Best Buy Stops Some Sales of New iPhones After Pricing Backlash

DooKey

DooKey

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Bestbuy is going to stop selling iPhones (WARNING auto play video) without carrier activation. They say this after customers complained they were selling the iPhones for $100 more than what Apple was selling them for. According to Bestbuy offering iPhones with different purchasing options has a cost. Right, it had nothing to do with taking advantage of your customers because a new iPhone was released. Anyone want to buy a bridge?

“Although there was clearly demand for the un-activated iPhone X, selling it that way cost more money, causing some confusion with our customers and noise in the media,” Best Buy spokeswoman Danielle Schumann said. “That’s why we decided a few days ago to only sell the phone the traditional way, through installment billing plans.” Apple didn’t comment on Best Buy’s move when asked about it on Tuesday.
 
Best buy gets kick backs for each phone activated with a plan. The better the plan, the more Cash they get. When someone buys a phone without a plan They simply gain margin, which for devices like this are barely anything at all. Selling for an extra $100 is pretty shady, but I guess since I know how things work in the background there I understand why they are doing what they are doing this story didn't surprise me. They simply don't want to do you the service of procuring a phone that you will buy from them for little to no profit what so ever. At the end of the day, stores are there to make money.

That still doesn't excuse them from the issue, however they should have just taken a stance of only selling phones with a plan or plan transfer instead of getting shady about it.
 
SomeoneElse said:
It is Best buy, I expect nothing less. This is why the chain has been on the brink of closing up for a few years now.
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Really? I thought they have been doing great as far as the sales go. The customer service improved significantly over the years.
 
Best Buy has gone down the drain. The last 2 preorders with "Get it by" dates from them have been late for me. They can go pound sand for all I am concerned. The reason that they were late is they shipped them the day before and I guess couldn't be bothered to overnight them to have them arrive on time. They instead opted to ship them via UPS Ground, which put both of my preorders late. (Destiny 2 PC & the new Amazon Fire TV)
 
hmz said:
Really? I thought they have been doing great as far as the sales go. The customer service improved significantly over the years.
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They make their money on scamming people on extended warranties and false promises of replacement devices. They sell things close to cost, I have a buddy who used to work there and said that they don't make much on PCs and such but the appliances is where they rake in the profits.
 
isn't apple selling unlocked phones for msrp ?

what the bullshit
 
Lord_Exodia said:
Best buy gets kick backs for each phone activated with a plan. The better the plan, the more Cash they get. When someone buys a phone without a plan They simply gain margin, which for devices like this are barely anything at all. Selling for an extra $100 is pretty shady, but I guess since I know how things work in the background there I understand why they are doing what they are doing this story didn't surprise me. They simply don't want to do you the service of procuring a phone that you will buy from them for little to no profit what so ever. At the end of the day, stores are there to make money.
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Yeah, I don't see what the big issue is here, other than underinformed masses throwing a tantrum. Best Buy has to make a profit, otherwise they go out of business. So either they get a commission on the cell phone plan, or they make their profit by selling the phone up front. Besides, the premium won't last forever--only until supplies loosen and demand slackens.

All the uproar seems to have accomplished is that Best Buy will no longer sell the iPhone X without a plan. So, for all those people who got up in arms about this, what did all that angst accomplish?
 
My god, it's mind boggling how stupid people are becoming, when we have never has this level of access to information/communication in the history of mankind..... 'I was too lazy to do a quick internet search to realize i could have gotten it cheaper elsewhere. BURN BB TO THE GROUND HOW DARE THEY!!!!'...... jesus effing christ
 
Hmmm, funny. In my area, there's a Best Buy about 800 feet from our Apple Store.
 
pretty sure i have only ever bought two things from best buy, a floor model car stereo because it was a good deal and a previous model year TV because it was on clearance and even then if i recall i ended up returning it because it sucked. literally worthless store every once in a blue moon i go in there and within minutes remember why i should never even bother doing so.
 
I have no problem with Best Buy, or anyone else, charging a different price for the same product.

It happens all the time. If you don't like the price, move on to the next store or wait for more stock. I don't understand why this is such big news.

Same goes for resellers. If someone is willing to pay - I don't see the issue.
 
