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248 Comments
- pbaehr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+153Thanks. Remember when duggmirror used to actually cache pages?
Ah. Those were simpler times. - lexicon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+148I work at Best Buy.
Lowering the price to sell the Performance Service Plan/Accessories is called "inboarding" (considered very unethical by company). The reason a supervisor will do it is to raise percentage of PSP to revenue. Supervisors constantly monitor what are called "Margin Enhancement Scorecards". They monitor revenue, profit, accessory percent to budget, PSP percent to budget, etc. They get performance based incentives based on PSP percent (hence why inboarding is considered highly unethical). So basically, Best Buy employees are not on commission, but their immediate supervisor has a sizeable portion of his/her pay based on the PSP/GMP (Gross Margin Percent) he drives. And the supervisor will yell at said employee if he doesn't attach like hell and drive GMP.
So here's my guideline for how much stuff actually costs Best Buy (to give you an idea about how much room you have):
TV's over $1000 = About 60% of the price they are selling it at
Speakers = About 50%
Recievers = About 60%
Cables = About 10-20%
Monster Power Surge Protectors = About 33% (which makes them a bargain for use, as the $200 one is a very good deal at $60)
Also, if you ever have issues with Best Buy purchases, ask the employee/sup/manager to look you up in Customer Contact Manager. Best Buy tracks all your purchases (through that phone number you give out at checkout, or with RewardZone), and those purchases can be looked up in there, but what is important is the market segment that the system assigns you as a result of those purchases. If you are a "Level 5 Barry", you could pretty much demand oral sex from the manager and recieve it, as you are one of BB's most profitable customers.
And lastly, please be nice to the employee's. A lot of us are just trying to make it through college. :) - mrfreeziexp, on 10/16/2007, -4/+121"Obviously don't do this, or even try, on small ticket items or they will laugh at you."
He's right, I once told them I'd give them $3.50 for a $5 pack of batteries... It didn't work. I think I was close though. - strabes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+66"Fries." ha ha
- TaeBoX, on 10/12/2007, -12/+75The store is the one breaking the law, you are taking advantage of them. That's not illegal. I'll digg you down for being a moron.
- JDWTC, on 10/12/2007, -7/+689 times out of 10, on a big ticket item, you can just ask for a discount. If the TV costs $4300, say, "I'll give you $3900." This is how I bought my Sony TV.
This works even better at smaller stores (I count the Sony Store in this category -- for some reason they have less of a corporate dictatorship for their stores). Figure out what the lowest price anyone will go is, then ask for $50 off that.
Obviously don't do this, or even try, on small ticket items or they will laugh at you. - 8177, on 10/12/2007, -7/+65nope
- thelastknowngod, on 10/12/2007, -8/+63i used to work at compusa. this does not work that way. if the price needs to be changed then the sales rep will have to walk you to the front to tell the cashier to change the price or the manager will check you out himself. when you say no then you loose the discount.
just buy the plan and return it the next day. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+50Sites down. Is this the thing where you accept the extended warranty in exchange for a discount, but then change your mind at the register, but keep the discount?
- h2d2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+40"This would probably never work..."
You do realize that the Extended Warranty has it's own item number and you can always go back and get "a REFUND ON JUST THE WARRANTY, please". And since you didn't receive a an advertised discount, i.e. "buy an extended warranty and save $300", they can't change the price of the tv / home theater / whatever. - jacobsor, on 10/12/2007, -3/+41There is nothing "illegal" about simply attempting to sell an extended warranty with a product. (Even if the retailer offers to lower the price in return.)
What the author calls "illegal bundling" is actually called "tying" in antitrust law. Businesses do it all the time, and for the most part it is entirely legal:
"Tying is the practice of making the sale of one good (the tying good) to the de facto or de jure customer conditional on the purchase of a second distinctive good (the tied good). A classic example of de facto tying is the selling of razors at a loss and making the profit on the blades. It is illegal when the products are not naturally related, e.g., requiring a bookstore to stock up on an unpopular title before allowing them to purchase a bestseller."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_tying
At the same time, there's nothing illegal about haggling with the retailer to get a better discount. If they're willing to sell it to you for a lower price, that's just good negotiating on your part. - Ngai, on 10/12/2007, -2/+39this topic has already been settled inaccurate... with over 1082 diggs
http://www.digg.com/gadgets/How_to_rip_off_Best_Buy_and_other_Electronics_Stores - JavertHolmes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+36"Salespeople can and will lower the price on inventory at places like Circuit City and Best Buy as long as it pleases management. This is called illegal bundling and it happens all the time."
