I just joined this forum prior to this post because I think I can be helpful here.
I was a sales manager for Circuit City up until 1 1/2 yrs ago and was recruited by Best Buy to manage for them. I have been out of the company for approximately 6 months but know the policies and how one may 'work the system' to get the best possible deals.

I will post a couple things in response to what I am reading. I will continue to look for areas which I can help and hope to have questions of actual situations directed at me. I am very happy with the company which I now work for but have a special dislike for Best Buy for the extremely poor treatment which I and numerous dedicated employees received.

Let the games begin....

- Do not bother to try price-matching competition and springing a 10% coupon. They will refer to this as stacking offers and will decline. It is written in their policy that they will not combine these type of offers.

- The Sony 42A10 is likely not going to be sold for $1400. I work for a company which specializes in HDTV and can tell you current cost to Best Buy is approximately $1500. That is a weighted cost to the store (includes shipping, handling and general corp screwing) but is the number they have to work with at the store level.

So how do you get the best deal possible on a TV? Do exactly as I write below and it WILL work;

The managers are graded above all things in two areas which they will always focus on; extended warranty and accessory sales.
In the case of home theater (HDTV, etc) accessories that are by far the highest focus are Monster products. For those who are scratching their heads, Monster products are primarily expensive (overpriced) cables and (useless) noise filtering surge protectors. A customer purchasing these products and an extended warranty will get a a managers attention very quickly.

Here is the general idea of how to utilize this knowledge to steal a deal -- if you want the 42A10 then let them sell you on a high-end surge protector ($200-400), a couple hundred dollars in cables and a service plan. DO NOT deviate on the items to package with the TV that I just listed; these are vital to getting them to deal as they are very high margin. Once you say you want to buy all this stuff ask for a 'package discount'. Push them as low as you can for the [ackage deal - they WILL NOT want to walk this sale as it makes them look like a hero.
Once you have gotten them as low as you can on the total price the magic will happen - they will write up the sale leaving prices full retail on the accessories and warranty and take the reduction on the TV, even possibly dropping below cost on this. The reason is they are graded by percentage of sales of this stuff based on dollars - they will drop the cost of only the TV.
Can you guess the rest? Buy it all and wait a few days, then return to the store and refund everything but the TV. DO NOT let them tell you to call an 800 # to refund the warranty - they may try that one but policy is to return it in-store for the first 30 days. They will put up a fight on this and may threaten to increase the cost of the TV but hold your ground. If their corporate got wind of them working deals to raise accessory and warranty numbers they would be fired. If you must, threaten a phone call - they will run scared. If you want it even smoother do the return at another location.

This strategy can be utilzed in most of their departments - if you need to know the key accessories for appliances, computers, car audio, etc let me know.
I wont wish you luck, it will simply work. If you have any problems though just drop me a line and I'll help all I can...


Oh, one last thing - someone wrote something about the Sony A10 being a Samsung DLP killer... I'm not sure I agree. The HLR Samsungs are a great product as well as the JVC LCOS sets. Also bear in mind that the Sony products have the worst mark-up in retail - better deals can be negotiated on most all other brands.

L.

thanks for the info. if it's true that is.

wow.... thanks so much for that advice !

Thanks OP and welcome.

somebody has posted this before. I 4got if it was on fw or sd?

Thank you very much for all the welcome responses.

A few responses to the posts so far:

sugray - yes, it works. If the manager wont negotiate the deal then dont make the purchase. 90% of the time they will.

Iphinome - it wont work on IPOD products. They have vitually no mark-up; a $250 unit costs the store about $220...

Count26 - It would be a logical assumption that in the history of the internet someone has posted a similiar strategy. While I will concede that possibility, I have not read a post like that first-hand. This post came from my personal knowledge and was written entirely by me. I would NOT copy existing info without referencing the source.

Again, thank you to all who have posted. I will do my best to help with any retail electronics items that I can.

Great site BTW!

L.

You should do this buying on Monday when best buy has a hard time hitting revenue. Also you should buy directly from the Manager for the home threater department to aviod any type of overwrite because you are buying it below cost.

OP, after reading your strategy to pull off this deal at WorstBuy, I have a few questions:

"Buy it all and wait a few days, then return to the store and refund everything but the TV."
Don't you need a valid reason for a refund, I can't just go in and ask for a refund for the surge protector and cables simply because I don't like them. Would using the excuse that the surge protector is too big and the cables are not the right cables for the TV work?

"DO NOT let them tell you to call an 800 # to refund the warranty - they may try that one but policy is to return it in-store for the first 30 days."
Can you explain more on this part? How can I stop them from doing this? What could I say to stop them from telling me to return the warranty?

"...and may threaten to increase the cost of the TV but hold your ground.
What do I say if they increase the cost of the TV?

Sorry OP if this is too many questions but I am still confused on some parts. Just want to be 100% clear on what to do.

idrivefreely said:Don't you need a valid reason for a refund, I can't just go in and ask for a refund for the surge protector and cables simply because I don't like them. Would using the excuse that the surge protector is too big and the cables are not the right cables for the TV work?
They have to accept your return.

Their policy says:
You may return bundle purchases in accordance with our regular Return Policy. If you are unsatisfied with an individual item you purchased as part of a bundle package, you may return that item separately.

Can you explain more on this part? How can I stop them from doing this? What could I say to stop them from telling me to return the warranty?
Their policy says:
You may return your service plan for a full refund within 30 days of purchase.
To return a service plan you purchased online, call us at 1-866-BEST BUY (237-8289). If you purchased your plan at a Best Buy store, you will need to return to the store for a refund.

What do I say if they increase the cost of the TV?
Leave and go back a day or two later, or on a weekend.
Try dealing with a different manager.

I did exactly this and pricematched to get a smokin deal on My Samsung HLR... Returned all of the cables and accessories at a later date. They wrang me up at the Magnolia home theater desk.