Save Buy.com!!

[pennypinch]

Thorin: Really? That's a neat feature...

[AJ]

i've never seen that engine, but i'll go look for it now...that would be sweet...

[bubbagump]

I am not sure about all of this. Maybe just using one 50.00 off coupon is best. However, almost all .com companies are doomed. They sell on a flawed business model. Their belief is that they sell stuff at a cheap price initially, then customers will be loyal. That is not the case. I go for the price. I guess the 50 off 50 was somewhat my way of getting buy.com back for not allowing me to combine the visitalk giftcertificates. I really wanted that $$$ Kodak digicam. It just surprises me that they refuse to combine giftcertificates, while they accept orders at a total loss.

Bubba

[larryxtreme]

Buy.com is my favorite online store! I think they are a very good company and sells stuff at very reasonable prices! I don't give a rat's ass about other stores, but we gotta keep Buy.com alive!!

That means we gotta stop using coupons that don't belong to us! Although I admit that I am guilty of using Buy.com coupons, but after the $50 or $50 coupon, I realize that Buy.com might not survive!

It looks like they are honoring the orders, which means they are gonna take a HUGE hit! Thousands of dollars lost!! Buy.com really is a great company... Whenever I'm shopping for a computer part, they are always among the lowest priced! Egghead might be there once in a while, so might Computers4Sure or Onvia, but Buy.com is ALWAYS there!!

SAVE BUY.COM!

[johnnymk]

Buy.com is definitely one of my favorites. They have excellent support, fast shipping and decent prices. But I am going to take advantage of every coupon that they offer.

[jaybittle]

larry,

I wouldn't necessarily worry about buy.com.. they are quite big, have a good market size, have many stores (golf/computers/electronics..et cetera) and probably the coupons they offer only reach about 10-15% of thier audience...maybe 25%..

Not only that, but because of the 50/50 coupon, they probably grew in audience size with people wishing that they would make more mistakes off the such.. =)

Oh well.. BUY.COM is one of my favorite sites as well, but I don't think they are dying anytime soon.. ;-)

peace,
--jb

[rcsnoopy]

I doubt they "grew in size" from the 50 off 50 mistake. Most people that got in on the deal were experienced bargain hunters and not new people (or else they wouldn't probably have tryed to put 50 in your cart and try to check out with it). I agree buy.com is a great company. I would urge strong restraint in using coupons such as the 50 off 50 mistake (ie. cut orders from 7 -- which some people actually did!!!! and order only one). Just my opinion here but it seems the entire atmosphere of gotapex has changed. We are no longer satisfied with good deals (ie 10 off 30 which is a 33% discount) and now we only are satisfied by 100 dollar off 100 and such. (ie. staples, buy.com, bolt.com, etc.)

[Bandito]

Buy.com is a huge operation. This is minor in comparison to some of their other fiasco's of the past. Anybody remember them marking a 19" monitor down to $147 when they were going for $700. They were forced to honor orders of what they had in stock.

[Bires]

I'm not sure what this means, but Buy.com is also handling Reel.com's business, as Reel is going Tango Uniform.

[Thorin78]

As anyone in the e-commerce business knows, E-Commerce companies don't make any profit. Buy.com's strategy is to create a bigger market share. They realize that they can make a certain percentage of profit from their customers and that's what resulted with the $20 off coupons for new customer. They can either spend all of that revenue on marketing or they can spend it on their customers. Either way, they won't make money. So they decided to spend it on their customer to get greater market share. Some of their products are sold below cost so they can beat competition and get the customers. I wouldn't worry about the company. Your worrying is almost like worrying about Amazon.com going broke. And you know that won't happen.

[pennypinch]

Thorin: that is one of the most nonsensical things I've ever read - that a BUSINESS is not in it to make money. Of course, I get the gist of what you are trying to say, but buy IS in trouble. Now, that said, it presents a paradox to us: do we rape 'em for all they're worth just because we can, or do we do it with moderation to keep the coupons and deals coming, not only from them but from other, future e-tailers? The wording of the question belies my opinion. But not using coupons at all, as larry suggests, is equally drastic. Would we buy from Buy if not for the coupons? I'm not sure. Would we buy AS MUCH? Certainly not. These guys carry almost no inventory, so any revenue is better than nothing. To summarize, Buy, or any other e-commerce company, can and is in trouble with their current coupon model, but I think if we don't make 7 50/50 orders, buy should be able to keep its head above water.

[pennypinch]

And in response to rcsnoopy, I'm not sure that our focus has ever wavered. Since I've been here, we've always gotten excited about 75%-100% discounts; who wouldn't? The 33% ones are fine. Think about it in terms of B&M: who the hell gets hyped about "25% down at the Gap!" No one. Now, you find 75% at some store, and you have lines out the door. 33% is nice. 80% is something to wake up for.

