The Demise of OneCall.com

[mo42nyy]

your receiver seems to be the exception more than the rule
i want this tv:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/det...ER&v=glance and priced matched with amazon is a whole 10 dollars more than the cheapest price on pricegrabber

[TreyWilly]

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Translation: Our prices are identical to the most expensive electronic stores on the web. If for some reason one of these overpriced stores lowers their price, we will too. What a joke...

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I'm not sure if using one particular electronics item is enough substantial evidence here. I got my 42" LCD through Onecall.com, pricematched w/ Amazon and got a price nearly identical to everything on pricegrabber. I am also more comfortable doing my business with a larger volume merchant than other ones listed on pricegrabber.

I just got my Casio Exilim 7.2MP, 7.0 Opt zoom camera from Onecall also for $299, mean price from smaller retailers on pricegrabber is $285, which I can live with. Onecall's prices are still way below my local B&M retailers like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. so I feel I am saving money.

When I call Onecall.com to make my orders, someone picks up the phone immediately and is always very knowledgeable.

Of course, you can always use concierge service to buy a gift certificate to another retailer if that's your preference.

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Pretty much identical to my experiences

[OneCallGuy]

Howdy everyone. First off, thanks for the business you have been providing OneCall. It is much appreciated and I hope most of you will continue to have a great experience when you purchase from OneCall (whether via the GCs or via the concierge service).

I am sorry to hear that some of you feel our prices are not as competitive as they used to be a year or two ago. I assure you however, that our pricing policy is in no way tied to the relationship we have with PokerStars. While PokerStars is a very important account (and their customers are also quite important) the relationship accounts for less than 2% of OneCall's overall revenue. Important? Absolutely! Enough to make us change our pricing policy, nope.

It is our goal to be competitively priced on a wide range of products. Staying on top of price changes can often times be time consuming and challenging. At times, we may miss a hot price point from a competitor, choose not to participate in a special buy, and other various scenarios that may make us less than desirable on a particular product.

HOWEVER, if you compare our entire catalog of over 3,500 items you will see that we are the same price or more competitively priced on the mass majority of the products.

Ironically, we have a very powerful Summer Closeout promotion going on now that includes the Yamaha receiver mentioned in this thread. I will refrain from linking to it as I don't want this post deleted as spam.

The VIP store, OneCall, and myself want you to have a good experience so please keep feedback like this flowing.

My email address is affiliates@onecall.com if you have any specific questions. Keep in mind I am NOT a product expert (I leave that to one of dozens of salespeople) but I do have a listening ear and if there are pricing concerns or customer service issues I am the 'top of the food chain' for PokerStars/OneCall issues.

On a personal note, I really enjoy the relationship we have with PokerStars. They are a fascinating account and the OneCall sales staff always comments on how interesting it is to be dealing with a unique set of individuals--what other group of individuals are sending plama TVs to friends and family as gifts or because they lost a particular bet. ;-) Though it may only be less than 2% of our revenue, it is 5% of the enjoyment.

P.S. I had this thread forwarded from an avid poker enthusiast we have within the building. I am not cloaking. ;-)

Take care everyone,

David Payne
Business Development
OneCall
affiliates@onecall.com

[uDevil]

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...I do have a listening ear...

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How come you don't sell computer stuff?

[OneCallGuy]

I started at OneCall a year ago and it was one of my first questions as I come from the computer industry myself (Viking Components, SimpleTech, Targus). The quick answer is margin. The computer industry is brutal on margins. Plus, we take a lot of pride in our expertise. If we blew our catalog up to 100,000+ items our sales force would be unable to be as knowledgable as they are currently. Lastly, we come from conservative roots. We aren't the type of 'dot com' that burries itself in debt to take on a new venture. We have been profitable for decades and will remain that way moving forward.

Note: This is my personal opinion not an official OneCall opinion.

[ChunLisBF]

onecall rocks!

[Catt]

Yamaha products are not a good indicator of price competitiveness -- Yamaha has a very aggressive "warranty valid only if purchased at authorized dealer" approach to the consumer market, which tends to produce larger than otherwise expected price differentials between authorized dealers and the "gray market."

