There are two prices for the same exact item. What one is the correct price?

Bodasactra

The Ryzen 5 5600 non X CPU is currently listed on the CPU 1st page at $129 and also on the 2nd page at $159. It was listed at $119 just a few days ago. What is the actual price at this time, I am having a hard time keeping up with all the price shifting.

Rye_Bread

Hey, Bodasactra!

After some short digging, I think I've found the two SKUs you're referring to:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/647886/amd-ryzen-5-5600-vermeer-35ghz-6-core-am4-boxed-processor-wraith-stealth-cooler-included

https://www.microcenter.com/product/665979/amd-ryzen-5-5600-vermeer-35ghz-6-core-am4-oem-processor-heatsink-not-included

It looks to me that they're the exact same processor, the one that includes the cooler being priced at $129.99 and the one without the heatsink being $159.99. It looks to me that the one for $129.99 is marked on sale and the other one at $159.99 is at retail, which is why the price is lower. I would recommend just going for the first link, the less expensive one.

Hope this helps!

Bodasactra

I was about to buy a Ryzen 5000 CPU when the 5600X3D released. Prices went up significantly on the whole 5000 stack and this more expensive $159 5600 OEM suddenly appeared replacing the original 5600 available at $119. That is quite the price difference for much less value. The more expensive version has no cooler yet cost $40 more? Now, both versions are available after 5600X3D release day. This appears to be a very sloppy price and availability shift designed to push the 5600X3D upsell not a "sale". Considering the exclusivity of the release, I find it to be very anti consumer behavior that throws a cloud over the 5600X3D release and Microcenter's reputation. This is their big AMD exclusive and its sad they would use they opportunity to exploit consumers. Microcenter is one of the best but this is not the first time they cost consumers unnecessary expense It concerns me I am forced to watch prices at Microcenter daily to avoid paying too much. Online purchase offers connivence and in this case better value. Microcenter is rapidly becoming no longer worth the gas and the headache.

Thanks for your help with this rotten potato

PowerSpec_MichaelB

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/50880#Comment_50880

Prices did not increase across the entire 5000 series, some of them were running limited promotional sales that have since ended. All of them are still listed well below the original MSRP and we are still offering the lowest competitive prices across all other retailers for these processors. In situations where we are not, we offer price matching. Fun fact: I was responsible for testing the 5600X3D in-house and I created a price:performance chart back in May. You can compare the prices on that chart to today (7/10) to see how much the pricing has changed:

Those of you reading this, the standard 5600 was not tested, but at the current $130 price, it's probably the best price:performance processor available right now if pairing with a mid-range GPU.

With that out of the way, the appearance of the 5600 OEM was not a rug pull, this specific SKU was simply not flagged for promotional sales like the others. I imagine this will be corrected but either way, every single Micro Center store has maintained stock of the cheaper retail version of this processor and are still currently offering it at $129.99 with an additional $20 to be saved when bundled with a motherboard. The only store with a limited supply at the moment is Yonkers (currently 4 as of this post) but I imagine they will receive more to replenish.

I can also assure you that the 5600X3D launch had no impact on the availability of the standard 5600. We didn't pull them off the shelves or restrict the SKU in the POS system either. From a business perspective, it would make little sense to leave inventory on the shelves with no intention to sell them, that would hurt us more in the long run.

At the end of the day, pricing and availability is always subject to change. We run temporary sales multiple times throughout the week as part of our insider email alerts that sometimes only offer a 3-day sale window:

We offer monthly sales on some products, others are as limited as a single day. None of this is designed to be anti-consumer. We simply couldn't survive as a brick & mortar store if we adopted anti-consumer practices. If you think something was off about these processors at your local store, send me the details and I will forward it to the appropriate team to look into it. Just know that we do genuinely care about making sure everyone is happy with their products and the overall experience that they have with our stores.

Bodasactra

Thanks for the very detailed explanation.

I see you included some very nice looking images and charts. Do you have images of the Microcenter CPU product pages online the days before, during, and after, the 5600X3D release showing online availability and pricing changes for the items concerned? There may be some confusion between the situation online compared to the in store options available on the shelf/SKU. Perhaps separate departments were not on the same page, no pun intended, and could use online options to revisit those pages as they appeared at the time.

