How to actually GET the Best Buy and Staples Hot Deals - a tutorial

[tomdc]

On every hot deal there is complaining that when a member goes into BB the item has not yet been reduced to it's lowest clearance price or at Staples that the hot bargains sell out right after the store opens.

At BB once a item is tagged as clearance (discontinued) price reductions in increments are set. They usually go into effect at all stores nationally within 30 days but individual stores start marking them down through the series of increments. A few just go straight to the bottom price immediately. The important thing is to know this is coming, not that it's already happened. Once a store's price hits the final clearance price, which is about 90% off, the store employees buy them- (wouldn't you- most of these folks make about $7 per hour.)
BUT BB has a 30 day BB Price Guarantee policy which is very easy to get honored (price matches to other stores are not so easy at some stores). The return period for computers themselves (not accessories like hard drives) and camcorders is 14 days so this may factor in. Laptops, desktops, and tv's can be returned by Best Buy to the vendor so these never get discounted as much.

Once you know a BB item is clearanced from FW or SD you usually also know what the final clearance price will be. Many stores will pricematch to other BB's in their district or region that already have the 90% off- many will not. It usually depends on the distance to the other BB, how many they have in stock, and mostly what mood the manager's in. For example- Right now the My Book Premium 500 ( a network storage drive) has been clearanced. It's original BB price is around $350 or so. Ebay price is $150. Most BB's have it for about $175 now. In the Maryland didtrict one store- Salisbury has it already down to $49. Stores around DC won't honor the price because Salisbury is 100 miles away, even tho they have several in stock for that price. But every BB nationally will be at the bottom price ($49 or lower) within the 30 days. The day the item hits that bottom price they will be bought by employees. Thus it is a blessing in disguise when you find a BB with stock at a higher price. Get the item, don't unwrap it so you can return it if neccessary, and certainly by the 29th day check back with them and get a very pleasant surprise- a refund of the difference to the final clearance price (you don't have to have the item with you- just the receipt). 30- Day BB Price Guarantee is much more important than price match at every store. You must have the SKU# with you. Get used to carrying a list of BB clearanced sku's with you when you go there.

When BB does inventory, as it did in October, they raise all prices back to original so that their inventory is valued higher. This starts the clearance process all over again. Many BB csr's will let you return and repurchase so that your 30 day price match starts all over again. (If you need a reason tell them you need to change the item from one account to another- that sounds very business-like and impresses them.) If you get hold of a mean csr just try again at another location or time.

Staples doesn't have the same incremental clearance but often they have price leaders in ads that sell out fast. Through FW and SD you see these often a week before. They technically don't have price guarantee but have 14 day return. Get what you want and after the ad is out return to a Staples and get a refund/repurchase- it's the same as a Price Guarantee. Must have the item with you unopened.

I've used this dozens of times- it's worked 100% but here's two recent examples:

At BB we've had a thread on for some 10 weeks about a $365 Bush tv stand clearanced out. Originally the lowest clearance price was $65 and most BB's didn't have it for that but most districts had at least one store where it was that and many people could get pricematches to that price. Many that couldn't complained a bunch on the threads but the smart ones bought and waited the 29 days. By day 29 the national BB clearance price had not only dropped to $65 but to $19.99 at every single BB! We all went in and got our refunds of the difference in 5 minutes. But members post 10 times a day that they can't find any instock for the $19.99. Previously they cried that their store wouldn't honor the clearance price while they were in stock. Guess what- a $365 stand for $19.99 lasts on the floor for maybe a minute IF the salesperson doesn't buy it which is the case 99% of the time.

Staples recently advertised the Western Digital external 400 GB drive for $50 after a $45 Staples Easy Rebate (they are). The rebate had a limit of 10, as most Staples rebates do. The ad was on sd and fw over a week ahead of time. I got the number I wanted on Tuesday and after Sunday went in with the unopened items and got return/repurchase refunds for the difference. Staples all sold out within 1 hour of opening on Sunday.

At Staples you can check inventory of items at each store online, but at BB you cannot on clearance items as they are discontinued. At BB you must go into a store and go to the department or customer service where they can easily check on their store computer for availability and price at every BB by the SKU- it's still on their computers even though it's no longer on the website.

Sorry if I've given the eBay resellers secret out to the common folk but I hate to see all these disappointed members who drive all around tracking down deals, usually to be disappointed and waste a lot of gas.

BB, Staples and most retailers will not sell to resellers but some stores seem to ignore this and let ebayers buy/return/rebuy dozens at a time. Why common folk can't get them.

[wikipost]

Why don't we post potential clearance deals here?
Magnumis already has a thread going on the clearance deals with an poster updated wiki. I'm sure most folks here are switching back and forth between the two threads- I am.

Link:
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=199096&t=619199&highlight=tomdc

[dzap]

:lol: damn you...

[f2k031]

Repped for this "Sorry if I've given the eBay resellers secret out to the common folk but I hate to see all these disappointed members who drive all around tracking dowm deals, usually to be disappointed and waste a lot of gas."

[hard2hold]

Rot in hell!!!!!!! LOL

[DarnCrazy]

Repped for good info!

[Hoseman666]

Wrong forum. Mods pls delete (and move to recycle bin) ;)

[tripleBargain]

So buy item @ MSRP & then get it priced adjusted once it drops down to the sale price?

[milko]

Next topic is "How to get a deal at BB and Staples before everyone else" :lol:

[tripleBargain]

Next topic is "How to get a deal at BB and Staples before everyone else"

Ha, I was going to ask how to the get the info ahead of the mark downs?

[azdealz]

Great Post! Thanks. Can this be done for multiples of one item or for just one? Thanks Again!

[tgn]

I don't ususally post anything , but I find this very helpful. much appreciated.

On every hot deal there is complining that when a member goes into BB the item has not yet been reduced to it's lowest clearance price or at Staples that the hot bargains sell out right after the store opens.

At BB once a item is tagged as clearance (discontinued) price reductions in increments are set. They usually go into effect at all stores nationally within 30 days but individual stores start marking them down through the series of increments. A few just go straight to the bottom price immediately. The important thing is to know this is coming, not that it's already happened. Once a store's price hits the final clearance price, which is about 90% off, the store employees buy them- (wouldn't you- most of these folks make about $7 per hour.)
BUT BB has a 30 day BB Price Guarantee policy which is very easy to get honored (price matches to other stores are not so easy at some stores).

Once you know a BB item is clearanced from FW or SD you usually also know what the final clearance price will be. Many stores will pricematch to other BB's in their district or region that already have the 90% off- many will not. It usually depends on the distance to the other BB and how many they have in stock. For example- Right now the My Book Premium 500 ( a network storage drive) has been clearanced. It's original BB price is around $350 or so. Ebay price is $150. Most BB's have it for about $175 now. In the Maryland didtrict one store- Salisbury has it already down to $49. Stores around DC won't honor the price because Salisbury is 100 miles away, even tho they have several in stock for that price. But every BB nationally will be at the bottom price ($49 or lower) within the 30 days. The day the item hits that bottom price they will be bought by employees. Thus it is a blessing in disguise when you find a BB with stock at a higher price. Get the item, don't unwrap it so you can return it if neccessary, and certainly by the 29th day check back with them and get a very pleasant surprise- a refund of the difference to the final clearance price (you don't have to have the item with you- just the receipt). 30- Day BB Price Guarantee is much more important than price match at every store. You must have the SKU# with you. Get used to carrying a list of BB clearanced sku's with you when you go there.

Staples doesn't have the same incremental clearance but often they have price leaders in ads that sell out fast. Through FW and SD you see these often a week before. They technically don't have price guarantee but have 30 return. Get what you want and after the ad is out return to a Staples and get a refund/repurchase- it's the same as a Price Guarantee. Must have the item with you unopened.

I've used this dozens of times- it's worked 100% but here's two recent examples:

At BB we've had a thread on for some 10 weeks about a $365 Bush tv stand clearanced out. Originally the lowest clearance price was $65 and most BB's didn't have it for that but most districts had at least one store where it was that and many people could get pricematches to that price. Many that couldn't complained a bunch on the threads but the smart ones bought and waited the 29 days. By day 29 the national BB clearance price had not only dropped to $65 but to $19.99 at every single BB! We all went in and got our refunds of the difference in 5 minutes. But members post 10 times a day that they can't find any instock for the $19.99. Previously they cried that their store wouldn't honor the clearance price while they were in stock. Guess what- a $365 stand for $19.99 lasts on the floor for maybe a minute IF the salesperson doesn't buy it which is the case 99% of the time.

Staples recently advertised the Western Digital external 400 GB drive for $50 after a $45 Staples Easy Rebate (they are). The rebate had a limit of 10, as most Staples rebates do. The ad was on sd and fw over a week ahead of time. I got the number I wanted on Tuesday and after Sunday went in with the unopened items and got return/repurchase refunds for the difference. Staples all sold out within 1 hour of opening on Sunday.

At Staples you can check inventory of items at each store online, but at BB you cannot on clearance items as they are discontinued. At BB you must go into a store and go to the department or customer service where they can easily check on their store computer for availability and price at every BB.

Sorry if I've given the eBay resellers secret out to the common folk but I hate to see all these disappointed members who drive all around tracking dowm deals, usually to be disappointed and waste a lot of gas.

[sdyaar]

When doing these price adjustments,
@Staples-do you use coupons at time of original purchase or when return rebuy?
@BB?

[ersatz]

Good in theory but not necessarily in practice. The lowest reduced/clearance price is not a certainty. Seems like some stores will send the product back before it hits the lower price.

Will every BB store have the 1tb for $89 within the next month? Experience tells me know as I've tried this with otehr deals. And buying the product in anticipation is risky as on these products they only give you 14 days to return. Of course you return and repurchase and hope it's to the final reduced price or you can return it a second time.

[throwaway9501]

So those dinovo keyboards I bought, Can I also apply the 10% coupon during the price adjustment?

[NoObTrAinEr]

more chaos coming.... i can't believe it..

[droppunx]

When doing these price adjustments,
@Staples-do you use coupons at time of original purchase or when return rebuy?
@BB?

This WOULD be pushing it in my opinion...

[PHATasian]

Control D'ed :lol: :look: :nod:

[slyestdog]

Very interesting. I have never tried this, but it seems to me that when one goes into price match, some CSR/managers would look up the availability of this item at other local stores- knowing it is a clearance item- see none available, and not give the discount. No one has ever had that happen?

[throwaway9501]

This WOULD be pushing it in my opinion...

How is it pushing it? You're just following their policy....

[tgn]

Now, i dont know what to think. maybe i should test tihs little theory out before investing too much into pre-buying.
Good in theory but not necessarily in practice. The lowest reduced/clearance price is not a certainty. Seems like some stores will send the product back before it hits the lower price.

Will every BB store have the 1tb for $89 within the next month? Experience tells me know as I've tried this with otehr deals. And buying the product in anticipation is risky as on these products they only give you 14 days to return. Of course you return and repurchase and hope it's to the final reduced price or you can return it a second time.

[rasmonkey]

Thanks for the insight, much appreciated.

[ersatz]

Very interesting. I have never tried this, but it seems to me that when one goes into price match, some CSR/managers would look up the availability of this item at other local stores- knowing it is a clearance item- see none available, and not give the discount. No one has ever had that happen?

That's not what the OP is suggesting though. You do try PMing to anotehr store and if you get shot down buy it anyways. The OP claims that in 30 days it will be at the lowest clearance price at the store you bought it from. So you return it to the store of purchase and request a PM.

[ZeroSyztem]

yaaawwwnnn.... how is this deal again? thumbs down boo!!!

[airtommy]

How is it pushing it? You're just following their policy....
Speaking of policy, too bad OP doesn't know BB's policy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site//olspage.jsp?type=page&entryURLType=&entryURLID=&categoryId=cat10001&contentId=1118843518460&id=cat12098).

What if I find a lower price at another Best Buy store or on BestBuy.com?

If an item you purchased at Best Buy is advertised at a lower price at another Best Buy store in your local area or on BestBuy.com within 30 days of your original receipt purchase (14 days for select categories*, 60 days for HDTVs purchased from 6/3/07 through 9/29/07), we will refund you 100% of the price difference. Simply bring in your original Best Buy receipt to the customer service counter while that lower price is still in effect. Clearance items, open-box items or Web-exclusive offers advertised on BestBuy.com are not eligible for price matching.

Nice try, but no cigar OP. It's hard enough to get BB to honor their actual policy. Getting them to go beyond it is highly YMMV.

[MadPup]

Now BB know that we know. I smell a policy change in the wind!

[Ty001]

thanks for the info

[tomdc]

Very interesting. I have never tried this, but it seems to me that when one goes into price match, some CSR/managers would look up the availability of this item at other local stores- knowing it is a clearance item- see none available, and not give the discount. No one has ever had that happen?

Strangely enough at BB the price always goes down to the ultimate clearance price (90% off) even if there are none in stock. This probably has to do with returns.

This can be a real bonanza on old items that surface. I recently got the Westy 37w1 I'm typing this on at BB. It had been discontinued over a year ago but was still brand new in the box. Probably found under someone's mess in the stockroom. Originally well over $1700, computer price showed it as $599 with a $200 giftcard. Never said the word yes so fast in my life.

[joannaizq]

rep wh0re?

[tukwok]

This is redundant of what others had shared in the posts of items you mentioned if not also other ones.

Mods, I too vote this to be moved to Deal Talk please.

[MinhTrinh]

not trying to TC but I fail to see any new info

EDIT: If you don't want the hassle of rebuy/price adjustment, you can go a week before the sale and "hide" the item you want at the clearance section which ,for my local store, is located in another small and dull room. Of course this works for small item like FAR pen/pencil or whatever you think of.

[Alpha Helix]

Repped!

[tgn]

maybe not to you but it is good info for me
not trying to TC but I fail to see any new info

[Demosthenes9]

not trying to TC but I fail to see any new info


It might not be "new" info, but it is all in one place and clearly spelled out as opposed to being scatter throughout a large number of posts across at least two separate threads.

Props to OP for taking the time to do it.

[tomdc]

I have never had a BB refuse a 30 Day BB Price Guarantee for "clearance". Never heard of anyone else having that problem either.
Certainly they won't honor on open box prices.

[Demosthenes9]

BTW, I think it's kind of ironic that this thread has 5 or 6 thumbs up while the two actual "deal" threads that this one addresses both have thumbs down ratings.

