Places I Hate: Best Buy

I needed two things.  I needed electronic blow off cleaner, and a USB hub.   I go to Best Buy.   The only USB hub they have is 30 dollars.  In addition, the very small can of blow off they have, is more than 8 dollars.  I can get a big can two pack for 16 dollars, but that’s more than I want.   So I think “Screw Best Buy and their prices!” and I go to Wal Mart, where I get an extra jumbo size blow off cleaner for 4.99, and get my USB hub for 9.99, and they didn’t even try to sell me an overpriced extended warranty.   Capitalism at work.

Best Buy’s prices for computer peripherals, particularly cabling, are way way higher than they ought to be.  If you can get it at Wal Mart, or even Radio Shack, do it.  Best Buy as a last resort, because they are typically everything except the Best Buy.

10 thoughts on “Places I Hate: Best Buy”

  1. You might need to add Office Max, Office Depot, and Staples to that list. Have you ever priced a USB cable at one of those places? I think that I saw one at an Office Depot for like $25.

  2. Wal Mart has very competitive ammo prices as well. They are selling 100 Remington .357 Magnum and .38 Special +P, both 125 grain Semi-Jacketed Hollow points that are retailing for about $26 a box. For revolver target/plinking rounds, that’s hard to beat.

  3. The ONLY time I shop at Best Buy is when they have a good sale price on an item, and that’s very rare. 99.8% of my computer gear comes from Newegg.

  4. Jeez, even CompUSA is frequently cheaper than Best Buy, and they’re hardly ever cheaper than anyone…

  5. I’ll take Radio Shack over Best Buy. They are overpriced too, but they were selling an HDMI cable for about 40% less than Best Buy wanted for one.

  6. OTOH, I just got a bluetooth headset at BB for about what Amazon + shipping would have been. Got out the door wit no hassle about warranties an d the like even.

    I don’t go to BB for much, though. I needed a headset pretty pronto, and they were handy

  7. Did you just steal the headset? :)

    A few months ago I needed an AC adaptor for something. I went to Best Buy, looked around and didn’t see what I needed. I asked some clueless employee, who at least consulted with some higher up before telling me they didn’t have it. The Radio Shack guy told me that an adaptor which was 20% off in voltage and rated a third the amperage would work fine. He tried to pressure me into buying a product which would probably have caught on fire if I had tried to use it. I try to avoid both, but there isn’t anything else where I live, which is a problem if I get impatient and don’t want to wait for mail order.

  8. I am an ignoramus when it comes to computers or anything else digital. But even I know more than ANYBODY who works at Radio Shack.

    I have never gone to a RS and come out with what I wanted. I don’t bother going anymore.

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