Best Buy Hikes Price On Popular Budget Laptop, Gets Caught

If you were eyeing the “budget-priced” Gateway P-6831FX and thought about picking one up at your local Best Buy, you’ll want to wait until this Sunday, February 17th, when Best Buy says it will lower the price again. We say “again” because Dan over at Crave caught Best Buy raising the price by $349 after it was released, from $1350 to $1699, for no apparent reason other than it was selling well.

We called Gateway and they laid the blame directly at Best Buy’s feet, saying the P-6831FX was “selling like gangbusters,” prompting the retail giant to raise the price by $350. We asked Best Buy about the price discrepancy late Wednesday, and the retail giant said they would get back to us. While Gateway offers a series of similar laptops online, called the P-171 series, the P-6831 is available only though Best Buy.

Crave reports that Best Buy has since contacted them and announced they’ll be dropping the price to $1199 come this Sunday—but in the meantime, it’s still premium-priced at the ridiculous $1699. Even for a didn’t-do-your-research tax, that’s pretty steep.

“When is a bargain laptop not a bargain?” [Crave]

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