5 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Shopping At Best Buy

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It never hurts to be frugal when buying electronics, and if you're in the market for new electronics and appliances, Best Buy will usually be one of your first stops, thanks to its general ubiquity and selection of products. However, shopping at Best Buy isn't necessarily as simple as walking in, grabbing something off the shelf, paying, and walking out. You'd be doing yourself and your wallet a disservice if you didn't shop at Best Buy with a few strategies under your belt, such as getting a membership, price-matching, and hunting for discounts.

While the chain probably wouldn't mind if you just grabbed any random product and paid sticker price, Best Buy, to its credit, offers multiple avenues to save shoppers some cash, provided you do the necessary diligence to properly utilize them. These include checking Best Buy's additional, discount-focused storefronts in person and online, using all of its customer-support services, such as the price-matching guarantee and special discounts for students, and signing up for a membership to get even more discount opportunities.

Like many commercial chains these days, Best Buy maintains its own membership program, called My Best Buy. While it can be annoying to keep track of yet another membership in your life, if you shop at Best Buy consistently, it's definitely a subscription service worth the money.

To clarify, the basic My Best Buy membership is completely free to sign up for, unlike the higher-tier plans, My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total. The free tier provides free standard shipping on all online orders with no minimum purchase requirement, as well as some utilitarian stuff like access to your purchase history, order tracking, and wishlist-building.

The cheaper paid tier, My Best Buy Plus, costs $29.99 annually. For that, you get free two-day shipping on most orders, members-only discounts on certain products, access to certain exclusive sales events, and an extended 60-day return window on most purchases. The highest tier, My Best Buy Total, costs $179.99 annually and includes mostly repair-and-support-focused perks, such as protection plans, 24-hour tech support, and discounted repair fees.

Being a smart shopper at just about any store, Best Buy included, is all about sourcing as many discounts as you possibly can. Best Buy offers ample opportunities for these discounts; you just need to know where to look.

First, check Best Buy's website regularly for limited-time coupons. The chain occasionally circulates paper coupons or discount codes, either through physical flyers or digital mailing lists. If you want to get these coupons consistently, consider signing up for these mailing lists yourself. Just remember, some coupons may only be valid for in-store or online purchases.

Second, visit Best Buy's website and check for flash sales, short-term discounts on certain products that are often deeper than they may otherwise be. There's always at least one major Deal of the Day, so you just might get lucky, and there may be more plentiful, attractive discounts during major shopping seasons and sale events. Hop on them fast, though, because there are no rain checks for these deals.

Finally, if you're a student at a higher education facility like a community college or university, you may be able to get some special student discounts on certain products when shopping on Best Buy's online storefront. If you link a Google or Best Buy account and verify your student status, you can freely shop in the school student discount section for the duration of your enrollment. You'll need to upload proof of school enrollment, such as a student ID card or enrollment letter.

One of the most attractive aspects of shopping at Best Buy is its famous price-match guarantee. In a nutshell, if you find the exact same product for sale at a different retailer for a lower advertised price, Best Buy will match that price, even if it normally doesn't offer that particular discount. It's a great way to consolidate purchases, rather than having to drive all over town or wait for shipping from websites. Even if you find a better deal on a TV at Costco over Best Buy, for example, Best Buy will happily match it.

However, there are some strict rules to the price-match guarantee you should be aware of. First, the product in question must be completely identical at both Best Buy and the retailer in question, including brand, model number, and color. It has to be a brand-new product; used product prices don't count. Second, the product must be immediately available for shipping or store pickup from one of Best Buy's Qualified Competitors, including Apple, Costco, Walmart, and others. Amazon products, in particular, need to be actually sold by Amazon rather than third-party sellers. Finally, Best Buy maintains a list of specific exclusions to this policy, including bundle offers, contract cell phones, and liquidation offers, to name a few. If the product in question has any of the restrictions on the list, it won't be price-matched.

Like many major retail chains, Best Buy gets a lot of product coming and going on a regular basis, and not all of it is of peak quality, which means clearance discounts for shoppers. If you like shopping at clearance sales, rather than your usual Best Buy storefront, you may want to visit your nearest Best Buy Outlet instead.

Best Buy Outlet is a spin-off chain from Best Buy proper that specializes in clearance, open-box, refurbished, and pre-owned products. So long as you don't mind the occasional scuff or scratch, you can get name-brand electronics at a very attractive price. All products sold at Best Buy Outlet are guaranteed to be functional, with their precise condition (Excellent, Good, or Fair) included in the listing. These products are covered by Best Buy's Return and Exchange Promise, though their precise warranties, if any, will vary by product. Remember, shopping pre-owned can save you a lot of cash, but it does come with risks you should always keep in mind.

In a similar vein to its Outlet stores, Best Buy also maintains an official presence on eBay with a digital storefront. Products may occasionally find their way to the eBay storefront if Best Buy has a surplus of stuff it's looking to move in a hurry, and the savings are passed on to you.

You can visit Best Buy's official eBay store to browse what's currently on offer, with certain deals occasionally being attractive enough to warrant attention on eBay's front page. As an added perk, products purchased through the eBay store are still eligible for returns, either through shipping or drop-off at a Best Buy store. The only catches to this process are that you can't price-match purchases on the eBay storefront, you can't earn points on a My Best Buy credit card, and you can't pick up your order at a Best Buy store.