Best Buy Pricing Shenanigans Draw Heavy Criticism
Best Buy Pricing Shenanigans Draw Heavy Criticism
Posted 05/25/2010 at 6:52am
| by Paul Lilly
14
Comments
Print
Best Buy's latest pricing strategy has come under fire in the tech community, and for good reason. As the Consumerist tells it, the electronics chain has been jacking up the prices of certain laptop models by $20 to $50 over their own regular pricing and then slapping an "As Advertised" sticker on the units in-store. Deceptive? Yeah, just a little. But illegal? Apparently not -- Best Buy isn't marking these as sale items, so it's all good in the hood, even if the company's street cred takes yet another hit.
Citing a dude named Donald, the Consumerist lists out several specific models with inflated price tags, including a Dell laptop (SKU 9693171) now selling for $649.99 instead of $629.99, and an HP notebook (SKU 9705373) advertised for $699.99 instead of $649.99.
So is this a blatant case of Best Buy charging an idiot tax? We're not so sure. A quick glance at Best Buy's online listings for both above mentioned models show the higher price tag, so either Best Buy adjusted its pricing after the media caught wind of what was going on, or the Consumerist is off its rocker. But there's also a third scenario. According to Engadget, Best Buy is bundling 6 months of Ask an Agent and Virus and Spyware Protection into each of the offers. These normally run an extra $20 each, or $40 total, which would explain the higher pricing.
Image Credit: razetheworld.gameriot.com
More like this
14
Comments
Comments are closed on this article
nealtse
May 04, 2011 at 8:26am
People need to educate themselves on marketing buzzwords that are actually meaningless if not outright misleading.
All Natrual
As AdvertisedAmerica's #1 Brand/America's Favorite
Fortified
Voted Best
Awarded...
Good Source of...
1GB Flash Drive
Limited Time Offer
New and Improved
Discounted (when purchased bundled)
Phyzicistblue
May 25, 2010 at 3:46pm
How is that deceptive? "As Advertised" means its in the advert, on tv, or on the radio. "On Sale" means its on sale. I used to work at a Best Buy and one of the things you have to do is go around after a new advert comes out and make sure everything in the ad has an "As Advertised" sign on it. Maybe if the Consumerist wanted to complain that the products in the advert arent always on sale, then maybe they would have something, but complaining that the sign says what it actually means? Clearly they just want to make some headlines and get some viewers.
Atomike
May 25, 2010 at 1:00pm
Personally, I'm very happy that Best Buy is around.
It gives me a place to go look at hardware - pick it up and see what I like.... before I actually buy it on Newegg for much less.
Also, without Best Buy, the writers of Chuck would have to mock some other less-mockworthy chain.
lunchbox73
May 25, 2010 at 12:06pm
I still feel guilty about running to BB to buy my ZuneHD when I didn't feel like waiting for one to get shipped to me by Newegg or Microsoft.
Victek
May 25, 2010 at 9:25am
How does Best Buy stay in business? I live close to a Frys electronics store and they consistently kill Best Buy on both price and selection. I only go to Best Buy as a last resort, when I'm out of town and need parts for customers. Apart from the pricing game du jour Best Buy is pretty consistently more expensive. You just have to know that going in.
DasHellMutt
May 25, 2010 at 1:40pm
Those of us not in the west coast unfortunately don't have Fry's. I wish we did. When CompUSA and Circuit City closed up shop, Best Buy's prices went through the roof.
Five Rabbits
May 25, 2010 at 11:14am
They have way more locations. There are 3 Fry's stores in my city and probably 40 or more bestbuys. Also Best Buy much better name recognition than Fry's. Unfortunately it shows why it pays to dump money into marketing rather than quality/lower prices.
Five Rabbits
May 25, 2010 at 8:54am
Sounds like buisness as usual for the increasingly inacurately named 'Best Buy'. When I was looking at laptops I saw a nice ASUS machine on sale. I was ready to buy it, but decided to do a bit of research on it first. I learned ASUS's generous 3 year parts & labor 1-year accidental manufucaturer warranty was replaced by 1 year of Best Buy's geek squad support. Needless to say I was glad I did the research, and instead bought a nice ASUS off newegg.
lostcause64
May 25, 2010 at 8:23am
I noticed that very practice on the Netgear wndr3700 in BB almost 2 weeks ago. I was looking a keyboards and checking prices on the router and they had the 3700 priced at $159.99 with the "As Advertised" sign on it. The problem was, I had already looked at their flyer for the week and it wasn't in there. Worse, Walmart and Newegg both had it for $149.99, though they were quick to offer a price match when I called them on it. I could easily see someone less prepared thinking they were getting a good deal at the higher price with that kind of signage.
John
Have you ever wondered why intelligence can normally be found in an individual, but runs screaming in terror from a group? Though, there are exceptions...
routine
May 25, 2010 at 7:59am
I don't get it... where's the deception?
If Best Buy wants to sell a laptop for $20 more than a competitor, shouldn't they be allowed to? Why does anyone think this is wrong?
riopato
May 25, 2010 at 8:50am
Compusa and circuit city are no longer brick and mortar stores. Anyone remember Computer City? What other chains can compete with Best Buy? J&R and Datavision? Talk about companies who jack up prices.
Ever since those companies becames online only, Best Buy hasn't been it's namesake for awhile.
jbwhite99
May 25, 2010 at 3:09pm
There are a handful of CompUSA stores - in Texas, Florida, NC, and Illinois. But they are really rebranded Tiger Direct outlet stores (Texas and some Fla stores used to be CompUSA). But your point is valid - there is no national competition for Best Buy.
HH Gregg is growing well in the South (from 0 to 5 stores in the Raleigh-Durham area, but we used to have the #1 Circuit City in the Chain). Circuit City.com is also owned by Tiger Direct's parent company - Systemax.
Paul_Lilly
May 25, 2010 at 8:11am
I should have been more clear here, but what the Consumerist/Donald are alleging is that Best Buy is jacking up its own pricing, temporarily, and marketing them as a deal ("As Advertised").
-Paul Lilly
riopato
May 25, 2010 at 8:39am
doesn't mean anything. It does mean that they are selling an item for the advertised price. It doesn't say discount or save $xx.
This has been going on since the first market ever existed and the phrase "idiot tax" fits this situation. Jacking up prices are so common place most people don't even realize it. Is a 16 .oz bottle of water actually worth $2? As maximumpc readers, we all know how to do a little research when it comes to picking out parts for our builds while keeping our budget reasonable. It doesn't take an economist to figure out what the msrp of a product should cost. Do you walk into a used car lot and assume the prices are book value? No! you look it up! Living in nyc, it's a natural thing to not not buy anything on 5th avenue since walking 1 block over will be "cheaper".
Best Buy isn't fooling anyone except the fools. They are just continuing the status quo. Cavet Emptor!
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
The gang discusses the GTX 690, Trinity, Ivy Bridge, Amazon, big-box stores, MMOs,...
This month's issue
Feature
Build a PC On Any Budget
Feature
Cloud Services Showdown
How-To
Encrypt Your External Drive
Build It
Upgrade an X58 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Original RickRoll Video Returns to YouTube After 24-Hour Copyright Hiatus http://t.co/MaH9Sxyy20 hours 11 min ago
- maximumpc: Corsair has decided not to go forward with its $78 million IPO, citing weak equity market conditions http://t.co/A5a4DAzj20 hours 20 min ago
- maximumpc: Want to work at Maximum PC? Our Online Managing Editor, Alex, is moving away, so we need a new one. http://t.co/9Z7JCh0E2 days 18 hours ago
