[kayzee]

Hi at work here we're looking to place a big order with a company. We're basically looking for up to 300 netbooks, and maybe more in the future, I consider this quite a big order and something companies feeling the crunch should be biting our hands off for right now! I mean, plus accessories we're talking £75k here...

I cannot believe how hard it is to make this purchase! Have been trying for days to get a decent contact, Carphone Warehouse, Dell (directly), Ebuyer... no one's interested! Dell in fact, charge you more for ordering a higher quantity of products this has been confirmed both in email and on the phone!

We have me and two other guys phoning round and round trying to get somewhere, all we ever get is "we'll email you a quote" which, most of the time, simply never arrives. It's getting a bit desperate now, I mean we always say we want to talk about a business order, and they act like this, what else is there to do!?

Anyone else had experiences like this or know a decent place to go? All we want is netbooks with XP and around £225 or under, can't be that hard can it!?

[dejongj]

Don't know what your legal status is, but if you are an individual and have no existing ties I would be wary too...And order of that size is normally big enough to get a distributor involved but it does depend on who you are...

One thing I have found is that discounts were to be had on goods that were already in stock, stocks seem to be running down and getting discounts on goods that need to be manufactured is much harder....Very strange...

[HOF]

speak to SCC as they will sell to almost anyone and have been known to sell at cost +1

[Dony]

Originally Posted by HOF

speak to SCC as they will sell to almost anyone and have been known to sell at cost +1

Who are SCC?

[dazza74]

These people?

Home | SCC Store

[HOF]

Thats the one.

They are Europe largest privately owned IT company.
Great to buy from because they will discount very very heavily but id never work for them.

Ive seen them loose money on a deal just to be able to say they won it.

[kayzee]

Originally Posted by dejongj

Don't know what your legal status is, but if you are an individual and have no existing ties I would be wary too...And order of that size is normally big enough to get a distributor involved but it does depend on who you are...

We are a well established support company working for a major motor manufacture. We already look after 600+ laptops, although we didn't personally roll these other ones out ourselves.

We've used Dell countless times, been in contact almost everyday. We try and stick to them if possible as they have great service, but they aren't pulling through for us this time.

[paul1967]

It might be that you are in the auto industry,they might be worried about payment.Discounts only seem to be for people with cash.

[dejongj]

Originally Posted by paul1967

It might be that you are in the auto industry,they might be worried about payment.Discounts only seem to be for people with cash.

As he says! Anyone should be happy to supply that kind of an order, so there is something else going on...

[kayzee]

Really? I thought cash deals were a thing of the past! Look a bit dodgy walking up with a case full of £75k

Hell, if my company gives me that, I might just do a runner

[fencer90]

Please have a look at this lot
Insight UK - Laptops, Computers, Components. Over 70,000 Products

Very large and very ethical used to be part of MEMEC Group, best Component Distiributor in the UK

[Iccz]

PCWB (PC World Business) never turn us down for anything when we ask for it, even if they don't have it in stock they'll get hold of it. Though they're not always as cheap as a lot of other places.
I recently ordered my netbook from Morecomputers.com, would definitely reccomend them to anyone, but I don't think they have 300 in stock at the moment

Discounts can come if you order a lot, we've brought PCWB down by thousands on previous orders of kit, so it's not just a cash thing.

[Jenn]

If a ltd company came to us with a £75k order and no prior payment history, they'd have to pay upfront.

Unfortunately a good credit rating based on last year's accounts means nothing today, it doesn't guarantee payment. And credit insurers seem to have put certain industries in high risk ratings overnight.
Dell will see 200 different orders of a couple laptops less risky. Also if it's for new stock, chances are prices will be higher than the current stock.

[Dony]

Originally Posted by fencer90

Please have a look at this lot
Insight UK - Laptops, Computers, Components. Over 70,000 Products

Very large and very ethical used to be part of MEMEC Group, best Component Distiributor in the UK

That's who I bought from in the past and was always happy with their service.

On a side note, as Jenn says, credit ratings mean diddly squat now. Any new customer who buys from me (can be anything from £2k to £150k per order) will have to pay up front. Obviously the payments on a bigger order will be staggered with payment terms, but a machine will not be off-loaded until all monies have cleared.

[dejongj]

Originally Posted by kayzee

Really? I thought cash deals were a thing of the past! Look a bit dodgy walking up with a case full of £75k

Hell, if my company gives me that, I might just do a runner

The comment was made in relation to the industry, and cash wasn't meant like cash in a suitcase with washed notes...It was meant in a payment upfront opposed to NET30 on invoice or something like that...

[domtheone]

Originally Posted by HOF

speak to SCC as they will sell to almost anyone and have been known to sell at cost +1

Originally Posted by Dony

Who are SCC?

Originally Posted by dazza74

These people?

Home | SCC Store

Originally Posted by HOF

Thats the one.

They are Europe largest privately owned IT company.

Struth

I;ve worked opposite a SCC building for 11 years and never realy had a clue about them

[Gee]

Kayzee,

I work for an IT reseller so obviously I can't recommend the company I work for but if you can find someone to deal with I would suggest you look at Toshiba netbooks. There are plenty in the channel and I'm sure you'd be able to get a good price if you can place your order before the end of the financial year.

Good luck!

Matt.

[kayzee]

Thanks a lot everyone I'll be having another look around tomorrow, I'll update if I get anywhere with the recommendations

[Showoff]

I work for Europe's leading independent provider of IT infrastructure services and an arch enemy of SCC so you wont find me recommending them . People in the know may be able to work out who it is.

The margin in hardware these days is next to nothing, so I'm not surprised you are finding it hard to get a quote from a company with credit terms. The cost of setting you up as a customer, legal contracts alone will wipe out even 5% margin (£3750) on a £75k deal if it turns out to be a one off order. At least that's what I suspect..?

If you already have a contract with a supplier, I'm sure they'd bite your arm off for this deal and also be happy to talk to you about lease options and a maintenance contract, at least that's what I'd do.

Gee mentioned Toshiba and I can confirm that it is their year end on the 31/3 and the NB100 HERE is very good.

Good Luck.

[Steve.J.Davies]

a lot will just not have the stock on hand - especially of you want 300 of exactly the same configuration. try the manufacturer maybe.

[Steven]

But he was trying to order from Dell...

[internetuser]

We dell with dell, wanted 300 mini 9's and they were going to do a stunning deal on them to get them out in the market.

PC World business are VERY good and VERY cheap, if you deal with them on a business level. HP Laptops are dirt cheap from them, as are ASUS

Go in store and get an account manager.

Ebuyer are a pain to deal with

A2Z computers will do a good deal on toshibas

Insight are pretty good when pushed