Cisco Hardware Supplier BS!

Edificer

Hi all,

I want to know if I have been ripped off for the past several years purchasing cisco hardware or not, while conducting a routinely check on GPL on itprice.com I saw a 'Get Discount' button. While browsing to there, I saw ASA 5506 with base licenses listed for 336$?!?!

I find that very difficult to believe I have been buying those frequently for 895$. I am seeing even more products that are discounted by 50-75% of GPL!

Have I stumbled across a fake website or is this actually legit?

I have literally flushed thousands of dollars down the drain if this is actually true and I will bring this up to my boss, I thought I created a very natural and mutual environment between me and my present cisco hardware supplier but I will think twice now before ordering things through him!

Honestly, I can't believe this.

Iristheangel

*head scratching*

$895 seems a little high for 5506 base after discount but you live in a different country than me and you might have import fees and taxation that drives the cost up in different ways. As far as $336, yes, you can get 5506s off eBay, Amazon, etc at the same price. You'll notice that place you posted also isn't a real Cisco partner which means you roll the dice and get no support.

Buying grey market is always a risk. There was a multi-vendor memory issue years ago for those who remember which pretty much had every network vendor spinning and having to replace massive amounts of hardware. More recently (as in the last couple of weeks), there's a nasty little clock issue going around with Cisco, HP, Dell, Synology, Juniper, F5, etc that hit the news and if you're under support or have a warranty, you got a swap. If you're not under support or warranty, well... It's not good. Certain versions of the ASA 5506 is one of those components affected.

BlackBeret

Like Iris said, you can find things priced lower if you go bargain shopping. The difference is your vendor is going to provide support, warranties, etc. The support contract and warranty you likely have with your current vendor adds a fair bit of money on to the price of things. This happens in every corporation, managers who don't think about this always want to know why the company paid 1.5-3X the price of something they saw on Ebay.

As a side note, personally since I've taken an interest in playing with firmware and backdooring every device I own. If anything of mine gets stolen I'll see it online eventually. I would never intentionally sell something like this online, but I have no doubt other people do. I get nervous anytime I buy something not directly from a vendor now.

Fulcrum45

Edificer wrote: »

I have literally flushed thousands of dollars down the drain if this is actually true and I will bring this up to my boss

Do you not get a say in who your company buys from? If not then they'll probably be happy to hear about this. If you DO get a say then I would be careful in how you approach this for not having shopped around some more. I know I need to source at least three different vendors when I make a proposal for new equipment but that's just me. Of course, like Iris said, it may just be where you are located as well.

Edificer

Fulcrum45 wrote: »

Do you not get a say in who your company buys from? If not then they'll probably be happy to hear about this. If you DO get a say then I would be careful in how you approach this for not having shopped around some more. I know I need to source at least three different vendors when I make a proposal for new equipment but that's just me. Of course, like Iris said, it may just be where you are located as well.

I do. I just can't find any other partners located in my area. I am particularly being pressured into buying from a specific partner, I definitely wish I could ask around for a few different proposal that would definitely help to see which ones offer the most discounted, or to examine which ones are most honest.

Who to buy from is a choice totally up to me, I just don't feel safe and comfortable anymore buying from this partner.

I have attached a picture of a proposal, it would make me feel relieved if this sales purchase was a rip off or not. 10x ASA5506.pdf

Edificer

I am not in danger of loosing my job if I brought this up to my boss, it would only increase the support from him. That's not a worry for me at all. If anyone has any advice for me how to talk to my vendor about this it without accusing him I would be grateful, because I admit I am kind of at a point where I need him.

If anyone has a partner it would be helpful if you could send them my way, I don't mind ordering from them and see if they can ship to North Iraq / Kurdistan

thomas_

I think one of the subs on reddit has a "Am I getting f'd" thread that gets posted weekly where people post this type of thing. I think it's either /r/sysadmin or /r/networking