Best Buy Gamers Club Unlocked Permanent Price Drop - $30

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$30 Gamers Club Unlocked

  • Save 20% on new video games, receive 10% bonus trade-in credit on games, plus other benefits. Terms and conditions apply. In-store activation required.
Was $99.99, now $30 for two years. Begins March 8th:
https://corporate.bestbuy.com/just-30-the-new-price-to-join-my-best-buys-gamers-club-unlocked/
 
Membership benefits:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/regularcatpcmcat338600050004/gamers-club/pcmcat338600050004.c?id=pcmcat338600050004
 
20% off new games, 10% off pre-owned, 10% extra trade-in credit, B2G1 Free Coupon and 50% off strategy guide coupon in Welcome Packet/email. Discount not applicable for consoles or accessories, but works on interactive gaming figures like amiibo, Disney Infinity, and Skylanders.
 
FAQ

 
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I can't help but think this must represent how successful it's been. It's crazy to think the that they will thin their margins that much based on how savvy a CAGer might use it but if it increases purchases enough it might work.

It still can't compete with waiting for clearance but I've definitely saved more than the $30 I spent considering I've played new games that would take a few months to drop below the GCU price.

 
Hopefully they don't make changes to the program to reflect the new reduced cost. I'm pretty sure this place would explode with hatred if they changed it to not work with sale prices or something silly.
 
wow. I really think Best Buy is offering too good of a price point. $60 seems better for them and still fair for consumers. not sure how this will play out in the "long run". I expect double the amount of stupid users on the bb forums.

 
This seems like one of those too good to be true deals
Wonder how far from bankruptcy they are. Wouldn't want to be spending money on a club that will be gone next year
 
Gamers Club Unlocked has been the biggest joke to me on this site for the longest time now.  My BestBuy has been drastically downsizing its movie and games section for over a year and a half now.  They used to have a full aisle for each platform, and over a dozen full aisles of movies.  Now they've got about 1/3rd of an aisle dedicated to a particular system and the movies department has maybe four or five aisles.  It's impossible to find any movies there that aren't brand new releases, and even then, it has to be a blockbuster.

I talked to a guy there a couple years ago when I was looking for a Blu that they didn't have in stock and he said that BestBuy was about to start phasing out media because "everyone is buying their movies and games digitally now."  I didn't believe BestBuy would be that stupid, but apparently it seems like that's true.  "Turn on the Fun" is now "Turn on the...washing machine?"

I suspect anyone buying a GCU account now won't be able to use it in-store within six months, atleast at mine, unless they're buying a day-one $60 game.

Rant over.

 
This makes me feel like they will drop the discount to 10% off. I've definitely gotten my $30 worth already though, so I am not mad and I am also glad that I didn't add more time to GCU now. Really crossing my fingers that they keep the 20% off because 10% is only good for taking care of the sales tax. 

 
People I know that work at Best Buy have told me that pretty much nobody bought it at $120.  I guess almost everyone that's signed up has done it during the free to $30 promos, anyway.  So it's probably a "screw it, whatever" move if anything.

 
Kain said:
Gamers Club Unlocked has been the biggest joke to me on this site for the longest time now. My BestBuy has been drastically downsizing its movie and games section for over a year and a half now. They used to have a full aisle for each platform, and over a dozen full aisles of movies. Now they've got about 1/3rd of an aisle dedicated to a particular system and the movies department has maybe four or five aisles. It's impossible to find any movies there that aren't brand new releases, and even then, it has to be a blockbuster.

I talked to a guy there a couple years ago when I was looking for a Blu that they didn't have in stock and he said that BestBuy was about to start phasing out media because "everyone is buying their movies and games digitally now." I didn't believe BestBuy would be that stupid, but apparently it seems like that's true. "Turn on the Fun" is now "Turn on the...washing machine?"

I suspect anyone buying a GCU account now won't be able to use it in-store within six months, atleast at mine, unless they're buying a day-one $60 game.

Rant over.
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Much of what you write is true, but ... GCU can be used on the website too ...
 