I had a hard time finding out what exactly the definition of "illegal bundling" is. This is the best I could find: "Bundling — to be precise, illegal bundling, is the practice of forcing customers to buy unrelated X to get Y. In other words, forcing your customer to buy an an orange to get lettuce." (From http://www.hypernote.com/C2029149708/E1066208709/index.html )
So assuming that definition is valid, how in the name of ***** is lowering the price of a TV to get you to buy a warranty illegal bundling? It would be illegal bundling if you MUST buy the warranty in order to get the TV, which is clearly not the case. Here, the discount is being offered as an incentive to lower the TV's price below a MSRPish/advertised value, not to give you a reasonable price for a TV. - deansfurniture5, on 10/12/2007, -4/+34http://www.storyevent.com.nyud.net:8080/outsmart-best-buy-circuit-city-save-hundreds-on-electronics
- alefox, on 10/12/2007, -5/+35same logo, haha
- expertninja, on 10/12/2007, -3/+32yes.
- PLUMCRAZY, on 10/12/2007, -14/+43As they say at the Guinness plant, Brilliant ! ! !
I'm buying a tv next month and I'm going to keep trying this everywhere until it works. - insideyourhalo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29Careful on how much you think you can shave off.. many of the box stores make very little money on "big ticket items." Most of the money is on accessories.. $35 for a $2 xbox cable etc. The expensive items are generally not sold for much above cost.
- Pareidoliatic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25By the way, in Western Canada, the regional independent chain VISIONS Electronics refunds their customer's money at the end of the extended-service term as in-store credit. So the customer is insured if something does go wrong with their purchase; but if, as in most cases, nothing does fail, they get to use the money again to buy something else. Very smart customer loyalty program.
- 8177, on 10/12/2007, -3/+29Thanks?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28Use: http://www.storyevent.com.nyud.net:8080/outsmart-best-buy-circuit-city-save-hundreds-on-electronics
- LilBoyLuver, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26Yeah I found an open item camera at Bestbuy and got them to take $120 off of it if I bought the 5 year warranty. I then returned the warranty brought the camera to Europe and Africa for 6 months and when I got home put it on ebay and made $5. This is the way to go when you are buying electronics.
- lolgamoff, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23perhaps.
- JavertHolmes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21Thanks for the informative response, lexicon. It's nice to see some expert replies here.
- Fosnez, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18Product Tying can get you in trouble - especially when it comes to tax. In Australia food is not taxed (by the GST, like a VAT) so instead of selling a tv for $1100 ($100 being tax) you could sell a grape for $1000 and give the TV away... the taxman gets ***** at you real quick...
- JavertHolmes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18"your story sounds awesome. i'm sorry that it doesn't make any sense whatsoever... care to elaborate a little?"
I think the point of the story is that if you walk into Best Buy and avoid using pronouns, you will get a discount. - sevyplates, on 10/12/2007, -6/+21Sorry guys, this doesn't work. Well, at least not at my circuit city.
I don't completely understand how it works exactly, but if you try to return the extended warranty they make you pay what you were given off. ( pretty dick, I know)
I work at circuit city myself, and I always tell customers "IF YOU BUY the warranty I can take money off of your purchase". It makes the warranty more rewarding if you get your unit a bit cheaper, you know?
But honestly doing something like this is a dick of a move. Sure, it's a way of telling the higher-ups to "get bent", but if those bastards crash, people like me crash.
Each store is given $1000 leeway to do things like lowering prices for warranties, price-matching, and even to say "sorry" to a customer". (Just last week this customer came in wanting a hard to find laptop that was on sale, but we were out of stock and he'd have to drive miles to another store to buy it. So I asked the manager if it was okay if I could make it $60 cheaper for him because of the inconvenience.)
However, if we lose more than that the $1000 that was given to us, then us lowly employees(i.e. me) lose hours or even get laid off. So your not only taking cash from some fat cat, your taking money from my wallet too.
