Amiga.org

Amiga computer related discussion => Recommended Amiga Dealers => Topic started by: MiAmigo on January 16, 2009, 02:28:13 PM

Title: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: MiAmigo on January 16, 2009, 02:28:13 PM
Its been a really long while since I've posted to the forum. Needless to say, my poor Amiga(s) have been front & center stage, AND back-burnered for other projects many times since that last post a few years ago. Now, I'm back to tinkering & rebuilding, and find that it seems to be getting harder and harder to find reliable, reasonable (considering the rarity of the parts!) Amiga vendors who answer email, tell the truth about what they're selling, and have decent pricing. Can anyone suggest a good vendor or two? Thanks!
 :hammer:
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: ZeBeeDee on January 16, 2009, 02:32:17 PM
Here's two for starters ...

Amigakit (http://www.amigakit.com)

Vesalia (http://www.vesalia.de/)
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: theformula on January 16, 2009, 02:34:02 PM
www.amigkit.co.uk - Amiga kit are amazing. Very professional and reliable. They even have order tracking :D

www.vesalia.de - German based amiga shop. I have not used them personally but I have heard great things.

*edit
U beat me 2 it :P
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: dannyp1 on January 16, 2009, 02:54:50 PM
Software Hut is good but their Web Site is way out of date.  If there is something you want call them or email them first, and make sure they have what you want.  Do not just order and pay.

Dan
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: jrfjunior on January 16, 2009, 03:29:01 PM
Last years I bought from two sellers and never had one problem, so I recomend them:

amigakit -> www.amigakit.com
elbox -> www.elbox.com

P.S.: only problem with elbox is to get actual drivers since they don't answer my e-mails. If they have a spam robot that block all my messages is a problem of elbox. I send my information according with manual.

Good luck.


Quote

MiAmigo wrote:
Its been a really long while since I've posted to the forum. Needless to say, my poor Amiga(s) have been front & center stage, AND back-burnered for other projects many times since that last post a few years ago. Now, I'm back to tinkering & rebuilding, and find that it seems to be getting harder and harder to find reliable, reasonable (considering the rarity of the parts!) Amiga vendors who answer email, tell the truth about what they're selling, and have decent pricing. Can anyone suggest a good vendor or two? Thanks!
 :hammer:
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: quarkx on January 16, 2009, 04:12:49 PM
I have only ordered online from Amiga Kit, and the only "complaint" :-D (take that with a grain of salt) is that both times it took over a week to get to my order. To be fair, the second order WAS over the Christmas holidays, so that is too be expected.- Not really anything to gripe about, they have always answered any tickets almost immediately and have fantastic customer service. (To be fair, I think there is only a staff of 2 or 3 people, but I am not sure)

If you go the E-bay route, the RED's store is always the way to go. I have ordered from "The vintage Amiga man" without any issues also.

I personally am still not sure on software hut, The website is rather dodgy and has some updates in the last few years. Personally, I believe, if you can't take the time to at least update your website once a year, PROPERLY, then how are you at customer service? I hate bothering a business to see if they have an item in stock, when if they took a few moments of time, they would save customers and themselves, spending the day on the phone. But, OTOH people here have sworn by them as great.  
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: Ruud on January 16, 2009, 04:47:55 PM
Just to add to what others have posted.
I've used both Amigakit and Vesalia in the last few months and have had very good service from both. Vesalia aren't brilliant with answering emails mind you, so it's best to phone if you have any queries.
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: Raffaele on January 16, 2009, 05:02:02 PM
There is also individual computers:

http://www.jschoenfeld.com/

A site by Jens Schoenfeld, that sells lots of Amiga related hardware...

-----

In Italy there is Virtual Works:

http://www.virtualworks.it/

That is also one of the members of ACube...

-----

In France there is Amiga Center...

http://www.amigacenter.com/Homer.html

-----

Here is a (DATED) list of distributors on AmigaNews.de:

http://www.amiga-news.de/cgi-bin/anwd-db.pl?mode=search&la=e&search=16

-----

You can also buy an issue of German/English Amiga Magazine called AMIGA FUTURE and read from it the various addresses of Amiga resellers on advertising...

http://www.amigafuture.de/
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: kamiga on January 16, 2009, 07:06:07 PM
Quote

quarkx wrote:
I have only ordered online from Amiga Kit, and the only "complaint" :-D (take that with a grain of salt) is that both times it took over a week to get to my order. To be fair, the second order WAS over the Christmas holidays, so that is too be expected.-


They were pretty slow by today's standards with my order -- also over the holidays.  Not counting their holiday closure, and 3 days of fedex, it still took them a full week(7 days) to pack and ship my order.  Everything ordered was "in stock."

No complaints with service, response time to emails, etc -- just a little slow.

Most companies I deal with regularly ship same day, so I guess I'm spoiled.

