Advent Child
01-05-2007, 10:43 AM
Ok well the thread about Geek Squad has brought me to creating this thread about Best Buy :) I wasted several years of my life going from a grunt to a supervisor and figure I will share some secrets. Just FYI, I have not worked there for several years but most of this should still work.
How to get stuff cheap..
Well Best Buy, like all other retailers, are in it for the profit. Some items, they do not make any profit off of. Other items, they realllllly make a ton of money. The key to getting stuff cheap is to know which items are the high profit items and try to get them greatly discounted.
Some of the highest profit items in the store are in the car audio and home video/audio sections. Speakers have a huge markup on them. Also all of their cables are grossly overpriced and are high profit areas. Most of the time, they make their money off of the accessories. That being said, these items are the ones you will have a better chance of getting cheaper.
The easiest way to get discounts is to just ask. When you buy a head unit, ask if you buy speakers if you can get XX% off. If they say no, do not threaten to go shop at Circuit City or something. That never works. You have to play the bargaining game and use social engineering to get what you want ;)
Important Tip - Best Buy employees get a discount of 5% above cost. If you have a friend that works at best buy, have him employee price check different items and you can see the profit margin on different items. PS Best Buy keeps a very short leash on employees and if they use their discount too often, they get reprimanded/fired/etc. So do not get upset if your friend will not let you use their discount.
The items you will practically STEAL from Best Buy are the Clearance and Open Box items. They have to get rid of these things for inventory and it really looks bad for them when people are shopping and see a clearance item next to the new product replacing it for a similar cost. Usually you can get brand new Clearance items for 50% off if you just ask. Go up to a sales manager (do not even waste your time with a peon) and tell them "Look. I see there is a newer better model for almost the same cost. I will buy this older crappier version but I want you to make it worth my while. Give it to me at an XX% discount and I will take it off your hands. Profit is profit and even if they are losing money they will probably sell it to you because they want to get Clearance items out of there.
Open Box Items are a godsend! Most Open Box Items can be had for 50% off the marked down price. You can get even more taken off if there are numerous open box stickers on it. Every week they have to mark it down an additional % until it sells. Items missing boxes = even more of a discount. Just get a sales manager, play "Let's make a deal" and go for it. I had so many cheap products that were returns and worked perfectly fine. The return policy is the same on all of their items though so if it doesn't work, return it.
Important Tip - When making a deal with a manager, be sure to have a couple of high priced items in your cart or in your arms. They think that you are making them a lot of money and get scared that you will not buy those items if they do not give you that deal you are asking for. Once they authorize it, say you changed your mind on the other purchases.
How to take advantage of the Service Plans
The service plans are where BBY makes most of it's money. These plans are geared to be a rip off to the consumer. There are actually times where you can rip off BBY with them though.
Devo vs Service - Items are either classified as Devo or Service.
Devo items are usually items that cost more to repair than replace. These items are sent back to the manufacturer when they break and usually have the PRP's associated with them (Product Replacement Plan) PRP's suck. I never got them. I avoided products with them. You have to call an 800# and ship off the item and wait for a replacement which is usually refurbished. However there are quite a few items that are classified as Devo but have PSP's associated with them.. These items are where you will rip best buy off. The items marked as service are sent to the closest Best Buy service facility and you will have to wait a week or 3 until your item comes back and then usually it is missing screws or it is not fully repaired or is not the same one or missing a cable... The service centers suck. But the Devo items with PSP's rock. These items normally include higher priced items that are hard to repair..