Sure I work at circuit city, and people hate the ever living hell out of me.
But i'm also a digger and an average guy who's trying to pay my way for college because CC pays a bit more than In-N-Out does. - Vlatro, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18@wstrucke
You ***** communist scum. Sales executives work their asses off. The basic principals of a free market: Set your price point low enough that many people will buy your product, and high enough to maintain the largest possible profit margin on those sales. This is a constant balancing act which needs frequent adjusting (without even considering competition and price wars). If they falter even a little bit; price too high; price too low, their business crumbles and they're out of a job. Not because their fired, because there's no money left for them to write a paycheck against. Some people are naturally better at setting price points than others. Oddly enough, the people who create sales promotions that please the most customers, ultimately make the most money. As a consumer, these "greedy corporate executives" are the best friends you have. So they pull down a few million a year. That factors out to about 1/100th of a cent from your average $45.00 purchase. In return they arrange deals to offer manufacturer discounts and rebates through the store rather than mailing it in. They negotiate lower prices from their vendors to keep their prices competitive with other stores you may not geographically have access to. They publish and circulate advertisements in newspapers to inform you of a discount without having you actually come into their store every week. They save you money.
If you don't like a store, it's policies or it's prices, don't shop there. That is your way of fighting back, and ultimately the most effective way. But don't rip into executives for making money by doing their job well. That's what you should be aspiring towards in your chosen field. If you think I'm wrong, please stand up for your principals and decline your next pay raise. After all, you wouldn't want to be a greedy bastard like them. Until then, please, get your sorry ***** ass back to Cuba you worthless communist piece of *****. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+20"Many stores use an illegal practice that goes undetected. When you find a store that does, scheme hundreds off your next big purchase and totally stick it to the man."
why do diggers seem to think two wrongs makes a right? - samdu, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18"True none of this is moral... but come on. its corporate."
Yes. Because corporations are soulless, nameless, faceless entities. It certainly doesn't hurt real people when you screw corporations over.
/sarcasm - JavertHolmes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15"True none of this is moral... but come on. its corporate."
Just because a company is corporate doesn't necessarily mean it's making disgustingly huge profit margins off of its customers. Take Wal-Mart for example. Now, I'm not a big fan of Wal-Mart's products, labor practices, etc. But bear with me a moment.
Let's say you spent $100 at Wal-Mart. How much would you think was profit once all is said and done (ie: once you factor in salaries, property bills, etc)? $10? $20? $30?
http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/research/wizards/srwfund.asp?Symbol=WMT
Scroll down to the "net profit" section. It's 3.6%. That means for every $100 you spend at Wal-Mart, they're getting $3.60 net profit when all is said and done.
If someone here is an economist, please feel free to correct me because if I'm wrong then I'd love to know for the future. - wstrucke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14how do you return a warranty? bring the forms back the next day? do you know how long they will take them back (e.g. up to thirty days from the date on the receipt)? do all of the major electronics stores allow you to return the warranty?
- calbff, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17This is completely brilliant and I'm ashamed for not thinking of it myself. There's just the problem of getting rid of the salesperson at the till, but even if it worked once it would be worth it, plus it would be satisfying as hell to beat them at their own game.
@nottidredd
When did it become even slightly illegal to barter and change your mind?? - ImASpartan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14They often times will call this a 'package deal' if you try to buy the service and return it, meaning they will push the price of the product back up to retail price if you return the service plan. This is in fact illegal, (referred to as in boarding) they cannot change the price of a TV in order to sell other products. This little legal loophole happens because service plans are NOT TAXABLE where as the TV very much is. This means that the store is actually paying less tax by reducing the price of the TV, and keeping the service plan at full price. The government doesn't like this form of tax evasion which is why the practice is illegal. Continue to demand to talk to a manager, and if they still will not allow you to return the service while keeping the discount, contact corporate. Who would have thought that tax laws can work in your favor?!
- merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14The second scheme you list is return fraud, and is unquestionably illegal.
It also ***** over the next guy, who comes into the store, and ends up buying your scratched/broken/defective item.