I did 6 years for about $42 during the phone glitch and when it went down to $30 some time in September last year. I've managed to make the thing pay for itself with the trading, points, and the 20% discount so I've no regrets as I've already made it pay for itself. 

But still this is a sign that makes me question if BBY will even hold out two more years, let alone six.

 
hauz20 said:
Much of what you write is true, but ... GCU can be used on the website too ...
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Karkian said:
And you can avoid shipping by having them ship it to your local store. Some people just like to rant.
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I do like to rant sometimes, that is true. But to be honest, the "Ship to store" option rarely shows up when I want to buy something, maybe 2% of the time. In most cases, it's "not available in-store". Admittedly, though, in most cases, what I've wanted to buy are Blu-Rays. Last time I wanted to order a game from Bestbuy was when I was trying to get in on that B2G1 they had before Christmas. Wanted Bioshock Infinite Complete (PS3), Kingdom Hearts 2.5 (PS3) and Akiba's Trip (PS4). Guess which one wasn't listed on the website and which two weren't available in-store...

 
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MR_E said:
People I know that work at Best Buy have told me that pretty much nobody bought it at $120. I guess almost everyone that's signed up has done it during the free to $30 promos, anyway. So it's probably a "screw it, whatever" move if anything.
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Yeah I couldn't imagine anyone payin $120 for it. After all the discounts they have had on it anyone who doesn't have it already would have likely waited until another sale at $30 or less to get it anyway. Smart move on Best Buy's part to sell the program and really bring more people into the store, I usually end up getting a game and a Blu-Ray when I go in, so it's working as far as getting me into the store goes.

 
Can you use it online and if so, how do you buy games with it? Like do you have to put in a code at checkout?
 
Firmbizbws said:
Can you use it online and if so, how do you buy games with it? Like do you have to put in a code at checkout?
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Its tied with your rewards account. So when you sign up it connects with it, when you shop online and log into your account the gcu benefits are automatically applied, you can see it when you add a game to your cart.

 
[quote name="CAG of Duty" post="12546790" timestamp="1425488654"]Its tied with your rewards account. So when you sign up it connects with it, when you shop online and log into your account the gcu benefits are automatically applied, you can see it when you add a game to your cart.[/quote]

Oh ok awesome, thanks for the responses guys
 
my guess is at some point this year or next best buy is going to stop dealing in used games or massively discount the prices they pay, which will break the Best Buy "cycle" for most of us and hence make GCU a lot less useful for people.  This is just the first step - get a ton of people paying an extra $30 and buying more games, then stop paying high prices for used games.

 
Best Buy drops the price on a great program they benefits gamers and out come the conspiracy theorists. I guess that's the Internet for ya.

With the overstuffed 2015 release calendar, the $30 investment will easily pay for itself before the year is over.
Great investment to make, regardless of what changes may or may not happen.
 
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Kain said:
I do like to rant sometimes, that is true. But to be honest, the "Ship to store" option rarely shows up when I want to buy something, maybe 2% of the time. In most cases, it's "not available in-store". Admittedly, though, in most cases, what I've wanted to buy are Blu-Rays. Last time I wanted to order a game from Bestbuy was when I was trying to get in on that B2G1 they had before Christmas. Wanted Bioshock Infinite Complete (PS3), Kingdom Hearts 2.5 (PS3) and Akiba's Trip (PS4). Guess which one wasn't listed on the website and which two weren't available in-store...
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I can't comment on Blu-rays since I rarely buy movies anymore, but I can see people having a problem finding Japanese games at best buy. I don't even think my best buy carried any copies of Tales of Xillia 2 at all. For most western games though I haven't had a problem with shipping to store or finding a copy at my store.

