Technology

Honestly started buying more from them. Amazon might just as well send you a counterfeit.

First, things like TVs. Not only can you actually see tvs plugged in and how they look, but you can also get open boxed ones to save a few bucks.

Keyboards and mice. You're not gonna be able to get a complete, full experience like when you're sitting down to really use it, but you can get a pretty damn good understanding of how it feels.

More good products from the actual brands, instead of hundreds of scams or cheap Chinese products that will break in a month being drop shipped. I wouldn't be able to count how many times I've seen the same exact product show up multiple times with a different company name. It's one of the reasons I try to not use the vast majority of online shopping sites. Having an open market sounds awesome. You get to sell your own stuff and reach a wider audience. But people are greedy fucks and ruin it for everyone.

Also, I sometimes like going to stores. It's an excuse to get out of the house. It doesn't feel like it fills that need when I'm grocery shopping, but if I'm gonna go buy something I want, then it makes it more exciting. If I got nothing else planned for the weekend, might as well.

The only problem is that I only have BB for electronics. So the options are a bit limited.

If you've got a Micro Center near you, that's the way to go. They may not be small but they're definitely not Best Buy and their selection is typically great, barring any industry-wide shortages.

Open box stuff is nice. I also like buying bigger items like TVs or appliances from them since it's easier to return if I don't like it.

Also it's nice to demo stuff before buying if I'm not sure about the size, weight, screen etc.

And as some users have mentioned, Amazon has become kind of a lottery for actually getting new items

Id rather buy electronics at somewhere like Best Buy instead of Amazon. You never know what you’re going to get from Amazon (open box/counterfeit).

I like to buy stuff locally if possible. So having these kinds of stores is awesome. I’ll usually check their open box stuff first.

I live near a Microcenter so I buy all kinds of stuff there related to computers and 3d printing. The last 4 or 5 computers I have built have been with mostly parts sourced there as well.

I bought some thermal paste from best buy a few weeks ago because they had it in stock and I wanted it immediately. other than that I mostly shop online.

Sure shipping is fast nowadays, but if I take a bit of my own time, I can walk back from a store with the item already in hand, and I'm certain of what is in the box.

Bonus: I didn't have to weed through alphabet soup spam brands to find what I wanted.

I try to buy locally, and I like getting electronics faster than shipped. I switched to Best Buy back when Circuit City had a 15% restocking fee on any returns.

I went in there just yesterday for the first time in a year to look at laptops before deciding which to get based on actual weight and size. For whatever reason my brain does not work converting weight or size from text. I just can't picture it or conceptualize it.

There are a few things. I’ll check dekudeals occasionally and Best Buy might be the one with a Switch game I want, on sale, in physical.

I buy large appliances there. Bought a fridge, dishwasher, and OTR Microwave a few months ago, and a washer and dryer a couple weeks ago. Honesty the only reason I went there was because they had the best financing offers. 24 months no interest, in this economy, is hard to pass up when they are selling at the same price as everyone else.

I’ve bought USB SSD drives and a 7200 RPM there recently. I checked PCPartPicker and they were the second cheapest by a slim margin. MicroCenter was #1 but that’s like a 90 minute drive each way.

Employment lol

Reference points on the highway

Online is exclusively for things I can't find locally.

It's just faster. With a physical store, I can have my product in my hand just minutes after I decide to buy it. When I order online, I have to wait days.

There's an electronics store across the road from where I work, but even if I'm at home - it's only about 15 minutes drive away (depending on traffic).

Big box retailers is mostly expensive electronics for me. TV’s and computer parts. After getting bricks from Amazon on a GPU purchase I won’t get anything I can’t open on the spot in a store to make sure I am getting what I paid for. I’ll also drop in for stuff I don’t want to wait on shipping for like console accessories and headphones if mine broke.

Every once in a while I need to buy a thing and I'm out anyway, so I will buy a thing from the thing store.

I have used them for Appliances in the past. But I now use the hardware store for that.

Buying electronics and getting them right then and there instead of waiting for delivery. Or at the very least, using them to demo products I am interested in even if I ultimately buy them elsewhere (usually cuz it's cheaper).

Last time I was there was for headphones. I was looking around online but nothing really looked right, and I also am not sure about the ear cup sizes and wanted to make sure they went around my ears and not on them. Can't demo shit online, and most of the things in my price range were no-name garbage with dubiously high reviews. But I found some of the best headphones I've ever had going to Best Buy and checking out all the different products they have on display to be tried out.

BestBuy will match most Amazon prices, so these days there is little advantage to shopping online. I bought my last phone from BB because in the end, reviews can't show you what a product is really like in your hand. And since the price is no different, then why not?

Anything dealing with visuals or touch and feel,you really should consider buying in person. TVs, monitors, phones, headphones, keyboards and mice. The issue is that BB has limited stock on hand. Obviously their selection will n3ver match Amazon or NewEgg,but if yiu are buying a popular brand then they typically have it.

I generally only use Best Buy if I need a thing right now, to complete whatever project/installation I'm doing, and don't want to wait a day for shipping. (I actually don't have Amazon Prime so it would really be more like a week.)

I did buy my gaming laptop from Best Buy. It was an open box sale so it was about $300 less than anywhere else. Plus, again, I was able to get it right away.

Worst Buy isn't the worst place to buy a TV. Or a phone. Their accidental damage policy is the best. They'll replace the device, no questions asked, even if it's your fault.

It isn't the 2000s anymore. Competition is high enough from online retailers that big box stores can no longer afford to gouge if they want to stay in business.

Best-Buy at least matches prices of other retailers, including (stuff sold by) Amazon. If I can get it here from Best-Buy I prefer to shop locally, especially as they're more reliable for certain types of electronics etc

Nothing. I got a $50 gift card 6 months ago and have not found anything I'd buy there that wasn't considerably cheaper somewhere else.

I live in a state that has sales tax, right on the border with a state that does not, so for more expensive electronics etc, I’ll drive to a store to pick them up.

I just set up a PO Box today though, so I can ship stuff now too.

Hard drives in a pinch for work. Other than that I only go to buy TVs, which I haven't done in 6 years

See things in-person, if I am in need of a specific item today, check out what clearance items they have.

I dont.

They ramp up prices, scam their customers, and abuse their underpaid employeea.

I'm looking at Best Buy and waiting for a good deal to buy one of the largest OLED 4K monitors they have because I don't like smart TVs.

I buy some storage cards if it's a good deal, but I'm still wary that they were returned to Best Buy from an Amazon seller. If it's not on sale, I get sd cards/USB drives directly from the manufacturer if they have an online store.

I can't anymore since the local one closed down a couple years ago. I assume they went out of business because the store wasn't doing well and when I went to the store I could see why. Nothing was organized. All the shelves were empty. It seemed like no one was taking care of the place and the majority of them employees had no knowledge of anything in the store.