The scheme in TFA isn't as blatantly illegal. Still not something I'd try anyway. - origclubsoda, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17Who's going to listen some who spells Beaucoup, "boo coos"
- turpenine, on 10/12/2007, -11/+23yes
- Vlatro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12"why do diggers seem to think two wrongs makes a right?"
I've often wondered that myself. From my experience, it usually takes no fewer than 5 wrongs to make things right again. - friend18, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12How do they lower the price on the tv or item for you? Wouldn't they have to be at the register to tell the cashier?
- TheMarioBrutha, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18Actually, not exactly the same logo. Squint harder.
- brandiniman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12@Lexicon
I work at CompUSA and they do the same thing. We don't really have a name for it but generally only do it if we're having a really bad day or with open/display/returned items. The reason I see is that let's say you're getting a $1600 laptop which the 3 yr plan costs $499, we'd drop the price up to $200. Why? because we make only $200 on the laptop but nearly $350 on the service plan. So we end up making the same money, the salesperson gets a spiff (ie. a set amount added to their paycheck... ~$15) and the store looks better to corporate.
Ditto on the treating employees nicely. I'm not afraid to send someone home with the wrong crap or to only show them the expensive model if they're *****. - Maxpower2912, on 12/03/2008, -2/+12He's getting dugg down because if users digg him down, it makes what he said untrue, of course. "Reality is a commodity"- Stephen Colbert
- bongo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12You're looking for 'cite' there, not 'site'. I figured that you might want to know, since you used it twice.
- dhulser, on 10/12/2007, -6/+16yes.
- falcyn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I work at Best Buy, and I'm really getting a kick out of some of these replies.
But really, I do, and I am. Best Buy calls this "inboarding". Not only is it illegal, it's definitely against policy. It's something anyone from line-level to management can get terminated for pretty much instantly. But either way, you're not taking advantage of the company, per se, but of specific employees who either ignore the rule or simply don't care. Every large company is going to have employees like that.
But in reality, you'd be surprised. I honestly can't say I like working for Best Buy, but things like this they really are very strict on. The people that do this are usually older employees or people that have been in retail for a long period of time. Best Buy, as a company, does not condone or support this. You can take my word for that.
Plus, at Best Buy, 90% of the time when you're dealing with a big-ticket purchase the salesperson is going to ring you out as well. That's a pretty big rule there too. I realize Circuit City is different. But at Best Buy, the only time they might not ring you out is if you are literally only buying the product itself, or if they're new and don't have login credentials for the registers (also rare). And they can easily just say "Oh, well, I can't give you the discount unless you're getting the package." Taking 100 bucks off a TV when a customer's also buying an installation is a automatic package discount that comes up a lot, and it's the same thing as that, just manual. - erictheninja, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9The example here is not illegal bundling. You have the option to not buy the warranty. For it to be illegal bundling, they must require you to purchase the warranty and the TV.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8HOW TO RIP OFF BEST BUY:
pick up item, place in pants, walk out - PiratePanties, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I can't help but wonder the same thing. If you don't like a place, why not, you know, just NOT shop there? There are tons of ways to get things cheaper (welcome to the internet age) that don't involve scamming a low-wage employee that has no control over how the system works.
You can kid yourself and say you're "sticking it to the man" all you want. But all it does is get someone you don't even know in trouble and raise prices for everyone else when the stores can't figure out why their losing money. - mobilehavoc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7A LEGIT way to get stuff for less is to buy stuff Open Box. It's usually things that were used as display items on the floor, are in perfect working condition and may/maynot have a few things missing that usually are irrelevant. They also carry the same warranty/return policy as a new item and you can purchase protection plans on them as well.
Some stuff I've bought recently...
Samsung 32" LCD - New price: $1700, OB price: $900, Missing: Nothing.
Onkyo TXSR803 Receiver - New price: $999, OB price:$670, Missing: Remote (I have a Harmomy so no issue), Manual (Online)
Bose Acoustimas 10 Series IV speakers - New Price:$1000, OB price: $700, Missing: Manual (Online)
Openbox FTW! - adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"how do you return a warranty? bring the forms back the next day? do you know how long they will take them back (e.g. up to thirty days from the date on the receipt)? do all of the major electronics stores allow you to return the warranty?"
When I worked at best buy it was prorated. If you bought a $300 3yr service plan, and returned it a year later you got $200 bucks back. -
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