:- ?

[x3kevin]

=nice

[ImGeo]

Thanks! PLEASE DO NOT MOVE THIS ANYWHERE ELSE. IT IS VERY USEFUL, AND GOES HAND IN HAND WITH THE FEW OTHER BB DEALS.

[tomdc]

BTW, I think it's kind of ironic that this thread has 5 or 6 thumbs up while the two actual "deal" threads that this one addresses both have thumbs down ratings.

:- ?

Actually the tv stand has 5 thumbs up, but the point is that first posters thumbs down because they can't get the hot deal price at their BB, then others do because after the price is lowered it's oos.

[every1]

NO IT IS NOT...MODS PLEASE DELETE>..

I agree with that guy in my avatar. Read Wiki.

[ekaren]

It might not be "new" info, but it is all in one place and clearly spelled out as opposed to being scatter throughout a large number of posts across at least two separate threads.

Props to OP for taking the time to do it.

It's awesome to be able to find all this information in one concise post instead of trying to garner the information in 15 pages of posts.

Thank you. Some of us are just learning the tricks of the trade and we really appreciate it.

[tomdc]

As expected eBay resellers are flaming like mad for letting their secret out to common folk.

They forced fw to move this to some obsure forum where no one would see it.

[MozartA]

Because Slickdeals is so popular, I bet people from BB and Staples headquarter likely read SD often. This info posted in very popular deal site like SD will eventually kill this kind of activity.
That's how rebate/PM (for non MIR) deal got mostly killed by store like CC.

[gamepla]

I don't actually agree with your trick, about 3 months ago, I wanted a get a receiver and keep my eyes on an Onkyo receiver with clearance tag $299 (original $599) in BB, and I kindly took the tag home and watched the price going down every week. At the 3rd week the price finally changed to $399 with clearance tag. :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :vomit:

I ends up getting another Onkyo system. That trick might work in some lucky scienaro, not working 100% succesful rate, and overtime you will find yourself exausted by keeping track all the price, unless you are a full-time deal hunter.

[tripleBargain]

Fundamentals are always welcomed even if repeated over & over.

[countdrak]

The policy clearly states that they do not PM clearance items!! Read the WIKI.

Why are people going on about it? Its a big YMMV!!

[dakotus]

:lol: no..I don't sell on ebay as a matter of fact..don't make assumptions A**hole..I am never able to get any clearance deals...and this just entices the ebay wh*res to clean out the stock faster and not leave any for those of use that just need 1..:mad:
Well, be glad you have "their" knowledge then. DURRR

[Demosthenes9]

:lol: no..I don't sell on ebay as a matter of fact..don't make assumptions A**hole..I am never able to get any clearance deals...and this just entices the ebay wh*res to clean out the stock faster and not leave any for those of use that just need 1..:mad:


Or, this tells people like you how to go ahead and get the drive as many of the Ebay whores might not want to go through all that trouble.

[dzap]

Well, be glad you have "their" knowledge then. DURRR



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 263 (93 members and 170 guests)

..those 170 guests are ebayers and employees at BB, CC, Staples etc....this info is just going to bring more threads with people whining saying "my store was cleaned out by some employee/ebayer etc..."

Or, this tells people like you how to go ahead and get the drive as many of the Ebay whores might not want to go through all that trouble.

true....but by the time I get to the store, there's some a** there holding about 10 of them and checking them out....and it wastes my gas everytime I go there..

[digitalvynil]

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 263 (93 members and 170 guests)

..those 170 guests are ebayers and employees at BB, CC, Staples etc....this info is just going to bring more threads with people whining saying "my store was cleaned out by some employee/ebayer etc..."



true....but by the time I get to the store, there's some a** there holding about 10 of them and checking them out....and it wastes my gas everytime I go there..

Quick question, lets say I went and bought a clearance item at BB, because I read SD's and know what the lowest price on this item is going to be 29 days from the actual date it goes on clearance.......

My question is...how can I find out the exact date it went on clearance so I can time my refunds appropriately?

[dakotus]

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 263 (93 members and 170 guests)

..those 170 guests are ebayers and employees at BB, CC, Staples etc....this info is just going to bring more threads with people whining saying "my store was cleaned out by some employee/ebayer etc..."



true....but by the time I get to the store, there's some a** there holding about 10 of them and checking them out....and it wastes my gas everytime I go there..
Sorry for busting your chops then bro.

To the scums/lurkers watching this thread: I cant wait to run you over on Black Friday and step on your nerdy glasses. Ha!

[tomdc]

Why are people going on about it? Its a big YMMV!!

Not YMMV at all. BB Price Guarantee is national BB policy, as with most stores.
CC also has it but since they don't use sku's it's harder to do. I doubt BB will stop using sku's because of this- they just want discontinued stuff out of their stockrooms fast.

[dzap]

Sorry for busting your chops then bro.

To the scums/lurkers watching this thread: I cant wait to run you over on Black Friday and step on your nerdy glasses. Ha!

:lol: OMG I hated BF last year...this is why I'm totally doing it online this year..I went to the stores and everythign I wanted was OOS..since 97% of all the deals I wanted were on bestbuy.com/staples.com...it pissed me off as it was sold out by the time I got home..:lmao: :hug:

[tomdc]

My question is...how can I find out the exact date it went on clearance so I can time my refunds appropriately?

Why I gave 29 days as a safe bet. Actually it may work the next day.

[countdrak]

Not YMMV at all. BB Price Guarantee is national BB policy, as with most stores.
CC also has it but since they don't use sku's it's harder to do. I doubt BB will stop using sku's because of this- they just want discontinued stuff out of their stockrooms fast.

But doesn't the policy state that they will not PM clearance items? [Read WIKI 2nd post]

How do we get around that?

[Demosthenes9]

Not YMMV at all. BB Price Guarantee is national BB policy, as with most stores.
CC also has it but since they don't use sku's it's harder to do. I doubt BB will stop using sku's because of this- they just want discontinued stuff out of their stockrooms fast.

I think it might be in reference to the fact that BB's PM policy clearly states that it doesn't apply to clearance items.

Not sure how that could be parsed out.

[Shadowfox06]

Yeah, it was great sipping hot cocoa while others waited in the cold to be disappointed. Got all my items from Staples and made money AR with 2 200GB Internal HDD + 2 Playo 60 DVD's + other crap i can't even remember.

[dzap]

Quick question, lets say I went and bought a clearance item at BB, because I read SD's and know what the lowest price on this item is going to be 29 days from the actual date it goes on clearance.......

My question is...how can I find out the exact date it went on clearance so I can time my refunds appropriately?

:lol: you need to have an friend/insider normally....it's really stroke of luck....you have to go to the store and check constantly..

[billybabe3883]

Because Slickdeals is so popular, I bet people from BB and Staples headquarter likely read SD often. This info posted in very popular deal site like SD will eventually kill this kind of activity.
That's how rebate/PM (for non MIR) deal got mostly killed by store like CC.

I agree 100%

[dzap]

Yeah, it was great sipping hot cocoa while others waited in the cold to be disappointed. Got all my items from Staples and made money AR with 2 200GB Internal HDD + 2 Playo 60 DVD's + other crap i can't even remember.

:lol: my store was freaking crowded..it's literally a store in the middle of nowhere..it's not even listed on my GPS..and it was jam-packed when I got there at 6am....knew I should have ordered online :headbang:

[dakotus]

Yeah, it was great sipping hot cocoa while others waited in the cold to be disappointed. Got all my items from Staples and made money AR with 2 200GB Internal HDD + 2 Playo 60 DVD's + other crap i can't even remember.
Last year was my first/and last. I wanted to have the experience once. And got out of a concert at 5am, so I figured why not. But, there's plenty more enjoyable things to be doing than standing in the rain/snow with a bunch of slobs pushing you out of the way or pathetically waiting in line for a crappy laptop . Never again.

[tomdc]

I think it might be in reference to the fact that BB's PM policy clearly states that it doesn't apply to clearance items.

Not sure how that could be parsed out.

The alternative would be to return/repurchase as at Staples. BB doesn't require that - they just give you a refund of the difference to save the headache. But if some manager in some BB I've never heard of did refuse a price guarantee on clearance HOW would they stop you from returning and then repurchasing???? 6 of one/ half dozen of the other folks.

[every1]

:lol: my store was freaking crowded..it's literally a store in the middle of nowhere..it's not even listed on my GPS..and it was jam-packed when I got there at 6am....knew I should have ordered online :headbang:

Come one dzap, your either getting old or you forgot. You have to put :lol: in every post. Go back and edit it. :)
PS: Send me a real pic so I can change my avatar.

[Dare2Dream]

Great info, thanks for sharing OP!

Those who are unhappy need to chill out. If it's not new info, then move on to the next thread, don't waste everyone's time with useless posts.

[three4seven]

so.. what if my best buy didn't have the item on clearance at all (full retail price)...

does the 30 day policy of the item reaching max. clearance still apply to me?..

...or does the 30 day clearance policy only apply to those stores that already have the item on clearance (but not the max clearance).

[new-bee]

On every hot deal there is complaining that when a member goes into BB the item has not yet been reduced to it's lowest clearance price or at Staples that the hot bargains sell out right after the store opens.

At BB once a item is tagged as clearance (discontinued) price reductions in increments are set. They usually go into effect at all stores nationally within 30 days but individual stores start marking them down through the series of increments. A few just go straight to the bottom price immediately. The important thing is to know this is coming, not that it's already happened. Once a store's price hits the final clearance price, which is about 90% off, the store employees buy them- (wouldn't you- most of these folks make about $7 per hour.)
BUT BB has a 30 day BB Price Guarantee policy which is very easy to get honored (price matches to other stores are not so easy at some stores).

Once you know a BB item is clearanced from FW or SD you usually also know what the final clearance price will be. Many stores will pricematch to other BB's in their district or region that already have the 90% off- many will not. It usually depends on the distance to the other BB, how many they have in stock, and mostly what mood the manager's in. For example- Right now the My Book Premium 500 ( a network storage drive) has been clearanced. It's original BB price is around $350 or so. Ebay price is $150. Most BB's have it for about $175 now. In the Maryland didtrict one store- Salisbury has it already down to $49. Stores around DC won't honor the price because Salisbury is 100 miles away, even tho they have several in stock for that price. But every BB nationally will be at the bottom price ($49 or lower) within the 30 days. The day the item hits that bottom price they will be bought by employees. Thus it is a blessing in disguise when you find a BB with stock at a higher price. Get the item, don't unwrap it so you can return it if neccessary, and certainly by the 29th day check back with them and get a very pleasant surprise- a refund of the difference to the final clearance price (you don't have to have the item with you- just the receipt). 30- Day BB Price Guarantee is much more important than price match at every store. You must have the SKU# with you. Get used to carrying a list of BB clearanced sku's with you when you go there.

Staples doesn't have the same incremental clearance but often they have price leaders in ads that sell out fast. Through FW and SD you see these often a week before. They technically don't have price guarantee but have 14 day return. Get what you want and after the ad is out return to a Staples and get a refund/repurchase- it's the same as a Price Guarantee. Must have the item with you unopened.

I've used this dozens of times- it's worked 100% but here's two recent examples:

At BB we've had a thread on for some 10 weeks about a $365 Bush tv stand clearanced out. Originally the lowest clearance price was $65 and most BB's didn't have it for that but most districts had at least one store where it was that and many people could get pricematches to that price. Many that couldn't complained a bunch on the threads but the smart ones bought and waited the 29 days. By day 29 the national BB clearance price had not only dropped to $65 but to $19.99 at every single BB! We all went in and got our refunds of the difference in 5 minutes. But members post 10 times a day that they can't find any instock for the $19.99. Previously they cried that their store wouldn't honor the clearance price while they were in stock. Guess what- a $365 stand for $19.99 lasts on the floor for maybe a minute IF the salesperson doesn't buy it which is the case 99% of the time.

Staples recently advertised the Western Digital external 400 GB drive for $50 after a $45 Staples Easy Rebate (they are). The rebate had a limit of 10, as most Staples rebates do. The ad was on sd and fw over a week ahead of time. I got the number I wanted on Tuesday and after Sunday went in with the unopened items and got return/repurchase refunds for the difference. Staples all sold out within 1 hour of opening on Sunday.

At Staples you can check inventory of items at each store online, but at BB you cannot on clearance items as they are discontinued. At BB you must go into a store and go to the department or customer service where they can easily check on their store computer for availability and price at every BB by the SKU- it's stil;l on their computers even though it's no longer on the website.

Sorry if I've given the eBay resellers secret out to the common folk but I hate to see all these disappointed members who drive all around tracking dowm deals, usually to be disappointed and waste a lot of gas.

This is perhaps the best written and most informative contribution to the slickdeals community I have seen to date. Thank you!

[technica]

BB clearance also is REGIONAL, so sh*t might not happen at all even at the end of 30 days in your stores. Just because it clearanced out in CA doesn't mean it will in NY.

[aerotive]

The policy clearly states that they do not PM clearance items!! Read the WIKI.

Why are people going on about it? Its a big YMMV!!


I've had very little trouble getting price adjustments on clearance items. The few times BB has given me grief about it I just say ok I'd like to return it. Bringing up the possibility of a return has made them cave every time.

[airtommy]

Not YMMV at all. BB Price Guarantee is national BB policy, as with most stores.
LOL, now that's truly funny. You're citing BB's national policy IN DEFENSE of your post? In case you missed it, their national policy flushes your strategy down the toilet.

:shake:

[moSom]

yarrr... matey. Shiver me timbers!

[ObsidianGT]

I've had very little trouble getting price adjustments on clearance items. The few times BB has given me grief about it I just say ok I'd like to return it. Bringing up the possibility of a return has made them cave every time.

Ditto.

I've done it many times before. The greatest success I had was during last January when Best Buy was having a clearance on lots of their video games (all systems). Does anyone remember the "Retail Insider List" for those video games last February? I purchased quite a few PSP games for my new PSP (it was a gift) prior to the clearance. I went back and price matched them all. At the time they were doing 110% price matching even on their own items. One of the games was $19.99 regular, clearance price at $1.99. I ended up getting $18 full dollars back, plus $1.80 for the difference (110%) which ended up making the game cost 19 cents plus tax. I'm sure I can dig up the receipt somewhere.

Maybe it's YMMV, but it's never failed for me in the 10 years I've used this method (before Slickdeals and FW I was tipped off on upcoming deals by high-school friends of mine that worked at the stores).

