Best Buy won't go down in price... (1 Viewer)

[Doug Kennedy]

Not sure if this would be the right forum...


I went to BB to look at the Tosh and Panny RPTV's. After looking for awhile I was ready to make a purchase. I went over to a BB employee and gave him the whole "I've done research and price shopping" bit and he proceeded to tell me that since the salespeople don't work on commission that I can't get any deals and the prices are static. I said "OK see ya" and left because I thought it was bull. Is this true or is he trying to play me?

 

[Evan Hartnett]

Talk to a manager, I think they're the only ones with any power. When I first talked to one of the employees they told me the same thing, when I talked to the manager he was willing to work with the price a little.

 

[FrankL]

Well, if you really want to buy from Best Buy, go to a place that deals and get your best price. Have the salesman write the price on the back of his business card, then go to Best Buy and they will match it. I did this and they matched the price, no questions asked ( Which was $500 less)
I ended up cancelling that deal after I found out about the differences between "their" Misubishi and the standard Mitsubishi

 

[jeff lam]

It's true. The guys at BB make close to minimum wage and don't get commission so they are not allowed to deal with prices. They are just there to show you where things are because that pretty much th only thing most of them are good for. Some of them know their stuff but most are just there for PT work. When salesmen give you deals on this stuff it comes directly out of their commission. They make a cirtain percent of profit the store makes on their sales only. Salesguys have to make money too just like you and me so keep this in mind when you ask for the best deals. If they always give people the absolute best price they can they don't make any money.

 

[Jim FC]

Please, do not go to a "place that deals" to get their best price and then walk to another store to actually buy it. That is really a very uncool thing to suggest, much less to do. If you are too cheap to pay Best Buy's prices, then to to another place, get their best deal, and buy from that place, but if you take the time of a commissioned salesperson, you should be prepared to pay for it.

 

[FrankL]

Please, do not go to a "place that deals" to get their best price and then walk to another store to actually buy it. That is really a very uncool thing to suggest, much less to do. If you are too cheap to pay Best Buy's prices, then to to another place, get their best deal, and buy from that place, but if you take the time of a commissioned salesperson, you should be prepared to pay for it.

Jim, you're kidding right? I walk into the first store looking for my new RPTV. The commissioned sales person gives me his "best" price. I should just buy it from him? I shouldn't shop around to see if I can get a better deal?
Please....
Lets say the TV lists for $3000. There is a minimum price that the salesman can sell it for and still make a small commission. Lets say that price is $2300. Any effort by that salesman to sell me that TV for more than $ 2300 is just an effort to take money out of my pocket and put it in his. Why does he deserve my money more than I do?

I suggest that you go to 4-5 places and give each one the opportunity to beat your best price. Only then will you be getting a fair deal.

 

[Theron Shaffer]

He isnt saying pay more to get the tv from the commissioned salesperson, he is saying if one place was willing to work with you....and all Best Buy is doing is matching because someone else worked up that price, you should go with the place that was willing to work with you as they did put some effort into earning the sale.

Obviously you should still shop around and do your homework.

 

[John-Miles]

Exactly what Theron said. if you ask me it is unbelieveably stuipd to ever price match, i mean why go to the touble. Store A offers you a price of 2000 while store B is selling it for 2200, why in the world would you then go back to store B to get them to match the 2000 price tag??????

this makes no sense at all. sure if store B will then beat the price and sell it for 1900 or so then go for it, but otherwise you are really tyaking advantage of Store A. many people dont realize that you have to pay for service and intelligence in sales people. I buy my stuff at a local high end store, not futureshop. the only way i would buy at futureshop was if they offered a much better price, I am willing to pay a little more at the local high end shop because they have knowledgeable staff and service that places like future shop will never match. I am sure i could ahve gotten my tv cheaper at FS but why bother? would they have sent in an authorized tech to fix my geometry problems? I doubt it likely they would ahve swapped it out, and then gotten pissed at me if the next one had the same problems.

Support the places that give you the good service, and above all say screw you to the stores that only price match, you likely lose money due to the gas driving back there to pay a price someone is already offering you where you are.

 

[Jim FC]

FrankL,
No, I'm not kidding. I'm very serious. Theron and John said it exactly.

"Any effort by that salesman to sell me that TV for more than $ 2300 is just an effort to take money out of my pocket and put it in his."

