Regardless of price, I'd never buy high end electronics from Walmart.

@EdnaLegume: I'd rather buy electronics than turkeys from Walmart.

We're going to be replacing the old tube TV at Christmas this year because we expect there to be major discounts.

I will not buy one from Wal-Mart or Best Buy. My money will be spent at Amazon or Costco for a TV.

We want a new TV, but we really don't want to pay for one. Ours is just fine, even though it weighs about 300 pounds and probably won't survive another move.

What would happen if Wal-Mart cut prices on turkey? I'm buying my very first turkey this year and I have no idea what constitutes as a good price - I pretty much just plan on buying one I can find in the right weight range. I don't think I can spring for a free range bird for the amount of people I'm feeding.

@ben: same here. Walmart doesn't have much influence over the quality of the Samsung TV that I bought there (other than perhaps the opportunity to drop kick it before I buy it) but their meat purchasing is a bigger, scarier unknown.

I recognize some meat brands at Walmart. The ones I don't make me more than a little hesitant.

Somehow I'm sure you could have gotten a cat into that picture.

@EdnaLegume:

I ended up buying my flat panel from Walmart - 42" Vizio LCD, 1080p, $600.

Used ship-to-store, so I did have to go in there, but I got a good TV cheaper than I would have anywhere else.

I had previously ordered one online from Fry's, and had FedEx destroy it and then lose the return, forcing me to file a chargeback, so I'm reluctant to ever order a big screen TV online again.

@zandar: There's a regular commenter on here who likes to point out that Wal-mart electronics are often of a lower quality than similar devices at other retailers.

Aren't turkeys free most anywhere during thanksgiving? Like, spend $25, get a free turkey?

@dragonfire81: Often, the models are slightly different, and not directly comparable. That Panasonic 50" tv in the electronic stores might have more connections, more types of connections, a better warranty, etc. WalMart is big enough that many companies make a "special" model for wal-mart.

Also, I would be scared of returning that expensive of an item to Walmart.

@EdnaLegume:

REGARDLESS OF PRICE, I'D NEVER BUY ANYTHING.... FROM WALMART.

@dragonfire81: so my Samsung TV has special Walmart-only innards? That explains why the darned thing shows so many Walmart ads.

Sometimes I get the feeling that the products sold at Walmart are of less quality then those purchased elsewhere. Even if it is supposedly the same item from the same manufacturer at two different stores. Due to Walmarts aggressive buying tactics I think some manufactures skimp on products they will sell to Walmart to make money on the item. Am I crazy or are there others that get this same impression.

@Mr_Human:

bRilliAnt ! Walmart sells kittens & neutered cats !

*BUMP*

@pecan 3.14159265: Oh I'm in the same boat pecan. I have a 32" tv that is far too large for my livingroom (a 32" widescreen would be about the right size because its actually only about 27" wide left to right) but I just want to get rid of it because I dread having to move it the next time. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it - its only about 5 years old and I got it for $150 on craigslist last year. But yeah. Huge.

@sir_pantsalot: They do it for Levi's jeans, why not TVs?

@EdnaLegume: Had to be said:
I build my own high end electronics at home!

@pecan 3.14159265: Ditto for me too. Our tv went out (as in, busted.) right before they stopped selling the big CRT tvs.. so we ended up getting one because that is what we could afford at the time.

I'm hoping my dad will get me a new TV for Christmas, but I'm not holding my breath. If they really do go cheap though he might go for it.

Wally should ignore Thanksgiving. Any mix of Walmart and the holiday makes us remember death by stampede

@zandar: Agreed having a new LCD TV go out sucks, but catching botulism is worst.

@pecan 3.14159265: Keep an eye out on your local grocer's circulars. Don't know bout where you live, but there's always at least one of the three major stores here offering a free turkey with a minimum purchase (eg spend 250.00 get a free 10 lb turkey) One year we ended up with 6 of em. Remember if you're buying frozen ones to be very careful with the thawing process and allow yourself extra time.

@WatchOutNow:
and that sir is your right.

isn't it great to live in a free country!

@sir_pantsalot:

Walmart does get products made exclusively for it, which may be of lower quality. If you're comparing with other stores it's important to compare model numbers to make sure you know what you're getting. However, I'd be less concerned with TVs since the Walmart version may have fewer connections or other features, but I doubt that Samsung is making a lower quality lcd panel just for Walmart. On the same topic, it is difficult to find reviews for Walmart-specific products due to the exclusivity, which doesn't help if you like to research products before you buy.

@pecan 3.14159265: How many pounds of turkey do you need? At the various grocery stores you should be able to get a decent sized bird for under 10 bucks. If you need to feed a hug number of people then you will probably need to spend more. And I do recommend going to a grocery store because as much as Walmart tries to sell food they are a discount retailer and do not do food items as well, but on the plus side walmart lowering prices means that everyone will do so to compete so your local Giant, Albertsons ,King Supers,Safeway, etc will have to have a low price on their turkeys too.

@downwithmonstercable: I think it's more like $200 or something over the course of a month or two.

@ben:

I misread this comment as "I'd rather buy electronics from turkeys ..." which gave me an interesting visual.

Nothing says luvin like a Walmart turkey from the oven.

@tonberry:

I just wanna say that everyone who followed-up on EdnaLagume's initial comment are the most rockinest posters today ! Keep up the good work people !

@dragonfire81: i thought i had a curse on me. wal mart has done me wrong on everything from a mp3 boombox to a 56k pc card have gone bad on me in a matter of weeks. shopping somewhere else really isn't an issue since i live in the land of shopping centers (n.va). so now its a rule in my house. if it plugs into the wall don't buy it at wal mart.

