Best Buy tells Amazon: Take that!

CNN ^ | November 20, 2014: 9:48 AM ET | Jesse Solomon

[Responsibility2nd]

So if Best Buy matched the price for the same item as Amazon, and sales tax was equal, what was the cost difference due to? Warranty Program? Something else?

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Mileage, time, gas, convenience.

Last week I needed a toner cartridge and a new wireless mouse. Even though there is a Best Buy not 5 miles from my house, why would I want to spend an hour getting there, finding the stuff, buying it, and going back home. And spend maybe a buck or two in gas. Yes, if you are already at BB (showroom shopping) and the price is matched - then yeah. Go ahead and buy it.

[dangerdoc]

Zero, I don’t buy warranties.

[dfwgator]

Someone tries to sell me a warranty, my first thought is, “So you think this product is going to break then, right?”

[dangerdoc]

I prefer looking at something before I buy it. Generally I’ll pick something up at a store.

That being said, I hate crowds so I tend to do my Christmas shopping on line.

[zeugma]

Last two times I've tried to get something at Best Buy (because it is relatively close to where I live), their selection sucked horribly, and what they did have was way overpriced. I ended up going to Frys. Got just what I wanted, and didn't overpay for it.

[Mastador1]

Yeah Fry’s is pretty good on their deals in store and online and I love their loss leaders.

[Mr. K]

I do the same thing- just yesterday I shopped online for snowblowers and found one i liked- then went to the store to buy it

[usconservative]

Mileage, time, gas, convenience.

All reasons I buy as much as I can online (in addition to not paying the sales tax.)

If you're looking to avoid those costs, online's the way to go.

[Mr. K]

I would have written to BestBuy corporate about that

[usconservative]

Zero, I don’t buy warranties.

So there was zero price difference at the end of the day and you still wouldn't buy from Best Buy? Do I understand you correctly?

[IamConservative]

Wal-Mart recently got burned by advertising they would price match Amazon. Clever “customers” quickly setup fake Amazon seller pages and were walking out of Wal-Marts with Playstations they got for less than a hundred dollars.

[HamiltonJay]

This isn’t just Best Buy, this is all stores, try the same thing at walmart...

Hey Mr WalMart employee, you are selling this exact computer online at walmart.com for this price, will you sell it to me for this price? Answer is always no! But I can order it online and have it shipped to the store for that price. Makes zero sense, but that’s how they all operate.

[HamiltonJay]

You can’t blame BB for having to collect sales tax, they don’t get to keep it, it goes the state, and they have to collect it by law.

You know what else? That purchase on Amazon, you are bragging about not paying tax on, you are in most cases SUPPOSED to self report at the end of the year when you file and send in the sales tax... So that’s apples and oranges.

As to the extended warranty you choose whether or not to buy that, so again, that’s an unfair comparison.

Not defending BB here, but seriously, expecting you are can get them to eat the tax and give you an extended warranty for the same price you saw advertised on amazon for the item is silly.

[dangerdoc]

I didn’t say. I prefer to buy at physical stores and will usually buy locally even if it is a little more expensive, except between Thanksgiving and New Years, then I shop online.

[Spktyr]

Amazon does not take or want your checking account number. You may be thinking of PayPal; Amazon doesn’t take PayPal either.

[usconservative]

Not defending BB here, but seriously, expecting you are can get them to eat the tax and give you an extended warranty for the same price you saw advertised on amazon for the item is silly.

If you bothered to take the time to read and comprehend what I wrote, I was the one who made that exact point. Including the fact that sales tax was out of their control and not a negotiation point.

In the future please read more carefully. Thank you.

[Spktyr]

This is because they’re desperate for customers after ruining Christmas 2011 for many, many people.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/23/how-best-buy-stole-christmas/

This is on top of their ongoing practice of faking their website on their in-store kiosks so they don’t have to match the actual online prices of others, a practice they have had for most of the past decade: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus23dec23-column.html

Plenty more documented reasons Best Buy sucks and needs to either shape up or go away. Many people call them Worst Buy.

[Spktyr]

Evidence that two years later, people were still pissed at Worst Buy: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/01/16/best_buy_q4_disaster_share_prices_taking_a_well_deserved_dive.html

[mad_as_he$$]

Went to BB last week because I needed an item immediately that they had on the floor. Had to break up the high school clerks having a grab ass session and then the punk that helped me was surly at best. I hate BB.

[Future Snake Eater]

The management of Circuit City decided to try and increase profits by lowering their salespeople's salary and training.

I worked at both. CC was a commission sales job. So, to get good sales, you had to know your stuff. Then they became BB with just a straight hourly pay rate. Product knowledge was terribly high on the priority list. Oh, sure, BB pushed it--kind of--but the motivation really wasn't there. Then, CC, went hourly for its sales folks, and the experienced people left en mass. There were people who worked sales on the floor for decades. They could support their families on what they made in sales.

Going hourly probably buried CC quicker than anything else.