Here is a list of devo items that offered PSP's when I worked there:
Some Computers
Some Monitors
Most Computer Periphials (DVD Burners, Sound Cards, Video Cards, etc)
Some Speakers
Some Amplifiers
All appliances go off to service for repair (or have in home repair). 99% of items in the Home Theater section go off to service for repair. Your best bet are computer periphials. It is really great to have someone you know working there to check on whether the item is Devo or Service. Sometimes you can ask the customer service desk and they will tell you. You can just explain that you had an item that was service once and had a bad experience getting it repaired at the center or such. More social engineering ;)
I bought the first DVD burner ever to hit the shelves at Best Buy (some HP 4x model) and returned it every time a new model came out. By the time the 3 year service plan expired I went from the HP 4x DVD+R to a Plextor 16x DVD+-R and did not pay a cent more than the original purchase. The swapouts were instant and at the customer service desk. So if done correctly you can really screw over best buy. Imagine buying a video card today and getting an upgraded version every few months for free for the next few years :o
How to return almost anything at Best Buy
If you have a receipt, you can return pretty much anything to best buy in any condition. They have technicians that are supposed to check all returns but that rarely happens. I have returned old video cards in new video card boxes (and the same with other periphials especially ram) and sometimes even put a rock in a box to return it (only works on open box items) and said that is how I got it. It takes a bit of arguing and more social engineering but it is scary how easy it is to do.
You can even steal software from them. I purchased a cd labeler (dirt cheap btw haha) and printed out labels of some software titles I purchased from them. Stamped CDRs (bought from them as well) and just exchanged a blank CDR for another copy of the game. Sometimes you can even steal CD keys but they are usually too smart for that. They will usually just swap out the "defective" cd/dvd and keep the packaging so you do not get 2 CD keys. If the key is on the manual or something you can try to say that it did not come with a manual. It seems too easy to work but trust me... It does... The software is sent off to the manufacturer and is destroyed and the CD Key is not reused (at least it used to not be... not sure if software companies do things differently now)
You can make some decent money at Best Buy also with rebates. Some items they offer free after rebates. All you have to do is buy the item, send off the rebates, and then return the item a month or so later with no box and no receipt. You get 100% of the money back when the rebates arrive and you will probably get 60% or so of your original purchase back in the form of a gift card. This doesn't really work on very popular items as they might remember "hey this item was free after rebates" or something and call you on it. But usually it works well and if not, just go to another Best Buy.
Well ok I am going to stop with this book I am writing. There are just so many ways to trick them and make money off of them. And do not even feel bad because they deserve it. That place is so corrupt and lies to so many stupid people that they deserve everything I have done to them. If I can think of more stuff I will post it. Sorry if this is just common knowledge and has no place here :(
How to get stuff cheap..
Well Best Buy, like all other retailers, are in it for the profit. Some items, they do not make any profit off of. Other items, they realllllly make a ton of money. The key to getting stuff cheap is to know which items are the high profit items and try to get them greatly discounted.
Some of the highest profit items in the store are in the car audio and home video/audio sections. Speakers have a huge markup on them. Also all of their cables are grossly overpriced and are high profit areas. Most of the time, they make their money off of the accessories. That being said, these items are the ones you will have a better chance of getting cheaper.
The easiest way to get discounts is to just ask. When you buy a head unit, ask if you buy speakers if you can get XX% off. If they say no, do not threaten to go shop at Circuit City or something. That never works. You have to play the bargaining game and use social engineering to get what you want ;)
Important Tip - Best Buy employees get a discount of 5% above cost. If you have a friend that works at best buy, have him employee price check different items and you can see the profit margin on different items. PS Best Buy keeps a very short leash on employees and if they use their discount too often, they get reprimanded/fired/etc. So do not get upset if your friend will not let you use their discount.
The items you will practically STEAL from Best Buy are the Clearance and Open Box items. They have to get rid of these things for inventory and it really looks bad for them when people are shopping and see a clearance item next to the new product replacing it for a similar cost. Usually you can get brand new Clearance items for 50% off if you just ask. Go up to a sales manager (do not even waste your time with a peon) and tell them "Look. I see there is a newer better model for almost the same cost. I will buy this older crappier version but I want you to make it worth my while. Give it to me at an XX% discount and I will take it off your hands. Profit is profit and even if they are losing money they will probably sell it to you because they want to get Clearance items out of there.
Open Box Items are a godsend! Most Open Box Items can be had for 50% off the marked down price. You can get even more taken off if there are numerous open box stickers on it. Every week they have to mark it down an additional % until it sells. Items missing boxes = even more of a discount. Just get a sales manager, play "Let's make a deal" and go for it. I had so many cheap products that were returns and worked perfectly fine. The return policy is the same on all of their items though so if it doesn't work, return it.