@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: I don't know a ton about widescreen, but I thought it was actually, well, longer? No?

@sir_pantsalot: Still, Walmart electronics seem like a safer buy than Walmart turkey.

@QuantumRiff: It gets better than that. The actual components are often lower quality to get to that magic price point. From components where a consumer-tolerance version might cost $.03 versus a bulk-tolerance version might cost $.01 to LCD panels with more stuck/dead pixels (Class C versus Class B) or lamps with shorter estimated life.

The big giveaway is that the model numbers don't match with other stores'... but it's only a matter of time before they disguise those and mark of blocks of serial numbers to the substandard items.

Big brands so scared of Walmart not stocking their items that they'd instead allow their brand name to be diluted with substandard crap instead is pretty short sighted if you ask me.

(interesting note: Walmart didn't come up with this. Some companies have been doing it for years already with stores like Brandsmart USA)

The thing is, the TV prices aren't even that great. The Panasonic Plasma is second to the bottom in the Panasonic line (U series) and 720p. You can get a 1080p version with MUCH better specs (S series, NeoPDP, anti reflective coating, less energy use) at Sears for only about $60 more.

Walmart will have to try harder.

@dragonfire81: I was just reading somewhere -- I think in consumer reports, actually! -- that the same model may be made with different parts for low-cost retailers. The case in point was a printer, same model, same model # but with an "X" on the end ... which the manufacturer told him indicated it had more plastic parts that wore out faster and were more prone to breaking; they were metal for other stores.

@yungjerry703:

Huh-huh-heheh...you said 56K...ohhh the memories.. I miss you 14.4 Baud, ohhhh & 28.8k, don't feel neglected, when you first came out, you rocked my world. Bring back TexT only internet & BBS's.

Yeah, make Best Buy drop their prices so I can use this gift card I got. Then probably remember in six months why we all hate Best Buy so much here...

@dragonfire81: And what do they base that on? If you get two products - one from Walmart and one from anywhere else - that have the same part numbers, they will be the same products... Anything else is unecessary Walmart-bashing

@pecan 3.14159265: Just go to your local competitively-priced grocery store and they all have decent prices on turkeys leading up to Thanksgiving. If you have a big enough freezer, you can get a frozen one, but I've always gotten a good price just buying it a few days before. (Also, if you're cooking for just a few people, a turkey breast is good.)

My other tip is, if you roast your turkey with bacon draped all over it, the fat in the bacon will baste the turkey for you and you don't have to do any basting. Plus it's freaking DELICIOUS. Plus it's the cook's prerogative to eat pieces of bacon that fell off the bird while carving the bird before serving.

Good tips, everyone. Thanks for all the advice! I'm not sure how many people I need to feed - at least ten.

I have the Nov/Dec issue of Cooks Illustrated and I think I'm going to follow that advice on cooking thr turkey - it's just that I don't think there were any instructions on buying the turkey.

@dragonfire81: This is why you have to check the model number. Sometimes the model numbers have one number off or an extra letter or series of letters before or after the rest of the model number.

If your getting an exact matching model number at Walmart and say, Best Buy then you should be getting the same item. Walmart has quite a few "made for Walmart" models. Those frequently have lower quality parts inside. Sam's Club gets some made for Sam's Club computers and TV's also. They had an HP laptop a few years ago that was an utter piece of crap that was a made for Sam's Club model. I didn't buy one but got to hear the tales of woe from two friends who did.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!):

"same model # but with an 'x' on the end"

so ... not the same model number, then.

@EdnaLegume: Regardless of price, I will never buy a single thing from Wal-Mart for as long as I live.
Never have, never will.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!):

I'm gonna try that bacon tip this year. bacon = added deliciousness.

Oh, and OP, I've got to echo the other commenters on this one--at least around the Philly area all the large grocery chains seem to have loss-leader type specials on Turkeys for the big day. Check sunday paper circulars.

@sonneillon: Walmart meat is a scary game of low grade food poisoning roulette.

They devil is in the details. They don't mention what brand of turkey they will price cut. I bought an off brand Turkey at the grocery store last year because they were 88 cents a pound. There was a noticeable quality difference in the finished product. It would have been worth it to pay 99 cents a pound for the Butterball ones they had instead.

Chinese raised and Mexican processed turkeys preloaded with toxic contaminants?

@Starfury: We are really happy with the one we bought at Target. It is 3 or 4 years old and never had an issue so far.
I don't think they make Olevia any longer.

I spoke to several people who worked at a company that negotiated with Wal-Mart, and this is how it works:
Wal-Mart gives you a book called "How To Do Business With Wal-Mart". In that book, the first thing they tell you to do is move factories to China.
Wal-Mart tells you what price they will pay you for the product. If that price is lower than your cost, they do not care. They will automatically tell you to make the product with cheaper parts, or of a lower quality. Wal-Mart only cares about price. They do not care about quality of goods sold.
When this company refused to make shoddy products, or close their US factory, Wal-Mart simply got another company to make a cheap knockoff of the product.

If you are a patriotic American, you would never shop at Wal-Mart.

@pecan 3.14159265: The final death of our CRT TV was what forced us into buying an LCD TV. They didn't have any CRT TVs left when we were looking.

@Applekid:

Sounds like Sears with Black and Decker tools; I've been told by a former tools salesperson (who was my friend, not trying to sell me stuff) that Sears actually gets B&D to make power tools cheaper for them. More plastic parts, etc on the "Sears special".

It isn't just Walmart that does this.