Biznatch said:
My god, it's mind boggling how stupid people are becoming, when we have never has this level of access to information/communication in the history of mankind..... 'I was too lazy to do a quick internet search to realize i could have gotten it cheaper elsewhere. BURN BB TO THE GROUND HOW DARE THEY!!!!'...... jesus effing christ
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The funny thing is the BB matches the price...
 
Wonder how many of the folks screaming "OMG, BB is charging TOOO MUCH!!!!" will be screaming "OMG, I didn't get an iPhone before supply ran out, Should have bought one from BB!" and then pay scalper's prices on auction sites because "I just HAVE to HAVE one!"
 
Apple and retailers need to do something about it... Asians buy up all the stock in Australia and ship them overseas for resale leaving nothing for us.
 
I hate to be backing Best Buy, but is there really any rule that says every store needs to sell something for the same price? I mean there's MAP but that's only the LOW price, not the high price. Don't like what Best Buy is doing, and you have knowledge that it's cheaper elsewhere, well that's you're dumbass fault for paying more.
 
SomeoneElse said:
It is Best buy, I expect nothing less. This is why the chain has been on the brink of closing up for a few years now.
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Nothing could be further from the truth. Best Buy is doing quite well. It is one of the biggest "success" stories of a traditional B&M company battling against the onslaught that is Amazon. Their revenue and stock price has been on a pretty crazy upward trend since 2012.

Don't ask me how they did it. I am not a stock holder of their's nor do I shop there. I don't really get it either, but apparently a lot of people are shopping there again.
 
GPU pricing has been on the verge of extortion for months and it's news that iPhones are going for 10% above MSRP?

Who cares, it's not worth the first thousand dollars, so what's another hundred?

Apple users should really be the last to complain they are being overcharged.
 
Agreed, if you insist on buying Apple products, especially on the day they're released, you should be used to getting reamed by now.
 
ppl still shop at best buy? if you're dumb enough to buy stuff there, then you deserve to be over paying for an iphone.
 
Neurofreeze said:
Don't ask me how they did it. I am not a stock holder of their's nor do I shop there. I don't really get it either, but apparently a lot of people are shopping there again.
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Best Buy recognized their #1 problem was window shoppers. They tend to have good floorplans with plenty to see and do, people were just looking up what they wanted and buying from Amazon. So now best buy will price match that, and you get the luxury of immediate gratification in the form of having your new toy now instead of later. Coupled with Amazon's less friendly shipping practices these days, I'll pay the tax to have my widget today than wait for free shipping in 5 days as a non-prime member.

Also a lot of people like return policies that dont involve all the hassle of shipping something back. You go in, you play with a chromebook or something, like the look and feel, and for maybe a $30 premium overall you can have it right now knowing you can return it tomorrow if you have buyers remorse. I think thats enough to keep them in business.
 
nysmo said:
Best Buy recognized their #1 problem was window shoppers. They tend to have good floorplans with plenty to see and do, people were just looking up what they wanted and buying from Amazon. So now best buy will price match that, and you get the luxury of immediate gratification in the form of having your new toy now instead of later. Coupled with Amazon's less friendly shipping practices these days, I'll pay the tax to have my widget today than wait for free shipping in 5 days as a non-prime member.

Also a lot of people like return policies that dont involve all the hassle of shipping something back. You go in, you play with a chromebook or something, like the look and feel, and for maybe a $30 premium overall you can have it right now knowing you can return it tomorrow if you have buyers remorse. I think thats enough to keep them in business.
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And now that Amazon charges sales tax in a lot of places, they've lost that advantage as well.
 
Neurofreeze said:
Nothing could be further from the truth. Best Buy is doing quite well. It is one of the biggest "success" stories of a traditional B&M company battling against the onslaught that is Amazon. Their revenue and stock price has been on a pretty crazy upward trend since 2012.

Don't ask me how they did it. I am not a stock holder of their's nor do I shop there. I don't really get it either, but apparently a lot of people are shopping there again.
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Former the CEO left the company in 2012. That changed their vision and refocused the company. I should have said had the company on the brink for a few years my bad my wording was not good. Their new CEO turned the company around. It wasn't Amazon that was doing best buy in per-sey, they had some horrible policies and some real pricing issues back in the day. Not to mention pushy staff for extended warranties for products that they wouldn't properly honor ( replacement devices on broken products). They customer service sucked as well. Their geek squad is still a joke and no one should ever use that service.
 
so best buy get paid per activation obviously... they just wanted to charge you that lost fee.. that is all.
 
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