Best Buy GCU is being Discontinued?

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Chuck Stank said:
So your source is from Ubisoft only but you made no mention of that in your original post where you stated “most AAA games.” And you also quoted some guy in an Activision earnings call. Wow, great research buddy!
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So your in denial that the majority of games are selling digitally these days? Pretty sure Activision and Ubisoft have a rather large foot print on the market share. Why would Sony or Microsoft be any different? Have you looked at GTA 5 sales? The revenue from GTA 5 online? Microsoft with gamepass? Bueller?

But that's fine yell at the cloud old man.

I understand people don't like change but the new generation has been growing up on phone games. Digital is a way of life as are those big day one patches.

 
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hectorarizpe said:
Not showing a discount on mine either. Finally the Best Buy good ol days are over. RIP
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The discount is still applying on the website, the difference is that they are no longer showing it at the item display screens, you have to actually put it in your cart to see it actually apply. My presumption is that it's their passive-aggressive way of discouraging people (at least casual shoppers) from taking advantage of deals--to whatever extent they can under the membership agreement--by making the discounts less conspicuous.

 
Definitely sucks that GCU is basically done. Would have preferred Best Buy to increase the price to $60 or something instead of just ending it.
 
My wife was next to a Best Buy and just tried in store by us, its for sure not even YMMV, its removed from the national system... :(

 
jrr6415sun said:
i never really understood how they were making money on it anyway. 20% off is probably a good amount of their profit. They were probably trying to make it up in volume and as a loss leader to accessories and getting people in the store but their numbers probably showed it didn't give enough benefit.
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lionheart059 said:
This. I mean we got close to $13 off on a $60 game, that couldn't have been great for business on it's own. I'm honestly surprised it lasted as long as it did (tho still disappointed to see it go)

It was really the only thing that got me to go into a Best Buy store - Preorder a game with 20% off, store pickup, grab and go. Once I had a decent amount of rewards I'd actually shop around when I was there to pick up my game, but there's no way I spent enough on other items to cover the amount I had saved buying games with the discount.
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These are the most level-headed responses compared to some posters who are like "NEVER SHOPPING AT A BEST BUY AGAIN!" "BEST BUY IS NEVER GETTING MY MONEY!" "BEST BUY WILL NO GO BANKRUPT!" These are probably the same people who boomerang and flip at GameStop and constantly bitch about trade in values when you know GameStop loses money from them. People that are whining the loudest probably only bought video games with GCU and nothing else. Best Buy will not lose sleep over people who had GCU but still waited for sales so that a game could be even more heavily discounted. It was a business decision, simple as that. Margins on a game are already small. A few independent video game stores have openly admitted buying copies from Amazon or Best Buy because GCU/Prime price is cheaper than what they can get from wholesale distributors. If you're going to boycott Best Buy, I guess you will also not purchase from Best Buy during Black Friday then, right? Yeah, I didn't think so.

 
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I picked GCU and the best buy cc back in Nov for stacking the rewards points :(, Guess after Nov 2019 I'll have to drop it also lol

 
This is some B/S!! Meanwhile they are pitching me some $200 annual plan for 'Total Tech Support'...give me a break! 

I'm good thru Dec. 2019, we'll see if that holds. I guess if Amazon gets rid of it too, best option is GameStop at full price to amass the extra bonus points if you're Elite Pro ..

 
In case anyone was unaware. Games typically cost Best Buy between $45-47 a piece so they were already making almost nothing on any game sold with GCU. In fact, first party Nintendo games actually cost $48 so they are already losing a penny on all of those plus whatever it costs to ship them.

They kind of had to cut this off at the knees by removing the sku from the system immediately. If word got out early people would have been rushing to stores to renew their subscription for 10 years. :whee:

 
Honestly, I was already pissed off at Best Buy for the way their credit card bullshit works by not putting payments towards promotional balances to try to screw you over with finance charges. So combined with this and I’m done with BB when my GCU expires.
 
It’s dead I just tried to buy it in store they still had the cards up but when they scanned it, it wouldn’t go through and then the manager came over and said they canceled it today and are” replacing it with something else in the near future”
 
And I JUST got these shirts in from the printers:

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This sucks I purchased games with it also for years but at least Amazon prime members get pre orders for 20% off. So there’s still ways to get the same video game deals on new games somewhat.
 
Tyrok said:
In case anyone was unaware. Games typically cost Best Buy between $45-47 a piece so they were already making almost nothing on any game sold with GCU. In fact, first party Nintendo games actually cost $48 so they are already losing a penny on all of those plus whatever it costs to ship them.

They kind of had to cut this off at the knees by removing the sku from the system immediately. If word got out early people would have been rushing to stores to renew their subscription for 10 years. :whee:
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So why cut GCU now? Why not 6 months ago or 6 months from now? I'm just curious why they decided now was the time to do it if they've been losing money for so long. I mean, the subscription used to be like $200. Once they dropped it to $30 they had to know it was gonna kill them.