And any effort by you to force a salesman's hand with this back-and-forth pricematch scam, into selling you something below that point, is you taking money out of his pocket. He'll sell you the stuff at a price where he feels he's being fairly comepensated. Sure, you should always ask for a better price, but when he gives it to you and you walk, he's gonna think "why'd I even bother?"

"Why does he deserve my money more than I do?"

Then why is your job more worthwhile than his? What do you do for a living? Ever feel like coming in to work and only accepting half your salary that day? If you do your job and don't get paid at the end of the week, are you OK with that? A commissioned salesperson WILL give you his best deal to earn your business. But if he earns your business you should give it to him instead of making him beg for it. Have some decency, these guys aren't used car salesmen. If you have such a disdain for commissinoned salespeople then you shouldn't even step foot into a real electronics store.

 

[David Cohen]

"Then why is your job more worthwhile than his? What do you do for a living? Ever feel like coming in to work and only accepting half your salary that day? If you do your job and don't get paid at the end of the week, are you OK with that? A commissioned salesperson WILL give you his best deal to earn your business. But if he earns your business you should give it to him instead of making him beg for it. Have some decency, these guys aren't used car salesmen. If you have such a disdain for commissinoned salespeople then you shouldn't even step foot into a real electronics store."

Bravo! Well Stated! I'll add to this by saying that a well run retail organization will EARN your business with, price, service, and knowledge (all things worth paying a few bucks for) These same deserving companies will not leave it up to to the salesperson to decide the best price, but will have guidleines controlled by management to be sure of maintaining the proper controls and to close as many customers as possible. Treat the quality retailers with respect and you will get the price that you deserve. If you're going to buy off of the web no matter what, leave the sales guys alone

 

[FrankL]

OK This is getting silly now.
"And any effort by you to force a salesman's hand with this back-and-forth pricematch scam, into selling you something below that point, is you taking money out of his pocket. "

Wrong. The money is coming out of my pocket not his. Its only a question of how much. Scam??? He is the one doing the scamming. If he could get me to pay list price for the TV, he would.

"Store A offers you a price of 2000 while store B is selling it for 2200, why in the world would you then go back to store B to get them to match the 2000 price tag??????"

I can think of alot of reasons. Heres just a few
1.) faster delivery
2.) better financing options
3.) better service department
4.) Better return policy

"Then why is your job more worthwhile than his? What do you do for a living?"

I'm a Sales Manager. Let me tell you how my business works.
I get called into a quote meeting. Sitting at the table with me are my four or five largest competitors. We get the quote line up and all reqiured information. Then we spend 20-30 hours putting together the quote and we submit it. Our potential customer than selects the lowest quote and contacts that company and tells them that if they can shave 10% to 20% off of their price ( already the lowest)they can have the business. If you are not the low guy you starve. Plain and simple. Its really very simple. Its the way our marketplace works. Its called supply and demand.

"If you have such a disdain for commissinoned salespeople then you shouldn't even step foot into a real electronics store. "

I do not have disdain for a salesperson because they are on commission, however I do have disdain for people who make my shopping experience unpleasant by running up to me the second I walk into the door and hovering over me drooling like a wolf on a rabbit. They don't care what they sell me as long as I walk out of the store with something. If this is what you mean by a "real" electronics store No thanks

Sorry for being so windy but this topic strikes a nerve.

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

FrankL -

It strikes a nerve with me also.

I think it's the people who try to shop prices in this way that create the sales people you don't like. They know that theres people out there that will do exactly what you suggest and the only way to sell them something is to sell it to them right there and then. If they walk out the door, they're going to shop your price.

Now about your business and expierece with quotes..

There's nothing wrong with what you're describing. Now what if you were the lowest bidder and the customer then went to all the other bidders and told them what your price was and let everyone else take a free swing at it? Heck, there might even be some other company that they'd give the business to if they matched it because they liked someone there better. That would be fair right?

The best way I've ever seen someone deal with a person like this is to give them a shopping price. They gave them "todays" price, that no one else could beat, and that they'd actually loose money on the item for. They shopped around and came back with a big grin on their face happy that they found the lowest price. Boy, wern't they mad when they were told that, as said, that price was only good on that day.

Shop around. Have a good idea of what price to expect and work with the people that treat you the fairest. There's no reason to be petty and try to pit one place against another. The salesman should earn the sale. But give the sale to the guy who earns it. Shops that won't budge on a price unless they're matching don't get my business.

