Why it’s bad to buy charging electronics from Retail stores

(Last Updated On: January 24, 2017)

Generic Chargers

If you’re out shopping and you see a charging cable, you think to yourself: “Hm, I could really use that cable, my cable is getting damaged and this one might be better than my last charging cable”.

DO NOT get the cable! Going into a retail store is part Purposeful and part Impulse. The purposeful part is the things that you planned on getting in the first place. The Impulse purchases are things that you purchase because you think you might need them because they caught your attention as something that could be very detrimental but the truth is that Impulse purchases are nearly the worst financial decisions that you can make.

An Impulse buy is a waste because you don’t know what you’re getting before you buy it and sure, the chances of getting something of quality may be high for some products but if we’re talking about the category of charges, then that is not the case. You will be purchasing an overpriced product that will not live up to expectations, which will either end up with disappointment and wasted money. Or a return to the store, wasting gas and then disappointment with for the Impulse buy.

At Charger Harbor, we’re here to alleviate any Impulse purchases that you may be craving because we know that you’re better than that and we want your products to hold quality.

How do retailers get their products?

All retail products are not bad, they can be good if you know what you’re getting or if many customers have gotten the same product and have given it good ratings.

But what about the low-quality products? Here’s the thing, retailers are just a front for entrepreneurs, meaning that retailers sell the many products of other companies. It’s a supply chain you see.

 

Supply Chain 1.0

 

The supply chain is basically the entirety of what makes up the entire business side of thing and the consumer experience.

The manufacturer is the one who actually produces the product, this means that manufacturing is as specific from the minerals that were mined or resources that were harvested for the product to come together. Then taken to the factory to actually be made. Once the products are produced, they’re sold off directly to suppliers/wholesalers for cheap prices.

The supplier/wholesaler is a company that holds many products of different variety because they have bought it for a relatively cheap price, so they have lots and lots of products from different categories. Since the supplier has so many products, they are able to organize them in such a way that that can make it easy for a retailer to choose what products they want to sell.

Does the retailer want to specialize in electronics? Then the retailer can simply choose the electronics section with the supplier and choose what products they’d like to purchase and sell those at their own store.

You’re most likely thinking: “Wait, the retailer is just purchasing and reselling”. Yes, that’s what exactly is happening, the retailer purchases products at wholesale prices, which means that the products are quite cheap since they’re being bought in high quantities. Then when the retailer purchases the products from the supplier, they increase the price higher from the price they bought it for. This is then considered the retail price, which is the price that customers see at a store.

Why are retail products so bad?

Well as we said before, not all retail products have poor quality but some do. This is because when the retailer wants to sell something, they don’t care about the quality too much, all the retailer knows is that they want to sell a product and that’s really it. Looking into the details of a product is not a concern or willing to say something about the improvement of a product is not what a retailer does most of the time.

For example A retailer wants to sell charging cables. The retailer is really thinking about just a plain charging cable that is either for Android devices or for Apple products. Once they find a product from a supplier that fits their desired product to sell, they purchase it. There isn’t any further investigation about whether the product is of good quality, what material is it made of or how long the cable will last.

The same can go for power banks. Many suppliers don’t have 3000mAh mini power bank and yet the standard is 3000mAh capacity for mini power banks. Suppliers don’t have power banks that are equipped with smart tech charging or Quick Charge. What options do retailers have? Retailers settle with the generic power banks that offer no value other than serving as a normal power source. In the end, retailers settle for products they don’t know a better alternative to and ultimately the consumer is the one that is left with highly mediocre products.

Take a look at these two products.

Apple Authentic USB Wall Charger & Lightning to USB Cable                Anker PowerPort 2

$12.15                                                                                                      $10.99

Pic 1        

Walmart sells a one port wall charger with a Lightning cable. All of that is for $12.15.

Anker sells a PowerPort 2 that features PoweriQ for both ports for $10.99.

Walmart seems to think that by showing their potential customer that they sell a “Genuine” Apple product, then more people will buy it. Walmart doesn’t understand that wall chargers no longer need to fit the standard of Apple anymore because many charging companies have matched or surpassed the standard of Apple products. Not only that, people don’t want Apple products other than their main products such as iPhones, Macs, and iPads. Going to Apple for products such as chargers and cables is bound to end with spending tons of money and plain products with just normal capabilities.

A wall charger with two ports that features smart charging is less than the price for just a one port wall charger and a Lightning cable. It’s clear to see that buying the Anker PowerPort 2 is the better option because you can get the wall charger and purchase a charging cable that will make the price equivalent to the price of the Walmart option. This way you can get a great wall charger and a charging cable. That is what retail stores cannot offer. 

Then where should I purchase products that have a high chance of being bad at a retail store?

The best option to get a quality product is by ordering it from an online store. Online shopping is overall better because online retailers know better about what people want since the internet is the second front of people’s live. People spend most of their time on the internet, it’s where they sell out most of their wants and needs about what they want with their products. Consumers say much more when it comes to the internet rather than real life, which is why it’s best to get products that aren’t a good quality in retail stores, from online.

To know more about why it’s better to get products from online, check out this explanation here.

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