Important Tip - When making a deal with a manager, be sure to have a couple of high priced items in your cart or in your arms. They think that you are making them a lot of money and get scared that you will not buy those items if they do not give you that deal you are asking for. Once they authorize it, say you changed your mind on the other purchases.
How to take advantage of the Service Plans
The service plans are where BBY makes most of it's money. These plans are geared to be a rip off to the consumer. There are actually times where you can rip off BBY with them though.
Devo vs Service - Items are either classified as Devo or Service.
Devo items are usually items that cost more to repair than replace. These items are sent back to the manufacturer when they break and usually have the PRP's associated with them (Product Replacement Plan) PRP's suck. I never got them. I avoided products with them. You have to call an 800# and ship off the item and wait for a replacement which is usually refurbished. However there are quite a few items that are classified as Devo but have PSP's associated with them.. These items are where you will rip best buy off. The items marked as service are sent to the closest Best Buy service facility and you will have to wait a week or 3 until your item comes back and then usually it is missing screws or it is not fully repaired or is not the same one or missing a cable... The service centers suck. But the Devo items with PSP's rock. These items normally include higher priced items that are hard to repair..
Here is a list of devo items that offered PSP's when I worked there:
Some Computers
Some Monitors
Most Computer Periphials (DVD Burners, Sound Cards, Video Cards, etc)
Some Speakers
Some Amplifiers
All appliances go off to service for repair (or have in home repair). 99% of items in the Home Theater section go off to service for repair. Your best bet are computer periphials. It is really great to have someone you know working there to check on whether the item is Devo or Service. Sometimes you can ask the customer service desk and they will tell you. You can just explain that you had an item that was service once and had a bad experience getting it repaired at the center or such. More social engineering ;)
I bought the first DVD burner ever to hit the shelves at Best Buy (some HP 4x model) and returned it every time a new model came out. By the time the 3 year service plan expired I went from the HP 4x DVD+R to a Plextor 16x DVD+-R and did not pay a cent more than the original purchase. The swapouts were instant and at the customer service desk. So if done correctly you can really screw over best buy. Imagine buying a video card today and getting an upgraded version every few months for free for the next few years :o
How to return almost anything at Best Buy
If you have a receipt, you can return pretty much anything to best buy in any condition. They have technicians that are supposed to check all returns but that rarely happens. I have returned old video cards in new video card boxes (and the same with other periphials especially ram) and sometimes even put a rock in a box to return it (only works on open box items) and said that is how I got it. It takes a bit of arguing and more social engineering but it is scary how easy it is to do.
You can even steal software from them. I purchased a cd labeler (dirt cheap btw haha) and printed out labels of some software titles I purchased from them. Stamped CDRs (bought from them as well) and just exchanged a blank CDR for another copy of the game. Sometimes you can even steal CD keys but they are usually too smart for that. They will usually just swap out the "defective" cd/dvd and keep the packaging so you do not get 2 CD keys. If the key is on the manual or something you can try to say that it did not come with a manual. It seems too easy to work but trust me... It does... The software is sent off to the manufacturer and is destroyed and the CD Key is not reused (at least it used to not be... not sure if software companies do things differently now)
You can make some decent money at Best Buy also with rebates. Some items they offer free after rebates. All you have to do is buy the item, send off the rebates, and then return the item a month or so later with no box and no receipt. You get 100% of the money back when the rebates arrive and you will probably get 60% or so of your original purchase back in the form of a gift card. This doesn't really work on very popular items as they might remember "hey this item was free after rebates" or something and call you on it. But usually it works well and if not, just go to another Best Buy.
Well ok I am going to stop with this book I am writing. There are just so many ways to trick them and make money off of them. And do not even feel bad because they deserve it. That place is so corrupt and lies to so many stupid people that they deserve everything I have done to them. If I can think of more stuff I will post it. Sorry if this is just common knowledge and has no place here :(