where it is foolishly thinking they will sell, and so they sit for years and years until they're nearly worthless and flushed out in a clearance sale for a fraction of what they could have gotten if they'd just swallowed their pride in the first place.

 

So yeah, buy older parts on the used market, you'll do much better

[LienusLateTips]

used

[dizmo]

Usually you have to wait for things like Black Friday to see any real sales. The main problem you'll face is that usually a retailer will only have a few items of old stock left, and will hold onto it. Consider a scenario where someone has a motherboard fail but the rest of the system is fine. They will look for a replacement, thus buying the old stock unit even at full price is often cheaper than replacing the entire thing.

[PanteaDropper]

1 hour ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Glad I'm not the only one who notices this foolishness.

 

Most retailers are either clueless about the actual market value of what they have, or they actively refuse to accept the truth.  You will generally see this every time a new GPU launches.  I usually give the example of the new GTX *70, which usually launches at around $350, trading blows with the previous gen's GTX *80 Ti, which can be $600+.  Obviously as soon as it launches, that last gen *80 Ti is worth at most $340, since no one is going to pay more than they need to for that level of performance, and not to mention it's now old tech.  But, most stores will stubbornly keep the price where it is foolishly thinking they will sell, and so they sit for years and years until they're nearly worthless and flushed out in a clearance sale for a fraction of what they could have gotten if they'd just swallowed their pride in the first place.

 

So yeah, buy older parts on the used market, you'll do much better

Wow, thats really dumb and disappointing. Thanks for your input! I've been researching options for a PC build and noticed how high the price is on older components. I would never buy used, unless it was a steal(1080 for $200). Having a warranty means so much these days. I work in sports retail and i'm transitioning into the PC market. i was hoping there was a specific reason for the madness lol

44 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Usually you have to wait for things like Black Friday to see any real sales. The main problem you'll face is that usually a retailer will only have a few items of old stock left, and will hold onto it. Consider a scenario where someone has a motherboard fail but the rest of the system is fine. They will look for a replacement, thus buying the old stock unit even at full price is often cheaper than replacing the entire thing.

yea the black friday sales i can understand but in the scenario you gave, if the store dropped the price of the motherboard, let's say a year or even 2 years after the release. more than likely they would sell out of everything except limited edition stuff or poorly reviewed stuff. 

 

In that situation most people would upgrade or save up a bit, then upgrade.

Then there are those people that would buy second hand Mobos to get buy.

Those that don't would be left with a hard decision, that can also be a financial move. i doubt THAT many people are in that kind of situation where they'd buy a last gen mobo just because their cpu is still holding up. They can buy a new mobo and transfer what they can to it. anything they can't could be sold, and use that money for the new parts.

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, PanteaDropper said:

In that situation most people would upgrade or save up a bit, then upgrade.

Then there are those people that would buy second hand Mobos to get buy.

Those that don't would be left with a hard decision, that can also be a financial move. i doubt THAT many people are in that kind of situation where they'd buy a last gen mobo just because their cpu is still holding up. They can buy a new mobo and transfer what they can to it. anything they can't could be sold, and use that money for the new parts.

Not always. Depends on the person and their needs. Say you get an amazing deal on a CPU that's a little older, but can't find a motherboard other than a new one. There's another sale. Some people simply don't like buying second hand items. There likely aren't that many, but guess what. There isn't that much old stock kicking around either. There's also no point in selling an item a great deal below what the retailer purchased it for either; margins are thin, and selling things at a loss makes no sense. There's loads of reasons you're not thinking of.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Most retailers are either clueless about the actual market value of what they have, or they actively refuse to accept the truth.  You will generally see this every time a new GPU launches.  I usually give the example of the new GTX *70, which usually launches at around $350, trading blows with the previous gen's GTX *80 Ti, which can be $600+.  Obviously as soon as it launches, that last gen *80 Ti is worth at most $340, since no one is going to pay more than they need to for that level of performance, and not to mention it's now old tech.  But, most stores will stubbornly keep the price where it is foolishly thinking they will sell, and so they sit for years and years until they're nearly worthless and flushed out in a clearance sale for a fraction of what they could have gotten if they'd just swallowed their pride in the first place.

 

Cost - if you start selling a heap below cost, your profit figures look terrible. Depending on the store, you'll find a way to get rid of them. Normally in systems where the client doesn't really care what goes into it.

[System Error Message]

In the past pricing was good, stores would compete to sell below MSRP. Nowadays everyone sells new stuff above MSRP and some like nvidia increase their MSRP each time. old hardware does depreciate, what a store should be doing is getting stuff at a much much lower cost or on invoice where they dont pay for the item until it is sold. In a case where this isnt possible theres something called research to find out how much quantity and price you can sell at.

 

Unsold things are costly, even if you have to sell it at a loss, if the item just stays in inventory gathering dust it not only depreciates in value but also takes up valuable space.

 

Unsold inventory can also be put to good use if you have a couple left, like a wallpaper of GPUs and CPUs.