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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Hmm, thats strange. I thought companies were allowed to set whatever prices they wanted on their products, and consumers who buy them don’t have a gun to their heads. Economics, anyone?
I dislike BB just as much as the next guy, but this seems pretty innocuous…the laws of supply and demand at work.
@Shane112358: “Late last year, Gateway told us about its plans to bring a low-cost, high-quality gaming laptop to Best Buy stores as a retail-only exclusive. The system has arrived, and we were initially impressed with its price and performance, but now there seems to be some funny stuff going on with its pricing.”
If you don’t like the price then don’t buy it.
@zouxou: Yes, and….?
I am sure they will trumpet the HUGE price reduction on Sunday.
@Shane112358: It’s Best Buy. On the Consumerist. Of COURSE it’s going to be lambasting them, no matter what they do.
Ohmigod! A product is in demand and the price goes up! What will happen next?
Can’t really fault Best Buy for reacting to demand by increasing the price of its supply.
For all the other reasons Best Buy is (in)famous, however, I won’t shop there if I can avoid it, which I usually can.
@Shane112358: And consumers are allowed to go “Hey, why’d you jack the price on that up for no clear reason?” and retailers who don’t lower the price don’t have a gun to their head, either. What’s your point?
What is the specs on this laptop.
@Framling: I think his point is, “What’s the point of this post?” A retailer raised the price because demand was high. Isn’t that enough of a “clear reason” for you? So why is this news?
Well it sounds like they advertised it as a cheaply-priced laptop, but since they raising the price significantly, it’s not longer the “budget-priced” laptop its advertised to be.
Wait a minute! Best buy gouging its customers???
This just cannot be!
@rjhiggins:
Exactly, it’s not like the Consumerist awards Best Buy a medal when they lower a price on a product.
I… I can’t believe I’m saying this… but…
I’m on Best Buy’s side on this one…
I would take price gouging like this over price fixing any day. Want to get a deal on an ipod,fender guitar,xbox, ps3? Good luck, MAP (minimum advertised pricing) = fixed pricing and doesn’t let the market determine what customers will or will not pay.
Actually I think the only real problem is with the headline, specifically “Gets Caught.”
I’ve got no problem with them pointing out that this “cheap laptop” is no longer cheap, but the headline makes it sound as if Best Buy did something nefarious. If raising prices on popular items were nefarious…
If BB made a representation as to a price at which they would sell (as in their weekly ads, which say the price is good “through x/xx/xx,”) then they are obligated to sell at that price to all takers who read the offer. Economics? No, law of contract.
@Shane112358:
It depends on the contract you have the manufacturer. For example, you don’t see stores selling Wiis for $350 do you?
And before anyone sarcastically mentions the bundle incidents, we are aware, thank you.
Too bad this isn’t Slashdot. Then I could tag this story as “ohnoitsroland”, “hahaha”, “defectivebydesign”, or “businessasusual”. BB on Consumerist = MS on Slashdot…
regardless of the valid choices the company made, this is a consumer site posting information needed by consumers in this day and age. do not feed the trolls or anti-trolls. take note of the practice and use the knowledge to better or ease your consumption. please.
Anyone buying laptops at best buy probably doesn’t do the market research necessary to get a good price. Just like people buying books at barnes and noble without the great 25% coupons are paying a 25% premium for the convenience and their lazyness to look for coupons.
So what?
In other news, gasoline went from 3.19 to 3.29 at my local service station in just a few days–in percentage terms, that’s an even bigger jump!
Honestly, I don’t see this as a big deal. Seriously, I think there are better things to be reported on.
Looks like just about everyone agrees there’s nothing to see here.
@SHADOWFALLS:
What about the bundle incidents?
Wait! Wait! I’m sure Best Buy is taking these accusations “very seriously.”
@ceriphim: I don’t get the idiotic tags on slashdot either. I thought they had fixed the system to block crap like that from getting through but it seems to have re-broken. I’m always trying to !tag them to remove them but it never does a thing.
Today there is nothing to write about, but when the price drops to $1199.99 on Sunday, it’ll be a $500 Savings. If it had dropped from $1349.99, it’d only be a $150 Savings.
It’s part of how they get those incredible deals, and how they can tell unknowing customers that they’re saving huge and getting a better deal than they are.