As far as I'm concerned, with my experience as evidence, the OP's post is spot-on. It's not rocket science. Some people just can't put two and two together even when it's right in their face. Hopefully getting more word out about this doesn't end up creating a new policy that ruins it.

[airtommy]

HOW would they stop you from returning and then repurchasing????
1. You return it.
2. CSR sees the dirt cheap price in the computer during return.
3. Item goes into bin behind customer service counter.
4. CSR buys it.

[NoObTrAinEr]

this guide will only help the ebayers :)

[dzap]

this guide will only help the ebayers :)

:iagree: like you? :D :teehee: :shutup:

[Deal Hound]

Strangely enough at BB the price always goes down to the ultimate clearance price (90% off) even if there are none in stock. This probably has to do with returns.

This can be a real bonanza on old items that surface. I recently got the Westy 37w1 I'm typing this on at BB. It had been discontinued over a year ago but was still brand new in the box. Probably found under someone's mess in the stockroom. Originally well over $1700, computer price showed it as $599 with a $200 giftcard. Never said the word yes so fast in my life.

I was wondering the same thing.

Are you sure they still mark it down if they have no stock? That seems strange. Do they still put a clearance tag on the shelf? Otherwise how would you even know the clearance price?

[tomdc]

I was wondering the same thing.

Are you sure they still mark it down if they have no stock? That seems strange. Do they still put a clearance tag on the shelf? Otherwise how would you even know the clearance price?
Strange but true- has to do with returns/refunds and items that resurface in stockrooms long after they're susposed to be gone.. Ultimate clearance prices rarely make it to the shelf. You have to ask on the instore computer at customer service or a dept.

[tomdc]

this guide will only help the ebayers :)

Believe me the ebayers all are very aware of this- how they operate.

[redbos]

hell yeah...damn, i'm going to end up with so much stuff i dont need.

[HelloKathy]

Thanks a ton, OP. Seriously.

<3

[tomdc]

hell yeah...damn, i'm going to end up with so much stuff i dont need.

My friends always joke that I don't save money when something's 90% off because I buy 10.

[ddark]

1. You return it.
2. CSR sees the dirt cheap price in the computer during return.
3. Item goes into bin behind customer service counter.
4. CSR buys it.

Thats exactly what is happening in Houston. So again, YMMV on getting a nice manager or a ignorant csr

[UWGameTime]

wow, +1, and a big thumbs up.

[jaylee]

i kinda knew this already, but repped for putting it in great detail for those who dont. if you intend on doing this often you better have good organizing skills and also wont mind have large amounts of money missing from your wallet every month.

[tomdc]

Thats exactly what is happening in Houston. So again, YMMV on getting a nice manager or a ignorant csr
If someone's that shady or you have a mean manager just say you want to take it off one credit card and put it on another because you keep different business accounts (that'll impress em). They have to let you do that because they assume it's going to a BB card.

[tomdc]

It's 4 am edt and I goota snooze. Been sheparding this baby all night. Don't let the ebayers kill it.

[ddark]

If someone's that shady or you have a mean manager just say you want to take it off one credit card and put it on another because you keep different business accounts (that'll impress em). They have to let you do that because they assume it's going to a BB card.

Tried that before and they caught on to the price difference and gave me the same BS.

[hsingh]

good info..thanks...

[session99]

My question is how do I know ahead of time what item(s) will go on clearance, when they do go on clearance, and also what will be the lowest price on those item(s) before they ever even go on clearance?

[compguy]

I'm sorry guys. This is pretty much all common sense. If people lack that, they don't deserve to get hot deals. Most likely anyone who doesn't know this will be the idiots who do something stupid/alert BB to a price mistake and cause NOBODY to get in on a deal.

It's already a pain in the butt to get in on hot deals at BB many times. It's nice to have a few things up your sleaves that other ppl might not know about and that BB may not think about. Posting this huge in a forum that tons of BB employees probably check massively increases the probability they'll do some typical BB bs and crack down on this stuff so no one can do it.

This is good information and I am all for giving people a fair chance against ebayers, but I don't think this does it. To me, this is more like calling in to alert BB about a price mistake, which is incredibly stupid and ruins deals for everyone.

And before you accuse my of being an ebayer, check my other posts. This is like going into BB for a price mistake and telling the cachier "btw, this is a price mistake. You really aren't supposed to sell this to me for this price and you know you really don't have to, but I'm going to try and buy it anyway". No one in their sane mind would do that, but by posting this, you basically did exactly that. BB employees probably will read this and may very well alert corporate to this and what exactly do you think will happen? Or those nice BB employees who actually let you do this will be made aware of this and will think anyone trying to is either a ebayer or from FW-type site instead of an average joe or sue just trying to get a lower price on something they already bought and they'll be less likely to let you get this.

*Ugh* And I used to think ppl at SD had a little more common sense than at Fruity Wonders forum. I guess not.

[compguy]

Everyone should seriously mod alert this and say to move it to Deal Discussion, since that's what this really is and get it out of HD where BB employees will see it and further ruin deals for us.

[icey]

nice post, OP. i hate sd ebayers with a passion.

[ima4ltrwrd]

worthless info, thanks for nothing

[skapur]

Please remove this thread. I have never seen an idiot like this OP. You just ruined it.

[profitone]

realistically- this whole slickdeals concept is going to eventually blow up and be so big that everyone who wants to buy anything at a bargain will consult this kind of site.. therefore- get what you can now--- its not going to be a big secret for very long--

Look at Black Friday-- It used to be old ladies looking for clothes, men looking for workboots-- Now its an all out assault on electronics-- The internet has changed the way everyone shops and slickdeals (and this post) is the evolution of our way of shopping.

[FoianZ]

I'm sorry guys. This is pretty much all common sense. If people lack that, they don't deserve to get hot deals. Most likely anyone who doesn't know this will be the idiots who do something stupid/alert BB to a price mistake and cause NOBODY to get in on a deal.

It's already a pain in the butt to get in on hot deals at BB many times. It's nice to have a few things up your sleaves that other ppl might not know about and that BB may not think about. Posting this huge in a forum that tons of BB employees probably check massively increases the probability they'll do some typical BB bs and crack down on this stuff so no one can do it.

This is good information and I am all for giving people a fair chance against ebayers, but I don't think this does it. To me, this is more like calling in to alert BB about a price mistake, which is incredibly stupid and ruins deals for everyone.

And before you accuse my of being an ebayer, check my other posts. This is like going into BB for a price mistake and telling the cachier "btw, this is a price mistake. You really aren't supposed to sell this to me for this price and you know you really don't have to, but I'm going to try and buy it anyway". No one in their sane mind would do that, but by posting this, you basically did exactly that. BB employees probably will read this and may very well alert corporate to this and what exactly do you think will happen? Or those nice BB employees who actually let you do this will be made aware of this and will think anyone trying to is either a ebayer or from FW-type site instead of an average joe or sue just trying to get a lower price on something they already bought and they'll be less likely to let you get this.

*Ugh* And I used to think ppl at SD had a little more common sense than at Fruity Wonders forum. I guess not.

quit hating on others...:shake:

[techbear]

I hope the point 'how to know which item is on clearence' still stays as :secret: at least for some more time. At least, ain't gonna reveal ;)

[rnamile]

On every hot deal there is complaining that when a member goes into BB the item has not yet been reduced to it's lowest clearance price or at Staples that the hot bargains sell out right after the store opens.

At BB once a item is tagged as clearance (discontinued) price reductions in increments are set. They usually go into effect at all stores nationally within 30 days but individual stores start marking them down through the series of increments. A few just go straight to the bottom price immediately. The important thing is to know this is coming, not that it's already happened. Once a store's price hits the final clearance price, which is about 90% off, the store employees buy them- (wouldn't you- most of these folks make about $7 per hour.)
BUT BB has a 30 day BB Price Guarantee policy which is very easy to get honored (price matches to other stores are not so easy at some stores). The return period for computers is 14 days so this may factor in.

Once you know a BB item is clearanced from FW or SD you usually also know what the final clearance price will be. Many stores will pricematch to other BB's in their district or region that already have the 90% off- many will not. It usually depends on the distance to the other BB, how many they have in stock, and mostly what mood the manager's in. For example- Right now the My Book Premium 500 ( a network storage drive) has been clearanced. It's original BB price is around $350 or so. Ebay price is $150. Most BB's have it for about $175 now. In the Maryland didtrict one store- Salisbury has it already down to $49. Stores around DC won't honor the price because Salisbury is 100 miles away, even tho they have several in stock for that price. But every BB nationally will be at the bottom price ($49 or lower) within the 30 days. The day the item hits that bottom price they will be bought by employees. Thus it is a blessing in disguise when you find a BB with stock at a higher price. Get the item, don't unwrap it so you can return it if neccessary, and certainly by the 29th day check back with them and get a very pleasant surprise- a refund of the difference to the final clearance price (you don't have to have the item with you- just the receipt). 30- Day BB Price Guarantee is much more important than price match at every store. You must have the SKU# with you. Get used to carrying a list of BB clearanced sku's with you when you go there.

Staples doesn't have the same incremental clearance but often they have price leaders in ads that sell out fast. Through FW and SD you see these often a week before. They technically don't have price guarantee but have 14 day return. Get what you want and after the ad is out return to a Staples and get a refund/repurchase- it's the same as a Price Guarantee. Must have the item with you unopened.

I've used this dozens of times- it's worked 100% but here's two recent examples:

At BB we've had a thread on for some 10 weeks about a $365 Bush tv stand clearanced out. Originally the lowest clearance price was $65 and most BB's didn't have it for that but most districts had at least one store where it was that and many people could get pricematches to that price. Many that couldn't complained a bunch on the threads but the smart ones bought and waited the 29 days. By day 29 the national BB clearance price had not only dropped to $65 but to $19.99 at every single BB! We all went in and got our refunds of the difference in 5 minutes. But members post 10 times a day that they can't find any instock for the $19.99. Previously they cried that their store wouldn't honor the clearance price while they were in stock. Guess what- a $365 stand for $19.99 lasts on the floor for maybe a minute IF the salesperson doesn't buy it which is the case 99% of the time.

Staples recently advertised the Western Digital external 400 GB drive for $50 after a $45 Staples Easy Rebate (they are). The rebate had a limit of 10, as most Staples rebates do. The ad was on sd and fw over a week ahead of time. I got the number I wanted on Tuesday and after Sunday went in with the unopened items and got return/repurchase refunds for the difference. Staples all sold out within 1 hour of opening on Sunday.

At Staples you can check inventory of items at each store online, but at BB you cannot on clearance items as they are discontinued. At BB you must go into a store and go to the department or customer service where they can easily check on their store computer for availability and price at every BB by the SKU- it's still on their computers even though it's no longer on the website.

Sorry if I've given the eBay resellers secret out to the common folk but I hate to see all these disappointed members who drive all around tracking dowm deals, usually to be disappointed and waste a lot of gas.

Hey tomdc, Keepup the good work. Great Info. Always thought something like that was happening at BB. Thanks

[ShIzNiTs]

I feel like this was mostly common sense, I don't think he's alerted TOO many people. I've known about this for a while and never really pursued this as an ebay venture just because.

I think the op did the right thing to inform those who didn't know, and im a little perplexed that so many on this post seemed to be extraordinarily intrigued, but its not like this new is making FP or anything. I just hope people don't forward this to all their friends and what not, because that might actually spread like wild fire.

I do think the person above with the Neo/Matrix avatar is correct in saying its a matter of time before the wheeling and dealing of SD and FW is somehow, in someway, handcuffed to a degree. I am not sure how, but either they (the companies) will be forced to do it intrinsically as the these sites become larger and larger and too much of these PM shananigans are flying around an they eventually catch on, which at that time they'll have to revamp the entire system making the deals hard and harder to catch. They obviously can't remove "deals/sales/clearances" from the game all together but they can try to make it more difficult, but in the end as long as they are turning profit or at least have a larger market share than the other companies, they really won't care. Thats the beauty of it too, because whichever company keeps its deals better (not just sale wise, but customer relations [i.e. Staples amazing job for so many years regarding their policies and business practices that so many SD take advantage of... which i dont have one in my area =\] as well) will keep the SD game competitive.

Thats my 2 cents. In other news, im going to BB in 2 hours to see if i can jump on the hdd, but im probably too late as the sd-ebayer predator in my area has jumped on it already even if it was $150... booo!

[verballz]

Booyakasha! Big up yourself & Respek! Dankz for da info! I'z don't carez about ebayaz' as dey scum bagz! Peace

[Dieck]

bumpity bump bump. Thanks for the info. And doom to the ebayers!

[Boztiger76]

This is perhaps the best written and most informative contribution to the slickdeals community I have seen to date. Thank you!

Agreed. And I'm not a Moron, Shortsighted, Uneducated, or any of the things that those people wanting to push this to deal forums will say. I simply choose to believe that BB will keep the status quo because it eliminates the oppurtunity cost of keeping clearanced merchandise in house for extended periods of time. so BUMP!!!!!!!

[BigCheapSk8]

Much appreciated and Repped.

Now, is there different incremental price drops over the 30 days in each department? Obviously I couldn't go in and buy a 42" LCD on clearance and come back 29 days later for my $700 refund right??

It would be cool if a continuously updated thread could be started that listed each item on clearance at any given time and at what stage it has hit, to measure the possibility of actually finding the item and where the price might end up. :bulb:

[mavis]

Good in theory but not necessarily in practice. The lowest reduced/clearance price is not a certainty. Seems like some stores will send the product back before it hits the lower price.

Will every BB store have the 1tb for $89 within the next month? Experience tells me know as I've tried this with otehr deals. And buying the product in anticipation is risky as on these products they only give you 14 days to return. Of course you return and repurchase and hope it's to the final reduced price or you can return it a second time.

1TB FOR $89?? Are you sure

[compguy]

Agreed. And I'm not a Moron, Shortsighted, Uneducated, or any of the things that those people wanting to push this to deal forums will say. I simply choose to believe that BB will keep the status quo because it eliminates the oppurtunity cost of keeping clearanced merchandise in house for extended periods of time. so BUMP!!!!!!!

