Shopping Deals

Best Buy Internal Website Plays Part In Scam

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 04:29:34 +0000

Here’s something that’s not just annoying, it’s also definitely illegal: Best Buy uses a different internal website than the public one, and their internal website is used as proof of a products price.

This doesn’t seem like such a big deal at first. I’m sure many retailers have internal websites for such things as inventory. The problem is that if you see a product being sold for a certain price on their website, you can go to your local Best Buy store and buy it for that price. People have reported doing this and finding that the price on Best Buy computers is sometimes higher than the price they saw. Many Best Buy employees do not even realize that they are seeing a website not available to the public, so when they look at it they consider it “proof” of the website price.

This is a high-tech version of the classic bait-and-switch scam. Best Buy offers something for a certain price on their website, which drives customers to the stores. They then claim that the price they saw on the website never existed. Customers will often buy the item anyway, or buy some other items while they’re already in the store.

Technorati Tags: best, buy, website, scam

COMPUSA Sells Zune… With A Free iTunes Gift Card?

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 03:01:00 +0000

As you can see from the picture, COMPUSA has decided to give away a free iTunes gift card with each Zune purchase. Perhaps someone should notify the store that iTunes music will not work on the Zune. Or maybe not, this is kind of funny.

compstupid.jpg (JPEG Image, 522×242 pixels)

Technorati Tags: zune, itunes, compusa

Buy and Sell Better on eBay with WipBox

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 02:25:17 +0000

I just discovered this very Web 2.0ish site that provides very useful tools for anyone buying and selling on eBay. Basically, they mash up all sorts of data on various products, so you know how much certain items should sell for. You could probably use this site in combination with Fatfingers to find some pretty great deals and possibly even an arbitrage opportunity.

Although the site is aimed at sellers, I think it can be just as useful for buyers. You’ll almost never overpay for an item when you buy it on eBay, but now you can make sure you don’t even overpay the average “ebay price” for an item.

Technorati Tags: wipbox, ebay, shopping

Buy.com Customer Service Nightmare

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 23:50:02 +0000

It seems the only thing worse than those Buy.com commercials, featuring their annoying CEO Scott Blum, is Buy.com’s customer service. I’ve linked to a horror story from a customer who ordered something from Buy.com, paid for it with Paypal, saw the amount deducted from his Paypal account, and was then told that his payment had not been received.

It’s kind of hard to scam a merchant with Paypal, especially without Paypal knowing. Just logging into a Paypal account, it’s easy to say which way the money flowed. If a payment is made and deducted from an account, it’s stated right there on Paypal. Buy.com has the audacity to claim that this person did not make the payment, when he can see right there that he not only paid, but Buy.com received it.

Why should customers have to pay for Buy.com’s sloppiness? So they haven’t been able to figure how to properly implement Paypal into their sales system, does that mean when it fails they should give the customer the runaround?

Technorati Tags: buy.com, shopping, scam

Woot.com - One Day, One Deal

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 03:03:38 +0000

I’m going to avoid advertising specific sites on here as much as I can, but it is absolutely necessary that you know about Woot.com. This site has become famous for its creativity - or some would say gimmick - each day, they offer one product. Usually this product is deeply discounted off the regular price, and they do tend to sell out.

Obviously, Woot.com will never become a multi-billion dollar company. They probably do well selling their one product a day, or well enough to pay the employee(s) they have (how hard can it be to post one product a day). You should probably get to know this site, as it adds a new level of excitement to shopping online, as you never know what tomorrow’s deal may be.

Technorati Tags: woot, shopping

Amazon.com’s Secret 30-Day Price Guarantee

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 23:27:44 +0000

Although they don’t advertise it, Amazon.com does have a 30-day price guarantee, so if you’ve bought something from them you can get credit if the price goes down a few weeks later. The number to call is 1-800-201-7575, and then press 7 to get a human right away. Just ask about the 30-day price guarantee, and the customer service rep will be able to find your order and credit you with the price difference.

Technorati Tags: shopping, amazon, price, guarantee

Best Buy Calls 911 On Man Asking For Refund

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 15:38:56 +0000

If you buy a CD from Best Buy, don’t expect to get a refund when it the CD player in your car can’t read it. A man tried that with a Tony Bennett CD the other day, and the Best Buy manager told him there were state and federal laws against refunds. The man called the manager a fool, which appears to be a truthful statement, and the manager called 911 and had the cops sort it out.

I hate Best Buy more and more every day.

Technorati Tags: best+buy, refund, shopping

Happy Shopping Day!

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 18:25:52 +0000

Black Friday is here again! It’s the official start of the 2006 holiday shopping season, and stores were mobbed at the wee early hours of the morning by shoppers looking to get that portable DVD player or XBox 360. In the newscast I’ve posted below, one man even cries because he didn’t get that coveted portable DVD player on sale at Target.

Technorati Tags: shopping, black, friday

Welcome to Shopping Deals

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 04:59:02 +0000

I’ve built this little site because everyone is always asking me where I shop online. I always seem to find the best deals, and everyone thinks it must be some secret site I know about. It’s not. I know a bunch of great sites that track amazing deals from all over the internet. If some little site in a far corner of the web offers a hot item for 50% less than everyone else, I know about it…

And now I’ll be telling you about it.