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Did you read in the article the part about Best Buy matching prices? That seems to undercut your assertion that price is a differentiator.

kevinmgranger 6y ago
Only for the exact same item, no? They were almost certainly different brands.
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago
  They've also started doing a thing where they have the manufacturer produce a different part number specifically for their store. Then even though it's the exact same item, they claim it isn't.
  - giancarlostoro 6y ago
    That sounds really wrong to me and dependant on the store itself. My local BestBuy stores would price match it. Hell I have asked a manager to lower the cost on a open box product that was their display machine. Saved me $150 if I remember correctly.
  - sukilot 6y ago
    Started? That's older than the average HN user.
markdown 6y ago
That requires that the same item be available at Best Buy.
mortenjorck 6y ago
The GP doesn’t say they were the same product. My guess is the $40 Best Buy product was something like a Belkin, while the $8 Amazon one was one of those random-letters-in-all-caps brand names that may or may not have a new random name a few months from now.
- jimmaswell 6y ago
  Best Buy: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/apricorn-data-transfer-cable-gray/3459621.p?skuId=3459621 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/apricorn-data-transfer-cable-gr... Might have gotten the listed sales price, can't remember well. Still more even so. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7WDZGT https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7WDZGT
  - tschwimmer 6y ago
    I'm stunned that they would price match that. They're two totally different products. Seems ripe for abuse.
    - jimmaswell 6y ago
      I didn't mean to say they did, I'm just giving the two products. Someone else went out to get the thing and I'm not sure what they actually paid. I think the store matched the online sale price.
jimmaswell 6y ago
As others have said, the price matching is only on the same item and Best Buy will go as far as getting a special UPC made for them so they can say it's not the same. And in this case they were entirely different brands.
- factotvm 6y ago
  Yes, I was talking more about the statement, “There's just no competition for price.” But as it was pointed out to me (several times over, lol) that it’s not always so simple when price matching.
FireBeyond 6y ago
They definitely have got better, absolutely. But there are still products where BBY has its own SKU for a product. "Oh, that 8TB WD drive is cheaper? Shame it's a WD8TB2020-AMZN, we only carry the WD8TB2020-BBY".
basch 6y ago
Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards all price match. Let's say you go looking for a water softener. You'll see three nearly identical products under different brand names. The accessories Best Buy makes money on are going to be harder to price match, because they could be exclusive, or not popular on other sites, possibly listed at even higher prices. Going in to Best Buy to get a price matched game makes sense, but buying a cable might be 4x-8x the price. and: seven of us said the same thing all within 5 minutes, guess this was a dead horse to beat.
- giancarlostoro 6y ago
  If its on Amazon they will price match Amazons price. I assume they subsidize all this by the number of customers who dont ask. There was a BestBuy I went to where the guy looked it up without me asking to see if he could bring down a laptops price bases on what Amazon listed it as at the time. I think he saved me $10 or something.
  - entropea 6y ago
    I bought a $449 Dell monitor @ Best Buy and saw they price matched Dell.com which was on sale for $329. No issues getting it knocked down to $329. They do often have different sku's so sometimes you'll see the same product thats a different sku.
  - filoleg 6y ago
    I think you might have missed the point of the parent comment. They agreed with you, that if BB has the exact same item as Amazon, they would match the price. It would work for "unique" products that aren't just very generic, easily replaceable, and don't have a significant variation, where a customer would prefer a very specific model of the item (like headphones, videogames, movies, tvs, monitors, etc.). If you want to buy Die Hard trilogy on Blu Ray, you probably won't be satisfied with buying Rambo trilogy on Blu Ray, despite them being somewhat similar. You care about the exact model of the item here. But if you just want to buy something generic, like a USB-C to USB-C cable, it isn't something that people have brand loyalty towards, it is something very generic and easily replaceable. You don't care about the brand, you just want a USB-C cable that supports Thunderbolt 3 spec and is at least 6ft long. On Amazon, you will have bajillion choices from different brands across all price ranges. At BB, you will have a couple of brands that are probably not even on Amazon for various reasons (e.g., it could be a BB exclusive version of that item) and are significantly overpriced. And you cannot just price match any USB-C cable to any USB-C cable that meets the same spec and is the same length, it has to be that exact same model. So, for example, if the "premium" brand version on Amazon costs $20, cheap one costs $8, and the only version from a completely different brand available at Best Buy is barely even the same quality as the "cheap" one from Amazon but costs $40, it makes no sense to buy it from BB.

