Where can I buy hardware in the UK and not get faulty parts?

[crazykilla]

Hello, I'm CrazyKilla

America is a giant place and full of technology and I'm guessing that no one has problems finding their hardware, but here in the tiny UK I don't know who I can trust, I have bought almost all of my hardware from Amazon.co.uk, but this site isn't made for selling hardware and I am worried i might receive a faulty product or something, are there certain sellers that ALWAYS supply a good part, or are there other websites where i can buy a wide range of hardware? Many sites are not very trustworthy and some are just expensive, and others just don't have the parts in stock or for sale. Could someone recommend a place where i could buy hardware at a good price and get parts that will not be faulty/broken in any way?

 

[AddRAM]

What shows up if you type "Computer Parts" in a Google search ?

 

[kbrady1979]

Amazon does a great job shipping products. If you get a bad part from them, it was more than likely bad from the manufacturer.

 

[Britton30]

There is no place in the world where you will always get 100% good parts. There are defective ones sold and it just happens but a reputable seller will replace it or give a partial refund.
I have good luck with Amazon as long as I buy from them and not another seller using it. Their return policy in the US is foolproof and easy.

 

[ganjiry]

These are some of what i use.
Amazon.co.uk: Low Prices in Electronics, Books, Sports Equipment & more
Aria PC - Computer Hardware, Components, Monitors.. at lowest prices
Desktop PCs, Gaming PCs, Laptops, PC Monitors, Computer Components Specialists - CCL Computers
Cheap Laptops, Tablet PC, and Cheap LED TVs | Ebuyer.com
Overclockers UK - Computer components, hardware & gaming PC
Computer Hardware - Scan.co.uk

 

[crazykilla]

Thankyou AddRam and ganjiry, i googled it and found multiple websites which i will have a look at and thanks for the list of websites, always helps to have people with knowledge on the web.

 

[jimbo45]

Hello, I'm CrazyKilla

America is a giant place and full of technology and I'm guessing that no one has problems finding their hardware, but here in the tiny UK I don't know who I can trust, I have bought almost all of my hardware from Amazon.co.uk, but this site isn't made for selling hardware and I am worried i might receive a faulty product or something, are there certain sellers that ALWAYS supply a good part, or are there other websites where i can buy a wide range of hardware? Many sites are not very trustworthy and some are just expensive, and others just don't have the parts in stock or for sale. Could someone recommend a place where i could buy hardware at a good price and get parts that will not be faulty/broken in any way?

Hi there
I'm not sure the UK is any worse (or better) than anywhere else in this regard.

A decent solution is to always pay with a CREDIT (not a DEBIT) card in the UK -- then if the goods are defective in any way the CREDIT CARD issuer is forced to refund the cost of the goods if the manufacturer won't or can't change them.

I am not a huge Credit Card fan but it's worth it when buying goods / services over the Internet. The good thing about this particular piece of legislation is that even if the goods come from OUTSIDE the UK the credit card issuer still has to GUARANTEE that the purchaser (i.e you) gets the goods in merchantable quality and are the goods you ordered.

This protection also works in the other countries in the E.U and E.E.A (Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland).

For reasons I STILL can't understand - this protection only applies to payments made by CREDIT CARD. DEBIT CARDS don't get this protection even if they have things like the VISA logo on them.
PRE-PAYMENT cards also don't count -- you have to use a full CREDIT CARD unfortunately.

Banks still are trying to avoid their responsibilities but they can't get out of this one !!!!.

In my experience Amazon UK seems just fine -- if you do need to send something back AFAIK they are easy to deal with and return faulty products back to -- I've never had faulty products from them but people I know haven't had problems.

The Credit Card protection is great also if buying things like airline tickets from "Cheap Airlines" -- you get 100% refund if the airline goes bust for example or you don't get EXACTLY the holiday you've paid for etc).

Cheers
jimbo

 

[bobafetthotmail]

Ebay is a good place, but you need to make sure that you are paying with Paypal AND read the description well, as they have an insurance that covers these situations and are really really anal on vendors that sell crap and don't want to give a refund (they lockdown his account and money on it after a few customers complained through the Paypal procedure).

Paypal does that even for stuff you buy out of Ebay (as long as it is a physical object), and Paypal account can be linked to pre-paid cards (so the money is syphoned from the pre-paid) without issues.

On average any vendor offering Paypal on Ebay is honest. But again you need to read the description of the object, as there is a pretty big offer of Faulty or Broken objects clearly labeled as such (some people need those as spare parts or for their DIY hobbies).

 

[Britton30]

eBay now owns PayPal and they only accept that in the US unless an arrangement is made with the seller. I would not trust any hardware from eBay though, you may get a good part or you may get some counterfeit crap. There was some Asian sellers supplying USB flash drive that had no "guts" inside, only a pretty case and USB connector. As said, be sure to check the sellers' return policies, some just don't accept them, PayPal is no help with those.

 

[z3r010]

I get all my stuff from Scan which is one of the UK's biggest.

 

[crazykilla]

ho damn, thankyou z3r010, I looked at the web and found lots of stuff, and i found the part i was looking for, for a very cheap price too!

 

[bobafetthotmail]

eBay now owns PayPal and they only accept that in the US unless an arrangement is made with the seller.

Ebay purchased Paypal more than a decade ago, but I did use the Paypal insurance services a few times, recently. Maybe it does not work in some places like China, India and Pakistan because they aren't served by Paypal, but I'm pretty darn sure it does work fine for anything shipped from within the EU and US/Canada/Australia.

I would not trust any hardware from eBay though, you may get a good part or you may get some counterfeit crap.

This is a bit extreme. Only some categories of products are likely to be counterfeit (i have yet to find a counterfeit mobo/CPU/GPU/PSU/case), and strangely quite a few of them don't list paypal as a payment option and are written in broken english (or broken italian).

check the sellers' return policies, some just don't accept them, PayPal is no help with those.

Don't confuse Ebay policies with Paypal's. Paypal covers you if they sold you a used item as if it was new, or an item lacking essential parts (without mentioning it), less items than you bought, nothing at all, a defective item or a counterfeit one (just checked their rules, you can as well). The seller return policies matter in case you changed your mind, which is where paypal can do nothing.

In case there are issues, you need to act through your Paypal account before the time for doing that expires (45 days after payment, then 20 days after you notified Paypal of the issue) , using Ebay's tools is generally useless.

 

[Britton30]

I am speaking from personal experience here, not going on assumptions.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

As I said, I did use paypal services too, and they worked fine for stuff shipped from inside the EU.
What happened to you?

 

[maxie]

Hi there .... I get some of my gear from CeX UK ..... You can trade buy sell ... What i like about it is they have a twelve month Guarantee worth a look at least.