Online vs Retail

Fri 11 February 2011 8:21am by
Filed under: General 

CablesAnother online vs retail comparison. Component cables for a Nintendo Wii, so I could plug it into the new TV.

Nintendo official product: $47.99 (JB Hifi and others). Around $41.00 online, from an Australian online seller.

Futuretronics clone product: $29.94 (Dick Smith).

Dick Smith also had the cables included in a “Wii Starter Kit” with some other stuff I didn’t need, for $39.94. I’m doubly glad I didn’t buy those, as they’ve now been recalled due to the remote charger overheating.

EBay clone product: $8.00 including postage.

I went for the latter, as I was not in a huge rush to get it. This is from an Australian seller, so my assumption would be that GST is being paid on it.

Note that this is an apples and oranges comparison. The product purchased is not identical, but the eBay offering has not been a disappointment… and given the price difference, I figured it was worth the risk.

(And what a difference it made!)

Conclusion: it’s not just an offshore vs local thing, it’s also a question of retail vs etail, and of course Genuine name brand products vs no-name clone products.

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4 comments on Online vs Retail

  1. Andy on Fri, 11th Feb 2011 8:59 am

    2. Yeah these will work fine, JB and other retailers make massive margins on HD and component cables cables, and the cables do the exact same thing as the cheap version.

    I would recommend http://www.dealextreme.com if you ever need any thing like this again, they are ridiculously cheap and have free postage. The only downside is they’re overseas, so you have to wait a week or two for your stuff.

  2. Brian on Fri, 11th Feb 2011 9:20 am

    3. A couple of years ago I was looking to purchase a lens hood for an SLR camera. The official Canon product was close to $200 in Sydney stores. I bought a knock off through ebay from Hong Kong for $13. The hood is literally a piece of moulded plastic, no moving parts, no electronics. Never regretted that purchase.

  3. John on Sat, 12th Feb 2011 1:37 am

    4. I found when doing a hookup for a PVR that you can use just ordinary (quality) RCA plugs….as long as you make a note which plug goes where, it works out fine. Much cheaper using RCA’s A/V cables then “Component” colour coded plugs

  4. Daniel on Sat, 12th Feb 2011 12:40 pm

    5. @John, yes, I did the same with my PVR. The Wii is a bit different as it has a custom socket on it; you can’t use a standard RCA cable.