The 7970m price increase and reseller trickery

Back in late May most Sager/Clevo resellers like XoticPC and LPC digital were charging $200 to upgrade the graphics cards in P150EMs and P170EMs from a NVidia 1.5GB 670m card to an AMD 7970m ( AMD Radeon HD 7970M Now Available) but now those same resellers are charging $300 for that upgrade. I find it hard to believe that 7970m prices have actually gone up over time so what explains the price increase?

I've noticed that around the same time a lot of resellers started offering the same $100 discounts on sager purchases over $1350 which all sager laptops with the 7970m upgrade qualify for. Are resellers just shifting prices around so they can advertise a cheaper base model and then recoup their losses by jacking up the cost of the 7970m upgrade, an attempt to draw customers in with a mere illusion of savings? If this is true and there is no legitimate reason why the 7970m upgrade has become more expensive, it's a pretty dishonest and unethical business practice.

 

or it may be that AMD has finally shown signs of solving the enduro problem plaguing Clevo owners with 7970M

 

If fixing a compatibility issue between a particular laptop model and a graphics card really did drive up demand for that card so much that its price increased by $100, then why does the 7970m upgrade cost $200 in Alienware laptops? Why are resellers that don't have a $100 off autumn promotion still offering the 7970m upgrade in sager laptops for $200? If fixing compatibility issues between Sager laptops and the 7970m truly increased the card's price then the upgrade would cost $300 in every laptop regardless of whether its a Sager or not and every reseller's 7970m upgrade prices would increase.

 

Can't speak to the Sager guys, but yea our cost difference is ~$150 on the 7970m not $300, but we base all our costs on our raw costs. But yea the 7970m has gone up like $15 over the past quarter but so has every other GPU so thats more of an across the board thing.

 

I see your point in that if you just look at the 7970M. But what you may have not noticed is since the Autumn sale has started, Hard drive prices have gone down, SSD Prices have gone down, Blu Ray drive prices have gone down, RAM prices have gone down, Screen upgrade prices have gone down, 670MX/675MX prices have gone down from their prices when first added, 675M is now free upgrade. Theres no trickery, its just one option happen to go up in price.

 

Thank you for your response. I understand your point but it does not explain the disparity in graphics card upgrade prices between the Alienware M17x and the Sager laptops. Why does it cost $200 to upgrade an Alienware M17x from a 660M to a 7970M but $300 to upgrade a Sager from a 670M to a 7970M?

 

You're very welcome, happy to try to clear up any questions.
They do set their own starting prices. It like asking why the Alienware cost $180 more to begin with and starts with a lower card then the 9170 does (before the 7970M is even factored in). If you took the two and just upgraded the GPU to 7970M the Sager would be still a lower price then the Alienware.
When looking at prices you dont want to look too much into individual parts upgrade prices but the final price once all configured.

 

Thanks, I understand that laptop pricing is more complex than the sum cost of individual components, it just seems very strange that component upgrade costs are relative to the laptop they are upgrading instead of being relative to the stock component they are replacing. A 7970M in a Sager is the exact same 7970M in an Alienware therefore their cost should be the same minus the cost of the component they are replacing, just like every other hardware component out there. The relative cost of upgrading a hard drive, ram, or any other universal hardware component is the same regardless of laptop manufacturer, why would GPUs be any different?

 

Wish i had a good answer for that honestly but there really isnt one. I can say there is no trickery intended though

 

Surely not nearly as much trickery as you guys experience from some clients or tire kickers! I have to say that I checked several sites before making my recent Sager purchase and you all are pretty close in price/promos. Some component upgrade promos differ from site to site, but you all are competitive, and that has to keep prices down if anything.

After first looking at the "high end" Lenovos and HPs, the Sagers seem to offer great bang for your buck. Some people just want to feel like they are getting a deal, even if it means haggling.