It's people like you who killed the Costco return policy. so Bump all you like and bump somemore once you've killed this kind of deal from ever happening again. And yes, you are very shortsighted. In the world of retail, there aren't that many stores with really good policies. Once those stores stop offering them, those policies are dead, like the example I just used with the Costco return policy or various other stores' formerly lenient PM policies that have gotten much stricter in recent years. Your failure to see things beyond this day or month doesn't change that by posting something like this in an area of the forums where it's known BB employees check and bumping it up constantly is going to kill this kind of deal.

Anyone with any common sense already knew how to do this and the ones without it will be the idiots who are the most vocal, complain to no end when they're rejected when they go in store, and instead of just walking away and coming back when a different employee is there or at a different store, they'll argue with them and make a big enough deal that it'll be ruined for everyone. I've been on deal sites for at least 10 years now and have seen how this generally works.

Education or lack-thereof is no indication of intelligence and neither of those are an indication of common sense. By bumping a deal that should be buried or moved to Deal-Discussion instead of HD, you're putting it right in front of BB employees' faces. This information is mentioned in NEARLY EVERY price mistake/clearance thread anyway so posting it here just serves to put a huge notice sign up for staples and BB employees. What you choose to believe has absolutely nothing to do with how stores will choose their policies, especially if you throw this kind of information and that people are using it right in their faces. History shows that doing so will kill a policy. People like me saw this with Costco and kept stating it, but all the greedy morons preferred to ignore out warnings and go ahead abusing Costco policies so that they stopped offering as good a return policy. This isn't exactly the same, but it's like going in and telling the Costco manager how much you like buying HDTVs and returning them every year to get a newer model for free.

Belief and reality are two totally different things. Yes, posting this here will not immediately kill this sort of deal at BB, but the more and more idiots post threads like this proclaiming to BB in huge text what SD'ers are doing, the more likely BB will change their policy to prevent this kind of deal in the future.

[richman]

Yeah, the guy that started this thread is short sighted. He screwed himself by writing this topic. If he kept it to himself , he could have kept getting great deals, what was he thinking, TELLING the WORLD. Of course, the loophole will close, and he closed it BY SHOUTING it from the ROOFTOP.

BB managers visit this site regularly, and other SD'ers have examples of this happening. And we have ebayer's visit here. What was this guy thinking? Was he trying for his 15 minutes of fame at his OWN expense.

ADVISE to OP ... it's in your best interests to delete this thread!

[compguy]

I would not be surprised if OP is actually a BB or Staples manager. This info is regularly posted in nearly every price mistake/clearance/hd thread anyway and posting this as it's own thread is retarded if OP wants to do anything more than alert BB and Staples and other companies to this so they can screw people who otherwise could actually use this info to get deals.

[lixivix]

I used to use that staples technique and then the staples managers put a stop to it by taking them back and refusing to honor the reduced price on any but one or two. That was like ten years ago and I was buying the stuff on Sat. the day before the sale using the Early Bird adds to find the deals. After they shut me down I stopped shopping at staples for about ten years and also complained to the head office. I think that if you buy a week + ahead of time your a lot less obvious than I was etc. Also the staples stores have a policy that denies sale to resellers and they will call you that to your face regardless of your denial and refuse pricematch in the old days. I am not saying it won't work now but if you do it too often the manager will know your face and you will get stuffed off. So, YMMV on this technique especially if other people have been doing it to the same store which will make the manager's sensitive to this strategy.

[vodreaux]

People complaining this is being share.

It will be share elsewhere if not here!

[techbear]

I just printed OPs info and faxed to BB and Staples corporate so they would change their policy :) May be, I will get some Gift Cards ?

[TheodoreBagwell]

Man, this topic is reminiscent of Roe v. Wade :nod:

let's call it:

tomdcer's v. ebayer's :nod:


this could split SD right down the middle :(


let's try to keep the community together, peace :hug:

[richman]

People complaining this is being share.

It will be share elsewhere if not here!


Yes, the cat is out of the bag, so, now everywhere this info will be SHOUTED and proclaimed everywhere, so everyone knows it, everyone... everywhere! :confused:

Thereby taking away the advantage to the FIRST poster! It is funny to see just how short sighted people can be! :)

[compguy]

People complaining this is being share.

It will be share elsewhere if not here!

People aren't complaining that the info is being shared. We're complaining how retarded the OP is making a separate thread for this so that store employees see it in big letters. IE, the act of posting it in this manner will significantly reduce the effectiveness of the method the OP is posting.

[ShIzNiTs]

I just printed OPs info and faxed to BB and Staples corporate so they would change their policy :) May be, I will get some Gift Cards ?

:eek: :vomit: :mad:

die techbear... die!

:lol:

[colthouse]

For the past 15 years, I have told numerous friends and acquaintances about a shortcut from Exit 7 on the NJTP (Bordentown & Ft. Dix exit) to the Delaware Memorial Bridge (and vice versa). Rte 295 runs parallel to the NJTP the entire distance and there is never any traffic there, even tho the NJTP is notorious for backups due to traffic, especially on holiday weekends.

I am doing my fellow travelers a favor and in the past 15 yrs, the traffic still runs free and clear. For those SD'ers who don't know about Rte 295, I hope to see you there on my next trip up the Northeast corridor. Don't all use it at once, tho, because I need it clear for when I am driving. :wave: to me when you drive by. :heart: you all.

Colt

[ShIzNiTs]

so couldnt you purchase this online from BB for the full price (in reference to the 2.5" 120gb hdd) and then wait the 20 days and PM to your local B&M store... assuming they are OOS

[dzap]

:eek: :vomit: :mad:

die techbear... die!

:lol:

pssh...already sent them last night....to all my local BB stores in SoCal....that's the beauty of e-faxing 1-click and zoom...they're off....good luck PMing in SoCal now you guys...they'll be sending my GCs shortly enough..thanks again OP!!

[bolland99]

Well if i already knew this information, I'd be irritated that it was posted....but I wasn't aware of any of it, so I'm glad it was, and repped..

But now that we've read the post, we should all give it thumbs down, so it will have a lower profile on the site..

[digitalvynil]

Yeah, the guy that started this thread is short sighted. He screwed himself by writing this topic. If he kept it to himself , he could have kept getting great deals, what was he thinking, TELLING the WORLD. Of course, the loophole will close, and he closed it BY SHOUTING it from the ROOFTOP.

BB managers visit this site regularly, and other SD'ers have examples of this happening. And we have ebayer's visit here. What was this guy thinking? Was he trying for his 15 minutes of fame at his OWN expense.

ADVISE to OP ... it's in your best interests to delete this thread!

You people act like this is some top secret CIA crap....lol


BB freaking loves this.....people rushing in to buy clearance merchandise. Yeah, so everyone gets it discounted.....I really don't think its cutting in to BB's bottom line. They overcharge for normal everyday items...and everybody gets whats coming to them.

[dzap]

quick...mod!! Move it to Deal Talk!! Or.....somewhere else.. :lol:

[compguy]

For the past 15 years, I have told numerous friends and acquaintances about a shortcut from Exit 7 on the NJTP (Bordentown & Ft. Dix exit) to the Delaware Memorial Bridge (and vice versa). Rte 295 runs parallel to the NJTP the entire distance and there is never any traffic there, even tho the NJTP is notorious for backups due to traffic, especially on holiday weekends.

I am doing my fellow travelers a favor and in the past 15 yrs, the traffic still runs free and clear. For those SD'ers who don't know about Rte 295, I hope to see you there on my next trip up the Northeast corridor. Don't all use it at once, tho, because I need it clear for when I am driving. :wave: to me when you drive by. :heart: you all.

Colt

That's an incorrect analogy. The highways are crammed at rush hour and that's indicative of what will happen once BB and Staples are bombarded with this and take action - namely, you'll be stuck in traffic/unable to get through. The main benefit of the highway is location and you don't have to go out of the way. So your analogy is incompatable because it's comparing the wrong things. The chief benefit here is that you get things cheaper. If BB and Staples are bombarded with traffic you'll be stuck in traffic and have to spend much more time trying to get it to work and it'll be much more YMMV. And unlike your analogy of the little sideroad that people don't know about, you can't go to some mom&pop store and get a better deal or a better policy without sacrificing money (it'd be the same as driving around the 4 sides of a state to avoid the traffic jam going through it).

Just remember, this is the same bull that killed Pricematch policies and made them the YMMV state they are in today (they used to be much easier to get) and it's also the same bull that killed Costco's return policy. So be happy with the knowledge this thread is doing the most possible to destroy this as a feasable option for getting deals, especially for those of us who are NOT ebayers and are lucky if we can even find items in any of the stores by the time we see the deal. Anything near us is usually already grabbed by ebayers. This thread will just ensure said ebayers know about another way to screw us over and take everything from all the stores, at least until BB and Staples stop allowing this and then none of us will be able to do this.

Rejoice, rejoice in your self-destruction. I think it's time to go have 6-pack and drive to work so I can be just as blind and self-deceiving as the people who think this won't affect anything. Well maybe I won't, but it amazes me how dumb people are. You wouldn't drink a keg and drive a car when you can barely walk without falling down. Suddenly when something doesn't have as obvious physical effect people feel compelled to be 10 times more foolish and short-cited.



I can see no rational explanation for why the OP would post this in it's own thread except for wanting quick rep points or some garbage like that, sacrificing the feasability of this deal in the process. He's probably an ebayer too because that's usually their general mentality (get themselves the most money/most rep and don't care the effect it has on other people trying to get deals). This info is hardly breaking news, as it's often posted in threads. The difference is staples employees and BB employees don't usually read threads in depth. They just look at what the deals are and act accordingly. By doing this, you're telling them what to expect and make it much easier for them to screw you or prepare creative responses for denying it when you try so congrats OP. Enjoy your cheap reps at the cost of deal-hunters on SD and any other forums cuz this hurts all of them.

[DealsAllTheWay]

wow. I think this is an awesome tip. I have never tried it before but will do so from now on. Thanks so much

btw, is it always the case that the price will go down to 90% off at best buy?

I remember that bush stand you're talking about. I saw it at best buy for $65 and didn't care to buy it but I had no idea that it went down to $20. I would've bought one then.

I need to goto best buy to see if there are any ipod accessories on clearance.

I don't understand why people are bashing this important information.

maybe I need to learn slickdeal politics

[dzap]

wow. I think this is an awesome tip. I have never tried it before but will do so from now on. Thanks so much

btw, is it always the case that the price will go down to 90% off at best buy?

I remember that bush stand you're talking about. I saw it at best buy for $65 and didn't care to buy it but I had no idea that it went down to $20. I would've bought one then.

I need to goto best buy to see if there are any ipod accessories on clearance.

I don't understand why people are bashing this important information.

maybe I need to learn slickdeal politics
The Politics class will start shortly...please deposit one token to continue :D

[dnnydao]

If you are up to 90% off deal this way by buying full price and wait for the true clearance price...It may end up expensive in the long run if you missed 1 out of ten of the PM...plus the Tax is not refundable.

[TheodoreBagwell]

Because Slickdeals is so popular, I bet people from BB and Staples headquarter likely read SD often. This info posted in very popular deal site like SD will eventually kill this kind of activity.
That's how rebate/PM (for non MIR) deal got mostly killed by store like CC.


hmmm, not sure about that, i think there's a method to BB/Staples etc. maddness, it's not like "whoops we put an item on clearance and all the SDer's are going to buy them and we will loose money, oh noooo ! let's raise the price back up before they get anymore ! ".:eek:

there's many good reasons why they might put a product on clearance:

1 it is an older model.
2 has manufacturing flaws. (it does happen quite often)
3 store needs to clear out space for new stock, on shelves, stockroom, wharehouse.
4 overstocked item (see # 3)
5 underperforming sales item (see 2 & 3)

6 company may want to just get customers in store (i mean how many of us went to a clearance sale and bought something else instead, c'mon be honest).

7 maybe even store has deal with restaurants or other stores nearby for creating"clearance frenzy"(i know i have been starving after scouring aisles and arguing with csrs and managers, [to no avail]. this deal hunting is cumbersome and you work up an appetite. :yummy:

8 company trying to sell you more expensive item when clearance item is not in stock
(has happened to me at least 3 times in last 4 or 5 clearance sales recently, probably has happened to many of you as well) what? bait & switch, who could ever prove it ? :nod:


:bulb: i'm sure the reasons are endless, let's put it in the Wiki.....# 9 ..10...11

[ses777]

I didn't actually know some of this stuff but I have no BB or Staples around me so it does me next to no good. Having said that, THIS IS IN THE WRONG FORUM. There is no specific hot deal other than discussion of past deals so this should be moved instead of cluttering the Hot Deals forum.

[chrispy442]

common sense that every SDer should have already learned, ...no argument...

[DealsAllTheWay]

If you are up to 90% off deal this way by buying full price and wait for the true clearance price...It may end up expensive in the long run if you missed 1 out of ten of the PM...plus the Tax is not refundable.

who told you tax is not refundable? are you kidding me? that would be illegal.

[DealsAllTheWay]

so is it always true that the price will be 90% off within 30 days of the first clearance price?

[dnnydao]

I mean if you missed one of the PM or not honored then you end up paying full price plus tax.
who told you tax is not refundable? are you kidding me? that would be illegal.

[DealsAllTheWay]

I mean if you missed one of the PM or not honored then you end up paying full price plus tax.

oh okay..sorry

[gtu2005]

hmmm, i thought everone knew this already...

[mickey4paws]

Just remember, this is the same bull that killed Pricematch policies and made them the YMMV state they are in today (they used to be much easier to get) and it's also the same bull that killed Costco's return policy. So be happy with the knowledge this thread is doing the most possible to destroy this as a feasable option for getting deals, especially for those of us who are NOT ebayers and are lucky if we can even find items in any of the stores by the time we see the deal.I can see no rational explanation for why the OP would post this in it's own thread except for wanting quick rep points or some garbage like that, sacrificing the feasability of this deal in the process.

:iagree:

[ShIzNiTs]

So I've always known about this "idea" but never did it. If I did do this do you just take your receipt back after 14/30 days and be like "hey, there is a new price now, can you adjust it for me"... won't they find that shady if you buy like 10 items or do they have to honor it?

I am itching to try this on the 2.5" WD HDD deal... anyone know if thats a 14 day or 30 day policy?

