Best Buy's 'Member Deals Days' Sale Introduces Low Prices on MacBooks and Much More Exclusively for Members

[artifex]

I get people not liking the sales being locked behind the membership, but as you note the sale prices aren't the point of the membership. They're just a value-add. That said, usually paid warranty plans aren't worth it on their own.

Absolutely agree on the warranties. I've only paid for extended warranty on two machines. One was a refurb black 2007 Macbook I bought directly from Apple's website, the next was an Alienware laptop I won from a tech website in 2018 so got for free. I extended warranty on each at the last minute because they turned out to be lemons.

Moral of the story: not sure, but hopefully you find out if something's got problems in time to pay for an extension, but otherwise don't bother. I should personally learn to just sell or toss anything that has been repaired anyway, because even official company techs can screw up repeatedly over months, and my lost time is worth too much. I'm guessing higher failure rates and repairability issues are why most credit cards no longer offer free warranty extensions, too.

 

[arcite]

What have they done to us. $2,500 is a low price for a computer? Somebody quantum computing is going to drive these impressive unrepairable SOC devices straight into the ground chromebook style

Twenty years ago I was paying $2500 for IBM thinkpads. I think the price is about right.

 

[arcite]

Lack of tech didn't cause cost of living to rise. Things will be back to normal soon enough.

I think people will be surprized, inflation ….for some things, is here to stay; rents, food, basic cost of living things….but yea, no doubt laptops will get cheaper again, sales of laptops are falling off a cliff.

 

[svish]

Good prices for MacBook Air and Pro

 

[michaelscarn]

I used to be very loyal to Best Buy and had the top rewards level for years.

Haven't shopped there since they shifted to the membership pricing model. Yes, Amazon Prime is a membership too, but you're not limited to electronics and appliances. Amazon price matches and their delivery is quick, so I haven't had any reason to switch back to Best Buy.

 

[jblank]

The concept isn't much different than sam's club or Costco - these types of memberships are generally worth it if you shop at the retailer as little as a few times a year. In the case of some of the cheapest MacBooks, the membership is basically "free" with the bonus discount and for some devices the membership is less than the bonus discount.

in any case, the best buy sale prices are typically competitive to other retailers even without membership.

It's certainly a lot more expensive, plus their "sale prices" are frequently matched at other sites online and you don't have to pay for the privilege there.

 

[daniesy]

I hope they'll launch the M4 MBP without a notch. Having a notch on a laptop is dumb as f...

 

[Nekronos]

It's certainly a lot more expensive, plus their "sale prices" are frequently matched at other sites online and you don't have to pay for the privilege there.

What's more expensive? I don't know if you misunderstood what I said but I was specifically countering your concept of paying for a privilege. Regular best buy sale prices are as good as and sometimes better than other retailers - Best Buy also matches competitors. Best Buy's membership is extremely cost effective after buying as few as 1 item.