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Comment by hyperdimension | Hacker News Reader

Funny, I heard of Best Buy (a major US electronics chain of stores) being called the "Amazon showroom" more than a few years ago. I never would've thought the situation would've flipped like that.

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Over a decade ago, I thought why would I ever need Best Buy and its overpriced HDMI cables. How can a business with all the liabilities of brick and mortar compete with new lean, online only business offering the best prices?

Turns out, all Best Buy had to do was not turn their inventory into a lottery of real/counterfeit/broken/returned stuff.

Perhaps Amazon Prime will be the exquisite pinch. It will have trained all of us to expect immediate gratification (ruling out other online retailers) but Amazon itself cannot be trusted to deliver what you order. So we return to the Best Buy, which offers immediate delivery and authentic products!

Yep, anything of real value where I worry about quality I order from Best Buy. I don’t want to deal with amazon for a tv or freezer.

I did this a couple weeks ago. I shopped around, found a handful on Amazon that would be good, then went to Best Buy to buy one. The best part was that Amazon said they'd ship in May (almost 3 weeks later) while I could pick up from Best Buy the next morning.

Best Buy is actually pretty amazing. Their protection plan is a great deal too because it basically lets you pay a premium to return your item for a full refund in store credit for 2 years.

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