[jayb082]

Booyakasha! Big up yourself & Respek! Dankz for da info! I'z don't carez about ebayaz' as dey scum bagz! Peace

thank you Ali G! lmao that was quite funny

[DryEyes]

I figure its a dog eat dog world out there...but still too many people were going to store after store and getting screwed. I dont know, I like it when ebayers get screwed (becasue Im not one fo them) but I hate to see them lose profits....especially when they are able to sell everything for cheaper than retail price (a win win for most).

what I dont like is when the ebayers give thumbs down to threads (you know 5 thumbs downs and only three comments) that eventually become big threads or front page ads....I feel thats BS.

so there will be a new policy but sigh....we will find a way round it.

btw, costco wasnt screwed by SD or FW. it was more from the average bumpkin buying a notebook every 6months and returning the old for no reason....Im so mad at that.

[ganeshk_bakth]

great idea. I will to check it out myself before I rep you .. LOL

[tomdc]

That's an incorrect analogy. ........ it's also the same bull that killed Costco's return policy......

Rejoice, rejoice in your self-destruction. I think it's time to go have 6-pack and drive to work...............

This info is hardly breaking news, as it's often posted in threads. ...

wow. where to start- I think he should have said have yet another six-pack and drive to work.

1. The Costco unlimited return policy is an incorrect analogy itself. Costco allows people to return purchases after years and yes that was an obvious bad idea on hdtv's that drop by 50% in price every few months with better models every month. Didn't take em much sd investigating to figure that out.

2. It's not breaking news, thousands have realized it, and certainly people at the multi-billion dollar BB. They could care less.

This is discontinued "dead" stock taking up scarce stockroom and shelf space. Unless they change to a Staples type Just-In-Time inventory with almost no stockroom and manufacturer drop-ships they want dead inventory OUT of the stockrooms asap. I've run into a district sales manager and their anger is at the store managers who are sluggish on clearancing dead stock. They do check sd and fw and when they see different prices on clearance items they immediately make a national clearance price reduction. Ikea goes even further- they order their stores to get rid of last year's stock every August at whatever price, 99 cents for a $200 product is possible. Anything left at September 1 is ordered donated or more often destroyed. Dead stock is a problem, a few bargain hunters are not.

Even if BB shifts to a Staples business plan wholly or partly they are not going to drop the 30 day price guarantee- this is an standard with all retailers and would be suiicide to drop. Staples tried and forces return/repurchase with a check on a waiting list for the item. Right- I've been on their waiting lists for sale items and I've returned/repurchased items after they go on sale. I think this waiting list is kept by the tooth fairy.

[Boztiger76]

I used to use that staples technique and then the staples managers put a stop to it by taking them back and refusing to honor the reduced price on any but one or two. That was like ten years ago and I was buying the stuff on Sat. the day before the sale using the Early Bird adds to find the deals. After they shut me down I stopped shopping at staples for about ten years and also complained to the head office. I think that if you buy a week + ahead of time your a lot less obvious than I was etc. Also the staples stores have a policy that denies sale to resellers and they will call you that to your face regardless of your denial and refuse pricematch in the old days. I am not saying it won't work now but if you do it too often the manager will know your face and you will get stuffed off. So, YMMV on this technique especially if other people have been doing it to the same store which will make the manager's sensitive to this strategy.

This is a very good policy. Buy one for your own use and there will be zero issues.

[smeverson]

I was curious about the abbreviations in the original post. I know SD refers to slick deals but what is FW

Answer found..... Google is great

[MozartA]

....
2. It's not breaking news, thousands have realized it, and certainly people at the multi-billion dollar BB. They could care less.
.....


I think you hit the point. Right now only thousands have realized this. But with how popular SD and other deal sites are, now millions will realized this. And even Newspaper or News site article are going to mention this. Like compguy mentioned, that would include Staples/BB managers/cashiers/cs reps, etc.
Business bottom line is to make money. When thousands know about it, it probably won't hurt their bottom line. But when millions know about this and use this information, it is going to affect their income.
That's how certain activity (like PM/rebate) got kill because it get too popular by deal sites like SD.

[Abagadro]

BB is probably happy to use your money for a month and have the floor space.

[swiffer]

Does this concept work on Black Friday deals? If you know what is going on sale that day, can you buy it on Wednesday and get the cheap price by returning/repurchasing it on Friday? I wasn't on SD last year, so I'm not sure how Black Friday/Christmas deals work.

[CZroe]

Technically, Best Buy's pricematch policy and price protection guarantee (the 30-day 110% one) exclude clearance items, so this is not guaranteed to work. Also, once the item drops to the lowest price and sells out, they are not obligated to give you that price due to another policy: It must be in-stock and available at that price or else competitors could do advertised bait & switch tactics with one or two items in-stock and their competitors would be forced to sell all their stock at a loss. If you can't prove that you could have ably been there and bought it for the lower price had you not already paid more, you can't prove that you paid more than you would have for the price-protection to apply to you.

In summation, there are TWO policies that can screw you over if you attempt this method. The exclusion of clearance items from price-matching policies and the exclusion of items that are out of stock.

[batfishgurl]

very good info! thanks very much! repped!

[fabiodovalle]

BB is probably happy to use your money for a month and have the floor space.


I tottaly agree with you. And this is the idea behind rebates as well.

[MozartA]

BB is probably happy to use your money for a month and have the floor space.

For each credit card purchase, the bank charges a commission (discount fee), to the merchant for this service and there may be a certain delay before the agreed payment is received by the merchant.

So usually the store don't have your money for a period of time which means they may not have your money for a month. And the more BB refund customer after 2-3 weeks, the delay may increase because why would bank give the store money first if they usually refund some of them after 2-3 weeks? So likely the agreement (payment delay) between bank and merchant will change based on the customer behavior.

And again, if it hit BB/Staples bottom line, and likely it will with now millions of people know about this, they will do something about this.
For example, My Book Premium 500 ( a network storage drive) has been clearanced. It's original BB price is around $350 or so. Ebay price is $150. Most BB's have it for about $175 now.
I think most people will buy it even if it hit $110 and probably sold out most of them by the time it hit that price. So let said it will eventually hit $30 clearance price. And EVERYONE use the information and get it for $30 instead. They will lost $80 for each one they sold. So if they have 100,000 stocks in all their stores, they will lose big money.
Again, if this hit their bottom line, they will do something about this.

[DryEyes]

ur logic doesnt make sense (the guy above me). when an item is in clearance they usually have met their profit margin. they are just clearing out room for the newer item fully priced.

let me make is simple:
100,000 hard drives each for 100$ = 10 million dollars. (of which the profit lets say is 4 million some of which goes to expenses).
now they sell 95,000 of these and still have 5,000 left. (profit is 3.8 million (0.95x 4mill).

newer item hard drive comes in and is sold for 100$.
if they keep the 5,000 items that didnt sell then they dont have room for the new 100,000 items.

so they sell the 5,000 for whatever they can get (5,000 x 30$) 150,000 dollars which is money they add to profit or use to cut back losses.

the hope is for the 5,000 new hard drives that sell for 100$ is to make 5,000x 100= 500,000 (or 475,000$ if they only sell 95%).

if they kept the old ones, they lose on the new $500,000 + nobody will buy the old ones at the same price as the new so they have to cut prices on the old until they are practically giving them away.

[Abagadro]

For each credit card purchase, the bank charges a commission (discount fee), to the merchant for this service and there may be a certain delay before the agreed payment is received by the merchant.

So usually the store don't have your money for a period of time which means they may not have your money for a month. And the more BB refund customer after 2-3 weeks, the delay may increase because why would bank give the store money first if they usually refund some of them after 2-3 weeks? So likely the agreement (payment delay) between bank and merchant will change based on the customer behavior.

And again, if it hit BB/Staples bottom line, and likely it will with now millions of people know about this, they will do something about this.
For example, My Book Premium 500 ( a network storage drive) has been clearanced. It's original BB price is around $350 or so. Ebay price is $150. Most BB's have it for about $175 now.
I think most people will buy it even if it hit $110 and probably sold out most of them by the time it hit that price. So let said it will eventually hit $30 clearance price. And EVERYONE use the information and get it for $30 instead. They will lost $80 for each one they sold. So if they have 100,000 stocks in all their stores, they will lose big money.
Again, if this hit their bottom line, they will do something about this.

They will pay the service charge regardless and on this big of account, the reconciliation happens very quickly.

As for the rest, if they get rid of this practice, people will know just to wait until it hits the bottom price and then buy it. If they miss out, then they miss out. You only have a certain pool of purchasers and each has a price point. People who have a lower price point and are using this system (as they would only buy at that price point) aren't suddenly going to buy at the higher price point rather than risk waiting and getting it lower. Those that have the higher price point are just buying it when it hits that point and likely aren't trolling sites like these trying to get it lower.

So BB is getting rid of stock they want to get rid of and imposing an extra cost (i.e. the hassle of coming back, etc.) on those who want to get it at a lower price (the economic rationale behind rebates, coupons and outlet stores). This system is actually classic retail economics (unlike outrageous return policies that people can unscrupulously exploit) rather than any sort of exploit.

[tomdc]

Technically, Best Buy's pricematch policy and price protection guarantee (the 30-day 110% one) exclude clearance items, so this is not guaranteed to work. Also, once the item drops to the lowest price and sells out, they are not obligated to give you that price due to another policy: It must be in-stock and available at that price or else competitors could do advertised bait & switch tactics with one or two items in-stock and their competitors would be forced to sell all their stock at a loss. If you can't prove that you could have ably been there and bought it for the lower price had you not already paid more, you can't prove that you paid more than you would have for the price-protection to apply to you.

In summation, there are TWO policies that can screw you over if you attempt this method. The exclusion of clearance items from price-matching policies and the exclusion of items that are out of stock.

IF this were to ever happen ( never heard of or experienced) just return/repurchase same as Staples.

[MozartA]

ur logic doesnt make sense (the guy above me). when an item is in clearance they usually have met their profit margin. they are just clearing out room for the newer item fully priced.

let me make is simple:
100,000 hard drives each for 100$ = 10 million dollars. (of which the profit lets say is 4 million some of which goes to expenses).
now they sell 95,000 of these and still have 5,000 left. (profit is 3.8 million (0.95x 4mill).

newer item hard drive comes in and is sold for 100$.
if they keep the 5,000 items that didnt sell then they dont have room for the new 100,000 items.

so they sell the 5,000 for whatever they can get (5,000 x 30$) 150,000 dollars which is money they add to profit or use to cut back losses.

the hope is for the 5,000 new hard drives that sell for 100$ is to make 5,000x 100= 500,000 (or 475,000$ if they only sell 95%).

if they kept the old ones, they lose on the new $500,000 + nobody will buy the old ones at the same price as the new so they have to cut prices on the old until they are practically giving them away.

You miss one thing, those 95,000 they sold, if they use this information from this thread, people may get refund and get it for $30. So 95,000 * $80 refund (assume most sold at $110) will be 7.6 millions refund to customer. That will hit their bottom line.

This is what all this thread is about. How to get the refund before the item hit the bottom clearance price.

[DryEyes]

now let me explain rebates:

I have an item I want to sell for 5$ to make a proft.
I price it at 25$ and give a 25$ rebate to make it free.

I hope that only 80% of rebates are accurately filled out and sent to me.
I make 20% of the full price which is $5.

how to increase my profits:
1. make the rebate stay longer with me. more chance for people to forget or say its not worth it. out of country tourists wont bother to send it in since they are leaving before 8-12 weeks.
2. reject 10% of rebates. 90% of people will be happy still.
3. use the money I used from all you guys in investments or CD or Money market which will give me and additional 5-10% profit.
4. make the rebate impossible, but then less people will buy. so the item would have to be kickass or else the rebate should be easy.
5. make the time to submit the rebate from postmark date really short so u cant get it in on time or really long so u forget.

all legal except for item 2. they cover themselves by allowing you to resubmit if u had ur bases covered.

[Demosthenes9]

ur logic doesnt make sense (the guy above me). when an item is in clearance they usually have met their profit margin. they are just clearing out room for the newer item fully priced.

let me make is simple:
100,000 hard drives each for 100$ = 10 million dollars. (of which the profit lets say is 4 million some of which goes to expenses).
now they sell 95,000 of these and still have 5,000 left. (profit is 3.8 million (0.95x 4mill).

newer item hard drive comes in and is sold for 100$.
if they keep the 5,000 items that didnt sell then they dont have room for the new 100,000 items.

so they sell the 5,000 for whatever they can get (5,000 x 30$) 150,000 dollars which is money they add to profit or use to cut back losses.

the hope is for the 5,000 new hard drives that sell for 100$ is to make 5,000x 100= 500,000 (or 475,000$ if they only sell 95%).

if they kept the old ones, they lose on the new $500,000 + nobody will buy the old ones at the same price as the new so they have to cut prices on the old until they are practically giving them away.




Repp'ed for smartness :-)

[Abagadro]

You miss one thing, those 95,000 they sold, if they use this information from this thread, people will get refund and get it for $30. So 95,000 * $80 refund (assume most sold at $110) will be 7.6 millions refund to customer. That will hit their bottom line.

This is what all this thread is about. How to get the refund before the item hit the bottom clearance price.

Those 95k (or at least the vast, vast majority) were purchased well outside of the pricematch time window.

[DryEyes]

You miss one thing, those 95,000 they sold, if they use this information from this thread, people will get refund and get it for $30. So 95,000 * $80 refund (assume most sold at $110) will be 7.6 millions refund to customer. That will hit their bottom line.

This is what all this thread is about. How to get the refund before the item hit the bottom clearance price.

not true. they have already sold out 95% lets assume more than 30 days ago. so none can get the refund.

its the remaining 5% or 5000 that we fight for. so john sees the 100$ hard drive for 70$ on clearance and he buys it and tells us all.

we go buy it for 50-70$.

then when it hits 30$ we all go back for a refund.

the other 95,000 have already been sold and the profit deposited in teh BB bank and cannot be pricematched cuz they were already sold >30 days ago.

[Demosthenes9]

now let me explain rebates:

I have an item I want to sell for 5$ to make a proft.
I price it at 25$ and give a 25$ rebate to make it free.

I hope that only 80% of rebates are accurately filled out and sent to me.
I make 20% of the full price which is $5.

how to increase my profits:
1. make the rebate stay longer with me. more chance for people to forget or say its not worth it. out of country tourists wont bother to send it in since they are leaving before 8-12 weeks.
2. reject 10% of rebates. 90% of people will be happy still.
3. use the money I used from all you guys in investments or CD or Money market which will give me and additional 5-10% profit.
4. make the rebate impossible, but then less people will buy. so the item would have to be kickass or else the rebate should be easy.
5. make the time to submit the rebate from postmark date really short so u cant get it in on time or really long so u forget.

all legal except for item 2. they cover themselves by allowing you to resubmit if u had ur bases covered.