As I understand you, the Ryzen 5000 series "sales" ended and the new OEM 5600, with no cooler, suddenly appeared online costing $40 more than the standard version at the same time the 5600X3D released? It was mere chance of fate? Do the new 5000 series prices reflect a reduced MSRP base price or is this still at "sale" prices? I am confused as they are not at original MSRP and the "sale" designation is not clearly represented to my eyes.

Its highly suspect that suddenly the 5600(X) prices are much higher than they had been for some time exactly when the 5600X3D released. Same for the 8 core Ryzen 5000 options at the time. They became perfectly positioned and timed to encourage consumers to spend the extra cost and get the 5600X3D, the classic upsell pricing tactic. We are getting close to a case of my lying eyes.

Microcenter is selling a last gen CPU product line, that is heading in its 3rd year since release, at well below MSRP. I think it more than safe to say most of your competitors are doing the same. Using 5000 series MSRP as a base for discussing pricing difference in the context of this topic is somewhat disingenuous. As you noted, Microcenter changes prices in as little as day. One could interpret the practice of unpredictable, rapid price changing as both a positive or a negative determined on an individual basis of how that practice is implemented. Pulling a lower price product offline, or shifting its price up, for a day, to increases sales for a new, more expensive product would be viewed as a negative, possibly hasty, use of that practice, for example.

Why did the St. Davids store sell me a Power Color 5600XT GPU, that was in stock near a year before covid, for $450 when the MSRP was $279? It appeared suddenly on this store's pages many months after isolation started, the only 5600XT available at Microcenter nationwide. I was told at time of purchase they found this one long misplaced in the store inventory and they put it up for sale at this highly inflated price THEY determined to be "fair". Blaming distributors, manufacturers, or whatever other reasons Microcenter used to explain GPU scalping during an international health crisis, does not apply to this particular scalped consumer. I am sure a copy of this products description page, with price, is available in online webpage histories as well as the in store records of my Microcenter scalping experience.

The St. Davids store scalped me near $200 on a GPU because it decided to do just that, no other entity or outside pricing influence was responsible. I had been saving for over a year for a GPU to add to my all Microcenter parts PC build from 2019. The parts list for that purchase is in my Microcenter purchase history as well. Was Microcenter responsible for GPU scalping other consumers during the Covid crisis while claiming it was not in their control? The fact Microcenter scalped me certainly demonstrates the willingness and capacity to do the same to others. It also demonstrates Microcenter is not lily white clean when it comes to anti-consumer behavior as a matter of their own record.

As I have stated previously, Microcenter is one of the best, but clearly not above the behavior of it's competition's anti-consumer practices. There is much room to improve in this area and defending or ignoring this behavior only serves to assure its continuance. Is it really worth these needless, petty actions to sully an otherwise phenomenal reputation so hard earned? Its a stain for consumers and all the dedicated people working so hard at building that solid reputation for their employer. As you so rightfully noted, Microcenter depends on great prices and outstanding service to compete with the convenience offered by it's online competitors. It would be critical for Microcenter to revisit the concept of that understanding before making hasty pricing and availability decisions that may reflect poorly on the company, intentional or not. This even more so when provided the rare privilege of offering a valued product exclusively. Particularly obvious temptation for price manipulation arise along with this unusual responsibility. Microcenter would do well to ensure all is in good order the day of exclusive release with the heightened attention it garners.

Thanks again for the additional information, it was enlightening. I hope your reply may end further confusion on what could be an unfortunate misunderstanding. Certainly it is worthy of sharing with the wider PC building enthusiast community.

Again, Thanks for your kind words, time, and effort.

PowerSpec_MichaelB

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/50931#Comment_50931

I do not have screenshots of the pricing before or after the sales (we might be able to use the Wayback Machine for archive data on that:https://archive.org/web/) however I do have access to the internal point of sales systems and I can see all previous prices. The 5600X3D had zero bearing on pricing across the product stack. If you have a sales ad or a picture of the CPU price on a specific date, I can investigate this for you (especially if it was a deal limited to your local store), but I've found nothing on my end that would suggest any price changes that correspond solely with the launch of the 5600X3D.

As for the 5600 OEM being a "chance of fate", I wouldn't give fate too much credit here. Sales end at midnight EST (9PM Pacific for our Tustin store), the same time product pages are updated on our website. New products appearing the same time as sales end is extremely common based on the update flow for our servers. As for MSRP vs sales pricing, it's always going to change based on the manufacturer (in this case, AMD) and our commitment to having the cheapest processor pricing will further reduce that price. This is why as of writing this, we still have the lowest processor prices on the market. If other retailers have a sale to beat our prices, we price match.

