Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[Carol53000]

Regarding the tax free comment.  I know for a fact that various states'  tax revenue departments run projects to try to find large amounts of online purchases that have escaped paying their state sales taxes.  Don't be surprised if you get a letter from your friendly state tax department.  Just pay the required tax on your return and you will sleep better at night.

[LiquidTension87]

Tax laws will change, its only a matter of time. You aren't supporting your local economy by asking them to match another retailer hurting what little margin is in consumer electronics. I can see Best Buy re-evaluating their decision not to match dot com giants in order to stay competitive, but I also don't see it happening because the margin is just not there. It is becomming more and more difficult to price match places like Costco, SAMs, and Amazon with the various paid "loyalty programs". It would be similar to asking a retailer other than Best Buy to give you Rewards Zone certificates for purchases.

[CrimsonRain]

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LiquidTension87 wrote:
Tax laws will change, its only a matter of time. You aren't supporting your local economy by asking them to match another retailer hurting what little margin is in consumer electronics. I can see Best Buy re-evaluating their decision not to match dot com giants in order to stay competitive, but I also don't see it happening because the margin is just not there. It is becomming more and more difficult to price match places like Costco, SAMs, and Amazon with the various paid "loyalty programs". It would be similar to asking a retailer other than Best Buy to give you Rewards Zone certificates for purchases.

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Margin itself is disappearing across the board regardless of the seller. Yahoo News recently posted an article about how much LCD TV prices have dropped in the last 3 years. Sony recently sold its stake in a joint venture project with Samsung. From now on, Sony will not be manufacturing their own LCD screens but will buy them from a competitor: Samsung. The cost of producing their own screens was not enough to generate a comfortable profit. The prices of products sold between most major retailers/e-tailers are usually within 5% of each other for competitive reasons. Sure you'll see a fluke every now and then but it's rare. The fact of the matter is that margin on electronics are thinning. So, with margin as the constant, the main reason why brick & martar retailers cannot compete in price with e-tailers is the cost of doing business. The range of the SG&A of a brick & mortar retailer is 20-24% (Walmart gets away with 19% because they hate their employees). The range of SG&A for an e-tailer is 8-10%. Amazon was up at 12% during these holidays because they hired thousands of temporary employees. That is a HUGE difference in the cost of conducting business.

[414682]

Here is my issues with Best Buy:  Yesterday I was in the Prattville, Alabama store.  I was actually purchasing a Series 3 razor of all things.  The tag was marked $79 but it rang up $160.00.  It turned out the issue was that the box was simply in the wrong place. I had no idea how much they cost so prior to picking up the box I did was I ALWAYS do now, I checked Bestbuy.com and Amazon price check - on Amazon, it was $79.  So I thought, Wow, Best Buy has the same price.  

Because the box was in the wrong place the clerk was going to see if the manager would simply sell it for that price.  They didn't know that Amazon had it for $79.  This was Amazon, not a vendor through Amazon.  His manager would not lower the price because the item was the last one they had of that type, which it was.  However, I showed them the Amazon price right on my phone and they still did not match.  While in the store I bought it through Amazon.  I will have it a few days.  

This is problem. I have probably saved over $1000 on items through Amazon vs.. Best Buy.  They cannot match the price.  Even with or without taxes, it will make no difference because this is another case where the discount was even more than shipping or taxes would have been.  Younger people aren't going to pay the higher prices for the "Value" Best Buy offers.  That fact is, they don't offer any service or value.  Their people are generally not as knowledgeable as I am on the products and I know there are times they simply are giving me wrong answers.  Best Buy's stock will continue to go down as more and more people figure out they simply are charging too much vs.. Online.  I hate to see them go.

Best Buy, for me, has simply become Amazon's showroom floor. I literally walk in and see the product I want, go online, with my smart phone and purchase.  I have bought a TV, Home Theater Receiver, and Blu-Ray players the same way.  If Best Buy would lower prices, I would be more than happy to buy from them. But WHY would I pay twice as much, in many cases, for the same item?

[Nytwyng]

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AaronE wrote:

By asking Best Buy to match Amazon you're asking for them to go out of business pretty quickly which would be the opposite of supporting local business which employee local workers. 

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The Fry's closest to my home has a big banner hanging out front that says, "We match online prices."

Said location has been there for some 12-15 years, and always has a full parking lot.

So much for asking them to go out of business pretty quickly by matching online prices, eh?

[Nytwyng]

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Bob_A wrote:

What the poster has neglected to mention. Is the fact that their Amazon "Free" 2 day Prime Shipping. Actually costs about $79 a year, payable annually in advance. And it does not apply to heavy bulky items.

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Meanwhile, with standard free shipping from Amazon, we were able to order a rather large Star Wars toy for our son for Christmas, that has an SRP of $90 for $29.99.  The order was placed on a Thursday night.  It arrived the following Monday, much quicker than the stated 5-7 business days, in the heart of the holiday shipping season.

[Neihn Valued Contributor]

Micro Center has the same thing but we are talking about 2 places that have VERY limited number of stores 23 for Micro Center and 34 for Fry's.

Its ALOT easier for a smaller chain to price match online competitors then it is for a large retail chain such as Best Buy which has over a thousand stores.

[Nytwyng]

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Neihn wrote:
Micro Center has the same thing but we are talking about 2 places that have VERY limited number of stores 23 for Micro Center and 34 for Fry's.

Its ALOT easier for a smaller chain to price match online competitors then it is for a large retail chain such as Best Buy which has over a thousand stores.

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That logic seems backwards.  Logic suggests that a larger chain would find it far easier to make up the difference thanks to volume than would a smaller chain.

[Bob_A]

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QuantumThunder wrote:  

"..........  Also, keep in mind that a lot of stuff on amazon for less then normal retail price can be a used, reconditioned, or refurbished item hence the discount."

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                                           BEWARE THE BEST BUY SPIN DOCTORS !!            

[fmaxwell]

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Nytwyng wrote:

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Neihn wrote:
Micro Center has the same thing but we are talking about 2 places that have VERY limited number of stores 23 for Micro Center and 34 for Fry's.

Its ALOT easier for a smaller chain to price match online competitors then it is for a large retail chain such as Best Buy which has over a thousand stores.

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That logic seems backwards.  Logic suggests that a larger chain would find it far easier to make up the difference thanks to volume than would a smaller chain.

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Agreed.  Smaller chains, because of their smaller volumes, often get smaller quantity discounts and have higher overhead per item.