There is another line of thought to rebates and it follows your previous example.

Say I produce 1 million units and my "cost" is $10 million dollars.

The first 500K units each sells for $100 each or $50 million in total. I have covered ALL of my production costs for the entire 1 million units. Each unit sold thereafter is total and complete profit.

Without even factoring in the 5 of rebates that get declined or aren't redeemed, I can gain market share and still have profit simply by giving the remaining 500K units away for free.

Take Norton's for example. What percentage of people simply hit the "update subscription" button at the end of their 1 year period ? That's additional income that I didn't really have to spend anything to earn.


BTW, this comes down to a significant difference between "cost" accounting and "throughput" accounting.

Instead of assigning a portion of the "cost" to each specific unit, you look at them as a whole.

[Demosthenes9]

not true. they have already sold out 95% lets assume more than 30 days ago. so none can get the refund.

its the remaining 5% or 5000 that we fight for. so john sees the 100$ hard drive for 70$ on clearance and he buys it and tells us all.

we go buy it for 50-70$.

then when it hits 30$ we all go back for a refund.

the other 95,000 have already been sold and the profit deposited in teh BB bank and cannot be pricematched cuz they were already sold >30 days ago.

Then you also have the fact that even armed with this information, a large percentage of people won't go through the trouble necessary to save those dollars.

they don't want to keep up with the receipts. They don't want to "live" in Best Buy. Nor do they want to remember/track all the prices.

[DryEyes]

no wonder u liked my reasoning, ur a business major or accountant. of which i am neighter. but I did stay at a holiday express.

how are ur buddys FIFO and LIFO doing?

[tomdc]

BB has plenty of profits to offset any "losses" from dead items against so uncle sam pays for most of the price reduction. Sammy won't pay for their storeroom space though which can cost $500 per square foot per month in a store. So yes, retailers would rather throw dead items in a dumpster than have have them take up valuable storeroom space- but sammy wouldn't pay for that as a loss either so they'll put on 90% clearance and hope they all get bought so it's a clearly valid deductible business transaction loss. Same reason elephants enjoy having scavenger bitds on their hides- gets rid of the parasites clinging on.

[DryEyes]

Then you also have the fact that even armed with this information, a large percentage of people won't go through the trouble necessary to save those dollars.

they don't want to keep up with the receipts. They don't want to "live" in Best Buy. Nor do they want to remember/track all the prices.


exactly, which is why I am here discussing accounting with u instead of getting of my butt and buying the 120GB passport at BB for 23$

[Demosthenes9]

no wonder u liked my reasoning, ur a business major or accountant. of which i am neighter. but I did stay at a holiday express.

how are ur buddys FIFO and LIFO doing?

Former Business major here. hated accounting and drove my professors nuts. Loved Theory of Constraints which is where Throughput accounting was developed.

[MozartA]

not true. they have already sold out 95% lets assume more than 30 days ago. so none can get the refund.

its the remaining 5% or 5000 that we fight for. so john sees the 100$ hard drive for 70$ on clearance and he buys it and tells us all.

we go buy it for 50-70$.

then when it hits 30$ we all go back for a refund.

the other 95,000 have already been sold and the profit deposited in teh BB bank and cannot be pricematched cuz they were already sold >30 days ago.


I think now it get into what kind of assumption we made.
Of course there are a big different depend on how fast they drop the Clearance Price and how much in stock they have at the time the price drop start.

If you read the OP, it said one store may have this for $170 but the other store have this down to $49 or below already. Because of all the information we are getting from SD (like know my store is $170 but I can price match to $49), again, it hit their bottom line much quicker.
No matter what assumption we made, if millions people know about this (both this trick and which store has the lowest clearance price) instead of thousands of people, the impact will be much much bigger. From few ten of thousands of 'less income' to few millions 'less income'. I am talking about 'less income' and not losing money here. Each company want grow, again, if it hit their bottom line (slow down (or even reduce) income grow because of now millions of customer using this information to get much cheaper price), they will do something about this.

[Abagadro]

Then you also have the fact that even armed with this information, a large percentage of people won't go through the trouble necessary to save those dollars.

they don't want to keep up with the receipts. They don't want to "live" in Best Buy. Nor do they want to remember/track all the prices.

Exactly. This is what I have been referring to. A lot of retail is focused on purchaser stratification and price point selection. Retailers actually WANT to capture that small percentage who will only buy on deep discount, but only if it is a marginal increase and doesn't displace the purchasers who will pay retail or slight discount. I don't see using this system as negatively impacting that attempt to capture that price point.

[Demosthenes9]

exactly, which is why I am here discussing accounting with u instead of getting of my butt and buying the 120GB passport at BB for 23$

Heh, I went to BB this morning. Drives were priced at 480 and I didn't feel like jumping through the hoops to try and get them for $23 some time down the road.

[tomdc]

Then you also have the fact that even armed with this information, a large percentage of people won't go through the trouble necessary to save those dollars.

they don't want to keep up with the receipts. They don't want to "live" in Best Buy. Nor do they want to remember/track all the prices.

You would be amazed at the number of posters in every thread who talk about driving to this BB and then that, sometimes many miles, to find a hot deal in stock---- and they're usually disappointed. Buying when you want where you want and doing a price guarantee later is much more civilized!

I enjoy going to BB weekly and I'm off to this week's trip now with my list of sku's of hot deals I may want and my last month's receipts for items purchased. One hour a week in BB is not so terrible, I actually enjoy it. However I don't try for hot deals if I don't have the sku- I'm not looking to turn my weekly tyrst with BB into any long term relationship.

[DryEyes]

Exactly. This is what I have been referring to. A lot of retail is focused on purchaser stratification and price point selection. Retailers actually WANT to capture that small percentage who will only buy on deep discount, but only if it is a marginal increase and doesn't displace the purchasers who will pay retail or slight discount. I don't see using this system as negatively impacting that attempt to capture that price point.

plus it increases the chances of you buying other stuff u didnt want but the cuty in the blue shirt convinced u its a must have.

I am avoiding these places for now cuz the minute i walk in Im getting a 42inch LCD.

[Demosthenes9]

Exactly. This is what I have been referring to. A lot of retail is focused on purchaser stratification and price point selection. Retailers actually WANT to capture that small percentage who will only buy on deep discount, but only if it is a marginal increase and doesn't displace the purchasers who will pay retail or slight discount. I don't see using this system as negatively impacting that attempt to capture that price point.

Exactly.

With every item in retail, you have stratification. Early adopters are the one's who pay stupid money just to have the "newest" thing.

A bit later, prices drop. Those early adopters who purchased right before the price drop COULD get some money back, but many/most don't mess with it.

The same logic applies to those on the other end who buy clearance or just before clearance paying normal "sale" prices.

BTW, we haven't even begun to discuss inventory "turns" or "churns" and how those numbers affect stock price. Believe it or not, "turn" often has a greater impact that profit margins.

[tomdc]

plus it increases the chances of you buying other stuff u didnt want but the cuty in the blue shirt convinced u its a must have.

I am avoiding these places for now cuz the minute i walk in Im getting a 42inch LCD.

There are some good sd's on 42's now, though 37's are the steals.

[DryEyes]

wow we hijacked the thread!!

tomdc, keep it up and thanks for posting this. Ithink this should be a sticky in hotdeals section......to DZAPs chagrin.

There are some good sd's on 42's now, though 37's are the steals.

thats why Im avoiding them. I am moving in 2 months, if i buy one it'll be a huge hassle....

[tomdc]

Exactly.

BTW, we haven't even begun to discuss inventory "turns" or "churns" and how those numbers affect stock price. Believe it or not, "turn" often has a greater impact that profit margins.

and nothing makes a retailer shout hallejuhah! like seeing dead inventory churn out the door!

[barbs001]

Speaking of policy, too bad OP doesn't know BB's policy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site//olspage.jsp?type=page&entryURLType=&entryURLID=&categoryId=cat10001&contentId=1118843518460&id=cat12098).
Clearance items, open-box items or Web-exclusive offers advertised on BestBuy.com are not eligible for price matching.

Nice try, but no cigar OP. It's hard enough to get BB to honor their actual policy. Getting them to go beyond it is highly YMMV.

Not sure this thinking is totally correct at all BBs...
At my BB - buying an item on clearance and bringing the receipt in if the price goes down further is a 'Price Adjustment' not a PM.
Our BB here however will not PM an item they have on clearance with a cheaper price at say Staples. (The policy above seems to fit this).

[tomdc]

"Clearance items, open-box items or Web-exclusive offers advertised on BestBuy.com are not eligible for price matching."

But returning/repurchasing is fine so we'd rather just give you the difference back.

[gimper48]

Take the drive off the clearance rack and hide it in the store. In a washer\dryer. or something come back 4 weeks later and deal of the century. No risk.. well other than having to say well I just accidentally dropped it in there and I have a germ phobia...buahahaha...

[Pepito_Bandito]

*YAWN*































































Deal Talk
























































































*YAWN*

[MozartA]

Exactly. This is what I have been referring to. A lot of retail is focused on purchaser stratification and price point selection. Retailers actually WANT to capture that small percentage who will only buy on deep discount, but only if it is a marginal increase and doesn't displace the purchasers who will pay retail or slight discount. I don't see using this system as negatively impacting that attempt to capture that price point.

Yeah, only if this doesn't hit their bottom line. Again, with thousands know about this, it may not hit the bottom line. But with millions know about this, it will.

Also, for example if the harddrive ebay price is $150 and you get it even at Clearance price of $100-110, I assume most people already satisfy. If they come up with rules like if you buy it at clearance, you can't price match, I don't see people will become dissatisfy.

As for dead inventory, I don't know why it is even discuss here. We are talking about my store sell it at $170 and the other store sell it for $40, how to get it at $40. If my store need the floor space, my store would sell it for $40 instead of $170.

Just think about what happen to PM/rebate (even like some people said, they have the money for few months and they have the floor space), we already know the stores will do something once it has big enough impact to their bottom line.

It doesn't need to be big change. Just enforce rule (or slightly adjust their own rules) like if you buy it at clearance you can't price match/adjustment/repurchase to clearance price. Or shorten the time like if you buy it at regular price, you can only price match/adjustment/repurchase to Clearance item at the same store and you can only do it within 14 days. Or reduce the distance to only price match/repurchase/adjustment to same store within 10 miles, etc. Having those rules and enforcing those rules won't affect satisfaction since those rules at least seems fair to me. And it will help their bottom line.
We are not talking about no more Clearance or no more price match/adjustment here. So again, if it hit their bottom line because millions of people know about this, they will do something about it. Just look at PM/rebate as an example.

[tomdc]

Take the drive off the clearance rack and hide it in the store. In a washer\dryer. or something come back 4 weeks later and deal of the century. No risk.. well other than having to say well I just accidentally dropped it in there and I have a germ phobia...buahahaha...
Be careful, in some states, I know Virginia for example, specific "shop lifting laws" also include damaging or hiding an item. Insane I know.

[tomdc]

nevermind

[DealsAllTheWay]

sorry for asking again but do all items get to final clearance within 30 days of first clearance price? And is it usually 90% off for the final clearance price? thanks

[profitone]

I have a dirty little secret about ebayers.... THEY DONT PAY TAXES ON THEIR EARNINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tukwok]

Be careful, in some states, I know Virginia for example, specific "shop lifting laws" also include damaging or hiding an item. Insane I know.

That's common sense, if one's intent was to buy something but stuff it with other items they have no intention of paying for. Cashiers are trained to inspect items especially if the weight doesn't reflect what's normal and if there are loose items inside. :rolleyes:

So I've always known about this "idea" but never did it. If I did do this do you just take your receipt back after 14/30 days and be like "hey, there is a new price now, can you adjust it for me"... won't they find that shady if you buy like 10 items or do they have to honor it?

I am itching to try this on the 2.5" WD HDD deal... anyone know if thats a 14 day or 30 day policy?

e-b-a-y-e-r or the making of one :shake:

[Putts]

Thank you The Raddish for helping resolve the whole wiki situation.

[AceHigh]

It seems that there is an exclusion in BB's price guarantee that specifically excludes their own clearance items.

Here's a quote from BB's website:

Exclusions:
The Best Buy Price Guarantee does not apply to our or our competitors' free offers, limited-quantity items, open-box items, clearance items, mail-in incentives, financing or bundle offers. The policy does not apply to typographical errors or a competitor's price that results from a price match.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site//olspage.jsp?type=page&entryURLType=&entryURLID=&categoryId=cat10001&contentId=1118843518460&id=cat12098

[Tomber]

Sd is slickdeals. nWhat is "fw"

[hitman007]

good info

dont pay attention to all the haters

[phistyle]

how would I know if an item's price go lower if it goes out of stock and they dont carry it anymore in the 30 days ?

[tomdc]

It seems that there is an exclusion in BB's price guarantee that specifically excludes their own clearance items.

Here's a quote from BB's website:

Exclusions:
The Best Buy Price Guarantee does not apply to our or our competitors' free offers, limited-quantity items, open-box items, clearance items, mail-in incentives, financing or bundle offers. The policy does not apply to typographical errors or a competitor's price that results from a price match.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site//olspage.jsp?type=page&entryURLType=&entryURLID=&categoryId=cat10001&contentId=1118843518460&id=cat12098

Never heard of a single BB not refunding difference because it's clearance. IF someone were to do that all the customer would have to do is ask for a refund/ repurchase like at Staples. But BB always just gives a refund of the difference- 6 of one, half dozen of the other. This isn't rocket science.

[stevenjchang]

delete

[tomdc]

delete
14 days is only for computers, not assessories like hard drives- they are 30 days like everything else. (I know- I bought 3 today and asked.) I think camcorders are also 14 day return. Just keep the receipt and don't unwrap the item and there's no risk.

The ebayers have gotten sd to push this hot deal thread over to deal talk where no one can will see it.

[tomdc]

Good in theory but not necessarily in practice. The lowest reduced/clearance price is not a certainty. Seems like some stores will send the product back before it hits the lower price.

Will every BB store have the 1tb for $89 within the next month? Experience tells me know as I've tried this with otehr deals. And buying the product in anticipation is risky as on these products they only give you 14 days to return. Of course you return and repurchase and hope it's to the final reduced price or you can return it a second time.
14 days is only computers and camcorders, not accessories like hard drives etc. - they're 30 days.