[AJ]

I agree with not abusing buy.com, but on the other hand I feel kind of dumb for not placing even 1 $50 off order...

[dm0ney]

Trying to save buy.com or any other internet retailer totally goes against the reason most people shop on the internet. Only on the net can you visit 20 stores in 20 minutes to see who has a particular product the cheapest.

Besides why would anyone want to try and help out an online retailer? It's survival of the fittest. What buy.com and most other e-tailers (I hate that term) are doing right now is selling near or below cost to lure you in and get customer allegiance (as I can see happened in the case of larryextreme). Why do they want that loyalty so bad that they are willing to stay in the red for several years? Because as soon as they have a big enough following, they jack up their prices so that they can start making a profit. And what will their loyal customers have to say? "I know about Buy.com more than <insert upstart e-tailer name here>, Buy.com has been good to me, they're not the cheapest but so what." That's what they do with your loyalty so in short buy.com and the rest of them can take my "loyalty" and shove it up there .com...

DM.

[ken]

No one can save buy.com, so none of us should even try.

If we use the coupons, they lose money.
If we don't use the coupons, they lose money.
If they charge prices that allow for profit, no one buys, and they lose money.

Either way, they lose. At least by using the coupons, someone wins.

[Thorin78]

In response to PennyPinch:

It may sound like a paradox, but it's the truth. Of course they're out there to make money, but the competition on the net is fierce and you gotta do what you can to get orders and beat the others. If you look at the Financial reports of Buy.com and Amazon.com, you'll see that none of them make a penny even. Don't you think that Buy.com has a corporate strategy and plan as to how they will make money? They're not projected to make a penny until 3-5 years from now. So if the analysts think that, then buy.com will be here in 3 years.

I've always stayed fair to the e-tailers, I don't place 50 orders with the $50 off coupon. I didn't even make an order. But the point of a good deal is to get it now. Do you really know if you won't be run over by a bus(thinks back to the movie Final Destination). As long as we don't abuse the system, the system will be fair.

[colossus]

The only reason one would want to "SAVE" buy.com is if they have a good business model. In this case, I think we can all agree that they are a great company, even if they refused to honor every misprint or deal.

Why? Because they have decent prices and don't play games. They have lowere overhead and pass that on. They have god selection and good CS. Once all the discounting madness ends in 1-2 years, do you want companies like Staples and Frys selling you HDs, or do you want Buy.com and Onvia.

I didn't take advantage of the $50 of $50 simply because I think its wrong. I even posted saying the deal wouldn't work (which I was sure it wouldn't) just to discourage people from placing 1,2, 10, 28 orders. If you know blatantly where the error is and you exploit it, well then that's your choice. I own stocks in a lot of these tech companies and would like to see them survive.

If you don't plan on shopping 2 years from now, or "think" some other decent company will pop up, then continue this abuse. If you know you would like this company to survive, then please refrain from following the sheep.

It's pretty much that simple. The choice is yours.

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Ço£o§§ü§ - yeah you can read into it...

[Tuvi]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by AJ:
I agree with not abusing buy.com, but on the other hand I feel kind of dumb for not placing even 1 $50 off order...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
"i agree" with AJ. http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif haha

[Bandito]

Whoa there fella's. No annimosity between us please.

It is funny how everybody views retail or online business profits though. I realize that they are really losing out when giving $50 off $50, but on probably 75% of their sales they make profit. That is not to say that they are profitable (which they are) because it doesn't include overhead, salaries, advertisement, etc. But the point is the mark-up on most of the stuff they sell is 100%, so even if they give a 30% discount they are still getting something. Now whether the remaining 70% covers their overhead or not is another story. I have read a lot about Buy.com and even when they look unprofitable it is due to spending their profits on acquisitions.

[pennypinch]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by colossus:
Once all the discounting madness ends in 1-2 years, do you want companies like Staples and Frys selling you HDs, or do you want Buy.com and Onvia.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

A chilling thought, indeed! :yikes:

I have to concur with the market-clearing idea: I think buy's fundamental gaffe is overvaluing customer loyalty. Sure, it may be a premium some customers value, but I think low prices clear the internet market better than any other.
I think the critical message here is: don't anandtech places. Oh, I guess I don't care if you take Staples to the cleaners, honestly grappling with their CS has become kind of fun, but 12 orders of $50 is simply ridiculous. At the same time, aggressive consumerism is nothing to be ashamed of. God knows I'm all for a hot deal like $50 off $50, and it is a company's duty to protect itself; that means not making mistakes. Mistakes in business cost money, pure and simple. You think if GM misdesign's a steering column, they get to call "no-backsies"? No. No-inventory retailers like buy own one thing: their site. If that's flawed, we might as well all be buying pinto's and slamming on the brakes in the middle of the street.

