Help me with Best Buy: Yesterday I saw a camera body on line from Best Buy. It is a body only and pick up at store. It is an open box item. Unfortunately the camera is over 100 miles...

tnturk Loc: Gallatin Tennessee

Yesterday I saw a camera body on line from Best Buy. It is a body only and pick up at store. It is an open box item. Unfortunately the camera is over 100 miles away. I called only to be told the do not ship open box items. Any thoughts?

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Tell them to close the box and ship it to you.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

PixelStan77 wrote:

Tell them to close the box and ship it to you.

I wonder why.....

RowdyRay Loc: MN

Get in the car...or look elsewhere.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

tnturk wrote:

Yesterday I saw a camera body on line from Best Buy. It is a body only and pick up at store. It is an open box item. Unfortunately the camera is over 100 miles away. I called only to be told the do not ship open box items. Any thoughts?

They probably feel that someone will pay their price without wanting it shipped.
You could check with UPS or FedEx to see if they will pick it up then ship it to you.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

It’s an open box item, and if the price break is good enough, I’d say it would be worth the 2 hour drive to go get it. We recently got a new TV from BB. The TV was an open box set that sold new for over $2000.00. We got it for just under $1000.00. We live 40 miles away, and it was worth the trip in to Anchorage to pick it up.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

You know something, they could be the only business that does not ship an open box item.

BebuLamar

100 miles? I would simply drive there than waiting for shipping. Even if they have free 1 day shipping I would still rather drive 100 miles.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

BebuLamar wrote:

100 miles? I would simply drive there than waiting for shipping. Even if they have free 1 day shipping I would still rather drive 100 miles.

Yes! Gas is cheap these days and it would be a good excuse to get out, if you can do it safely.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

The most likely explanation is that the stores don't ship. The items that are shipped are coming from a main warehouse. The "open box" item is in the store. Items that are warehoused at the store are for purchasing in store or local delivery (washers, refrigerators).

You should also consider that you will be driving 200 miles....100 there and 100 back so you are looking at (approximately) 4 hours of driving not including the time in the store to make the purchase. Will you be stopping for food or other shopping? If you are spending more in gas, food, and miscellaneous you might be wiser to pay regular price and have it shipped.

If you need to get out of the house and enjoy the opening of your city, county, state then the monetary issue goes out the window.

Best wishes for whatever you decide.

Dodie

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

While it is true that gas is cheap these days, the price of gas is only a small portion of the cost of operating your car. I haven't kept up with the amount per mile that you can deduct from your taxes for business use, but it passed $0.50/mile several years ago. So if the store is 100 miles away you have to consider that a 200 mile round trip will result in an actual cost around $100. Of course that depends on the car you're driving.

So would you save more than $100 by buying that item?

BebuLamar

DirtFarmer wrote:

While it is true that gas is cheap these days, the price of gas is only a small portion of the cost of operating your car. I haven't kept up with the amount per mile that you can deduct from your taxes for business use, but it passed $0.50/mile several years ago. So if the store is 100 miles away you have to consider that a 200 mile round trip will result in an actual cost around $100. Of course that depends on the car you're driving.

So would you save more than $100 by buying that item?

But personally I would drive 100miles. Back in the old days the local stores selling for more than mail order and yet you have to pay tax. But I would still drive to get it because I hate the wait even 1 day.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

BebuLamar wrote:

But personally I would drive 100miles. Back in the old days the local stores selling for more than mail order and yet you have to pay tax. But I would still drive to get it because I hate the wait even 1 day.

I believe that the days of avoiding the tax by purchasing online are over.
But you're right. Instant gratification is worth the travel time.

Paul Diamond Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA

See it in person when you pick it up. Is everything there? The instruction manual, the warranty card? the equipment that is supposed to be included in the box? And, get a printed copy of the purchase receipt for activating the warranty.

It's worth the trip to be certain before you put the money down and 'do the deal'.

MDI Mainer

Several years ago I used a taxi company to pick up an item bought on Craigslist in another city and deliver it to a nearby UPS store for packing and shipping to me. The seller was an elderly gentleman who just didn't want to be bothered with packing and shipping.

I knew the cab driver and had his direct phone number to set up the transaction, but you might be able to arrange a similar service with a company dispatcher, especially with the quarantine's effect on traditional passenger services. The smaller the company the better probably. I know some of the big companies in the Washington, DC area are using a dispatch service in India!

Today there are also Uber and Lyft drivers as as a possibility.