Keith
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: BinoX on January 16, 2009, 07:48:24 PM
Amigakit have always been quick when I've got stuff from them... 1-2 days usually :)

And to add to the list of shops:  http://www.ggsdata.se/index-en.html  GGS Data are good for those obscure things... I got an Algor from them a few years ago back when no-one else had any left :)
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: Cammy on January 16, 2009, 07:48:57 PM
Over the Christmas holidays I made two orders for Amiga stuff online. I used IBrowse for both sites on my A1200 and they worked perfectly from start to finish. These two sites were AmigaKit and AmigaManiac. AmigaKit's service was excellent, as most people here have already confirmed, but as no one has mentioned it yet, I'll just say that AmigaManiac's service and products are top quality! I've bought from him twice, once for some RAM and another time for some KickStart ROM Switchers, IDE-CF adapters and EPROMs, and the delivery time has been very speedy and the service extra friendly. Also, those prices can't be beat!

For all your other hardware needs, why not check out:

http://www.amigamaniac.com

I'll have a review of some of the products and services from AmigaManiac and AmigaKit in coming weeks.
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: Andeda on January 16, 2009, 08:02:27 PM
I have used three Amiga vendors during the last two years:
 
Amigakit
Vesalia
GGSdata

these three has proven to be very reliable.
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: r0jaws on January 16, 2009, 11:00:32 PM
I ordered a scandoubler from Software Hut 10 days ago and have received 2 one line emails in response.

The first to say my order will be dispatched on Thursday.
The second when I asked if they had an order ref or shipping number was to say there will be a receipt on the box.
I've emailed them today to try and get a shipping reference, if it doesn't turn up and I hear nothing from them, its chargeback time. (Obviously they don't need the money)

Quite frankly, sloppy customer service from a supposedly reputable dealer. How hard is an email with referable confirmation details. The laziest schlub on eBay manages that.
I would most definitely have bought from Amigakit (and have done in the past) but Software Hut were the only ones in stock at the time.
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: icbrkr on January 25, 2009, 03:48:52 PM
I've had good luck in the past with Softhut, but last time I attempted to find out if something was in stock, they responded months later.  Of course, after *months* go by, I ended up getting it somewhere else.
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: save2600 on January 25, 2009, 05:42:13 PM
As of late, I too have experienced weird e-mail probs with Softhut. Shame really. I feel I "know" Joe and his family from all these years. Not sure what is going on personally or professionally over there on the east coast, but they're good people that do always deliver (when there is communication and you've solidified a deal). I wonder if many e-mails are getting tossed out as 'junk' mail, etc. Might be high time we all go back to using the telephone!   :-)
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: KatManDEW on January 30, 2009, 12:09:29 AM
Software Hut is sloooow. They promised to ship my order 11 days ago, but it didn't ship until today :madashell: :madashell: :madashell:

I think they actually forgot about my order because I sent an email asking about it yesterday, and I received a USP shipping notification today...

Waiting for the past 11 days has given me flash backs of waiting forever for shipments of Amiga products 15 years ago, and I used to purchase from Software Hut back then...

I'm going with Amigakit next time
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: icbrkr on February 09, 2009, 02:05:00 AM
At least you're getting a response.  I figured I'd give them another shot so I sent them an email on 1/23 - so far, no repsonse.
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: marcfrick2112 on February 09, 2009, 05:11:55 AM
I don't want to talk bad about one of the few Amiga dealers here in the US, but to be honest, Software Hut gets its' money from other (non-Amiga) areas. (so I have heard...) My story is much the same... I needed a 'SyncStrainer' for my soon-to-be super A4000T/Toaster system, I E-Mailed them... A week, then 2 weeks go by... In desperation, I call the guy I bought my 4000T from, he says he has 'a couple' of them, he sent me one for free... (Granted, I did buy a 4000T from him for about $800-900 US. ) About 2 weeks after I got the SyncStrainer, softhut finally E-Mailed, to say they'd sell me one, for $30.00....
 :madashell:

They used to be a great dealer.... I bought my 20" Toshiba monitor from them.... too bad....
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: stefcep2 on February 09, 2009, 05:41:02 AM
I wanted to ship a new old stock A1200 from amigakit from the UK to Australia.  My first email they responded to quickly.  But then I noticed these machine are sold in the UK with 17.5% (?) VAT.  I was of the belief that if they send the item overseas, no VAT is payable.  I asked in another email if they would deduct VAT from my purchase.  I never got a reply. Not sure what that says about service quality.
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: amigakit on February 09, 2009, 10:07:38 AM
Hello,

VAT is an EU tax and is not charged to non-EU customers.  It is automatically deducted at Checkout by our system if you login to the UK store and the package is then exported to Australia - our shipping guide and FAQs published on the webstore state this.  We publish these help documents so customers can get the information they require quickly and easily.  Thank you.

Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: countzero on February 09, 2009, 10:25:24 AM
For US amigans, I think Red's Store (http://stores.ebay.com/Reds-Retro-Computing) is a reliable alternative to Softhut. He hasn't all the stuff on SoftHut's list, but he has most of the regular newly released stuff and sometimes nice old items too ...
Title: Re: Reliable Amiga Vendors?
Post by: stefcep2 on February 09, 2009, 10:52:30 AM
Quote

amigakit wrote:
Hello,

VAT is an EU tax and is not charged to non-EU customers.  It is automatically deducted at Checkout by our system if you login to the UK store and the package is then exported to Australia - our shipping guide and FAQs published on the webstore state this.  We publish these help documents so customers can get the information they require quickly and easily.  Thank you.



Ok thanks didn't see that. I thought it odd that i go a prompt reply to my initial questions, but no reply at all to the VAT one.  My apologies.