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> It's clear Amazon and online retailing has decimated them And yet, somehow, Best Buy is doing fine apparently. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jillgriffin/2018

> It's clear Amazon and online retailing has decimated them And yet, somehow, Best Buy is doing fine apparently. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jillgriffin/2018/07/27/best-buys-turnaround-you-cant-make-this-stuff-up/#5fd5fd6f4653 https://www.forbes.com/sites/jillgriffin/2018/07/27/best-buy...

nightski 7y ago
I'll admit it, I love shopping at Best Buy. I much prefer purchasing anything at the local store and actively avoid Amazon if at all possible.
option 7y ago
Best Buy often has better prices than Amazon. Since last year I find myself always double-checking the price of anything I want outside Amazon and for big items (e.g. TV, tv stand, etc.) Best Buy is a first choice for sure.
- emodendroket 7y ago
  Not only that, but have you ever tried shopping for something like a laptop on Amazon? The descriptions are all three lines long and by the time you figure out what the hell you're buying you could just drive to Best Buy and see a display that clearly explains what's on offer.
  - mixmastamyk 7y ago
    Dell developer laptops are pretty good, not to mention Apple if you can put up with them.
    - emodendroket 7y ago
      I like Lenovo, personally.
- tracker1 7y ago
  Agreed... I've had relatively bad luck on mail ordered laptops and monitors in particular, stick to a physical location I can return them to in general. Walmart seems like a decent middle ground with online to store and returns.
- chubot 7y ago
  The funny thing is that Best Buy also price matches bestbuy.com :) Every time I go in there I have to ask the cashier for the price on the web site. The stores and site have different prices. I guess it makes sense because you capture 5% from everyone who doesn't bother to do that.
sergiotapia 7y ago
Just bought a new 3700x and 5700xt at best buy this week, I'm surprised I could that in person. I actively try to avoid purchasing anything at Amazon. They are Mr. Robot's EvilCorp in real life. Can't support that.
rickyc091 7y ago
Best Buy price matches to Amazon. They also work with cashback services and often times gives you a $5 coupon after purchasing a certain amount. Finally, they also let you return open boxes, no questions asked. Forgot to mention, you can do same day pick up for an item.
- riversflow 7y ago
  Fry’s literally does all that, except for maybe the $5 coupon.
- Skunkleton 7y ago
  Around three years ago, bestbuy realized that they would need to make some sort of change. They did and their stores got better. It still isn't a replacement for what Fry's used to be.
  - jonny_eh 7y ago
    But my point was that Fry's could have made changes too. It's very possible to compete with Amazon.
    - Skunkleton 7y ago
      Yeah, it does look a bit like they just rolled over. Still, bestbuy and frys are not directly comparable imo. Micro Center is more analogous to frys. Somewhere else in the thread someone pointed that they had to bail out of california.
    - yellowapple 7y ago
      Fry's did make changes. Maybe not as many as Best Buy, but they do price match Amazon, last I checked.
      - Skunkleton 7y ago
        At the same time bestbuy started price matching, the also stepped up their customer service, return policy, and stock.
tombert 7y ago
Which I find a bit annoying; what I like about Fry's is that they have low-level components in addition to the high-level stuff. With Radio Shack closing, and Fry's probably closing soon, the only non-internet place left that I'll be able to purchase components will be Micro Center. My point is, Best Buy has never been a one-to-one comparison to me. There are things that Fry's has that Best Buy simply doesn't.
- duskwuff 7y ago
  Frys' component selection used to be good. But nowadays it feels like a throwback to the 90s -- they still carry a ton of parts for repairing CRT TVs [1], yet they don't have a single microcontroller or flash chip in the entire aisle, and their prices for basic logic chips like [2] are ridiculous. [1]: https://www.frys.com/product/1000013 https://www.frys.com/product/1000013 [2]: https://www.frys.com/product/1003503 https://www.frys.com/product/1003503

nightski 7y ago

I'll admit it, I love shopping at Best Buy. I much prefer purchasing anything at the local store and actively avoid Amazon if at all possible.

option 7y ago

Best Buy often has better prices than Amazon. Since last year I find myself always double-checking the price of anything I want outside Amazon and for big items (e.g. TV, tv stand, etc.) Best Buy is a first choice for sure.

emodendroket 7y ago
Not only that, but have you ever tried shopping for something like a laptop on Amazon? The descriptions are all three lines long and by the time you figure out what the hell you're buying you could just drive to Best Buy and see a display that clearly explains what's on offer.
- mixmastamyk 7y ago
  Dell developer laptops are pretty good, not to mention Apple if you can put up with them.
  - emodendroket 7y ago
    I like Lenovo, personally.
tracker1 7y ago
Agreed... I've had relatively bad luck on mail ordered laptops and monitors in particular, stick to a physical location I can return them to in general. Walmart seems like a decent middle ground with online to store and returns.
chubot 7y ago
The funny thing is that Best Buy also price matches bestbuy.com :) Every time I go in there I have to ask the cashier for the price on the web site. The stores and site have different prices. I guess it makes sense because you capture 5% from everyone who doesn't bother to do that.

sergiotapia 7y ago

Just bought a new 3700x and 5700xt at best buy this week, I'm surprised I could that in person. I actively try to avoid purchasing anything at Amazon. They are Mr. Robot's EvilCorp in real life. Can't support that.

rickyc091 7y ago

Best Buy price matches to Amazon. They also work with cashback services and often times gives you a $5 coupon after purchasing a certain amount. Finally, they also let you return open boxes, no questions asked. Forgot to mention, you can do same day pick up for an item.

riversflow 7y ago
Fry’s literally does all that, except for maybe the $5 coupon.
Skunkleton 7y ago
Around three years ago, bestbuy realized that they would need to make some sort of change. They did and their stores got better. It still isn't a replacement for what Fry's used to be.
- jonny_eh 7y ago
  But my point was that Fry's could have made changes too. It's very possible to compete with Amazon.
  - Skunkleton 7y ago
    Yeah, it does look a bit like they just rolled over. Still, bestbuy and frys are not directly comparable imo. Micro Center is more analogous to frys. Somewhere else in the thread someone pointed that they had to bail out of california.
  - yellowapple 7y ago
    Fry's did make changes. Maybe not as many as Best Buy, but they do price match Amazon, last I checked.
    - Skunkleton 7y ago
      At the same time bestbuy started price matching, the also stepped up their customer service, return policy, and stock.

tombert 7y ago

Which I find a bit annoying; what I like about Fry's is that they have low-level components in addition to the high-level stuff. With Radio Shack closing, and Fry's probably closing soon, the only non-internet place left that I'll be able to purchase components will be Micro Center. My point is, Best Buy has never been a one-to-one comparison to me. There are things that Fry's has that Best Buy simply doesn't.

duskwuff 7y ago
Frys' component selection used to be good. But nowadays it feels like a throwback to the 90s -- they still carry a ton of parts for repairing CRT TVs [1], yet they don't have a single microcontroller or flash chip in the entire aisle, and their prices for basic logic chips like [2] are ridiculous. [1]: https://www.frys.com/product/1000013 https://www.frys.com/product/1000013 [2]: https://www.frys.com/product/1003503 https://www.frys.com/product/1003503