Spending all day hunting down a $40-$80 item is a joke especially coming up with a blank.
Point in case...not one computer place in Raleigh carries an Intel E7300 (2.66 GHz dual core) CPU for my current computer build...they can get it, however.
They have the newer more expensive high end CPU's and a lot of slower older stuffer. One is out of luck finding middle of the road performers off the shelf locally. That CPU has to be ordered...then I have to go back to the store to get it. HEll, I can sleep through that 4 hrs of aggravation..... PS I knew better too as 2 phone calls proved my intuition to be correct.
The thing is get a fee-free card, pay off the balance and collect the points — you can not just be “convenienced”, but ahead. I completely agree with buying from reputable dealers. We wait until we have enough books on our wish list so we can get free shipping from Amazon for example. You can save, time, money and frustration. Plus institutions like Amex and PayPal double your insurance on purchases.
Oh, and call them and have the preposterous limits reduced from $20K+ to say $1000 (they hate this - tee hee). If you pay it off monthly, you never need it, and if it gets lost your liability is immediately limited.
I wouldn’t even know if we have a dedicated computer shop locally these days. All purchases off the net. Coincidentally, the e7300 is roughly what I am targeting as well.