BestBuy.Com

[wwquigg]

I do not understand why I need to add a product to the cart to see the price.  This is a very frustrating process and never leads to a sell from me.  Please tell me the logic behind this request.  

[Area51Kev Regular Contributor · Accepted solution]

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wwquigg wrote:

I do not understand why I need to add a product to the cart to see the price.  This is a very frustrating process and never leads to a sell from me.  Please tell me the logic behind this request.  

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Hi wwquigg and welcome to the forum.

I believe the 'see price in cart' situation stems from a company (like Best Buy) having agreements with certain manufacturers to not advertise a price below a certain level. They get around that by showing you the price when you add it to your cart and as such you are (in theory) buying the item. That's my understanding anyway.  

[biff]

Manufacturers do the same with the competitors.  This is from a page on Amazon on why they cannot post a price for the TV.  They are a lot more blunt than BBY

"Retailers like Amazon have the legal right to set their own prices independently, but some manufacturers place restrictions on how those prices may be communicated. Because our price on this item is lower than the manufacturer's "minimum advertised price," the manufacturer does not allow us to show you our price until you take further action, such as placing the item in your shopping cart, or in some cases, proceeding to the final checkout stage. The steps required depend on the details of the manufacturer's minimum advertised price policy. Taking these steps allows Amazon to show you our price consistent with our goal of always offering you the lowest possible prices on the widest selection of products.

This won't require you to purchase the product. You can easily remove it from your cart if you decide not to buy it.

We realize that this is an inconvenience and are regularly working to educate manufacturers on how their policies impact our customers. We welcome your comments and suggestions in our forum on this topic."

I love the "educate manufacturers" part.  

[wwquigg]

Thank you for the information. I'm with you, loving the "educate manufacturers" part.