How We Handle Peripherals Is Changing

Since our founding, more than twenty years ago, Puget Systems has offered a small selection of keyboards, mice, and other accessories for purchase and use with our computers. The exact categories and models we have carried changed over time, of course, but it was always just an assumed part of our business – after all, people need input devices, displays, backup drives, etc. But what if that isn't actually the best approach for our customers?

It is certainly easy to make a case for carrying peripherals. For example, doing so makes it convenient for users to order everything at once – "one-stop shopping", so to speak. But over the years we have uncovered many downsides to this method of selling accessories:

• Peripherals are a personal choice – no single accessory is the best for everyone, and we can only carry a limited selection
• We weren't adding any value – yes, we did basic vetting of brands and models, but we couldn't unbox and test each one
• Larger items cannot fit in the box with a computer, resulting in additional shipping charges
• Multi-box shipments may not arrive on the same day, which is inconvenient for those who must take time off to receive deliveries
• Customers end up paying for shipping twice, in effect: from suppliers to us, and then from us to the end-users

There are more reasons for the change, but that is enough to get across the conclusion we have come to: reselling peripherals isn't really providing a good experience to our customers, and in many cases may be doing them a disservice. Once we understood that, we began working on a better solution – which we have unveiled today! Behold our Recommended Peripherals page:

Instead of trying to carry a sufficient selection of accessories to meet our customers' varied needs, we now have a page on our website with a curated list of hardware that we are comfortable recommending to pair with your Puget workstation. All of the items listed are fulfilled through Amazon, and if you purchase using the affiliate links on that page it will support Puget Systems. The descriptions we include are based on Amazon product listings and correct to the best of our knowledge, but these items are not tested, fulfilled, or supported by Puget Systems. We have chosen to utilize Amazon because of their service and delivery speed. By freeing up time and energy spent on logistics, we can also focus our attention on what we do best: building and servicing high-performance workstations.

If you have feedback on the devices we list, or suggestions that you have used and recommend, please share that with us and other readers in the comments below!