I don't believe I fully understand the benefits behind raising the prices of the 5000 series to sell more 5600X3Ds. There are several mitigating factors here that would prevent us from doing so.

1. Shelf space. Why would we want to raise the prices of an entire product series just to sell one very specific, niche processor if it is going to force us to hold on to older inventory? As a business, we want to sell our inventory, not hold on to it. The 5600X3D will sell itself to collectors and small form factor enthusiasts, it doesn't need market manipulation to aid in that endeavor.
2. Price to performance. We can't raise the prices of lower-end processors to sell a faster processor. If the price to performance is off, customers simply won't buy them. My previous chart already showed the 5600X to be a better price to performance value over the 5600X3D, the standard 5600 would be an even greater value. We are not hiding this, and our current pricing still reflects this.
3. Market. "In a free economy, the market regulates itself". This is a very true statement and by far the biggest reason why it would be impossible for us to manipulate the 5000 series pricing. If we raised the pricing of our 5000 series products to accommodate the 5600X3D launch, customers would shop elsewhere for cheaper processors. The market keeps itself in check by preventing any one retailer from going insane on pricing for the sake of profit. It's bad business in general and it's why you do not see it often. Sacrificing sales on an entire product lineup just to sell one SKU is just silly from a business perspective.

As for our competitors selling below MSRP, that is again true, and plays back to what I referenced in my previous point (#3). If our pricing keeps theirs low, it means the inverse is equally true, they keep our pricing low. I disagree that speaking in the context of MSRP is disingenuous simply because all "sales" are relative to MSRP, however I will concede that MSRP as a concept is meaningless. After all, it's Manufacturer Suggested Retail Pricing and a suggestion is not a requirement. This means retailers are free to price above and below MSRP based on the supply & demand of the market. You've likely seen the biggest example of this occur during the GPU shortages a few years back. Still, there are limits to how low we can go, and how long we are allowed to do so. I do not know if I am allowed to speak in great detail on this, but the short of it is that it prevents one retailer from pricing so extremely low that it impacts other businesses. Otherwise, all mom & pop stores would be destroyed in the market by massive retail chains. This is known as predatory pricing: https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/single-firm-conduct/predatory-or-below-cost-pricing.

As for our single day sales, they are often designed to get rid of what we call "non-stock" SKUs or SKUs that are being phased out entirely. They are often accompanied by a tag on our email blast in the title stating "24 hours only". I know this is an extreme bummer for customers that live a bit away from their local Micro Center stores, however we do have a reservation system and said system does hold pricing for up to 72 hours. This means if you reserve the item on the day the sale ends, you are still going to get the sale price as long as you show up within 72 hours.

As for the discussion on the GPU sales pricing, this is always going to be a point of contention. I personally didn't buy a GPU during that time (GPU pricing was insane across the entire market and we don't get discounts on GPUs as employees) and having a job made it impossible for me to stand in line for the unique deals/reservations without taking a vacation day and gambling on the chance to get one. Still, this plays back to my previous point #3. The market will ultimately dictate pricing based on supply & demand. As unbelievable as it sounds, we paid well above MSRP for those cards just to carry them in-store. I wager all retailers did. The only cards that were not sold above MSRP were the Founders Edition cards, but we simply couldn't get our hands on them, especially during that time. You may see it as scalping, but I can promise you nobody in the company wanted those cards priced that high. It ate into the rest of our component sales and caused a significant imbalance in our inventory. People having to pay 2x-3x the price for a GPU meant they couldn't afford a new processor or monitor to go with it. This is far from ideal as it leaves you holding the bag when new products come out and nobody no longer wants last-gen. Still, sorry to hear about your GPU, I was fortunate enough to have a faster last-gen GPU to hold me over during that time.

On the subject of anti-competitive or anti-consumer behavior, it's difficult for me to speak given my position as I will always be perceived as biased. That said, I am a Micro Center customer as well (I shopped at the store long before working here) and I respectfully disagree on the anti-competitive/anti-consumer views. I just haven't seen any evidence of this occurring. Even if we use the insane GPU prices during the 2019-2020 shortages, the entire market was in chaos. I've touched upon it back then and I still firmly stand behind what I said back then too:

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/31566#Comment_31566

Had we sold cards at their original MSRP despite paying significantly more for them, we probably wouldn't be here having this conversation. Using the Wayback machine provided earlier, we can see what manufacturer pricing looked like during that shortage: https://web.archive.org/web/20220130221949/https://www.zotacstore.com/us/graphics-cards/geforce-rtx-30-series. Again, nobody wanted those prices. Not the retailers, not the customers.