And if BB had just sold out instead of raising the prices, the consumerist would have an article lambasting BB for not keeping enough stock…
Best buy sucks for a lot of reasons. This is not one of them.
[en.wikipedia.org]
[en.wikipedia.org]
Helpful links since the editorial staff doesn’t understand economics, only yellow journalism in an attempt to make Best Buy look bad. Thanks for making the jobs of real journalists harder Ben.
“Caught”… raising a price?
Will The Consumerist next be demanding that the computers be given out free???
@CMU_Bueller: You can’t really use capitalism to defend retail pricing. Mostly because true capitalism doesn’t involve credit…
Generally, something that sells well sells out. If everything that sold well had it’s price raised, we’d have everything creeping upwards until most people were priced out and prices fell again. Capitalism, yes, but retailers would lose money, and we all know that ain’t gonna fly.
I do work at best buy and I have seen this happen before. The reason tends to be the same. We aren’t getting anymore from the Manufacturer, so they jack up the price so no one buys it. They do that the days before T-day, where the 22in monitor that sold for like 149 in the ad had a tag for $1200, just so that no one would buy it. Raise price to create stock, so you have it when it is on sale.
@z4ce:
Thank you.
How dare any business make a profit.
Supply and demand.
Marketing and all that stuff.
Guess what, we all do it.
A for profit company raising the prices? Record profits for the oil industry???
@Thaad: That actually makes sense. Best Buy is actually doing the right thing by TELLING YOU when it will be on sale!!!
@barfoo: $3.29?! That’s cheap!
Unbelievable. Well, looks like I’ll be taking my business to CompUSA!
Some times I wonder if you guys have any business sense at all. Its normal and SMART to raise prices that are in high demand. Sure it sucks for us, but thats why we are also obligated to be smart and notice these things. Raising prices on a computer is not unethical or immoral. I am sure advertising on popular blogs is not free, either.
@Frostberg: THe oil companies are having record profits because we are consuming record amounts of oil. Their profit margins ae 6-9%. Cheaper than sales tax in most locations. Not to mention the sin taxes you guys allow the government to put on gas.
@MyCokesBiggerThanYours: This is a good point — I read this blog almost as much to be amazed by the editor’s naivete as for the equally as frequent posts that are interesting on their own merits. There should just be a few stickies at the top of the site: 1) retailers sometimes misprice goods, 2) they sometimes have typos on their signs, 3) they sometimes attempt to maximize their profits, 4) they don’t always find the brightest/nicest people to man their phonelines for $6 an hour.
While I would not buy a computer from Best Buy, it seems logical for a consumer site to let consumers know when a company does something anti-consumer. Sure BB can raise the price all they want, but it logically follows that a consumerist site might tell us they did it. While I am here several times a day, this warning might well serve an individual passer-by seeking quick advice on computer purchasing. Would this article have served my mother-in-law? I think so.
It is almost as if some of the comments are suggesting that it is unfair to BB to warn the consumer. I’ll live without a hug from a blue-shirt, and say thanks Consumerist for saving not making me “Obligated” to pay whatever the Box says I should pay. So if not a consumer protection site, where is it I am supposed to go to find the right price? Sunday fliers? Apparently not the internet.
Now come on. This is lame. Why shouldn’t Best Buy be able to raise its prices? As far as I can tell there was no deception involved.
Just because prices on electronics generally fall, doesn’t mean they *have* to.
Price reflects what people are willing to pay for something…If they jack the price and people still buy it, they are in fact charging the correct price
If this turns out to be the case, we were paying TOO LITTLE for the laptop to begin with, and should count ourselves lucky!
If it no longer sells after they jack it, well then they either have a ton of laptops sitting around, or they lower the price. Either way we win…
One thing the Consumerist forgets to mention is Best Buy’s Price matching policy (14 days on laptops). So even if you bought it this week at the higher price couldn’t you just go back next week and get the refund? I’ve never had a problem doing that…
@sakanz: Exactly. They had the exclusive rights to sell a “budget-priced Gateway” model.
@krunk4ever: Being in the majority on these forums isn’t necessarily something to brag about.
I appreciate the Consumerist pointing out things like this: 1) I hate Best Buy for screwing me over on not honoring a warranty claim and they deserve all the bad publicity they can get. 2) I like to be reminded that retailers are constantly ripping us off. Thanks!