Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon • Hacker News Board

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#281

Post by biggc » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 6:09 PM UTC

kop316 wrote: post #10

I can't speak for the Geek Squad (as I have never needed to use them), but they price match to Amazon (and several other online stores), and will generally have what I am looking for (at least for consumer electronics). I know that I will get it that day (vs. Amazon's "two day shipping" that regularly turned into three or four days) at an Amazon price, it will certainly NOT be a counterfeit, and I don't have to give…

One issue I have with Amazon is the lack of a concrete return policy. I was looking in to order a relatively bulky item (soundbar) and I wasn't sure if I would like it. The best item-specific return policy information I could get was that I "may" have to pay for return shipping and that I "may" be charged a restocking fee.

I went to a brick and mortar store instead, bought the same product for the same price with a well-defined return policy. I ended up not being impressed with the sound and was able to return it without hassle.

For small items where out of pocket return shipping wouldn't be too expensive I'll go to Amazon, but for large items I'll stick to places with a local presence.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#282

Post by dzink » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 6:10 PM UTC

They have become the showroom for new or high-margin tech like Oculus, Dyson, 7K refrigerators etc and they collect a hefty margin and shelf fees for the effort. They make more money B2B than B2C probably. On smaller stuff their markup is ridiculous ($40-50 for an iphone screen protector that you can buy in a different brand in a pack of 3 for $10 on amazon).

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#283

Post by byproxy » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 6:10 PM UTC

parenthesis wrote: post #151

byproxy wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend buying used on AbeBooks. You can find what you want in pretty good quality for cheap and will have no trouble accepting a couple of dings.

AbeBooks is owned by Amazon, so they'll still get their cut!

Ooh, didn't know that! Either way, I do find it a better service for books in particular.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#284

Post by luddaite » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 6:13 PM UTC

Over the last few months, I decided to try and reduce my Amazon.com shopping as much as possible. As a result, I have been doing my item finding on Amazon and then going out and buying the item at a brick and mortar. I find it to be an interesting reversal. It has also been pretty shocking to see how much money I save when I don't have a Prime account. It turns out that most things I want are things that I don't actually need.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#285

Post by malnourish » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 6:13 PM UTC

WaltPurvis wrote: post #272

mgleason_3 wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, Best Buy’s return policy and process has been awful. Granted it’s been years because it was so bad. Literally the worst of any store I’ve ever shopped at. Last time I bought a router from them it was defective. I had to stand in line for over an hour. The clerk was surly and didn’t believe it was defective. Kept opening the box, pulling everything out, looking at all the pieces. Putting it all back.…

Counterdote: I recently purchased a monitor at Best Buy, decided after a couple weeks I didn't like it (for a variety of reasons), and returned it without hassle. Just walked up to the counter, handed them my receipt, told them I didn't like it, and they handed me money. Took less than five minutes.

Not to continue this too far but ditto. Completely fine return experience. I also don't have to worry about fakes nearly as much at brick & mortar stores. That said I still use Amazon extensively, for better or for worse.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#286

Post by taeric » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 6:14 PM UTC

emodendroket wrote: post #116

taeric wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is the role of professional sales people in retail was always over stated. People like having a personal relationship when they can, but often that is a major luxury and probably doesn't actually help in the product selection.

It may be so, but these people did exist and now mostly do not. It certainly does seem to be the case that most are unwilling to pay for this expertise (although I've found that, for instance, with sneakers, it makes a huge difference).

And, oddly, with sneakers and similar, I've found it is majority snake oil. I've been ridiculously soured on consulting experts for any sort of consumer item. :(

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#287

Post by kfarr » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 6:16 PM UTC

thomasec wrote: post #279

It's amazing how many things Best Buy is doing right that have largely gone unnoticed over the last few years. While still not perfect, they've done more than almost any other retailer I can think of to modernize the shopping experience, while leveraging their existing advantages: * Local Inventory with Google Shopping - if I search for almost any product on Google, Best Buy is usually the only major retailer that sh…

Yes I'd second the comment on local inventory control in general - unlike other box stores with "fuzzy" inventory listed online, Best Buy seems to have a very accurate representation of what is in each store. If I want an item now I have high confidence that when I go there it'll be there for me to pickup.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#288

Post by gamblor956 » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 6:18 PM UTC

mgleason_3 wrote: post #255

tyu100 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon is a small miracle. They stock everything, it comes right to your door, the prices are competitive in general and with Subscribe and Save you are doing even better. E-books are also incredible and with Prime you get Instant Video thrown in for free. I'm sure bad experiences happen but compared to driving to the big box suburban wasteland to browse through a limited selection, Amazon is a godesend.

In my experience, Best Buy’s return policy and process has been awful. Granted it’s been years because it was so bad. Literally the worst of any store I’ve ever shopped at. Last time I bought a router from them it was defective. I had to stand in line for over an hour. The clerk was surly and didn’t believe it was defective. Kept opening the box, pulling everything out, looking at all the pieces. Putting it all back.…

I exchanged an item at Best Buy about 2 months ago. Took about 5 minutes. Forgot my receipt, but they were able to find it with my cc. They opened up the box to make sure the original items were inside, and brought me a replacement while I was at the counter.

Still not quite as good as Costco or REI, but at least with BB I know I'm getting the good I actually purchased and not some cheap Chinese knockoff.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#289

Post by StillBored » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 6:20 PM UTC

rsync wrote: post #196

Bedon292 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I was somewhat surprised when I bought a new washer and dryer. Took my truck to the store so I would have space, get there, and they are like yeah its going to be two weeks for delivery. They keep none of those items on hand, as they are too large. Its all out in a warehouse somewhere else, and they just aren't prepared for someone who wants something now. It makes sense, but is not something I thought about bef…

Interestingly, the one place you could do this (walk in and buy a new washer/dryer/fridge and drive away with it) was Sears which has closed their stores in many major metro areas and are basically going out of business...

This is only true of a small portion of the sears with warehouse attached (aka the ones not in malls). Even then, I purchased my last two dishwashers there, and in both cases it took a couple days to deliver.

If you want something right now, go to one of the scratch and dent appliance places. Same basic deal as hd/lowes/bestbuy when it comes to appliances, just about the only ones those stores have in stock are the ones that got returned.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#290

Post by elialbert » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 6:20 PM UTC

therein wrote: post #238

eganist wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've never heard of them firing their customers. https://www.wsj.com/articles/banned-from-amazon-the-shoppers... https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/18/banned-by-amaz... As for terrible customer service, see the below for my reasons for cutting off Prime: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16937290 In particular: • Prime shipping is no longer certain to be two days. • Those which are assured to arrive with…

I have been meaning to get into the FBA business and I downloaded the Helium10 extension for this. It allows you to see the inventory status of an item you are viewing on Amazon. It is shocking how many times something that says `sold by Sony` or `Amazon` yet I press `inventory` on the menu that the extension injects into the product page and surprise, surprise, most of the stock is coming from FBA sellers.

any idea where they get this info from?

imagine a more consumer-oriented extension that could list whether a given amazon product was likely to have commingled inventory or not - do you think this is possible?