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gadgetfreaky

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 28, 2007
1,406
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So lots of folks picking up Jet Black Pluses from Best Buy.

has anyone been able to get them to price match since they are charging $100 above list price.
They are the only ones with available stock.
 
Traditionally they've been willing to price match phones without checking local stock. Really depends on how lenient the manager and/or employee is. My wife allows the employees to automatically price match since most people will cause a stink if they didn't.

Keep in mind the phone will lock to whatever carrier you place the first SIM card in.
 
Traditionally they've been willing to price match phones without checking local stock. Really depends on how lenient the manager and/or employee is. My wife allows the employees to automatically price match since most people will cause a stink if they didn't.

Keep in mind the phone will lock to whatever carrier you place the first SIM card in.

yep - i did not know /understand that about the insta lock. luckily ATT unlocks them tho based on request. put unlock reuqesst in friday night - got it back this evening as unlocked.

good news on the price match- i hope they do it. I called it in- maybe i should go in store.
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Don't they require an item be IN STOCK at a competitor to price match?
yep technically
 
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Don't they require an item be IN STOCK at a competitor to price match?
They do. It really just depends who you get. That's technically the rule everywhere. The last few times I price matched items at target all they did was ask the price. No proof. No anything. Against policy for that company too.
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yep - i did not know /understand that about the insta lock. luckily ATT unlocks them tho based on request. put unlock reuqesst in friday night - got it back this evening as unlocked.

good news on the price match- i hope they do it. I called it in- maybe i should go in store.
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yep technically
ATT is good with unlocks. I just figured I'd make you aware. :)

Nothing worse than thinking you have an unlocked phone and selling it. Or trying to use it overseas or something and being stuck.

Good luck! Hope they help you.
 
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I wanted some b&w headphones and best buy was the only ones with them and they had the price 100.00 above the retail price on b7w's webpage. but they did match prices.
 
Just make sure what they sell you is new as they are not past repacking and even re shrink wrapping a product and selling it as new. The sold me a "new" camera of which was plainly used, even the warranty cards were filled out. It was shrink wrapped.
 
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You definitely don't know what price gouging is if you are calling this price gouging.
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Keep in mind the phone will lock to whatever carrier you place the first SIM card in.
Right but if that SIM card is a Verizon SIM card, the phone will be unlocked.

You can activate these phones with an inactive Verizon SIM over WiFi and they will be unlocked. I think BB will sell you a Verizon SIM for $5, if not, you should be able to get a Verizon SIM from an Apple store for free if you bring in your iPhone.
 
It's not "gouging." They're free to price their merchandise however they like (within reason). They've done this for years. Nothing new here; it's called "capitalism."

Gouging is artificially/arbitrarily inflating prices to benefit from limited supply, especially if the same party is responsible for the supply in someway.
 
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It's not "gouging." They're free to price their merchandise however they like. They've done this for years. Nothing new here; it's called "capitalism."

Gouging is artificially/arbitrarily inflating prices to benefit from limited supply, especially if the same party is responsible for the supply in someway.
And the reason that BB sells an iPhone for more than Apples does is because they don't make any profit at all if they sell you an iPhone full retail. That means they take a loss on the item because they have costs associated with selling the phone.
 
And the reason that BB sells an iPhone for more than Apples does is because they don't make any profit at all if they sell you an iPhone full retail. That means they take a loss on the item because they have costs associated with selling the phone.
Rarely does BBY make $$ off the products it sells. More profit comes from store traffic and service plans these days than profits on goods sold.

That said- they don't get the phone for full price from Apple --if that's what you are implying you don't know what you are talking about.
 
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Wow I didn't know that was even allowed!
On the contrary. Price fixing isn't allowed. This is how stores are able to have sales and, frankly, compete with one another.
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Rarely does BBY make $$ off the products it sells. More profit comes from store traffic and service plans these days than profits on goods sold.

That said- they don't get the phone for full price from Apple --if that's what you are implying you don't know what you are talking about.
They get their phones for about $50 off the top. That basically covers shelf space.
 
On the contrary. Price fixing isn't allowed. This is how stores are able to have sales and, frankly, compete with one another.
Actually- there is something called the MSRP which apple uses pretty aggressively to prevent retailers to cut prices below a threshold if they want to sell Apple products. If they are caught selling below this price - Apple bans them.

So this is false/ misinformed.
 
Actually- there is something called the MSRP which apple uses pretty aggressively to prevent retailers to cut prices below a threshold if they want to sell Apple products. If they are caught selling below this price - Apple bans them.

So this is false/ misinformed.
Msrp is manufacturers suggested retail price. This is not the same as price fixing.

Consistently selling below a threshold can get your Apple Authorized retailer pulled. That's also not price fixing.
 
becuase if you are caught trying to offer it lower and then get banned- that is market manipulation.
I was just commenting on what is allowed and what Apple allows. Apple allows sale. They don't allow consistently selling their products as a loss leader. There's a difference there but I'm not contending it's notnmarket manipulation. The strongest manipulation Apple pulls is not selling their product to their retailer at much lower than msrp.

Let's think about this for a minute though. Best Buy is selling gen one stainless Apple watches for less than half of msrp. If Apple was as cut throats about this as you seem to be implying they'd get "banned". Telcos are also offering free devices with a two year agreement. The average consumer has gone longer thinking their iPhone costs them $200 (or less) because that is what they are actively paying for the device.
 
becuase if you are caught trying to offer it lower and then get banned- that is market manipulation.
There is plenty of case law on this. There is nothing wrong with setting MSRP. That is perfectly fine w/in our anti-trust laws and is an area that has been litigated extensively.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/com...ws/dealings-supply-chain/manufacturer-imposed

What is not fine is if 2 competitors who aren't manufacturers - for instance BB and Frys - got together and agreed that they would only sell iPhones at a certain price. THAT is price fixing. MSRP is not.
 
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