Why is Monoprice so inexpensive?

[Marc]

As part of my plan to redo the network infrastructure in my home in order to help solve whatever network glitches or setup problems may be contributing to performance problems that visitors to Main Square have been seeing, I decided that I wanted to replace all of the network cables that I made with pre-made ones. I figured that it's certainly possible that I crimped an end poorly or something, or otherwise maybe one of the wires may have encountered a failure.

I bought the new managed switch from Provantage, but I had figured I'd buy the cables from MonoPrice. In shopping for the cables, I was amazed at just how inexpensive the Cat6 cables were. Short 5' cables were ~$1 apiece, 10' cables were $1.80, and even 50' cables were only $6.57! Plus, I got them in a variety of colors. Boy, will my network cables be pretty!

I'm just surprised at the difference in pricing between MonoPrice's cables and those otherwise commonly available at someplace like Best Buy, where a 50' cable is ~$40, about six times more expensive (and not in as many pretty colors ).

I've heard people raving about MonoPrice's prices for cables and other devices like HDMI switches, so I've been looking forward to purchasing from them.

[mercurial]

They loose money on every sale but they make it up in volume.

[JYoung]

They buy in bulk and maintain low overhead.

I know that at work, I can get 7' Cat 5e for about $1.00-$1.15 per cable if we buy at least 10 from Dell, Insight, or CDW.

I buy at Monoprice for personal stuff.

[Marc]

Oh, one advantage of doing this networking work is that with the new switch and all this Cat6 wiring, I'll have a gigabit backbone to my network. Of course, I don't think that I have any devices to plug into it that are gigabit-enabled yet, but at least I'll be able to migrate in that direction in the future.

[Gus]

You seem to have it backwards. It's not surprising that Monoprice can sell cables so cheap. It's surprising that Best Buy sells them for so much. But they know that people want to hook up that new printer or HDTV as soon as they get home, so they'll spend another $20 - $40 for a cable that they could get for a few dollars elsewhere. I always tell people that they can get a USB cable shipped overnight for cheaper than they can get one at Best Buy, but most people still buy it from Best Buy because they want it now.

[mercurial]

And, in all seriousness, Monoprice's quality has always been awesome. I love that site. They also have some good console accessories too.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Gus

You seem to have it backwards. It's not surprising that Monoprice can sell cables so cheap. It's surprising that Best Buy sells them for so much.

Perhaps I'm jaded from years of experience, but I do expect that retail prices to be significantly more than mail-order options. The general trade off, as you mentioned, is wanting it right now versus being willing to wait a day or two in order to save some money, with more money saved for waiting a longer time for the item to arrive.

It's just that a factor of six is much more than I had anticipated seeing. I would have figured that the retail store's price would generally be as much as 2-3 times the mail order price for small components like this. I wouldn't have guessed that the price would be as high as it is, and now I wonder how much of that is markup on the part of Best Buy, versus how much Dynex or whoever is charging for their retail packaging. I'm guessing that MonoPrice's cables aren't going to come in those nasty, hard-plastic shell cases like Best Buy's do.

[Combat Medic]

The problem is that Best Buy has to be able to compete on price on things like computers and TVs. Somebody will pricematch a computer to save ten dollars and yet will but will spend $20 on the USB cable that is needed to make it work.
Monoprice doesn't have to shift money from the left hand to the right so they are able to just give good prices.
And, the price at Best Buy for the cables isn't bad at all if you have the employee discount that was 5% over cost.

[ybrew]

Regarding the want/need it now for the cables, everytime I buy from monoprice, I over-buy by just a little bit.

If I needed 2 HDMI cables, I'd get 3 or 4. If I needed one component cable, I'd get 3.

Back in the day, I had (still do) boxes of USB, s-video, AV cables, galore.
My collection of HDMI & component cables isn't as extensive but since I've gone pure component in my theater, I have tons of extra HDMI cables laying around, as well as an HDMI switch collecting dust.

Not getting rid of anything though. Never know when I might need a cable right away.

I must confess though. I am using a monster subwoofer cable. I needed a cable years ago, and bought one locally. That's the only monster cable I have in any of my systems.

[mercurial]

Originally Posted by ybrew

Regarding the want/need it now for the cables, everytime I buy from monoprice, I over-buy by just a little bit.

If I needed 2 HDMI cables, I'd get 3 or 4. If I needed one component cable, I'd get 3.

Back in the day, I had (still do) boxes of USB, s-video, AV cables, galore.
My collection of HDMI & component cables isn't as extensive but since I've gone pure component in my theater, I have tons of extra HDMI cables laying around, as well as an HDMI switch collecting dust.

Not getting rid of anything though. Never know when I might need a cable right away.

I do the same thing the Big Ybowski does. In my "electronic" closet in my office, I have 3 of these:



All filled with spare cables, boards, mice, etc. Every so often I sort through and get rid of stuff I don't think I'll need again like 25-pin serial cables or parallel cables. Though I'm sure getting rid of those 25-pin serial cables and the 2:1 serial switch box will bit me in the butt one of these days...

