Best Buy's new Buy Back program isn't such a good deal after all.
At the beginning of the year, Best Buy announced that they had lower that expected sales, and their earning statements reflected the decrease in customer spending. In order to raise their bottom line, they had to do something, and fast.
As anyone who has ever worked in Retail can tell you, getting customers into the store and spending money in a bad economy isn't easy. In an attempt to win back the customers they lost over the last quarter, the electronic retailer introduced a new program to buy back customers' electronics when they upgrade them.
They launched their new program with an all out advertising blitz, including a very confusing Super Bowl commercial starring Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne. On the surface, it sounds like a great program. Technology is changing rapidly, and it would be great to be able to upgrade and still get some money back on your investment. But, on closer inspection, the plan is a total rip-off.
How it works is that when you purchase a new electronic item from Best Buy, you can pay extra to enroll in the Buy Back Program. Much like a warranty, you are paying for a service you may, or may not need. Then, when you decide to upgrade your electronics, if your device is in good working condition, and you have all of the receipts, all of the original parts and accessories, depending on how long you have had it, Best Buy will give you back a percentage of your money back. Of course, they won't give you cash, just Best Buy gift cards.
Here's how much you will pay to enroll in the program:
- Laptops and Netbooks – $69.99
- Tablets – $69.99
- Mobile Phones ($349.99 or less) – $39.99
- Mobile Phones ($350 and more) – $59.99
- TVs ($499.99 or less) – $59.99
- TVs ($500-$1,199.99) – $99.99
- TVs ($1,200-$2,499.99) – $179.99
- TVs ($2,500-$4,999.99) – $299.99
- 50% back – up to 6 months old
- 40% back – 6-12 months old
- 30% back – 12-18 months old
- 20% back – 18-24 months old
- 10% back – 24-48 months old (TVs only)
I keep looking for the part where this is a good deal, but I am just not seeing it. If you have a device that is under two years old, you can sell it online for much more money than Best Buy would give you. You wouldn't have to pay a fee upfront for the privilege and you would get actual cash for them, not just gift cards.
Also, there is the question - who replaces their 100% working electronics every year or two? If this happens to you often, you should either research your purchases better or you should learn how to sell items on Craigslist, Amazon or Ebay to support your electronic habit.
The Buy Back program is really only useful to people who want to have the latest gadgets, but are too lazy to sell them themselves, or who just don't care much about the money. Personally, I think the plan is just a way to get gullible consumers to spend a little bit of extra money each time they buy an electronic device.
What do you think about this new program? Let me know in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for RetailGigsBlog. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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