No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
Best Buy has announced the elimination of their rewards program EXCEPT for Best Buy cardholders beginning mid-February.
https://www.thestreet.com/retail/best-buy-changing-rewards-program-free-shipping
I just got an email about this. Since I have the credit card, I read in my email that it appears to be no change for me. Whew!
The program was a bit of a joke without the credit card, anyway. Spend $500, get a $5 reward certificate. And when many airline loyalty programs are moving in the "points never expire" direction, BB points could be lost after only a year of inactivity.
Wow, that really sucks. $5 for $500 spend? Keep it.
Of course, I'm a happy cardholder Tbh tho, I just like the concept of the found money. When I go there and get something and there's $75 or $100 available to use for a purchase. I love that mess.
@805orbust wrote:Wow, that really sucks. $5 for $500 spend? Keep it.
Of course, I'm a happy cardholder Tbh tho, I just like the concept of the found money. When I go there and get something and there's $75 or $100 available to use for a purchase. I love that mess.
Twice I got close to $5. First my points expired after a year of inactivity...and now the program is ending.
I do spend a fair amount on electronics...but it's spread across several retailers and some of it's for business.
But what I can do is Dell promo stacking on the Amex Business Platinum. $200 semiannual credits, 10% cash back promos, 1.5x base earn, and +10x Rakuten earn. So a $200 purchase (after tax) can get a $220 statement credit and 2300 MRs (~$35 in "chosen airline cash"). But the base price at Dell is sometimes a little higher than BB.
Good. Hope Best Buy goes out of business.
@drewricomakeubu wrote:Good. Hope Best Buy goes out of business.
Where do you like to buy electronics?
Despite the unappealing rewards program...especially for people who use a business credit card...I do like it as a place that tends to have Amazon-level prices without the risk of counterfeit/used/damaged products that can come with having a lot of small third party sellers.
I agree @wasCB14 and see your point. For some reason (probably old-school-ness) I just like to see stuff first.
@805orbust wrote:I agree @wasCB14 and see your point. For some reason (probably old-school-ness) I just like to see stuff first.
There's not really a perfect solution.
If you buy something online, it could arrive damaged and returning/replacing it could be a hassle...though I suppose a limited one. I'm also not sure what the new criteria are for free shipping.
If you go into a store to buy it off the shelf, you lose any online portal points...and they might not have it in stock. From experience I have become deeply distrustful of the in-store inventory claims companies put on their websites. They're not as bad as Home Depot, but Best Buy's records aren't great.
If you do in-store pickup, you can inspect it and get points, but (at least at my local Best Buy store) the delays can be significant. Staffing seems very inefficient. They have a lot of cashiers at their stations, ready for a flood of buying-off-the-shelf customers that doesn't arrive. Maybe it's to keep up appearances by not having registers unstaffed. Meanwhile as many as 5 or 6 people can be waiting in the in-store pickup line on a busy day. And then there's the risk of delay if an employee prepared the wrong item (though again, this is a Home Depot move more than a Best Buy one).
@wasCB14 wrote:
@805orbust wrote:I agree @wasCB14 and see your point. For some reason (probably old-school-ness) I just like to see stuff first.
There's not really a perfect solution.
If you buy something online, it could arrive damaged and returning/replacing it could be a hassle...though I suppose a limited one. I'm also not sure what the new criteria are for free shipping.
If you go into a store to buy it off the shelf, you lose any online portal points...and they might not have it in stock. From experience I have become deeply distrustful of the in-store inventory claims companies put on their websites. They're not as bad as Home Depot, but Best Buy's records aren't great.
If you do in-store pickup, you can inspect it and get points, but (at least at my local Best Buy store) the delays can be significant. Staffing seems very inefficient. They have a lot of cashiers at their stations, ready for a flood of buying-off-the-shelf customers that doesn't arrive. Maybe it's to keep up appearances by not having registers unstaffed. Meanwhile as many as 5 or 6 people can be waiting in the in-store pickup line on a busy day. And then there's the risk of delay if an employee prepared the wrong item (though again, this is a Home Depot move more than a Best Buy one).
Sounds like a management issue to me. All the stores here have 1 or 2 on the register and call for backup when the line gets too long. Unfortunately, best buy got used to running stores with a skeleton crew during the pandemic and let a lot of people go while forcing full-timers into part-time schedules. Anything to keep those record profits up, I guess.
As for the online inventory, the system should only allow you to purchase if there's at least 3 of the item in stock. Problem with smaller items is trying to find them in the store.
When it comes to buying online versus in store, the store has some significant advantages. I had one client that bought a tv from Amazon and it came broken. They had to schedule the freight company to come when they were available. Since the cost was significant, they wouldn't credit or ship a replacement until the old one was received. Took a week to get it picked up, a week to get it back to Amazon, and a week to get the new one only for that to be broken also. Had he bought from best buy and had it delivered by the installers, there was a possibility to get it swapped out same day. If not in stock, a couple of days to get it from another store.