PeakMaster said:
Yes, of course I am for real. I am a Christian and cannot stand to see dishonesty and deception. Those are the ways of the devil. I will also follow up with the store manager and his corporate partner to ensure that the situation has been corrected for everyone.

That that makes sense then. Was that you tapping your feet in the stall next to me today?

Relax, people. Seriously. Talk about running a gag into the ground...and keeping it going just for the amusement of oneself.

I wonder if thats a price if you buy a 360 or something? Like a package deal as it seems accurate on the ad but it states "before savings", before what savings? I don't see anything else on the page about it. It seems that part of the ad is cut off or something. I assume the savings is $90 only?

Consider the Panasonic deal dead. It is already known, and corrections will be posted and the price not honored. Better off trying to PM.

PacoDeth said:FWIW, televisions, "especially" in the Plasma market, are marked up to terribly high prices. Being one that used to work in retail, I often saw Plasma TV's marked up to 200% above store cost. That means a TV that might run $1,000 for a store to carry, retails for $3,000. So I wouldn't be too quick to assume it's a huge price mistake and that Best Buy is going to be losing tons of money on the deal, the sale price may very well reflect their cost, or even a couple hundred bucks above their cost still!

USED to work in retail.... before Wally World crushed the margin TVs USED to have.

As a general rule places like Best Buy try to keep a 26-28% markup on TVs today if the TV is on sale, 30-35% if not.

Best Buy also puts TVs on sale for lower than cost regularly - I have worked for Best Buy for 2 years (still currently do).

That 50" 1080p set on the front of that scan was a mistake (size - not price) - it is a 42" 1080p PZ77U.

Heads up too - the Bush VS97250 stand (like this but silver) went clearance a few days ago for $19.99 - good luck finding one.

beepit said:JonesBeach said:PacoDeth said:FWIW, televisions, "especially" in the Plasma market, are marked up to terribly high prices. Being one that used to work in retail, I often saw Plasma TV's marked up to 200% above store cost. That means a TV that might run $1,000 for a store to carry, retails for $3,000. So I wouldn't be too quick to assume it's a huge price mistake and that Best Buy is going to be losing tons of money on the deal, the sale price may very well reflect their cost, or even a couple hundred bucks above their cost still!

That's odd because from what I understand retailers have been taking a beating on TVs for at least the past year or so. Every time you read an earnings report from some big box store, they always point out that they got hammered on TVs becuase the competition was so cut-throat. Part of this has been from new entrant high-end TV retailers like Wal-Mart and new entrant brands like Westinghouse and Olevia, and part of it's been because manufacturing capacity for LCD screens in particular has been ramped up so much.


If what you say is correct, then why is EVERYONE carrying TVs now? HD, Lowes, even my local grocery store is carrying LCD and plasma TVs. If it was such a big money loser, then why would they even be selling them? Why bother with a money-losing big ticket item?

Hmm...just a thought.

I never said anybody was LOSING money on TVs, I said they were getting hammered on selling TVs. As in, they used to make a 30% profit on a TV that cost $2000, but now they're making a 15% profit on the same set that's going out the door for $1000. A $150 profit on an item after the fully-allocated costs have been cranked in is certainly nothing to sneeze at, especially if you can achieve some volume. Today, TVs are definitely volume items with tehcnology getting better by leaps and bounds that even the least educated shopper can see, the advent of dozens more HD channels, the looming shut-down of analog TV broadcasts, etc.; these factors are all highly "disruptive" to the TV market, meaning that suddenly the number of TVs being sold and/or replaced is far greater than under normal circumstances.

As for why everybody's selling TVs now, that's a bit like asking why everybody sells Coca Cola, including from the little mini-fridge in the check-out line at BB, or why they sell 50 cent candy bars in the check out line at CC. It's because when you consider the opportunity cost of the floor space the items take up and other aspects of selling the items, the store can make money when all's said and done. The TV may even be a loss leader or close to it, but the stand and cables that go with it probably won't be, nor will the other stuff the shopper might buy while in the store (and stores can easily track this via regression analysis). In fact, Best Buy stores are specifically laid out so that a customer who comes in looking for item A will conveniently find items B and C close by, and the customer might buy those on impulse. In addition, because of capacity increases and the number of new entrants in the market, manufacturers are cutting some huge deals with retailers to get their attention. Olevia didn't shoot to the top of the TV sales pack by doing what everyone else did or begging BB and CC to kick Sony off the prime shelf slots; they got their foot in door of the market by throwing some can't-say-no deals at some non-traditional distribution channels (e.g. places like Lowes and Staples and grocery store chains). Then everybody had to start taking notice of them (part of BB's response was to bring in the likes of Westinghouse to compete on price).

MeIsCheap said:Consider the Panasonic deal dead. It is already known, and corrections will be posted and the price not honored. Better off trying to PM.

Thank you for this post. I have called Sears and CC corporate Loss Prevention offices to advise them that the BB ad was in error and to pass it along to the appropriate persons within their companies.
It is our duty to preserve honesty at FW, not spread deception.

That Panasonic would have been an incredible deal. Makes me wonder, is it really possible to have so many pricing mistakes? Doesn't anyone ever review it or check each item at least?

just got this in email

As a valued Best Buy customer, we want to inform you of an error that will appear in the September 23, 2007 Best BuyTM ad. On the front cover we mistakenly listed the price of the 50" Panasonic Plasma TV (TH_50PZ77U- 8501711) at $1709, after $90 savings. We intended to advertise the 42" Panasonic Plasma TV (TH-42PZ77U-8501757) at $1709, after $90 savings.

Best Buy will not be honoring this price on the aforementioned 50" Panasonic Plasma TV.

We apologize for any inconvenience, and we will offer a $100 Instant Rebate on all Plasma Televisions from Sunday, September 23, 2007 through Saturday, September 29, 2007. This Instant Rebate will be deducted from the price you see in the store, including our regular sale prices.

Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to seeing you in our store soon

LoriSan said:just got this in email

As a valued Best Buy customer, we want to inform you of an error that will appear in the September 23, 2007 Best BuyTM ad. On the front cover we mistakenly listed the price of the 50" Panasonic Plasma TV (TH_50PZ77U- 8501711) at $1709, after $90 savings. We intended to advertise the 42" Panasonic Plasma TV (TH-42PZ77U-8501757) at $1709, after $90 savings.

Best Buy will not be honoring this price on the aforementioned 50" Panasonic Plasma TV.

We apologize for any inconvenience, and we will offer a $100 Instant Rebate on all Plasma Televisions from Sunday, September 23, 2007 through Saturday, September 29, 2007. This Instant Rebate will be deducted from the price you see in the store, including our regular sale prices.

Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to seeing you in our store soon

Also just received same e-mail.