 
Karkian said:
I can't comment on Blu-rays since I rarely buy movies anymore, but I can see people having a problem finding Japanese games at best buy. I don't even think my best buy carried any copies of Tales of Xillia 2 at all. For most western games though I haven't had a problem with shipping to store or finding a copy at my store.
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I tend to buy Blus a lot more than games now that most games have DLC and Season Passes and I've wised up and learned to wait for Complete Editions. Believe it or not, though, Bestbuy had both the PS3 and Vita of Akiba listed but not the PS4 edition. :(

 
I think this is brilliant by Best Buy.  I haven't purchased a single game or amiibo anywhere since I signed up back when they first offered it and I got the awesome @gamer magazine coupons.  Every time I see a deal somewhere like amazon, I look at best buy and realize I can get it cheaper with my GCU discount.  They have stolen every bit of my gaming business away from amazing.  I'm pretty sure getting repeat customers is the reason they are giving this away for so cheap.  I don't see them making any changes to the program either.  It's really a smart move on their part all around.

What I do could possibly see them doing, however, is games that used to go on sale for 14.99 would probably be 19.99 now or games that were 7.99 would be 9.99.... Either way, if they are the cheapest place offering the game with my discount... I'm going there.  

Great program.  If you don't have it... Get it.

 
i don't know about Best Buy, but video games are usually a low profit magin. I mean look at the guy from Kmart explain how horrible they made out and often lost money on video game sales. Of course the volume of games sold at Best Buy is way higher than Kmart so they are surely getting better deals from publishers due to quantity.

Still, I find even the constant 20% off all new games has got to really hurt that margin. The 120 price point was clearly in their favor knowing that it would take like 10 games at full $60 retail to see much benefit. And they probably banked on people that wouldn't hit that mark, but were also too stupid to think there would be many people at all that would take the risk at that price.

For $30, GCU is a huge no brainer for anyone buying games and just three games in and it's more than paid for. Seriously, even if there is no $10 preorder bonus, I never consider buying day one games anywhere else.

I think $60 would have been a happy medium. If they change the TOS for the new price though, I'd be pretty pissed.

Still, selling pre-orders for $37.50, how can they possibly be making money on that (and yes, I know, ten of that will eventually be spent at BB)?

The only way this wins for BB at just $30 is if they are trying to use this as a loss leader, hoping we'll buy other things while we're at the store or online.

Unless they change those terms...

I don't see anything wrong with people being concerned or have "conspiracy" theories. The $30 GCU purchase may get them a nice income boost initially. But it could quickly turn to bite them if the margins are as low as I've heard.
 
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Someone needs to make a GCU wiki with all the program details and FAQs now, since *everyone* is going to be a GCU member after this. :) I dont mean it as a bad thing (that everyone is going to be a member).

 
genesis49 said:
This seems like one of those too good to be true deals
Wonder how far from bankruptcy they are. Wouldn't want to be spending money on a club that will be gone next year
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I hate best buy, so maybe bankruptcy next week, then circuit city comes back from the grave. Amazon taking over the stores as pickup locations would work for me as well.
 
I just read the press release, and it now states that Amiibo are also 20% off. That could add more interest in GCU for people who are interested in collecting Amiibo, but not necessarily interested in purchasing new games.

 
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kinnder said:
I just read the press release, and it now states that Amiibo are also 20% off. That could add more interest in GCU for people who are interested in collecting Amiibo, but not necessarily interested in purchasing new games.
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Amiibo's have always gotten 20% off with GCU.

 
This is obviously great news for gamers, but as others have mentioned, there's no way BB is making any money off this program.  I've always been surprised that it wasn't only on used games and maybe accessories since those are the things that have the largest markup.  I don't doubt that nobody was biting at the original price and this is why they've made the permanent drop, but I too suspect we'll either see the new game discount drop to 10% or gone altogether and maybe the used discount get bumped up to 20% to "make up for it".

 
genesis49 said:
This seems like one of those too good to be true deals
Wonder how far from bankruptcy they are. Wouldn't want to be spending money on a club that will be gone next year
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Not close at all really. They struggled like 2-3 years ago and rebounded pretty well actually after a lot of major changes. Amazingly, when the economy went bust people stopped buying TV's and that hurt them pretty bad for a bit. They now have a business model that involves a lot of third parties helping to reduce their overhead.

Kain said:
Gamers Club Unlocked has been the biggest joke to me on this site for the longest time now. My BestBuy has been drastically downsizing its movie and games section for over a year and a half now. They used to have a full aisle for each platform, and over a dozen full aisles of movies. Now they've got about 1/3rd of an aisle dedicated to a particular system and the movies department has maybe four or five aisles. It's impossible to find any movies there that aren't brand new releases, and even then, it has to be a blockbuster.

