# So I'm apparently a retail "value destroyer" - Screw You! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 6, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756 "2004-07-06T06:23:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/21 "2004-07-06T20:39:45Z")
> [@threemae](#): > > they are just making a decision that they choose not to do business with some customers. Actually, I didn’t notice where in the article Best Buy claimed to be doing anything like refusing certain customers. Other than a dissociated quote from the CEO, all the quotes are from a consultant. Actually, IMHO, a business that doesn’t put any effort into distinguishing profitable customers from unprofitable customers is making a mistake. You may not be able to do a whole lot about it, but the knowledge can be useful. I know salesmen in my company who would spend weeks trying to “sell” to a customer that already stated that their decision point is low price. The exec eventually told them "Quit screwing around with these people, drop off the proposal at their office and move on to someone else. That company wasn’t going to be particularly profitable, so why waste time with them? Spend your effort on the guys who are going to pay the bills. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/22 "2004-07-06T20:45:09Z")
**Dog80** wrote > [@](#): > > It is their problem if they set the price of a product too low, not the customer’s. **Smeghead** wrote > [@](#): > > You know, the company sets the policies. If people take advantage of said policies, they have no one to blame but themselves. You’re tired of people taking advantage of rebates or refunds? Hey, don’t offer them! Tired of people wasting the salespeoples’ time? Set a policy that they should dump customers who are taking too long, and deal with the consequences. Did you guys even read the thing? Allow me to recap: **Astro** : Best Buy doesn’t like me cause I shop at their sales and they don’t make money! **CEO Guy** : We gotta change our policies; people are shopping at our sales and we don’t make money! **Dog80** and **Smeghead** : It’s their fault people are shopping at their sales and they’re not making money! Why don’t they change their policies? What idiots! ---
**Author:** ![Pentax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Pentax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pentax)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/23 "2004-07-06T22:03:03Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > b) that person knowing much about the product in question are poor in the first place. [sarcasim] You mean BB salesmen don’t have a friend relative pet that owns each and every single object in the store, and really enjoys it. (One of them (Salesman, not a BB one, but all salesmen are alike) annoyed me once, so I wasted his time for an hour (and ran down his list of relations) asking about the quality of misc DVD players (what do you know, all the DVD players in the store worked perfectly for all his friends, I guess I’ll buy the cheapest, what’s that you only get commision on big items, ha ha) [/sarcasim] ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/24 "2004-07-06T23:07:05Z")
> [@Pentax](#): > > [sarcasim] \ what’s that you only get commision on big items, ha ha) [/sarcasim] No commission at Best Buy, nor any incentives for selling (aside from “you should sell more” which is something, I suppose). The salespeople may be underinformed, but at least they’re not trying to sell you something to make themselves money directly. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/25 "2004-07-06T23:08:46Z")
> [@Pentax](#): > > (Salesman, not a BB one, but all salesmen are alike) annoyed me once [/sarcasim] :smack: I can read! Really I can! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/26 "2004-07-07T00:00:40Z")
> [@Bill H.](#): > > **Dog80** wrote > > **Smeghead** wrote > > Did you guys even read the thing? > > Allow me to recap: > > **Astro** : Best Buy doesn’t like me cause I shop at their sales and they don’t make money! > **CEO Guy** : We gotta change our policies; people are shopping at our sales and we don’t make money! > **Dog80** and **Smeghead** : It’s their fault people are shopping at their sales and they’re not making money! Why don’t they change their policies? What idiots! Not quite. CEO guy is saying that their customers who shop only at their sales are evil, not that Best Buys is not doing sales right. To be fair, a consultant later in the article was none too sympathetic to the CEOs. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/27 "2004-07-07T00:02:44Z")
> [@Pentax](#): > > [sarcasim] You mean BB salesmen don’t have a friend relative pet that owns each and every single object in the store, and really enjoys it. ([/sarcasim] Well, anyone who believes a salesman about quality of items deserves what he gets. On the other hand, salesmen should be able to tell you about features, and how one DVD player is different from another - and something about what you get for a higher price. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/28 "2004-07-07T02:37:12Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > Working at Best Buy sucks, by the way, but the discount was FANTASTIC. 🙂 How much discount are we talking here? ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/29 "2004-07-07T17:26:27Z")
I suppose it’s a “secret” but I don’t work there anymore, so fuck 'em. 5% over cost. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/30 "2004-07-08T07:56:47Z")
