High Prices have been around since the start of personal computer. 
Everyone wants to find cheap equipment for their computer.  Although the days
are gone when a value computer was a computer under $2500, prices can still be
expensive at times.  The Computer Hardware Market can be just like the
stock market at times.  The cost for a 566MHz Celeron can be more than the
600MHz version just because the demand for the 566 is higher (because it
overclocks much better.)  You can now
build a computer yourself for less than $500, and that’s if you buy everything
retail or mail order.  Building a second system for the kids, spouse, LAN
parties, or
just for fun can now cost you only a couple hundred of dollars.  Of course,
it’s easier said than done.  One must actually be able to find the cheap
stuff.  There’s where I come in.  I’m here to help.

Friends
The first, and most often overlooked place to look for cheap stuff is
friends.  If you’re a regular techie, you probably have techie
friends.  And if you’re like me, you probably have techie friends with lots
of hardware laying around.  I’m commonly known to ask friends if they’ve
got this, that, or the other thing when I need it.  Just like all
relationships, it’s always a two way road.  If a friend asks you for
hardware, see if you can hook them up.  Be nice about it, it will make life
much easier.

Online Auction Sites
The most commonly frequented by people in hopes of getting the best deals
around on internet stuff.  There are disadvantages as well as advantages
when it comes to using Online Auction Sites.  As with the opposite sex,
you’ll have to do some looking to find the right stuff.  Looking around
you’ll probably find what you’re looking for, from 50 different people. 
Picking out the right person to buy from can be tedious work.  Some offer
the equipment without a warranty, some offer a Working on Arrival Warranty, and
others offer a daily warranty, for 30, 60, 90, or more days.  Be careful
who you buy from, and make sure you use an auction site with a feedback
system.  That way, you can find the crooked dealers easily.  Some of the
more popular Online Auction Sites are:

• e-Bay
• City Auction
• Yahoo
  Auctions
• U-Bid

Online Retailers
Online Retailers differ from Auction sites because instead of putting a bid
on an item, which means you might get the item, you’re actually buying
the item, just like if you went down to the local computer super store and
bought it.  Usually, you’ll be paying about the same price at a Online
Retailer after shipping costs as you would at the local computer store, which
obviously doesn’t charge shipping. 
The convenience is the ability to purchase the item without leaving your comfy
computer chair, but, unless you have a Visa/MasterCard Debit Card, commonly
called a check card, you’ll have to take the charge on your credit card. 
As you probably already know, if you carry a balance over to the next month on
your credit card, you’ll be charge an interest rate, which isn’t very low. 
Also, don’t forget about Pricewatch.com.
It’s an online site that has a list of all the
lowest prices on everything from the 1.1GHz Athlon to a 486DX/2 66Mhz, all the way to
Digital Imaging, and everything else. Below is a list of popular Online Retailers. 
Although you might not find the cheapest hardware at these places, you can
sometimes find the rare stuff, like the 1GHz Pentium iii chip.

• PriceWatch
• Buy.com
• Tech Bargains
• Tech Deals
• MemMan
• CNet
  Shopper

As with all things dealing with money, if it’s true good to be true, it
probably isn’t.  If you find that speedy 30GB hard drive for $50, there is
probably something wrong with it, especially if the seller won’t give you a
warranty on it, or acts very shady.  I’ve found the best way to buy the
cheap hardware is look around on the internet, especially advertisements on
websites, for retail hardware vendors.  Because their market is so large,
they buy things in bulk, which saves them, and you money.  Although Buy.com
is a large online retailer, they are one of my favorites.  I receive
whatever I purchase from them in 2-3 business days, they have items I can’t
find, and their items come with a fairly low cost for what they do. 
As long as you hunt though all of your options, you’re
sure to find the best deal on what you’re looking for.  Remember that there
will never be a online site that has the lowest prices on everything imaginable.
Good Luck, and Happy Bargain Hunting!