kevinmgranger 6y ago

Only for the exact same item, no? They were almost certainly different brands.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
They've also started doing a thing where they have the manufacturer produce a different part number specifically for their store. Then even though it's the exact same item, they claim it isn't.
- giancarlostoro 6y ago
  That sounds really wrong to me and dependant on the store itself. My local BestBuy stores would price match it. Hell I have asked a manager to lower the cost on a open box product that was their display machine. Saved me $150 if I remember correctly.
- sukilot 6y ago
  Started? That's older than the average HN user.

markdown 6y ago

That requires that the same item be available at Best Buy.

mortenjorck 6y ago

The GP doesn’t say they were the same product. My guess is the $40 Best Buy product was something like a Belkin, while the $8 Amazon one was one of those random-letters-in-all-caps brand names that may or may not have a new random name a few months from now.

jimmaswell 6y ago
Best Buy: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/apricorn-data-transfer-cable-gray/3459621.p?skuId=3459621 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/apricorn-data-transfer-cable-gr... Might have gotten the listed sales price, can't remember well. Still more even so. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7WDZGT https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7WDZGT
- tschwimmer 6y ago
  I'm stunned that they would price match that. They're two totally different products. Seems ripe for abuse.
  - jimmaswell 6y ago
    I didn't mean to say they did, I'm just giving the two products. Someone else went out to get the thing and I'm not sure what they actually paid. I think the store matched the online sale price.

jimmaswell 6y ago

As others have said, the price matching is only on the same item and Best Buy will go as far as getting a special UPC made for them so they can say it's not the same. And in this case they were entirely different brands.

factotvm 6y ago
Yes, I was talking more about the statement, “There's just no competition for price.” But as it was pointed out to me (several times over, lol) that it’s not always so simple when price matching.

FireBeyond 6y ago

They definitely have got better, absolutely. But there are still products where BBY has its own SKU for a product. "Oh, that 8TB WD drive is cheaper? Shame it's a WD8TB2020-AMZN, we only carry the WD8TB2020-BBY".

basch 6y ago

Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards all price match. Let's say you go looking for a water softener. You'll see three nearly identical products under different brand names. The accessories Best Buy makes money on are going to be harder to price match, because they could be exclusive, or not popular on other sites, possibly listed at even higher prices. Going in to Best Buy to get a price matched game makes sense, but buying a cable might be 4x-8x the price. and: seven of us said the same thing all within 5 minutes, guess this was a dead horse to beat.

giancarlostoro 6y ago
If its on Amazon they will price match Amazons price. I assume they subsidize all this by the number of customers who dont ask. There was a BestBuy I went to where the guy looked it up without me asking to see if he could bring down a laptops price bases on what Amazon listed it as at the time. I think he saved me $10 or something.
- entropea 6y ago
  I bought a $449 Dell monitor @ Best Buy and saw they price matched Dell.com which was on sale for $329. No issues getting it knocked down to $329. They do often have different sku's so sometimes you'll see the same product thats a different sku.
- filoleg 6y ago
  I think you might have missed the point of the parent comment. They agreed with you, that if BB has the exact same item as Amazon, they would match the price. It would work for "unique" products that aren't just very generic, easily replaceable, and don't have a significant variation, where a customer would prefer a very specific model of the item (like headphones, videogames, movies, tvs, monitors, etc.). If you want to buy Die Hard trilogy on Blu Ray, you probably won't be satisfied with buying Rambo trilogy on Blu Ray, despite them being somewhat similar. You care about the exact model of the item here. But if you just want to buy something generic, like a USB-C to USB-C cable, it isn't something that people have brand loyalty towards, it is something very generic and easily replaceable. You don't care about the brand, you just want a USB-C cable that supports Thunderbolt 3 spec and is at least 6ft long. On Amazon, you will have bajillion choices from different brands across all price ranges. At BB, you will have a couple of brands that are probably not even on Amazon for various reasons (e.g., it could be a BB exclusive version of that item) and are significantly overpriced. And you cannot just price match any USB-C cable to any USB-C cable that meets the same spec and is the same length, it has to be that exact same model. So, for example, if the "premium" brand version on Amazon costs $20, cheap one costs $8, and the only version from a completely different brand available at Best Buy is barely even the same quality as the "cheap" one from Amazon but costs $40, it makes no sense to buy it from BB.