 

[Jim FC]

"If he could get me to pay list price for the TV, he would"

Of course he would! That's not a "scam," it's common sense. And if you could get someone to pay to $100,000 for a job you'd gladly do for $50,000, you'd do that, too, in a heartbeat. But making a guy work hard enough to earn $50,000 and then telling him if you'll give him $25,000 or you'll give him nothing, now that's not right. You're trying to apply the "supply and demand" ethics you use in big business with companies that build that extra "10-20%" into their bids, to individuals who are trying to make a living within the framework which their employers have set up, and it doesn't work that way.

 

[Josh Lowe]

or you could just completely bypass the salespeople and buy from a reputable online / mail order dealer such as onecall. i was very hesitant to put $1700 on the line for an online purchase but i came away -totally- satisfied and would buy from them again without hesitation - in fact i already have. based on the quality of service and pricing i feel i got a much better deal and better service than i could have with any of the local brick and mortar shops, be it best buy or a specialty store.

 

[Tod_J]

It should be made clear that the commissioned sales discussion does not apply to Best Buy. The floor manager (or whatever his title is) has the ability to lower the price based on price match with a local competitor (or even online to some extent) with no impact on his families food budget . I know this because I bought a Panny 53wx42 at Best Buy last night. BB did not hesitate to match (actually beat) the lowest negotiated Circuit City price and threw in a leather chair to boot (the current promotion). I did not intend to play the "match this price" game until CC failed to simply include the $100 gift card as I understood was included in all big screen TV deals (I had actually paid for the TV already). They said the price was already too low and I thought that was a little weak. In any event I do not feel bad about getting a rock bottom price since my time in each store was just a few minutes (I spent hours researching this and other similar forums before landing on the Panny).

 

[FrankL]

Rich, you bring up a good point but I feel it is the other way around. These guys have created the price shopper because you never know if you are getting a great price or not. They do the "let me talk to the manager" routine then come back and slide you a card with a price on it. If you still are unsure, he offers a lower price. How does one know that the guy down the street won't sell it cheaper? I wish these stores would just hire qualified personnel, pay them salary, and just work the cost into the prices. And NO DEALING!!!

But hey, if money isn't important to you guys then by all means buy from whomever you like. Myself, I'll keep shopping for my best price as long as I am forced to.

 

[Dmitry]

Not sure if this would be the right forum...

You're right — this thread belongs in the "Retail and Wholesale Vendors Feedback" forum.

 

[Jim FC]

There are stores just like what FrankL described, with no dealing. They are called "Best Buy," and most of this thread has been dealing with how to get BB to deal and drop their price! Go figure. So here comes a rant: When I go in to buy shoes or a movie ticket or a video game, the thought never crosses my mind to ask for a "great price." I know damn well that the beer I ordered last night cost the bar probably fifteen cents, but I'm fine paying $2.50 for it. Why? Because that's the way the world works. Why must it be different with certain products like TVs and cars? If people came in willing to pay the price on the sign like they do everywhere else, there would be no issues. Salespeople would be happy becuase they'd be making more money, and customers would be happy because they'd know that everybody pays the same price and they didn't get taken advantage of. But it's a certain type of customer who thinks a better price is his god-given right that screws everything up. The customer, and nobody else, creates this problem we've been discussing. You can't really blame the store or the salepeople for developing methods to combat it.

Personally, when somebody comes in demanding I meet or beat a competitor's price, if its not reasonable I tell him to go right on over to my competitor. Bad business, perhaps, but that's the kind of customer I don't need. I'd rather walk him, and go help sombody who respects the job I'm trying to do for them. I'll be happier helping those people, and probably make more money as well.

 

[FrankL]

Personally, when somebody comes in demanding I meet or beat a competitor's price, if its not reasonable I tell him to go right on over to my competitor. Bad business, perhaps, but that's the kind of customer I don't need. I'd rather walk him, and go help sombody who respects the job I'm trying to do for them. I'll be happier helping those people, and probably make more money as well.

So pass the informed customer on to your competitors and just focus on the suckers eh Jim? Probably a good strategy from your prospective.

Anyhow I'm done with this thread. Sorry for taking everybody off course.

 

[Tod_J]

I beseech forgiveness for "screwing everything up".
Did you pay sticker price for the last car you purchased?