I talked to a guy there a couple years ago when I was looking for a Blu that they didn't have in stock and he said that BestBuy was about to start phasing out media because "everyone is buying their movies and games digitally now." I didn't believe BestBuy would be that stupid, but apparently it seems like that's true. "Turn on the Fun" is now "Turn on the...washing machine?"

I suspect anyone buying a GCU account now won't be able to use it in-store within six months, atleast at mine, unless they're buying a day-one $60 game.

Rant over.
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I buy Blu Rays all the time but even I have to admit most people don't and there is a reason Best Buy has downsized that section in most stores (.com still has a great selection though and they constantly rotate older/cheaper titles through the stores). As for gaming, most of the stores around me have a solid selection and usually a full aisle per console (in some cases a little more). The stores dedicate floor space to what sells. They could fill half the store with movies and games but they'd probably pay a hefty price for it. Great example, the Mall of America store seems to have a bit less space dedicated to TV's than most stores but has a huge phone and movie section compared to most. I imagine it is because mall shoppers are more likely to buy those items than a TV (this isn't a Best Buy a lot of locals go shopping at).

 
Sigma said:
Amiibo's have always gotten 20% off with GCU.
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Amiibo, Skylanders, and Disney Infinity figures all get the discount. Been getting figures there since the original GCU promo. If you have kids it's a must.

One question for people - did anyone else never get a welcome packet? I've seen it mentioned here and on the BB site, but since enrolling in November I have never seen one. How do I go about getting that sent?

 
They can add more items into the fold *and* limit the number of times you can use...thats another way to make you buy more without actually loosing a lot. If enough people use the membership, it may actually be profitable.

 
chriscolbert said:
This is obviously great news for gamers, but as others have mentioned, there's no way BB is making any money off this program. I've always been surprised that it wasn't only on used games and maybe accessories since those are the things that have the largest markup. I don't doubt that nobody was biting at the original price and this is why they've made the permanent drop, but I too suspect we'll either see the new game discount drop to 10% or gone altogether and maybe the used discount get bumped up to 20% to "make up for it".
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Don't be so sure they aren't making money on the program. They may be making up the lost profitability of each item in volume. Basically, anyone who purchases GCU is essentially pledging to spend most of their gaming dollars at Best Buy rather than other retailers.

 
scovie said:
...

One question for people - did anyone else never get a welcome packet? I've seen it mentioned here and on the BB site, but since enrolling in November I have never seen one. How do I go about getting that sent?
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Happens all the time. Chat with the BBY CS in the unboxed forum and they should be able to take care of it in a day. All you get in the end is a list of coupons - one or two may be really handy but most are junk (at least for me, they were). There is one, B2G1F PO coupon that you may be interested in.

 
WNYX585AM said:
Don't be so sure they aren't making money on the program. They may be making up the lost profitability of each item in volume. Basically, anyone who purchases GCU is essentially pledging to spend most of their gaming dollars at Best Buy rather than other retailers.
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True, but when I worked there employees got games at 5% over cost and most $59.99 games came out to around $51. So at $47.99 a pop I'm just assuming that they aren't making much on each sale. True they will sell a shit ton and maybe that's all that matters, but actual profit for new game sales can't be that great.

 
WNYX585AM said:
Don't be so sure they aren't making money on the program. They may be making up the lost profitability of each item in volume. Basically, anyone who purchases GCU is essentially pledging to spend most of their gaming dollars at Best Buy rather than other retailers.
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Not necessarily. So far, I've only used my GCU for my maximum 3 copies of MH4U that also came with the $10 gift card. I only need to spend $30 more dollars on video games to recoup my $30 investment. I still buy wherever the best price is for games I want, whether it's Best Buy, Target, Walmart, eBay, Amazon, Half.com, Dell.com, etc.

Rarely has the Best Buy price, even with the 20% GCU discount, been low enough to make me bite.

 
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