How Smaller Merchants can Often Out-Perform the Giant Retailers

by Ray Buendia

Published on this site: September 23th, 2006 - See more articles from this month

These days it seems like everyone is looking for ways to save money. One way people try to save money is by looking for bargains online. Popular online stores like Ebay and Overstock are just a couple of examples of where people go to try and save money on their purchases. Although these online stores may be popular and have name recognition, there are some drawbacks to making purchases from them.

Not all Discount Products are Created Equal

Online retailers such as Overstock are able to offer discount products because those products are typically closeout goods. These could be products that are overproduced by companies, or items that are available due to company specific issues. Company specific issues can include company downsizing, relocating to new facilities, or unplanned reductions in inventory. Sometimes, they are products that were defective. And on other occasions, they could simply be products that got a bad reputation in the media, and the manufacturer is just looking to cut its losses.

What this means to you, as a consumer, is that while you can buy these products at deep discounts, these products are not always of the best quality and may not offer any warranty or replacement parts if you have a problem with the product. Most smaller online retailers do not sell closeout goods, and they are able to offer the continued service that you expect when making purchases.

When people shop on Ebay, the items being sold may be brand new in the box, or they may be used. This means that you never know exactly what you are getting as far as quality goes. Used items may have been damaged, or the life expectancy of the product may have already been used. Even when you are getting products that are still new in the box, these products may actually be a year or two old. Closeout products can be shipped from the docks where they arrive into the country to one retailer, who discounts them to another retailer and so on, until they are sold on Ebay. Sometimes, by the time the product actually reaches the end-consumer, the manufacturer will no longer honor their original product warranty.

Another issue that people face when buying on Ebay is that they never know exactly what they are getting until they receive the item. When you buy from individuals, you face the same problems as you would when you make any type of purchase from an individual offline. You can run into scam artists, people selling less than quality products, people who are selling products that are damaged, etc. Many people are wary of making their purchases from places like Ebay, because once the transaction is completed, there is rarely follow-up services available and there is no place to go to get the product's warranty honored. If the product that you purchase is defective or no longer works after two weeks, you generally have little recourse for getting the product replaced or repaired.

These are just a few of the reasons that smart consumers are turning to smaller online retailers to find their discount items. When you shop with a reputable company, you can be sure that you are going to get brand new products that are not damaged, and that you have a quality company that will assist you if there is ever any problem with any of the products that they have sold to you.

These smaller online retailers are working very hard to acquire your business, and because of this they will also work very hard to make sure that you are 100% satisfied as a customer. They do this with their exceptional customer service, quick response times to inquiries, low prices, etc.

Quality Reputation

Smaller online retailers are often members of the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The Better Business Bureau is a way that companies, both online and offline, are able to show potential customers that they are not simply a fly-by-night operation, that they are known for selling quality goods and services, and they stand behind what they sell. Since the Better Business Bureau is a third party evaluator, consumers tend to place a lot of faith in their evaluation of the retailers. If you, as a consumer, ever have any concerns about the quality of the company that you are considering doing business with, it is a good idea to contact the Better Business Bureau and see if there have ever been any complaints made to them about the company and if the Better Business Bureau found these claims to be valid or not.

Response Time

There are many smaller retailers on the Internet that offer as good, if not better deals than what you will find at the large retailers such as Overstock, Ebay, Sears and J.C. Penneys. One reason that people are paying more attention to the smaller online retailers is that they are providing better customer service. The mammoth online stores have a difficult time keeping up with the demands of their customers, because they have so many. This means that when you attempt to contact customer service that it may be a day or more before you get a response.

A smaller online retailer can offer quicker response times and more personalized customer service. In fact, one such retailer EasyShopAndSave.com , is able to offer a 1 to 4 hour response time, which is a much quicker response time than the larger companies are able to offer.

As you can see, there are many advantages to choosing smaller online retailers. These advantages will not only save you money on the items that you purchase, but will also help you to feel comfortable with the purchases that you make. You can rest assured that you will be getting the professional customer service that you are seeking and that these online retailers will stand behind the products that they are selling to you.

Ray Buendia - is the owner of Easy Shop And $ave, http://www.EasyShopAndSave.com , where you can find Brand Name Products @ Wholesale Prices. Serving more than 60 product categories, they can help you buy the products you want from more than 40 different manufacturers.