Good business decision of the day

This morning started off a bit slow for me, and I took some time to just browse Amazon.com. They usually have pretty interesting Gold Box surprises and other deals that are only available at specific times during the day. So I figured, hey, why not check it out?

Since we placed an order for a new TV, we've been waiting patiently for Frys to get a new shipment and honor the price they advertised right after Thanksgiving (they had it on backorder). At the same time, I've been tracking prices for the same set, just in case Frys didn't deliver on the order. Up until today, none of the prices were below $1050.

So as I was trolling the Amazon.com website, I saw a link advertising low prices on select HDTVs. I decided to click and take a look at what they had. And, lo and behold...Amazon had our TV, the Samsung HP-T4254, for $900 with free white glove shipping! Wait! It gets even better! They had the sets IN STOCK AND READY TO SHIP!!

There's more: With any purchase of a Samsung 40" or bigger flat panel, they are giving away a free Logitech Harmony 550 Universal Remote. (The Logitech's are awesome but not necessarily needed for HDTVs if you connect everything thru HDMI, but hey, it's free!) And, we get a $100 gift card to nflshop.com.

And, I realized that it gets just a tad better than that. Amazon sold out their stock and is now selling the same TV for $1069 through another vendor, and without the free shipping. Someone, who will remain nameless ;o), wanted to wait until tonight to figure out which to buy. (Amazon is selling HP-T4254's sister model, the HP-T4264 for $999. For those wondering, the ONLY differences between them is a USB port and ultra-ultra-ultra anti-glare, as opposed to ultra-ultra anti-glare.) Good thing I insisted on a purchase within the hour of the find!

Oh, and once the purchase was made, I called Frys to cancel our original order. No questions asked and no credit card charges.

So there you have it. Today's lessons:

1. It pays to waste time at work surfing the internet for amazing deals during the holiday season.
   
2. Amazon.com rocks on any given day.

I'm quite happy with myself. It's been a good day. :-)

Bad Business Decision of the Day

We've been doing a lot of research into flat panel TVs, since we have this nice big wall in front of our couch that would be just the perfect setting for TV viewing pleasure. We've looked into the differences between LCD, plasma, and DLP, decided what size we wanted, how much we wanted to spend, and narrowed the search down to a few different brands, based upon level of support, quality, and user reviews. Andrew then spent the weekend scouring the ads for good deals, and found this from Frys, a West Coast electronics chain: a Samsung 42" plasma, a $1500 set, for $900. And, to boot, it came with free shipping!

We didn't want to buy the TV without seeing the picture in person, so, on our drive back down to DC yesterday, we stopped at Best Buy and liked what we saw. During the drive, we decided to stop in Delaware, just in case we found something else we wanted, so that we could take advantage of the free shipping. Also, it couldn't hurt to see if anyone would match the price we found online.

We walked into a Circuit City with online ad in hand. Turns out, CC was selling our set for $1199. I approached a salesman and asked him if they would match the price we found at a competitor out West; he asked his manager, and his manager said yes! We were psyched. The guy walks us over to the Samsung, writes down the model number, and takes our online ad, to ring up the purchase. 5 minutes later, he returns with a change of heart: they will match the $900 price but will have to add what overnight shipping would cost (~$198) if we were to purchase the TV from Frys.

Wha?? I looked at the guy and pointed out that ground shipping was free, so we wouldn't actually pay any shipping on the TV. He countered with the fact that we want to take home the TV today from CC, so in essence, it's overnight shipping. So, we said thank you for trying, but we'll just buy the TV online, thank you very much.

Logically, his argument makes sense, but how much does it make sense when stores are trying desperately to keep their share of customers away from cheaper, online purchases? We walked into Circuit City with the intent of dropping at least $900. We were willing customers who would probably have bought a movie or two while waiting in line to buy the TV. But we walked away, in the same position we were in when we walked through their doors- we have $900 to spend on a TV, but instead of spending it (and perhaps more) at CC, we're spending it online, from the comfort of our own home, without the hassle of loading and unloading the car with a 42" TV. I don't care that I have to wait a few weeks for the TV to arrive, no skin off my back; but CC just lost yet another customer to the internet.