What purposes do you use Best Buy/Big Box electronic stores? Do you try items before you buy them in-person or online? Do you shop in-store for products? Are you a purely online shopper? I make an effort to patronize small companies, but when it comes to electronics, I frequently buy reconditioned computers and other items from the Best Buy outlet since my experiences there have been positive. I used to regularly order from Tiger Direct, but unfortunately, it is no longer open for business.
Honestly started buying more from them. Amazon might just as well send you a counterfeit.
I recently bought Wasp traps from Amazon and the ones that came were fully sealed but they had bugs and leaves already in them. Full price for a clearly used product.
This is a big one. I don’t trust Amazon anywhere near as much as I used to.
Me either. I’ll spend more to shop at a big box store so I know I’m getting authentic things.
Their shipping is horrendous lately.
I just love how they try to trick you into paying for shipping even if they’re like “Congratulations! Your order qualifies for free shipping!”
Dude that’s gotten me to not place several Amazon orders lately. Pick items with free shipping that arrive on the same day, go to checkout, 1 of the items is set to not ship with the rest and charge me despite clearly saying free shipping. I’ll reload my cart and now that item will be included and a different item will be the one getting a shipping charge! If you reload enough eventually it will fix, but the second time I ram into that glitch I just said fuck this and drove to the store instead. Amazon can fuck themselves
First, things like TVs. Not only can you actually see tvs plugged in and how they look, but you can also get open boxed ones to save a few bucks.
Keyboards and mice. You’re not gonna be able to get a complete, full experience like when you’re sitting down to really use it, but you can get a pretty damn good understanding of how it feels.
More good products from the actual brands, instead of hundreds of scams or cheap Chinese products that will break in a month being drop shipped. I wouldn’t be able to count how many times I’ve seen the same exact product show up multiple times with a different company name. It’s one of the reasons I try to not use the vast majority of online shopping sites. Having an open market sounds awesome. You get to sell your own stuff and reach a wider audience. But people are greedy fucks and ruin it for everyone.
Also, I sometimes like going to stores. It’s an excuse to get out of the house. It doesn’t feel like it fills that need when I’m grocery shopping, but if I’m gonna go buy something I want, then it makes it more exciting. If I got nothing else planned for the weekend, might as well.
The only problem is that I only have BB for electronics. So the options are a bit limited.
I also am limited to BB nearby and go for the same reasons you listed.
I also like their price matching and have used it quite a few times although they’ve gotten more strict about Amazon listings.
If you’ve got a Micro Center near you, that’s the way to go. They may not be small but they’re definitely not Best Buy and their selection is typically great, barring any industry-wide shortages.
No such luck.
Ahhh, that’s a bummer. I used to live in a city with one, now live in a city that sadly lacks one - hopefully they expand into both of our areas soon!
Open box stuff is nice. I also like buying bigger items like TVs or appliances from them since it’s easier to return if I don’t like it.
Also it’s nice to demo stuff before buying if I’m not sure about the size, weight, screen etc.
And as some users have mentioned, Amazon has become kind of a lottery for actually getting new items
Id rather buy electronics at somewhere like Best Buy instead of Amazon. You never know what you’re going to get from Amazon (open box/counterfeit).
I live near a Microcenter so I buy all kinds of stuff there related to computers and 3d printing. The last 4 or 5 computers I have built have been with mostly parts sourced there as well.
I like to buy stuff locally if possible. So having these kinds of stores is awesome. I’ll usually check their open box stuff first.
I bought some thermal paste from best buy a few weeks ago because they had it in stock and I wanted it immediately. other than that I mostly shop online.
I try to buy locally, and I like getting electronics faster than shipped. I switched to Best Buy back when Circuit City had a 15% restocking fee on any returns.
Sure shipping is fast nowadays, but if I take a bit of my own time, I can walk back from a store with the item already in hand, and I’m certain of what is in the box.
Bonus: I didn’t have to weed through alphabet soup spam brands to find what I wanted.
I went in there just yesterday for the first time in a year to look at laptops before deciding which to get based on actual weight and size. For whatever reason my brain does not work converting weight or size from text. I just can’t picture it or conceptualize it.
There are a few things. I’ll check dekudeals occasionally and Best Buy might be the one with a Switch game I want, on sale, in physical.
I buy large appliances there. Bought a fridge, dishwasher, and OTR Microwave a few months ago, and a washer and dryer a couple weeks ago. Honesty the only reason I went there was because they had the best financing offers. 24 months no interest, in this economy, is hard to pass up when they are selling at the same price as everyone else.
I’ve bought USB SSD drives and a 7200 RPM there recently. I checked PCPartPicker and they were the second cheapest by a slim margin. MicroCenter was #1 but that’s like a 90 minute drive each way.
Reference points on the highway
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Online is exclusively for things I can’t find locally.
It’s just faster. With a physical store, I can have my product in my hand just minutes after I decide to buy it. When I order online, I have to wait days.
There’s an electronics store across the road from where I work, but even if I’m at home - it’s only about 15 minutes drive away (depending on traffic).
Employment lol
