Fine.
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Profit margin? Business aren't meant for profit. They're meant to sell items to entitled consumers at the cheapest price possible.
/s
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Best Buy Selling iPhone X on Installment Plan Only After Criticism Over $100 Premium
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Fine.
[doublepost=1509475617][/doublepost]
Profit margin? Business aren't meant for profit. They're meant to sell items to entitled consumers at the cheapest price possible.
/s
I love the sudden uproar over something Best Buy has literally been doing for years now.
Heck I even remember at some point they would charge $5 more for Zagg’s and Otterbox cases. Those situations didn’t really bother me since at the time they were the only retailer really selling the product in stores.
Heck I even remember at some point they would charge $5 more for Zagg’s and Otterbox cases. Those situations didn’t really bother me since at the time they were the only retailer really selling the product in stores.
I dislike this company. The last time I went, I wanted to support an actual brick and mortar store so we went to look for a GPS for our in-laws. The store was totally empty (no customers), but the staff paid no heed to us. They were busy chatting. When I asked them where what I was looking for was, they seemed annoyed and got back to their conversation as soon as possible. Oh well...
This is confusing. I almost bought my iPhone X with installment plans through Apple. But I saw at the last second that Verizon was going to raise my monthly bill back to the normal $40 per month for that line. I usually just buy my phones and bring them to Verizon in which case I pay $15 for the line. That would have been a $600 mistake over two years. Yikes. Definitely not worth the convenience of just paying the phone off over time.
And that is why I don't shop there for my technology... haven't for 3 years. Just poor service...
I don't get why people have to attack other people - "No surprise coming from a Minnesotan..." - Really?
Laugh at me all you want, but I didn't notice the price was more than Apple until the next day. I ordered from my phone at 6am EST and just figured that was the price. Then I logged onto the forums... 
Anyways I am not to worried about it. Best Buy didn't force me to buy the phone. They even gave me 18 months of 0% financing. It's supposed to be ready to pick up by the 10th. I will try to get them to do the price match then, and if not I will make a decision to return it from there.
Anyways I am not to worried about it. Best Buy didn't force me to buy the phone. They even gave me 18 months of 0% financing. It's supposed to be ready to pick up by the 10th. I will try to get them to do the price match then, and if not I will make a decision to return it from there.
Health insurers have margins of 2%-5% and they've been around for a long long time.
The issue here is a failure of the upper-brass at BBY to understand even rudimentary economic & marketing principles. Let's assume Best Buy is not spouting hogwash and that the company actually does break-even or lose money on selling the iPhone X outright. Fine. Why is that a bad thing?
It's called loss-leading. You willingly accept a loss on a flagship item to get customers in the door, then you bombard them with relevant products and marketing strategies to entice them to purchase other items that have a higher profit margin. Even if you only convert about 20% of those sales (which is extremely low, and realistically should be much higher), at the very least you have reinforced an existing (or sometimes new) customer relationship and collected relevant customer data that could be monetized into future sales revenue.
Instead, Best Buy showed that they either A) don't have any basic-level understanding of sales and economics, B) don't have faith in their lineup of complementary products or their sales team's ability to convert upsell opportunities, or C) they are so out of touch with the consumer that they fail to recognize the negative publicity and impression that will befall them due to this practice. It's called the "zero f**ks" mentality, in that they literally have zero f**ks to give about their consumer or what they think.
I mean, it won't stop ME from shopping there because I'm too rooted in their system: rewards, VISA, etc., and also because I am determined to always get my price-match (yes, I have price-matched an item for $0.01 price difference, just on principle alone), although I won't ever buy an iPhone there, that's for sure. But, I know, especially in larger metropolitan areas where competition abounds, it will drive at least a few customers away from their doors on a long-term to permanent basis.
It's called loss-leading. You willingly accept a loss on a flagship item to get customers in the door, then you bombard them with relevant products and marketing strategies to entice them to purchase other items that have a higher profit margin. Even if you only convert about 20% of those sales (which is extremely low, and realistically should be much higher), at the very least you have reinforced an existing (or sometimes new) customer relationship and collected relevant customer data that could be monetized into future sales revenue.
Instead, Best Buy showed that they either A) don't have any basic-level understanding of sales and economics, B) don't have faith in their lineup of complementary products or their sales team's ability to convert upsell opportunities, or C) they are so out of touch with the consumer that they fail to recognize the negative publicity and impression that will befall them due to this practice. It's called the "zero f**ks" mentality, in that they literally have zero f**ks to give about their consumer or what they think.
I mean, it won't stop ME from shopping there because I'm too rooted in their system: rewards, VISA, etc., and also because I am determined to always get my price-match (yes, I have price-matched an item for $0.01 price difference, just on principle alone), although I won't ever buy an iPhone there, that's for sure. But, I know, especially in larger metropolitan areas where competition abounds, it will drive at least a few customers away from their doors on a long-term to permanent basis.
Should be even more upset for criticizing others about how they spend their money.
Was the phone Best Buy selling a SIM free unlocked phone? If so, then for some people I'm sure it was worth the extra 100USD to get it on launch day rather than wait for Apple to start selling their SIM free version.
This whole thing seems to me like a tempest in a tea pot...
This whole thing seems to me like a tempest in a tea pot...
I am glad they decided to change it, although they did not do willingly. This is just reason why this company is continuing of a path of failure. It is a joke to deal with them in every case I have experienced. This is one place I would love to see go out of business. Nothing good has come of this place since price matching Amazon orders. Past that, it is useless
Some carriers like Verizon won't even let you purchase outright at their retail stores near release day unless you add a new line so Best Buy is a great option for someone looking to purchase outright and not on contract or payments. Or, if it's sold out everywhere else you no longer have a local convenient major supplier. Non-savvy shoppers making it worse for savvy shoppers.
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Exactly.
Car dealers do it.
GameStop and ThinkGeek did it with the Nintendo NES and Super NES Classic... well, not directly... they just bundled the consoles with a bunch of overpriced junk accessories and stuff to make extra money. But same idea.
Unfortunately, it happens. It wouldn't be happening if people didn't pay the inflated prices.
I haven't checked all of them, but with United Health Group, they've been running over 20% quarterly for years...
https://ycharts.com/companies/UNH/gross_profit_margin
Moreso, when I got the S8 a few weeks ago they actually priced it down over $100 below normal price and had almost half off wireless chargers too from Samsung.
Its a ploy to make more money because they know they make nothing on Apple products and people will wait in line for days for these things.
They have been doing this for years. It's not just this year. I would go into a best buy store and always see their devices as 100 more than the actual price. It's some greedy move - for what flexibility? Best Buy Service sucks anyway and I'm a premium member. Takes you like 4 hrs to get your phone while you wait in a line of 10 people as one person takes 30 minutes to work on customer.
I periodically buy things from Best Buy. If I’m okay with the price, I buy it. If I don’t, Best Buy doesn’t get my money.
I really don’t understand the big deal over this. It was only bad PR because people seem to forget the power you have as a Consumer to simply not buy. This isn’t food or water, it’s a $1000 smartphone FFS.
So people will pay 2x, 3x, 4x via CL or eBay for a release day phone and that is OK. But BB has the audacity to put a markup on the phone (which includes having to deal with the release day headaches, lines, and constant phone calls) to you know, actually make a profit, and they are the big bad boogey-man? Don't like it don't pay it and go over to your local AS. BB isn't obligated to sell for MSRP unless required under contract to do so. And despite what others have said, they did price match away the markup when I bought my son his SE. So YMMV; go figure.