How does that work?

[zitwep10]

Well today I checked on my online store for green LED fans and I found something which makes me wonder.

On that site a green LED fan is 6.50 Swiss francs which is roughly 5 USD and at the Media Store next to where is live, the exact same fan costs 19 CHF (roughly 14 USD). How does that work? Obviously with the online store you have to pay for shipping, so buying one fan comes out more expensive than 19 bucks, but as soon as you go over 1 fan, it's cheaper.

I don't understand how there can be so much of a price difference..

http://www.ldlc.ch/fiche/PB00036864.html

[DaveW]

Online guys don't have a shop to maintain. They can set up in someone's bedroom. It's usually that.

-Dave

[tybrenis]

Yep, it's all about overhead.

I run an online shop. Well, sometimes.

I'm 15 years old. I run it out of my parent's home. Thus, I have virtually no overhead. My only fees are webhosting fees and sometimes eBay fees when I sell there. I don't have to pay my salary, pay for my kid's education, put food on the table, pay a morgage etc. Small businesses are extremely easy to run sometimes, especially online. However, competition online is very high.

For instance, my markup on most products ends up turning me about a $1-$2 profit in the end by the the time I have undersold or outsold someone on eBay and then paid all my fees. It's just virtually impossible to make good money online anymore.

[simon275]

Yeah I bought a new boxed and wrapped wifi card off ebay and saved $40 of store prices.

[Omega]

Overhead, as others have mentioned. IT's cheaper to buy from the internet because they're not factoring in warehouse/store rent charges, electricity bills for said store, etc.