[pennypinch]

asdgsad

Sorry, had to look busy at work...

[This message has been edited by pennypinch (edited 06-28-2000).]

[Bandito]

Pennypinch, you hit the nail on the head. Not to give away what I do for a living, but the GM thing was pretty close. Making money, spending money, and losing money are all part of doing business. How you balance your gains and losses is how well you will do in the long run. Sorry if that sounds too elementary. Try to fatham this: I was involved in a project that cost $250M (that's 1/4 of a billion) and it was a complete loss. I am sure there are others here that have worse stories.

[AJ]

buy.com has the best everyday prices on the internet. Period. I like to see that, and I would like more retailers to follow in their steps. I would buy from them for normal prices if there were no discounts available...

[AJ]

but larryxtreme...dont know if you found the off topic folder yet... http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/tongue.gif

[pennypinch]

AJ: they have some of the best prices. But how much is the buy.com reputation worth to you? $5? $10? Would you pass the same item up at another, smaller retailer if it was $50 bucks cheaper? Of course you wouldn't. How about a coupon at, oh, I don't know, Staples? I seem to remember you buying some stuff with those coupons... http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/biggrin.gif The point I'm trying to make is that you DON'T always buy from them without a discount. You buy where the cheap prices are, and buying from a particular retailer comes much further down the list of priorities.

[Thorin78]

I believe that buy.com has it's own search engine that browses competitor's websites and then either matches or beats the competitor's price on most of their products.

[AJ]

thats true pennypinch, but i look there first for most things. Of course, I will go anywhere for less money http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/smile.gif , I just like the low prices, and enjoy shopping there. Its an online Best Buy...

[This message has been edited by AJ (edited 06-28-2000).]

[DaNewbie]

i just wish i'd had gotten in on this deal...

[AJ]

ditto

[loup]

yep... hate to see buy.com go out like that... they have good price and prompt on shipment... jus too bad i live in ca.....

hope amazon hangs around for awhile... gotta get me psx2... all my gc sitting there waiting to be use

[AJ]

yeah i posted about amazon GC's in off topic..i'm not sure what to do...

[TGBYR]

i am one of the unlucky ones that didnt get the 50 off before they closed it down... but i think, if they offer coupons, then they should be hit with whatever people come after them with. if they dont want to be hit with coupons, then they shouldnt even offer it, but of all my online purchasing experience, i have purchased from buy.com the most and everytime it was a good experience as for STAPLES, they seem to like to trick you into buying something with coupon, and then tell you later that you cannot buy it at the price, even though the coupon is valid.... staples should just not offer coupons if they do that almost 75% of the time or more, seeing all the posts here... i hope somebody gives STAPLES a hard time as they have given us ALL...

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Anybody interested in aftermarket auto parts, check out www.tuning-garage.com, (http://www.tuning-garage.com,) all GotApex Forum members will get discounts, just let me know.

[pennypinch]

I agree with you, tgy..., to an extent. They should be liable for whatever they put into the marketplace. Want to use coupons? Well, you better have a way of tracking them so that everyone and his grandmother can't just use it (paging Staples, paging Staples). I guess the $50/$50 is buy's responsibility, although certainly not their fault. That subtle distinction lies in the morals vs. ethics debate. They should be on the hook for it, but not for 12 orders per person. I didn't get in on the deal either :sad:. I wish I could have!

[Thorin78]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by AJ:
i've never seen that engine, but i'll go look for it now...that would be sweet...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's not an engine for you, it's an internal engine that they have so they can keep track of prices on the net. So that they know when they don't have the lowest price. This is part of the campaign to get new customers.

[AJ]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Thorin78:
It's not an engine for you, it's an internal engine that they have so they can keep track of prices on the net. So that they know when they don't have the lowest price. This is part of the campaign to get new customers.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

i knew that!!!!!!!! sike.

[Thorin78]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by loup:
yep... hate to see buy.com go out like that... they have good price and prompt on shipment... jus too bad i live in ca.....

hope amazon hangs around for awhile... gotta get me psx2... all my gc sitting there waiting to be use<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jeez people, you're talking like buy.com is already in its grave. But it's obviously alive and it has a business model that may not be conventional. There are alot of loyal customers out there as well as savy shoppers. Buy.com knows what its doing, and in the mean time, enjoy what they give you. Too many people are trying to cheat the system. Remember, we're not like Anandtech.

[nwarawa]

No way! Onvia is DA BOMB! Buy messes you on the shipping!

[Thorin78]

not to me it hasn't

[MadCool]

Who said Buy.com is dying? We can lessen their pain by not using coupons http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Check out www.MadCool.com (http://www.MadCool.com)

[calaxer19]

Buy.com would be great if they weren't in Cali.