At the end of the day, I have genuine faith in the practices of this company. If I didn't, I wouldn't be working here. I also believe in speaking with people directly on these subjects rather than ignore them or delete the threads. Genuine concerns must be met with genuine discussion, period. There is a fourth mitigating factor that keeps a business honest that I didn't elude to earlier and that is the customer. We take no offense when customers point out the mistakes we make. In fact, we actively encourage it. Some of the best product improvements we've made to our PowerSpec systems came directly from customer feedback. The same goes for some of our in-store practices. If we ignore the customer, they will go elsewhere and we will ultimately fail. This is why I stand by my offer to look into this issue further because if something did occur, it means there is an opportunity to improve.

Apologies for the massive wall of text. There was a lot to discuss here. Still, thank you for taking the time to share your concerns and to have a conversation. We need more of this around here.

Bodasactra

As I stated, my particular GPU was in stock long before Covid started. The price Microcenter paid for it was not impacted by any factors related to Covid. Microcenter asked a price well above MSRP of its own accord taking full advantage of the circumstances surrounding the market at the time of isolation. Fair enough, I was lucky to get the only 5600XT available retail on Earth at the time. Microcenter offered the GPU at an inflated price and I happily accepted.

The problem for me arises in that Microcenter has, and continues, to deny it had any part in scalping consumers. They claim it was the manufacturer raising prices due to increased parts and shipping cost, vendors, distributors, etc. The fact is Microcenter scalped customers for GPUs just like everyone else but it refuses to own it. Honor among thieves for me I guess, wet my neck and tell me its raining. Again, Microcenter is one of the best but, I will never trust they are all about consumers first again. My GPU experience is about revealing the capacity and motivations you claim do not exist at Microcenter.

I see we will have to agree to disagree on the Ryzen 5000 prices going up when the 5600X3D released exclusively. Based on my past experience I have doubts about the timing and motivations. Microcenter sets its prices as it sees fit as is there right. I call them out when I feel they are exploiting consumers as is my right. It is also my right to buy the CPU I intended to purchase at Microcenter elsewhere with free delivery. it works out to about the same price now that the "sales" ended. Its an insignificant thing I know but, I no longer have to make excuses about placing convenience over price.

Glad you are happy at Microcenter, they are a great company. Good luck:)

PowerSpec_MichaelB

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/51006#Comment_51006

I can guarantee you COVID had a significant impact on all GPU pricing. Not just for our company, across the entire industry. It doesn't help that there was a silica shortage that coincided with the pandemic. Material shortage coupled with shutdowns across shipping logistic centers are a recipe for disaster no matter how you slice it. You don't need to take my word for it either, this is all documented across various news sources: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191108-why-the-world-is-running-out-of-sand (November of 2019), https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/05/sand-shortage-the-world-is-running-out-of-a-crucial-commodity.html (March of 2021)

A GPU being in-stock before COVID does not mean it did not sell and was replaced by a card that was marked up by the vendor. There are threads all over the internet showing bare shelves at our stores, GPUs sold very quickly. Keep in mind, this was with a 1 per household limit in-place that was enforced within the POS system and it still wasn't enough to stave off demand to keep enough supply.

I can also assure you that Microcenter did not scalp customers. By definition alone (as defined by Oxford):

We can ignore the historical definition entirely. If we look at the second definition and replace shares/tickets with products, it would only be true if they were sold for either a large or quick profit. Even with the markup, we sold these GPUs near cost. As I demonstrated in my previous post, vendors marked their cards up not just for customers, but for retailers as well to stave off demand because they simply couldn't produce enough cards to keep up with demand. It certainly didn't help that cryptomining was big at the time too.

I said it before and I will say it again, nobody wanted those GPU prices to be that high. Even if you ignore our altruistic endeavors entirely and look at it from a business perspective, it makes zero sense to intentionally scalp GPU prices just so the rest of our inventory can rot and eventually get marked down below cost because new hardware is released. You don't find it odd that every single retailer had similar pricing during the shortages and pandemic? Do you think every single retailer across the entire world got on a conference call and agreed to raise prices worldwide? If so, why would we stop at GPUs? We just don't have that kind of power. When a vendor tells us "This is what you are paying and this is the pricing window you must abide by", we have to listen, period.