Originally Posted by ybrew

I must confess though. I am using a monster subwoofer cable. I needed a cable years ago, and bought one locally. That's the only monster cable I have in any of my systems.

I think I have a Monster A/V cable and one component cable. I got them many, many years ago before Monoprice and back when Monster was only slightly more expensive than running to Radio Shack.

[Guindalf]

I, too, made the mistake of buying ONE Monster branded item. It's a $79 surge protector I was talked into when I bought my first HDTV about 7 or 8 years ago.

All my cables and accessories come from Monoprice now and I'm in the "buy extra" camp too.

[jgerry]

I'm with Mercurial and ybrew -- I overbuy every time I order from Monoprice because it's just so cheap, why not have plenty of extras?

Originally Posted by mercurial

I do the same thing the Big Ybowski does. In my "electronic" closet in my office, I have 3 of these:

What is this thing and where did you get it? I desperately need to get some of these for my home office / studio!!

[evizzle]

I have tons and tons of cables too, and it is really handy for someone who is constantly fiddling. If I get a new device, I always have enough cables to make it work. The WORST thing is having to wait for it to work, I hate even waiting for online orders to come, so I always make sure I have the cables I need.

I should get that tower thingy, I have a huge tote full. It is a jumbled mess. Maybe I should inventory it also and get some sort of spreadsheet of what I have... oh the things I find fun...

[Marc]

That looks like some of the organizers I've seen in Jo-Ann's or Michael's.

[Marc]

Oh, and I did buy extra, too. Instead of figuring out how many patch cables I needed, I just bought one of each color in two different sizes.

[ybrew]

I think we answered part of the question.

Monoprice is so cheap because most of the people do shop in volume.

[bsnelson]

I misread the title as "...expensive..." and I was wondering if you were being sarcastic.

I also love Monoprice. They had a sale on really short HDMI cables a while back; they were like 0.5 meter or something, but they were perfect for my application. I bought 5 of them, and they're all five in use now. They were like $2 apiece or close to that.

Long live Monoprice!

Brad

[mercurial]

Originally Posted by jgerry

I'm with Mercurial and ybrew -- I overbuy every time I order from Monoprice because it's just so cheap, why not have plenty of extras?

What is this thing and where did you get it? I desperately need to get some of these for my home office / studio!!

Just a plastic "tower-o-drawers" with casters. You can get them at office supply stores (Staples, OfficeMax), home improvement (Lowe's, Home Depot), or, my favorite, warehouse stores (Costco).

[Gai-jin]

The only downside to Monoprice is the shipping cost... No, they're not unreasonable, but it seems silly to buy a $1 cable and pay $8 for shipping.

Thus, I also tend to buy several items at a time, so as to make the shipping cost per item more affordable.

[doom1701]

I haven't been completely happy with Monoprice's Cat5e cables; the release on the connector is shorter than other brands I've worked with. In some devices, the release gets buried in the jack, and I need a small screwdriver to pop the cable out.

But, for the price, and for as often as I have to disconnect cables once everything is hooked up, I still buy them. I really like the other cable selection they have, too--it's tough to find a serial console cable these days, but monoprice has them and they're dirt cheap.

[JYoung]

Originally Posted by Gai-jin

The only downside to Monoprice is the shipping cost... No, they're not unreasonable, but it seems silly to buy a $1 cable and pay $8 for shipping.

Thus, I also tend to buy several items at a time, so as to make the shipping cost per item more affordable.

They do have will call.
Of course, you'd have to come out to California.....

[Marc]

You know, that was something that crossed my mind. I'll be in southern California next week and could pick up my order. But then I wouldn't have it in time to do the wiring before I head out, and I'd have to lug it back myself. At that point, I would have been better off to pay the $9 for ground shipping instead.

It did kind of make me wish I still lived in Upland, adjacent to Monoprice's home in Rancho Cucamonga.

[Unregistered]

Originally Posted by mercurial

I think I have a Monster A/V cable and one component cable. I got them many, many years ago before Monoprice and back when Monster was only slightly more expensive than running to Radio Shack.

I have 4 Monster-branded, 10' Cat 5 cables that I picked up from Radio Shack. They were on clearance for a dollar or two each.

[doom1701]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I have 4 Monster-branded, 10' Cat 5 cables that I picked up from Radio Shack. They were on clearance for a dollar or two each.

I've got 50ft of Monster speaker cable (12 or 14 gauge, I think). I bought it back in 1993 when I bought my stereo. That was back in the day when Monster was only slightly more expensive than the stuff sitting next to it on the shelf at Best Buy.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by bsnelson

I misread the title as "...expensive..." and I was wondering if you were being sarcastic.

I had originally wanted to say "so cheap", but I didn't want any confusion over the topic being on price and not quality. I've heard almost no negative comments about the quality of Monoprice's comment (save for Tim's comment about the release latch), so I have very high hopes.