Bestbuy B&M 50% off Open Box Items...

[aphex]

Dont know if this is regional or whatnot but a crapload of products in my local Best Buy (Gainesville, FL) are open item at 50% off the retail price...

Some good deals i noticed...

32 Meg Smartmedia Card - $14.60 ($29 Retail)
Flashpath Smartmedia Reader - $26.10 ($49 Retail)

There was a bunch of others as well.

Typically, Best Buy open box buys (from what i've seen) usually only drop 10-15% off the price, but lately the open box buys have been MUCH better deals.

 

[XZeroII]

not by me. I'm lucky if they drop a price from $69.95 to $65.95. I was one where they dropped the price by $.02

 

[AvantG]

I've had the same experience as XZeroII, my BestBuy (new one in Orange, CT) has insulting discounts on the open box items. Like $5 off of a $150 item. I can't imagine how they ever sell any of the Open Boxes. Even CircuitCity does a much better job with theirs. BJs, I've noticed, seems to be the most generous with their returned items' discounts.

 

[ghouldini]

Mine had a Toshiba 20" Flat TV - normally $299 for $279 open box. Since it may be a refurb instead of a return, that is a ripoff. Who would risk that for a louse $20 off. Not me, but I would buy it for $150

 

[aphex]

Thats why i was wondering if this was local or not, guess it is.... They used to give REALLY crappy open box discounts, but lately, i cant resist for 50% off.

 

[cmatthes1]

I have you guys beat, my friend returned a radar detector, they had it marked at $80 on the open box table ( think it was even missing components) meanwhile, they had an upgrade model for $60 on sale. So you could pay $20 extra for an inferior model that was missing parts.

 

[chizow]

I got a sweet pair of Sony Clip-On over the ear headphones that go for $30 for $9.99 to go with my Samsung Techno Yepp a few weeks ago. I've also gotten a full Compaq for 45% off a few years ago. Really depends on the deal, but definitely worth keeping an eye out for.

Chiz

 

[SafetyDance]

At the store near me they don't even have a specific "table" they just put the open box items on the shelf with the unopened items. Gives you a chance to easily compare prices. But, OTOH, you have to look all over the store for the good deals. I picked up a 110 pack of the PNY CDRs that were opened for $5. About 10 had been used or scratched, but the others were perfect. Can't beat that - and no rebate to deal with!

Mike

 

[aphex]

At the store near me they don't even have a specific "table" they just put the open box items on the shelf with the unopened items.

They dont have that at mine either, but ive seen some stores that do from time to time (i.e. Sawgrass Mills & Boca Raton, FL)....

 

[unclebud]

got a pny cf reader for $12.60. thanks!

 

[aphex]

<< got a pny cf reader for $12.60. thanks! >>

Guess its not just my store then that does the 50% off on open box buys... That PNY CF Reader sells for $24.99 right now

 

[Oakenfold]

Sounds like this is varying from store to store here, sounds like store managers have influences on this.

 

[elfnumber1]

You know guys, the people that authorize the open box items are just the employees. Since I work there I know. I've asked a few times for a price change, but they usually have to ask the managers for the approval. Sometimes if they really want to get rid of the items they will just take it off themselves. Most open items BB tries to get rid of, so it's almost a bargaining chip so to say. But of course YMMV, and I wouldn't go ask around each item for a bargain, of course the managers would get pissed. Anyhow, just letting you guys know.

-elf

 

[ADVANTAGE]

Just to shed some light on this, open box items go down more each week. The longer it's been sitting in the store the cheaper the price will be. I'm assuming the stuff you've see for 50% off has been in the store for a while.

 

[aphex]

Advantage: not here... The Flashpath i saw for 50% off was the one i returned last night

For that price, i might just fricken buy it back...

 

[cuteybunny]

it must be really crappy stuff they are taking 50 percent off and it must defective, if it's good you wont' see much discount about 10-25 percent is all they are going to take off. i once bought a sb-awe 64 value for 134.95, retail 199.95 later dropped to 99.95 but it was defective, the 3-d surround effect does not work or sound horribly when enabled.

 

[Rally1]

hehe

that's one way to do it. Buy it new, then return it. Watch them put it back on the shelf for 50% off, and buy it back, at least you know it works! Always wondered if people ever do that. I haven't stooped that low.... yet .

 

[aphex]

<< that's one way to do it. Buy it new, then return it. Watch them put it back on the shelf for 50% off, and buy it back, at least you know it works! Always wondered if people ever do that. I haven't stooped that low.... yet. >>


Its sort of ironic to me though. The reason i returned it was that it wasnt worth $50 to me. The thing was slower than ass, but it worked. Which is more than i can say for my Parallel Reader.

 

[NucEm]

The local BB in Colorado had a set of Klipsch PM 4.1 marked down about 10% as an open box special. (Still too much for me.) I went back the next day and the discount had been removed and the PM 4.1's were back at full price. It was clear that the box had been opened. So I guess that open box discounts are store and time specific.

 

[ihatexd]

My local BB: $549 Sony 27" TV to $499, less than 10%.
Local CC has even smaller discount: $499 Sony 24" TV to $469.
So I do not buy open box in BB and CC.

 

[bigdog1218]

i got a philips 32pt81s for 650, it had a box and remote, no manual, no scratches, looks and works like its brand new
edit: normal price is 900

 

[workingbee]

I think it is a useless post for the original poster. Not that it is not true, but it is draw of the luck. Deal like this is local, and you have to be there at the right time to get the good deals on openbox.

Case in point: an openbox Canon ZR20 digital cam for $300-$50 rebate + free Pinnacle StudioDV. Camcorder was $650. It was missing a cable and the ac adaptor, but it's brand new. This was at BB. It was just luck that I got it because it was marked down that day. When the price drop so low, you know the employee will get it first unless they havn't found out. Also, BB has hundreds of customers each day. Many people can spot a good deal. CC also has good openbox occasionally. I got a complete Sony S300 DVD home theater for $299, half the price of new one. Best of all, it's new except no box and a scratched remote. Also got two display iMacs for $599 and sold them for well over $700.

 

[oaaltone]

Alright, here's the deal straight from the horses mouth (a best buy manager that's a friend of mine):

Best Buy's company policy is to take 10-20% off an open boxed item, be it a floor model or return. The percentage varies by what the product is, but it's more often than not supposed to be 10%. Twice a month Best Buy employees are supposed to remark the open boxed items to another 10-20% lower, and continue this process until the item sells.

HOWEVER, if the item is missing parts of the package (ie: manual, drivers, cables, etc) the employees are authorized to take more of a percentage off of the item. Also, if the item has been marked by Best Buy corporate as a "Get it the hell out of here" item, the manager is authorized to take as much off as he/she wishes, just to get the item out of the store.

More often than not, the open boxed items are awesome deals. From experience, if you notice a certain item has been there for a while, haggle with the employees to take a couple dollars off to get it out of the store. Another "trick" is to tell them that if they take off the price of a service plan from the marked price, you'll buy the service plan. Best Buy is extremely competitive from store to store, and, more often than not, they'll want the service plan so badly that they'll drop the price just so they get the service plan. Pay for the plan... then return it That way you get the $$$ back and you end up paying less for the item.

Happy deal hunting!

 

[ivol]

About a year and a half ago I bought a 27" Samsung TV open box for around $199. It still works great to this day. No scratches all manuals and remote. Great deal!

 

[MuffD]

I just picked up a D-Link open box pcmia wireless nic for 69 bucks. The weird thing though was that there was another one for 79 which was open box as well. I didn't find anything missing on mine and it worked fine also.