The wider pricing band on Yamaha between authorized dealers and others also seems more pronounced (on a dollar basis) as base pricing on higher end products like the 2700 receiver; I also think (though haven't looked at it too closely) that the pricing band is more pronounced (on a percentage basis) on the higher end as the distribution channels are more limited and the production runs are lower (meaning its harder for gray market retailers to get their hands on product like the 2700).

I've ordered a number of items from OneCall (as well as Vanns, Amazon, Crutchfield, and a few of the "Brooklyn electronics" stores that frequently offer the lowest prices on places like PriceGrabber, NexTag, etc.) and have been comfortable enough to send repeat business to OneCall -- I'm not saying they're "awesome" but I'll always check OneCall, among other vendors, on a $500+ purchase because I know I'll usually get a competitive price among the merchants offering the "risk tolerance" profile I might be looking for on such a purchase.

Though their brief venture into DVD sales produced a sort of "WTF?" response when I saw their pricing -- I would be interested in hearing from OneCallGuy on what the heck that brief flirtation with DVD sales was all about since the plan didn't seem to be predicated on actually offering a decent price on what is basically a commodity.

[smartalecc5]

OneCall support is simply phenomenal - it's that simple.

[APerfect10]

I am glad we got a discussion going and I appreciate the Onecall guy taking his time to make an appearance...

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Onecall does not have nearly the history nor reputation of these other large, more expensive, electronic stores

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This is simply incorrect. OneCall, outside of NewEgg, is just about the highest rated online consumer electronics store.

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I'm sorry that you disagree. I'm not saying Onecall is some mom and pop small Internet store...i'd say they are mid range. In no way shape or form are they as big as the price matched companies they've listed. Thats a fact and hardly disputable.

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Yamaha products are not a good indicator of price competitiveness -- Yamaha has a very aggressive "warranty valid only if purchased at authorized dealer" approach to the consumer market, which tends to produce larger than otherwise expected price differentials between authorized dealers and the "gray market."

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Its the same for all audio/video equipment. Not just Yamaha. I've also checked out Pioneer Elite & Denon. They are both the same....

I started this thread as a complaint to their high prices. I have no qualms with their customer support which has been excellent for myself and many others. That's not the issue. The issue is their pricing.

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Ironically, we have a very powerful Summer Closeout promotion going on now that includes the Yamaha receiver mentioned in this thread. I will refrain from linking to it as I don't want this post deleted as spam.

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Shoot me a PM. I'm sitting here looking at the Yamaha RX-V2700 Receiver and i'm seeing no summer blowout price changes. It's still listed as $1598.99 and no special offers.

[Analyst]

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Onecall does not have nearly the history nor reputation of these other large, more expensive, electronic stores

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This is simply incorrect. OneCall, outside of NewEgg, is just about the highest rated online consumer electronics store.

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I'm sorry that you disagree. I'm not saying Onecall is some mom and pop small Internet store...i'd say they are mid range. In no way shape or form are they as big as the price matched companies they've listed. Thats a fact and hardly disputable.

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That was not your assertion - you said they don't have the history or reputation of the big stores. In fact, their reputation is better as evidenced by the ratings. What I did not address was the history. While obviously not nearly as large as, say, Amazon, OneCall been in business longer and remote-selling longer. What's relevent, though, is that OneCall is large enough and has been in business long enough, that their size and history should be at least neutral (size) or positive (history/reputation) factors when deciding whether or not to buy from them.

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Its the same for all audio/video equipment. Not just Yamaha. I've also checked out Pioneer Elite & Denon. They are both the same....

I started this thread as a complaint to their high prices. I have no qualms with their customer support which has been excellent for myself and many others. That's not the issue. The issue is their pricing.

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Pricing in general is a fair issue, and you are correct in that OneCall is not always the cheapest. I expect that anyone who is selling the Pioneer Elite at a discount may not be an authorized dealer, however.