So that works out to what, 20-40% off the average item? Not bad. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/31 "2004-07-11T14:03:39Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > I suppose it’s a “secret” but I don’t work there anymore, so fuck 'em. > > 5% over cost. Can anybody working there look up at a terminal and see what actual cost is? That’d be useful even if you were going to shop somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/32 "2004-07-11T14:44:22Z")
I once worked for a few weeks at the warehouse of a large Australian discount store. We were offered goods at the “wholesale price” but I was advised that I could get them cheaper in the store. How it worked was (figures are a guess) TV costs $800 wholesale and sells for $1200 retail, but the company sells so many that at year’s end they get a $150 rebate. So even at wholesale they make a profit. This is how they can sell stuff for less than smaller stores pay for it. Anyhow all these prices were coded on the docket so the sales staff knew that the $800 wholesale TV really only cost $650. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/33 "2004-07-11T16:47:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Like a customer who ties up a salesworker but never buys anything, or who buys only during big sales. Or one who files for a rebate, then returns the item. Wiat a minute, **Adequate Purchase** has sales people? And they take returns? Who knew? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/34 "2004-07-11T18:10:46Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Wiat a minute, **Adequate Purchase** has sales people? And they take returns? Who knew? :smack: You must have some strange Best Buys out there… when I go in, the sales drones descend on me like owls, begging me to sign up for Netflix and Gamefly. And returns are a piece of cake; they don’t even charge an open box fee on most items. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/35 "2004-07-12T01:19:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Like a customer who ties up a salesworker but never buys anything, Heh, heh- turnabout is fair play in this case. Many of those “demon customers” never buys anything from BB, but does go on to make their purchase from a catalog. Best Buy [and other big box retailers] put tons of higher-priced, high-service mom & pops out of business. Now BB is having to perform unpaid product demonstrations for the customers of lower-priced, no service catalogs. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/36 "2004-07-12T02:53:51Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > You must have some strange Best Buys out there… when I go in, the sales drones descend on me like owls, begging me to sign up for Netflix and Gamefly. And returns are a piece of cake; they don’t even charge an open box fee on most items. ::: shrug::: Don’t know what to tell you. I have spent over 1/2 hours looking at different models of big screen TVs (think $4000+) and have never seen a blue shirt. Ditto with car steros, and LCD 'puter monitors. Maybe I look like I don’t have any money. ---
**Author:** ![Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f04885/32.png) [@Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ninja_Pizza_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/37 "2004-07-12T17:53:27Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > ::: shrug::: > Don’t know what to tell you. I have spent over 1/2 hours looking at different models of big screen TVs (think $4000+) and have never seen a blue shirt. Ditto with car steros, and LCD 'puter monitors. > Maybe I look like I don’t have any money. My observation has been that when I **want** a salesdrone to “help” me, I couldn’t get one in my vicinity with a combination of bribes, whiskey and strippers. Of course, when I **don’t** want their “help”, when I know **exactly** what I want and where it is, I couldn’t get rid of them with teargas grenades and massed gunfire. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/38 "2004-07-12T18:20:59Z")
Fret not, Li’l Cowpokes. 🙂 With Web shopping, these idiots are doomed. ---
**Author:** ![qcomdrj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/a6a055/32.png) [@qcomdrj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qcomdrj)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/39 "2004-07-12T18:27:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*originally posted by **Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor** \* > With Web shopping, these idiots are doomed. Well, for computers, yes. Not tvs, or fridges, or anything that costs that much to ship. Plus there will always be stupid people that go in and buy computers at that cost, not during sales, etc. Similar to people who buy cars without checking invoice prices on the web first. Even people in my generation do this. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756/40 "2004-07-12T20:28:22Z")
> [@Boyo Jim](#): > > Can anybody working there look up at a terminal and see what actual cost is? That’d be useful even if you were going to shop somewhere else. Only managerial and inventory staff can look up actual cost. The discount ended up being $1 to $2 off dvds and cds, but 20% to 90% off other items. Yes. 90%. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-apparently-a-retail-value-destroyer-screw-you/253756.md?page=3)