Whoa! Another reason buy electronics at Costco
November 19th, 2008, 2:30 pm · 3 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
**Update, 11/20: One reader spotted a deal. See below in bold**
I’m already well aware of Costco’s generous 90-day return policy for computers and other electronic equipment, but I didn’t realize its online prices may be cheaper than they appear.
I just spotted this page, which says:
Electronics manufacturers sometimes ask that retailers not display a price if it drops below the manufacturers’ minimum advertised price. At Costco, we never sell anything at the manufacturers minimum advertised price.
Because of this, we may show you a price on the item page but when you add it to your cart, the price may be lower. Be sure to always add the item to your cart to see costco.com’s lowest price.
I never add an item to my cart just to double check the price unless the darn product says it won’t show me the price otherwise. However, this will definitely change the way I shop online for electronics at Costco.
By the way, I just tried adding several items to my cart but had no luck finding a lower price. If anyone finds one, let me know.
If you’re a Costco deal hunter, don’t forget to check out the upcoming Black Friday deals at BlackFriday.info.
**UPDATE, 11/20** Thanks to Jose in Anaheim who discoverd this unadvertised deal on the Nikon D300 camera. While the item does say “Add to cart for price,” down below the item, the price is listed as $2,539.99 plus an instant $300 off. That brings it to $2,239.99. But add it to your cart and the price drops to $1,999.99 — another $240 off. Here’s a screenshot (click to enlarge):
One other addendum, I agree with the second sentence of this reader’s comment.
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Best Buy does the same thing but each item actually tells you on the screen to put it in your cart to see the actual sales price. I really hate feeling like someone’s playing a game with me to see how committed I am to spending my valuable time looking for the best price. Maybe Costco could take a hint from Best Buy.
Best Buy return policy is not very good. I bought a flat screen tv and it stoped working 30 days later. They sent it out to repair instead of refunding or replacing the tv. I was out of a tv for about two weeks. I should have bought it at Costco.
Just found out that the guarantee on my VIsio 50 inch HDTV , that I bought from Costco 6 months ago means that my TV, which just died and cannot be turned on, will be replaced with a refurbished unit(one that was also broken and repaired) and will be covered for the balance of the warrantee period (1-1/2 years). Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing if this replacement unit is coming from a bar or hotel lobby , where it was in constant use, or only moderately used, as was the one I had. I will not be a happy camper when this replacement unit dies a week out of warrantee, from wear and tear it may have received prior to my getting it. One would think that a unit less than 6 months old would warrant a new unit with the balance of the warrantee, or purchase of the full warrantee period offered. When you spend over a thousand dollars for a new set, you would like to think you would have something that can be expected to be reliable for more than 6 months.. If it were a car, would you accept an identical vehicle , with a non-functional odometer as a replacement?