Staples has no competition?

My tablet died and hubby, being in the dog house, whisked me to Staples this morning to get any tablet my little heart desired. My eyes require a 10 inch screen and my heart desired a tablet with a keyboard to attach and detach. Ok, fine.

Sales tech guru Robert at Staples imparts to us that Staples has a price match guarantee and IF we found our choice cheaper, they would match the price. No biggie as other stores do this too. Knowing my hubby has to haggle pricing for anything that costs over 10 cents , I was not disappointed when he pulled out his often stupid Smart phone to check pricing at Staples competition.

Guru Robert told him to save his battery and time because Staples OWNS all the competition now, exception being Amazon, for all office supply stores. He advised Staples bought Office Depot, Office Max, Reliable Office Supplies and all other type of stores.

WHAT??

Monopoly central...

As long as they have competition from others selling same/similar things - the market will dictate how long they stay in business.

When I found out they've merged with the others (Bought, merged, whatever) - I've decided to start shopping Amazon when they won't match their prices. Often, I'll get the item the same day, delivered, for cheaper than Staples has it for 'on sale'.

a reply to: Ultralight

What an opportunity to start a business and BE the competition!

a reply to: Ultralight

Staples has plenty of competition. Just because you don't know how to find it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

There used to be laws against monopolies *sigh.*

I would try Bestbuy, Tiger Direct, Newegg, heck, even wal-mart. Of course the salesman was going to tell you that, it's apart of their job.

a reply to: Ultralight

I didn't know this information. And actually, Office Depot bought Office Max, then Staples bought Office Depot according to CNN:

money.cnn.com...



So yeah, Staples really doesn't have any competition when it comes to office supplies. However, as far as technology goes, there's still Best Buy and other brick-and-mortar stores.

I don't know if Staples price-matches with Amazon yet, but I got a huge discount at Best Buy for a video card I got for my nephew's computer because Amazon is cheaper with almost everything.

You should look up your tablet on Amazon and see how much cheaper it is. I buy most everything from Amazon now.

a reply to: SpongeBeard

Name 3 nationally recognized walk in stores that match Staples office supply stock...and pricing.

a reply to: _BoneZ_

Hubby did check and Amazon supplier was Office Depot!

a reply to: calstorm

Those stores aren't office supply stores though. I also bought office supplies.

My friend got his phone at a best buy and the sales rep there told him they price match Amazon and showed him the case he was looking at in the store on Amazon and gave him the discount. The rep told him hardly anyone realizes they price match Amazon.

a reply to: Ultralight

Check out Fry's electronics.

Best Buy is a competitor and they price match. I don't know why the sales guy said that, but there is plenty of competition for electronics retailers.

I think quite a bit of the competition moved online, thus there are fewer big box retailers around. It's cheaper to just run a website and a few warehouses rather than actually having brick and mortar stores.

a reply to: darkwingduck

Gets is not at all like Staples. I can't by a washer and dryer at Staples.

Yep, office depot bought office max a while ago, and liquidated a LOT of jobs. Office max distribution center in Las Vegas will be shut down in the next 6-12 months.

a reply to: Ultralight

I just know I'll never go to Staples again for maintenance on the machine I bought from them. They held all my data hostage when I took it in for a virus and charged me for storing it and reloading it later. First they said that they didn't even know if the data was still in existence since they normally just wipe the hard drive clean. It was miraculously still there for a 75 dollar fee... Funny, I later asked the IT guys at my agency about the problem I was having and they said there was no reason for them to wipe the hard drive and they thought someone should prosecute these guys for this kind of practice.

a reply to: Ultralight

My Staples price matched Amazon on a toner cartridge. The Best Buy in the next city (there isn't one in my city) price matched Amazon on a rechargeable battery port & battery set and a memory card. I told both places I was a Prime member and I'd be happy to order on Prime with 2 day shipping unless they wanted to give me a better deal now. On each item the price difference was more than $10.00.

Staples will price match websites even their own, so there is plenty competition.

I bought a laser printer the a couple yes ago. When I looked at the price it was $299 and toner was $78. I thought both were on sale and said so. Turns out they were only on there website. They pricematched and I got the printer for $160 the toner for $45; out the door $205. Then there was the rebates $10 for toner and $60 for printer, so got them both for $145...woohoo

Newegg and Amazon are my go-to places. Don't even have to leave the house. I build and repair my own computers, but my girlfriend is the manager of Easy Tech at our Staples. They usually do have some of the best prices on electronics though, from what I'm told by my girlfriend they sell them at cost, so they don't make any money on the computers/tablets/phones. They get their money from service plans and Easy Tech repairs/virus removals.

originally posted by: wtbengineer
a reply to: Ultralight

I just know I'll never go to Staples again for maintenance on the machine I bought from them. They held all my data hostage when I took it in for a virus and charged me for storing it and reloading it later. First they said that they didn't even know if the data was still in existence since they normally just wipe the hard drive clean. It was miraculously still there for a 75 dollar fee... Funny, I later asked the IT guys at my agency about the problem I was having and they said there was no reason for them to wipe the hard drive and they thought someone should prosecute these guys for this kind of practice.

I don't know your situation exactly, but they have different prices for everything they do, so backing up files can't be done as part of another service. Also, wiping a hard drive isn't their solution for virus removal, that's only a last resort. May be that the tech's at your Staples aren't doing their job right at all.

a reply to: Aldakoopa

They sell the item at cost if they can hook you into a multi-year contract of services, otherwise you pay retail.

a reply to: UltralightCheck online for tablet at www.tigerdirect.com...