[Prof. Chaos]

It seems that there is an exclusion in BB's price guarantee that specifically excludes their own clearance items.

Here's a quote from BB's website:

Exclusions:
The Best Buy Price Guarantee does not apply to our or our competitors' free offers, limited-quantity items, open-box items, clearance items, mail-in incentives, financing or bundle offers. The policy does not apply to typographical errors or a competitor's price that results from a price match.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site//olspage.jsp?type=page&entryURLType=&entryURLID=&categoryId=cat10001&contentId=1118843518460&id=cat12098

Read, it says PM on their competitors items, nothing about PM'ing their fellow stores.

Though the one store I went to, the manager was a really big douche and wouldn't honor the fellow BB prices. If its just employees and they are cool about it, I let it slide. But when they are being jerks about it, then I make a deal.

[mur007]

Thanks for the good info.

[goodguyinheart]

14 days is only for computers, not assessories like hard drives- they are 30 days like everything else. (I know- I bought 3 today and asked.) I think camcorders are also 14 day return. Just keep the receipt and don't unwrap the item and there's no risk.

The ebayers have gotten sd to push this hot deal thread over to deal talk where no one can will see it.

Don't be sad....Everybody (most of SD-ers I mean) appreciated your help. :hug: .. However, this has some benefits of being moved over to the Dealtalk section....It will atleast keep it away from the BestBuy or Staples employees who keep on lurking in the HD section and rarely visit DT section....This will ensure future success rate at finding deals at these retails (or at least hope so) using this method....On the contrary if this thread was there in the first page of SD for even like a few days, it would definitely bring about an end to finding deals at these retails...Imagine, just at the sign of a clearance, all the employees buying out all these deals leaving none for us common SD-ers, then waiting for a month or so and then getting them pricematched.

Although I can imagine the frustration on your part inspite of your efforts to help other fellow SDers, this is probably good keeping in mind about the future times...

All said!!...rep coming for you OP.

[FormerLurker]

The ebayers have gotten sd to push this hot deal thread over to deal talk where no one can will see it.

Hey - just make sure to place frequent and prominent pointers to it in most Hot Deals BB/Staples threads: that'll screw 'em just as thoroughly (or perhaps even more).

It's amusing that the haters seem to have fallen into two fairly distinct camps:

1. Those saying "Shhhhhh!!! Don't tell anyone about this just in case those of us who already know about it might have more trouble in the future!" Kind of a strange (and stingy) philosophy for those supposedly operating in a community dedicated to disseminating deal information...

2. Those saying "Silly people: this advice is totally bogus and you absolutely shouldn't even think of following it. Trust us, it's for your own good - all we want is to look after you."

Ah, yes.

In any event, here's a bump and a rep, if for no other reason than just to annoy them a little more.

[Devedander]

Never heard of a single BB not refunding difference because it's clearance. IF someone were to do that all the customer would have to do is ask for a refund/ repurchase like at Staples. But BB always just gives a refund of the difference- 6 of one, half dozen of the other. This isn't rocket science.

Believe it or not I actually had a CSR refuse to resell me an item once. She processed the return, but then said she couldn't resell it becuase it had to be processed by the dept and then put on the shelf before they could sell it again due to policy. And policy said it couldn't go on the shelf until at least the next day.

A manager overruled this for me when I complained but said it was indeed the policy and that she was doing me a favor this time and would not do it again.

I never ran into the problem again but it might actually be a true catch in the process. I ahven't been able to confirm either way on that one.

[goodguyinheart]

Hey - just make sure to place frequent and prominent pointers to it in most Hot Deals BB/Staples threads: that'll screw 'em just as thoroughly (or perhaps even more).

It's amusing that the haters seem to have fallen into two fairly distinct camps:

1. Those saying "Shhhhhh!!! Don't tell anyone about this just in case those of us who already know about it might have more trouble in the future!" Kind of a strange (and stingy) philosophy for those supposedly operating in a community dedicated to disseminating deal information...

2. Those saying "Silly people: this advice is totally bogus and you absolutely shouldn't even think of following it. Trust us, it's for your own good - all we want is to look after you."

Ah, yes.

In any event, here's a bump and a rep, if for no other reason than just to annoy them a little more.

Just hold on a lil'bit....Not everyone fall in these 2 stated categories.....There's people like me whose main concern was BB and Staples employees taking advantage of this post to the extent that no-one would ever see a clearance deal pass thru these retails anymore....

Read my previous post...Please do not jump to conclusions so fast....

[bit1]

So sad this got moved. LOL. Don't want to hurt you ebayers and jerks who knew this and were already abusing said BB policy that states this is NOT allowed. Now they will actually follow it. Bohoo to you. Great thread though OP, I will be sure to forward this to my entire address book of about 300 and if I say they win good luck from forwarding it to their friends, this should be up on MySpace in about a week! Rep OP

[zipo]

thanks op

[FormerLurker]

Just hold on a lil'bit....Not everyone fall in these 2 stated categories.....There's people like me whose main concern was BB and Staples employees taking advantage of this post to the extent that no-one would ever see a clearance deal pass thru these retails anymore....

Sounds pretty much like just a specific case of Option 1 to me.

Of course, the BB & Staples employees who both don't already know this full well and follow SD carefully enough to learn it from this post (but not to have learned it already from others here...) could be kind of thin on the ground, but never let common sense interfere with a good dose of paranoia.

Read my previous post...Please do not jump to conclusions so fast....

I'll jump just as fast as seems appropriate.

Bump.

[tomdc]

[QUOTE=goodguyinheart;8154171]Just hold on a lil'bit....Not everyone fall in these 2 stated categories.....There's people like me whose main concern was BB and Staples employees taking advantage of this post to the extent that no-one would ever see a clearance deal pass thru these retails anymore....

Read my previous post...Please do not jump to conclusions so fast....[/QUOTE

Good guy, either you're a fool or you think everyone on sd is, or you think the people who made this multi-billion dollar corporation are. I've spoken to regional sales managers at BB and they all know about "this". Plenty of people buy and then come back for a sale price within 30 days- so what? They just want to get dead items out of their crowded stockroom and hate when store managers are slow to clearance. Other than price mistakes, BB glances at sd to see when clearance items are not uniformly priced and when they find one- like the tv stand in another post which I discussed with the regional manager I ran into- they immediately order a national clearance price of rock bottom. They don't want the embarassment of Jane telling Sally she got this gr8 tv stand at BB for just $365, only to have Sally tell Jane yea she got the same one that same day at BB for $19.99, as happens 100 times per day on sd. Not good for what PR they have left.

Their main and legitimate concern is other resellers, including ebay resellers, who come in get 100 of an item, get the lowest clearance price, and then make money from BB's customers reselling BB merchandise. Why most businesses have "no sales to resellers" policies. And they know that ordinary customers can't get bargains on clearance (which is good PR for BB) when resellers scoop up everything in quantity and then get price guarantees. They'd rather it go immediately to non-reseller regular customers who will appreciate the deal and maybe buy more things from BB. But the bottom line at BB is their stockroom is very expensive (some pay $500 per sq foot per month) and has to only have live items. Uncle Sam pays for most of any "loss" in an actual sale of an item but won't organize their stockroom for them.

Staples has made a effort to stop reseller hoading by often limiting refund/repurchase transactions to a low number per transaction, with discretion to the store manager. They are in a much tighter situation since they rely on Just-In-Time inventory. It's truly embarrassing for them on Sunday mornings when their doorbusters are already oos. Especially if they see the same people every week buying them oos beforehand and then returning for refund/repurchases. Hell, I've seen Sunday price leaders sell out by the previous Wednesday before at Staples (cause I was trying to get one early too.) Good for Staples if they limit refund/repurchases to 2 or 3 or even one (although they let me refund/repurchase 8 of the $50 400 gb external Western Digital HD's last week- they really shouldn't have- they had zero on Sunday morning when the ad started.) They've known me for 20 years and know my business certainly doesn't involve reselling but I shouldn't have taken advantage of that. But when I got my refund/repurchase there was an extended family of obvious resellers trying to refund/repurchase 10 each (the limit for Staples rebates is 10), a total of 50, which is more than the number most Staples had to begin with. The manager limited them to 2 refund/repurchases each in his discretion and offered to just refund the remaining 8 each. They refused that and I'm sure went to other Staples to process the rest. At least he slowed them down some

I understand BB's look-the-other-way attitude because of their stockroom situation and I, like many on here, know how to get the lowest clearance price. I GOT MINE, JACK ! I just hate to see most posters on threads telling of how they spent a day and lots of gas going from store to store and unable to find the deal marked 90% off sitting on a shelf.


Although it would hurt me, I would be glad to see both BB and Staples have a firm limit of 2 or even 1 on clearance item price guarantees or price leader refund/repurchases. Sorry ebayers.

[JiYLuv]

a simple concept for a great deal! Repped! Thanks!

[BAF]

Another tip I can give people, being an ex-employee of Best Buy.

If you want to check the price on the SKU before you even go hunting for it, just walk around and look for a free register (you can usually find one in a corner someplace that is unmanned in home theater or digital cameras), and wait until theres nobody looking (you can do it with people looking, but they might be like wtf). Then hit F7. This enters price check mode. Then just type in the sku and hit enter, or if you have the item, just scan it with the scanner. The price will show up on screen. You should be able to hit F10 to print out the price/sku on a receipt as proof of price if you want. Or just hit escape to jump back to the regular login screen.

[bassgirl]

Cool.....

[goodguyinheart]

Good guy, either you're a fool or you think everyone on sd is, or you think the people who made this multi-billion dollar corporation are....

Hey...why the personal attack?...I have nothing against you, you have nothing against me....If you dont like the way you (and your comments) are treated here in SD

1. go cry out loud outside
2. shout at ur neighbors

If you think that you can abuse me just becaused I voiced similar concerns as other SD-ers follow steps 1 and 2.

I am not an ebayer (before you accuse me). But I have seen many great deals here on SD posted by ebayers from time to time. So, tone down your anger against them.

If you continue this personal attack or abusing posts I will have to mod-alert you and your comments.

[bojackson63044]

Hey guys, anybody can tell me how Bestbuy does their clearance stuff: I wanted to get one of the passport hard drive deals and the price last morning at my local BB was $71.99, by 2pm, it was at $83.99 and today it's at $119.99. I thought if they do clearance, price should go down gradually, not go up...

[Microtubule]

Is there any secret way to know when the actual item does hit the rock bottom price??

[DryEyes]

Another tip I can give people, being an ex-employee of Best Buy.

If you want to check the price on the SKU before you even go hunting for it, just walk around and look for a free register (you can usually find one in a corner someplace that is unmanned in home theater or digital cameras), and wait until theres nobody looking (you can do it with people looking, but they might be like wtf). Then hit F7. This enters price check mode. Then just type in the sku and hit enter, or if you have the item, just scan it with the scanner. The price will show up on screen. You should be able to hit F10 to print out the price/sku on a receipt as proof of price if you want. Or just hit escape to jump back to the regular login screen.


thanks but cmon that will invoke wierd looks at least or get me thrown out at most......funny though. makes me wanna go somewhere nobody knows me put on a blue shirt with yellow trimming and try it.

[iKnuckles]

Thanks for the post OP! I have a question. I went to get something at bestbuy that was supposed to be clearanced at like $20. But when I went, it was clearanced at $70. Will the price still drop?

[Microtubule]

Thanks for the post OP! I have a question. I went to get something at bestbuy that was supposed to be clearanced at like $20. But when I went, it was clearanced at $70. Will the price still drop?

I think that's what this post is about. It eventually should drop to the clearance price. So buy it at $70 to make sure no one else gets it, then come back the 29th day and get a PriceMatch on it

[marinemerchant]

My god I hate "stupid Slickdealers".

If you are standing next to me in BestBuy holding the same list I am and I show you say the WD 120gb Passport, but the sticker price isn't $23.99 today... do not go and grab and employee and complain the price isn't right. Or say you are going to print a receipt of someone getting it's rock bottom price and say you want a price match.

Then I explained to a second guy while I was there why the price wasn't $23.99 today, but he should get it now because at that price it won't be on the shelf. He didn't.

I have no sympathy for people who cry when they miss out on deals. If you aren't willing to put up the cash for 29 days to get the price that you want, you deserve not to get the deal. I should of bought all 20 WD 120gb Passports after today. Sorry for rant but some people are .... you know what.

[tomdc]

Sorry for rant but some people are .... you know what.

whiners?

[tomdc]

[QUOTE=goodguyinheart;8155559]Hey...why the personal attack?...I have nothing against you, you have nothing against me... But I have seen many great deals here on SD posted by ebayers from time to time. So, tone down your anger against them.

If you continue this personal attack or abusing posts I will have to mod-alert you and your comments.[/QUOTE

goodguy2urface- You seem to have a button on your keyboard programmed to "mod alert"! You and your pals harrassed the mod to move this not because it isn't about hot deals (it mentions 3 specific ones) but because, as you admit, you wanted it to be moved to a spot where no one would see it. There were over 30,000 views the first day when it was on hot deals, since it's been moved to talk it's had 35 views. Congratulations! All because you few say you were scared BB would realize they had a price guarantee policy. Now you're totally offended when I say either you're a fool or think others are? I'd rather have an honest enemy than a sleazy back-stabber any day.Don't assume I have nothing against you or that your super sensitivity matters to me.

[goodguyinheart]

goodguy2urface- You seem to have a button on your keyboard programmed to "mod alert"! You and your pals harrassed the mod to move this not because it isn't about hot deals (it mentions 3 specific ones) but because, as you admit, you wanted it to be moved to a spot where no one would see it. There were over 30,000 views the first day when it was on hot deals, since it's been moved to talk it's had 35 views. Congratulations! All because you few say you were scared BB would realize they had a price guarantee policy. Now you're totally offended when I say either you're a fool or think others are? I'd rather have an honest enemy than a sleazy back-stabber any day.Don't assume I have nothing against you or that your super sensitivity matters to me.

What's your problem pal?...You seem to post these hate posts like every other post. FYI I NEVER MODALERTED ANYBODY (Check with the Mods if you are super paranoid!).....But going by the looks of how you are abusing me, I am pretty soon going to do so...AND FYI CAN YOU TELL ME THE NAMES OF MY SUPPOSSED PALS?....Why do you think the whole world is conspiring against you?