The truth is, we didn't scalp anyone. As unfortunate as it was, we were at the mercy of the market, just like every other retailer. I don't like defending our competition (they are big companies, they can handle themselves) but it's the simple truth.

As always, I welcome open discussions on any subject here. I also appreciate you remaining professional throughout the conversation, it means a lot.

Bodasactra

Again, Microcenter had my GPU in stock before Covid yet sold it near double the MSRP as if they paid a Covid inflated price themselves when they did not. Microcenter scalped me solely based on market demand, i.e., they did it because they could and there is no other outside entity responsible. You can go on all day on why Microceneter would not scalp on GPU prices but, they did. Nobody can change that reality no matter how many misdirected words or images they post. Again, I agreed to be scalped, fair enough, but, this creative avoidance to own what was done is more shameful than the original act. I can understand why it was done, anyone who accepts capitalism would. I cannot accept denial it ever occurred when its a matter of undeniable record.

Did you know Microcenter item descriptions for the AMD 6600/6600XT GPUs claimed they were x16 PCIe 4 bandwidth parts for a year when in fact these parts were PCIe x8 lane bandwidth? Independent testing demonstrated x8 PCIe lanes on theses GPUs could result in less than expected performance that would grow worse over time. I had informed you guys early on several times yet month after month there was no correction. How many people purchased these GPUSs while Microcenter was knowingly using incorrect product specifications on item description pages for so long? When Microcenter finally did make the corrections in the descriptions did they reach out to the consumers who purchased these parts based on descriptions known to be incorrect? Did Microcenter provided them with any options to redress this very anti-consumer behavior?

Can you provide information on how many of these AMD GPUs were sold while the incorrect specifications were knowingly listed for such an extended period? What other items were sold with mistakes in description that have an actual impact on the consumers expectations? Were those consumers offered redress?

I would expect a hard no on my long list of concerns for obvious reasons. I think we should leave this thread as is, my list of concerns is long and increasingly valid. I would not wish it to go on any further than I have already expressed. There is room to improve, I say it to myself everyday. Its really easy to say and we can move on.

PowerSpec_MichaelB

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/51025#Comment_51025

We will likely need to move beyond the GPU issue as I doubt either of us are going to concede this point. I've provided significant evidence for the silica shortages, pandemic issues as well as proof of vendor pricing. There isn't much more I can do beyond this so we can leave it at that.

As for the product descriptions being x16 vs x8, this is something I can personally take responsibility for as I made the decision to keep them listed as x16. In fact, I was the same person that had this conversation with you back then as well. https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/10200/rx6600-and-6600xt-are-limited-to-8-pcie-lanes-not-16-should-specs-description-show-this-fixed. I still stand behind this decision for the points outlined in that thread. If you have suggestions on how to better convey the physical interface vs electrical wiring, I am willing to bring this to the web team and better clarify the product selection going forward.

I get your frustrations, I genuinely do, I just do not share your belief that there is malice or intentional deceit behind these decisions. I do however share your belief that there is always room to improve. It's exactly why I am willing to have these discussions and to take the feedback we are given. I want people to feel like they can bring any question or concern here, no matter what they are, and that they will walk away with an honest answer. Granted, I might not have all of the answers myself, but in those situations I'll find the ones that do and circle back when necessary.

Bodasactra

I always appreciate your efforts, You did eventually make the changes I requested previously bolstering my sense of self importance.

The level of my frustrations are commensurate to the level of my expectations based on many very positive past experiences with Microcenter. It has been my privilege to brag often and loudly about what I consider some of the best deals in the history of the DIY PC building hobby only available at Microcenter. I would be lying to say I do not find some pleasure when people speak to me of their envy of my proximity to a Microcenter store.

On occasion there have been certain decisions that have directly impacted my purchase plans. There may have been an item I was about to come in for and I discover the description is wrong or the price has gone up significantly. Some mistakes were mine others yours but, I will always be more vocal about yours, it makes me feel better about the deal that got away.

Can you tell me what the biggest room at Microcenter is?

Until next time.

P.S. Your circles are like poetry, they rhyme like a George Lucas trilogy.

PowerSpec_MichaelB

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/51109#Comment_51109

Not entirely sure I understand the question regarding the biggest room at Micro Center, but I do appreciate your kind words.