Delivery Charges From Online Shops
When is a good offer not such a good offer?

The time has come for new hardware for your home or office computer. Perhaps you have decided to add a bit more RAM, or maybe you just need a bigger hard drive – whatever the reason, you find yourself scanning online auction houses, online hardware stores, or maybe an online computer store for proprietary components. The  1024 MB 533 MHz DDR2 SDRAM for only £19 and the 250GB SATA hard drive for only £39 are two superb deals no consumer would want to pass up, but then those shipping and handling fees of £39 sure do put a halt to that superb deal.

Have you ever wondered which computer hardware provider offers the best deal for delivery charges?  Chances are good you answered “yes” to this question, and this investigative look at delivery charges will assist you in finding the best deal for your hard earned pound.

One popular computer hardware provider is Apple – for those among us that are MAC users. In addition, Apple has an easy to understand delivery charge: spend over £66 and delivery charges are free, and for everything else, the delivery charges are £4.50. VAT charges still apply, and are not included with the delivery charges. Not including the VAT is common practice with some companies and not others. Insure you are paying the price you expect by knowing the difference.

Another popular computer hardware provider is Dixons. While Dixons specializes in larger electronics, many types of computing hardware are also available from peripherals to components. Delivery charges are a standard fee of £3.99 for the majority of items ranging from a webcams to computer cases. The fee is for all the items purchased at a single time. Additional fees may be charged for cumbersome or heavy items as deemed necessary by Dixons.

Woolworths are perhaps an unlikely player in this field – having recently upped their marketing for their efficient online store. While they don’t offer the more ‘niche’ goods like parts for your computer, the standard computer peripherals, audio/visual hardware, and a host of other ‘high street’ items are most definitely available.  Some good offers at the moment (including a very cheap song download service) show that they are really putting in some effort in expanding this potentially lucrative market.

Woolworths also offer a simple standard fee of £4.95 for most items to mainland UK, though once again extra charges may be incurred for large heavy items (especially those requiring two people to handle the deliver).

Perhaps the biggest decision maker in who offers the cheapest shipping is done by investigating total price of a similar item from each of the popular online computer hardware providers. Nonetheless, different computer hardware providers will offer different models and different brands. Be sure to get the proper components for your needs. Often, web sites will offer a guide for finding the right hardware for your system, and if all else fails, check the manufacturers web site for more information.

What is the individual and total price for a single stick of 1GB of memory? Dixons has a PNY 1GB PC3200 DDR DIMM and charges £99.99 for the RAM, and £3.99 for the delivery charges for a total price of £103.98. Tiger Direct has a similar product the Corsair 1GB PC3200 DDR DIMM and charges  £52.86 for the RAM, and minimum of £4.41 delivery for a minimum total price of £57.27. Finally, Apple has 1GB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM and charges £140.00 but offers free delivery.

Woolworths and Dixons will both allow you to have your item delivered to a local store for you to pick up.  This is free, and if you’re passing it might be a more cost effective solution.  Sometimes, though, you don’t want to be squeezing a washing machine into the back of the Polo, and on those occasions the delivery option is a lifesaver.