I repped you earlier because I ACKNOWLEDGED your help...And see how you are responding to the gratitude that I showed towards you...You have serious problems in your life it seems.

[jennb1974]

Does this same theory work at Target, as far as the 30 days go?

[ajf3]

Not sure that this theory is 100% correct... all of my local BB's that had the 750GB Seagate for $170 switch back to the full price of $282 with todays Sunday update. Around 7 stores did this - some had the drive in stock, others were sold out.

[tomdc]

Did my weekly trip to BB today- one of the suburban MD ones. Got a refund price reduction on one of the tv stands that was originally $365 that I got last month for $65. Now down to $19.99. Also got a refund price reduction for the 2 Altec Lansings I got that day when they were $55, now down to $16.99 Just showed receipt, took 5 minutes as usual. Of course both items oos two weeks ago.
I got two of the Passport 120's and noticed they were back to regular price $119 now- very very strange since they were "clearanced" last week. Never seen a clearance go back to regular price before. Either it was really a sale, not clearance, or it has something to do with BB having their inventory last Sunday. Got two anyway to see what's up in 30 days- I suspect they are clearance since the 160 came out for the same price. Hopeing they hit the $23 mark in 30. Got one each of the GeForces and one of the Visiontek 1550. Whichever one is best deal in 30 days is the one I'll keep. Also got 3 of the universal laptop batteries (rang $74 each)- I know these will be $24 in 30 days and they're gr8 to have. They were oos of the Seagate 750 internal, the clearance 500 MyBook, the clearance 1 TB MyBook, and there was an asian gentleman buying the last 15 Seagate Pro 320's. I let him have the fourth external battery I was going to get and he let me have one of the 320's. Forgot the price but doesn't matter as I'm sure this will be the $33 in 30 days. Searched high and low for the Klipsch speakers that are suposed to go to $19.99. Found one pair that said 2.1 Ultra that scanned as $99 but didn't buy since we don't have the SKU for these on the other thread for deals yet. Maybe should have as they only had one box but they're a very big box that would take a lot of room in the trunk of my car where these stay for the 30 days. All the receipts go into a Maximum PC mag that is really my file for sd price guarantee receipts and list of sku's to check each week. Looks less sinister in the store than a manila folder!

All the employees, including the policeman at the front door(!) and especially in computers, were very nice and interesting to talk to, as were some of the customers. BB computer dept on Sunday- rendezvous point for geeks talking geek. One of the employees, an asian kid, was in college and obviously not banking much at BB but envious of a lot of the tech stuff. I gave him a my sku printout list with ultimate clearance prices (I can print another) so he can possibly grab something while working and he promised to keep an eye out for the Klipsch speakers and any more Seagate 320's till next week and hold them (secret stash spot) for me if he sees one. He understands he's just working for the man (at $7/hr) and doesn't feel any great loyalty because of the 10% additional discount he gets. Glad to help deal hunters, as many employees are. (definitely not all), and appreciative of info he may be able to use himself. I didn't even pay attention to the prices as they rang up to my card because all I care about is the 30 day price. Usually they're all 90% off by then- if not I'd refund. A completely unstressed and enjoyable way to deal hunt with no risk or searching multiple stores ( I would have stopped at another BB looking for those elusive $19.99 Klipsch's- we have 30 or 40 stores in MD/DC/NoVA- but I had to get to Ikea for a huge bargain (literally and fiscally- a $1500 10-foot wardrobe system for $29) they were holding for me.

An easy way to actually get all the slick deals I want. Been doing it for over a year.



ps- Goody- I just (dumbly) reply to your stupid posts to me. Chill! (and stop projecting).

[BigDfromWA]

Did my weekly trip to BB today- one of the suburban MD ones. Got a refund price reduction on one of the tv stands that was originally $365 that I got last month for $65. Now down to $19.99. Also got a refund price reduction for the 2 Altec Lansings I got that day when they were $55, now down to $16.99 Just showed receipt, took 5 minutes as usual. Of course both items oos two weeks ago.
I got two of the Passport 120's and noticed they were back to regular price $119 now- very very strange since they were "clearanced" last week. Never seen a clearance go back to regular price before. Either it was really a sale, not clearance, or it has something to do with BB having their inventory last Sunday. Got two anyway to see what's up in 30 days- I suspect they are clearance since the 160 came out for the same price. Hopeing they hit the $23 mark in 30. Got one each of the GeForces and one of the Visiontek 1550. Whichever one is best deal in 30 days is the one I'll keep. Also got 3 of the universal laptop batteries (rang $74 each)- I know these will be $24 in 30 days and they're gr8 to have. They were oos of the Seagate 750 internal, the clearance 500 MyBook, the clearance 1 TB MyBook, and there was an asian gentleman buying the last 15 Seagate Pro 320's. I let him have the fourth external battery I was going to get and he let me have one of the 320's. Forgot the price but doesn't matter as I'm sure this will be the $33 in 30 days. Searched high and low for the Klipsch speakers that are suposed to go to $19.99. Found one pair that said 2.1 Ultra that scanned as $99 but didn't buy since we don't have the SKU for these on the other thread for deals yet. Maybe should have as they only had one box but they're a very big box that would take a lot of room in the trunk of my car where these stay for the 30 days. All the receipts go into a Maximum PC mag that is really my file for sd price guarantee receipts and list of sku's to check each week. Looks less sinister in the store than a manila folder!

All the employees, including the policeman at the front door(!) and especially in computers, were very nice and interesting to talk to, as were some of the customers. BB computer dept on Sunday- rendezvous point for geeks talking geek. One of the employees, an asian kid, was at UMD and obviously not banking much at BB but envious of a lot of the tech stuff. I gave him a my sku printout list with ultimate clearance prices (I can print another) so he can possibly grab something while working and he promised to keep an eye out for the Klipsch speakers and any more Seagate 320's till next week and hold them (secret stash spot) for me if he sees one. He understands he's just working for the man (at $7/hr) and doesn't feel any great loyalty because of the 10% additional discount he gets. Glad to help deal hunters, as many employees are. (definitely not all), and appreciative of info he may be able to use himself. I didn't even pay attention to the prices as they rang up to my card because all I care about is the 30 day price. Usually they're all 90% off by then- if not I'd refund. A completely unstressed and enjoyable way to deal hunt with no risk or searching multiple stores ( I would have stopped at another BB looking for those elusive $19.99 Klipsch's- we have 30 or 40 stores in MD/DC/NoVA- but I had to get to Ikea for a huge bargain (literally and fiscally- a $1500 10-foot wardrobe system for $29 they were holding for me.)

An easy way to actually get all the slick deals I want. Been doing it for over a year.



ps- Goody- I just (dumbly) reply to your stupid posts to me. Chill! (and stop projecting).

Nicely stated. Repped again.

[bargaintwin]

TYMV to the op for the HARD HONEST TRUTH!

[JJLL]

[QUOTE=goodguyinheart;8154171]Just hold on a lil'bit....Not everyone fall in these 2 stated categories.....There's people like me whose main concern was BB and Staples employees taking advantage of this post to the extent that no-one would ever see a clearance deal pass thru these retails anymore....

Read my previous post...Please do not jump to conclusions so fast....[/QUOTE

Good guy, either you're a fool or you think everyone on sd is, or you think the people who made this multi-billion dollar corporation are. I've spoken to regional sales managers at BB and they all know about "this". Plenty of people buy and then come back for a sale price within 30 days- so what? They just want to get dead items out of their crowded stockroom and hate when store managers are slow to clearance. Other than price mistakes, BB glances at sd to see when clearance items are not uniformly priced and when they find one- like the tv stand in another post which I discussed with the regional manager I ran into- they immediately order a national clearance price of rock bottom. They don't want the embarassment of Jane telling Sally she got this gr8 tv stand at BB for just $365, only to have Sally tell Jane yea she got the same one that same day at BB for $19.99, as happens 100 times per day on sd. Not good for what PR they have left.

Their main and legitimate concern is other resellers, including ebay resellers, who come in get 100 of an item, get the lowest clearance price, and then make money from BB's customers reselling BB merchandise. Why most businesses have "no sales to resellers" policies. And they know that ordinary customers can't get bargains on clearance (which is good PR for BB) when resellers scoop up everything in quantity and then get price guarantees. They'd rather it go immediately to non-reseller regular customers who will appreciate the deal and maybe buy more things from BB. But the bottom line at BB is their stockroom is very expensive (some pay $500 per sq foot per month) and has to only have live items. Uncle Sam pays for most of any "loss" in an actual sale of an item but won't organize their stockroom for them.

Staples has made a effort to stop reseller hoading by often limiting refund/repurchase transactions to a low number per transaction, with discretion to the store manager. They are in a much tighter situation since they rely on Just-In-Time inventory. It's truly embarrassing for them on Sunday mornings when their doorbusters are already oos. Especially if they see the same people every week buying them oos beforehand and then returning for refund/repurchases. Hell, I've seen Sunday price leaders sell out by the previous Wednesday before at Staples (cause I was trying to get one early too.) Good for Staples if they limit refund/repurchases to 2 or 3 or even one (although they let me refund/repurchase 8 of the $50 400 gb external Western Digital HD's last week- they really shouldn't have- they had zero on Sunday morning when the ad started.) They've known me for 20 years and know my business certainly doesn't involve reselling but I shouldn't have taken advantage of that. But when I got my refund/repurchase there was an extended family of obvious resellers trying to refund/repurchase 10 each (the limit for Staples rebates is 10), a total of 50, which is more than the number most Staples had to begin with. The manager limited them to 2 refund/repurchases each in his discretion and offered to just refund the remaining 8 each. They refused that and I'm sure went to other Staples to process the rest. At least he slowed them down some

I understand BB's look-the-other-way attitude because of their stockroom situation and I, like many on here, know how to get the lowest clearance price. I GOT MINE, JACK ! I just hate to see most posters on threads telling of how they spent a day and lots of gas going from store to store and unable to find the deal marked 90% off sitting on a shelf.


Although it would hurt me, I would be glad to see both BB and Staples have a firm limit of 2 or even 1 on clearance item price guarantees or price leader refund/repurchases. Sorry ebayers.

Great 1st article and even better follow-up. Rep +4 for a good ol' honest SDer :nod:

[stevenjchang]

Another tip I can give people, being an ex-employee of Best Buy.

If you want to check the price on the SKU before you even go hunting for it, just walk around and look for a free register (you can usually find one in a corner someplace that is unmanned in home theater or digital cameras), and wait until theres nobody looking (you can do it with people looking, but they might be like wtf). Then hit F7. This enters price check mode. Then just type in the sku and hit enter, or if you have the item, just scan it with the scanner. The price will show up on screen. You should be able to hit F10 to print out the price/sku on a receipt as proof of price if you want. Or just hit escape to jump back to the regular login screen.

repped, at my BB there's no one man-ing any of the stations during weekdays. i usually dont see a single employee except at the front door or registers.

[compguy]

That's bull. You guys who think you're doing the community a great favor by posting this are totally retarded. The big people who picked up on these are the resellers/ebayers. I wanted to get the 24" Westy from BB instore so I could try the rewardszone 12% off.

It's been sold out since mid-lastweek in any stores near me. Same with all the clearance items from BB. And no, I didn't want all the clearance items. I wanted an external HD and maybe one of the Wacom's, but since you guys posted this rubbish ebayers have snatched them up and those who probably wouldn't be ebayers otherwise probably decided to give it a try since it was so easy.

I'm all for community sharing and all, but honestly this kind of info is always posted in deal threads. The ebayers don't generally read deals in depth so probably miss it there, but when you have idiots post it in main threads like OP did on this, all the ebayers see it front up and tons of others who wouldn't be ebayers think about becoming such.

Thanks buds, for ruining BB deals in my area. But that's chill because the OP got a ton of Rep points and a ton of grateful ebayers who pretend not to be.

[Just_a_Bill]

BB in Virginia Beach (Independence store) had about 50 of the Passport 120's at $74.99 tonight. I'm in for 2 to see if they drop to a third of that in the next few weeks. Be careful, though, to get the black unit in the rounded package, not the green one in the more angular package (at $95 or $105). Took some hunting as they were in a weird spot back by home theater. Tried to price match to the Georgia receipt but no luck; now waiting for BB clearance price decay rate to work its magic.

[tomdc]

...that's chill because the OP got a ton of Rep points and a ton of grateful ebayers who pretend not to be.

Last time I checked my bank balance my "rep points" didn't show.

If ebayers are trying to use this they're in for a surprise as BB sent out a memo to managers to limit # of an item for sales or price adjustment just like Staples. Good.

If you can't find any of these items you're not trying. Since BB raised the prices the day after inventory every store is full of them at the higher price.

When you post why don't you try to be halfway civil?

As usual you're a total ass

et to the sd community.

[Just_a_Bill]

If ebayers are trying to use this they're in for a surprise as BB sent out a memo to managers to limit # of an item for sales or price adjustment just like Staples. Good.

Roger that. I think a very low per-person limit is appropriate, and benefits both Best Buy and (most of) their customers.

I'll confess to being an eBayer, but probably not in the sense we're using here. I like to follow a "buy two, sell one" philosophy, which often means the one I keep for myself is free. If anybody wants to villify me for buying two and eBaying one, form a line right here.

When you post why don't you try to be halfway civil?

Yeah ... I'd pay real money for an effective means to keep chronic complainers off the interwebs -- or at least off my own personal window into said interwebs.

-Bill

[tomdc]

I do the same as far as buying 2 or 3, selling 1 or 2. Supports my otherwise crippling tech addiction. But some of these resellers snap up every item in every store in a district. I've seen folks with 15 or 20 of one hot deal in a cart; and it wasn't just before xmas.

Update 10/30- I went to return a hard drive and video card and told the csr they hadn't gone down as much in 30 days for pricematch as I'd expected. She apologized that the recent inventory had put all the clearance prices back to original price for a while and actually suggested I return/repurchase to start the 30 days over again. I told her that would help since I should put them on a different account anyway.Now I'm hoping the 1TB WD Premium (triple interface, raid dual) drops below the $229 it is there now and that the 2 BFG 8600GT's I got maybe drop to the $40 they were in some BB's a month ago.

[Montq]

This tactic is not as good as it was told in Chicago.

[hard2hold]

:shake: Thank you for resurrecting a 2 month old thread. IF you bothered READING it there are several indicators that state that YMMV.