Unless it was a long-term pre-planned strategy of stealing "regular customers" from Amazon and Gamestop, knowing well in advance they'd axe it eventually once those customers settled in with Best Buy.

 
Good thing I renewed my membership last month for another 2 years.  While it sucks, it's not unexpected.  Ever since I joined I wondered how such a membership discount, especially stacking with DotD and weekly sales (not to mention Cyber Monday and Xmas sales) could be sustainable.  The simple answer was, it couldn't, and isn't.

It was good while it lasted.  I just hope that they actually honor the discounts for those of us that recently renewed before today's news.  Then again, their T&C states they reserve the right to modify or terminate GCU membership at any time. 

Maybe they are modifying the membership, thus canceling its current form.  They might go the way of Amazon, where the 20% discount is only applicable to pre-orders (removing the bonus reward points to pre-orders as well)?

 
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Like others I will take business elsewhere and just wait longer for the low price to hit. It started with just buying games but I ended up buying numerous tv, laptops, other electronics over the years. Once it becomes official I been on sending an email, I would suggest others to do the same.
 
SacCityGamer said:
Welp, I won't be buying anything from Best Buy anymore, just like before GCU. Not even non-video game stuff. Screw them. This sucks. I've spent upwards of $2500 there in the last two years with GCU mostly on video games but I've given them business for computers, TVs, and other stuff too because I appreciated them so much for doing GCU. They can die a slow death now for all I'm concerned.
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just because they're not losing money now doesn't mean you should screw them. Just be happy they gave you deals in the past. I buy from whatever store is cheapest. I have no loyalty to one store over another, and I'm not going to hate a store just because they want to stop losses.
 
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You don’t get charged on preorders until they ship, right? I was thinking of doing huge order just to lock in my GCU discounts but don’t want to get charged $1000 at once.
 
GCU was the sole reason I shop at Best Buy. Definitely will be buying many fewer games as a result. Guess that's motivation to play through my backlog though.
 
Well this kinda sucks....mine ends in Feb 2019 so i guess i'll use for all switch games.

 
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David Hibiki said:
Ever?
Digital sales are already over 50% for most AAA games.
PC and (lol) Phone is obviously digital only, at least PC 99% of the time.
Sony and MS will make bigger digtal pushes next gen.
Don't forget all the switch games coming out requiring a download. If Nintendo were ever to cut off servers (which they have done with Wii, and one day they will with the Switch) good luck playing that game you "own".
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Where do you get that 50% stat from? I will never buy digital for console games, especially not Nintendo.
 
doctor lollypop said:
It’s dead I just tried to buy it in store they still had the cards up but when they scanned it, it wouldn’t go through and then the manager came over and said they canceled it today and are” replacing it with something else in the near future”
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This better be true...

My GCU runs out in feb 2019, that will be the last day I ever bother with BB if thats the case.

I never even think of BB when I look for something, until GCU.. 99% of my games were purchased through them. And with the rewards program I did buy other things knowing that it would add points... to spend on games...

As I have said before, I have to go out of my way (14 miles) to get to the nearest BB, 17 Miles If i go to the next nearest one (which is next to my route, so that works out)

If GCU is dead.... BB is dead. I return to zero reason to even go to their website.

And knowing BB, my money is on a new GCU member email going out... "As of X date in 2018, GCU will be terminated"*

*"There will be no refunds"

 
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awp said:
Honestly, I was already pissed off at Best Buy for the way their credit card bullshit works by not putting payments towards promotional balances to try to screw you over with finance charges. So combined with this and I’m done with BB when my GCU expires.
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FYI: Best Buy doesn't manage their credit, it is outsourced I believe to Citibank. It is up to them to put the balance toward specific purchases not Best Buy.

 
fuck Best buy. That is all.

Seriously though, everyone @Bestbuy on Twitter and email their support. Let them know they'll be losing a customer. That's the only way we "may" have something reversed.
 
jrr6415sun said:
Where do you get that 50% stat from? I will never buy digital for console games, especially not Nintendo.
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that percentage is ubisofts game revenue. but its not digital game sales, its total sales. including dlc, season passes, and most importantly microtransactions.

 
ZabaZu said:
Eh, Idk about that. Almost all of your physical PS4/Xbox One games are buggy, nearly unplayable messes without at least the day 1 patch, and with every game requiring an install anyway, there's almost no incentive anymore unless you are a collector of any sort. I don't want to see them go either, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if this gen is the end of physical games.
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Hard drive space? Download caps? Games are ridiculously big now.
 
Disappointing to hear. Still would rather give them my business than Amazon or GS, though. My local BB treated me well even before GCU, so I'll still spend my money there. But probably won't buy as many games as before, at least not without waiting for price drops/sales.
 
RiPPn said:
FYI: Best Buy doesn't manage their credit, it is outsourced I believe to Citibank. It is up to them to put the balance toward specific purchases not Best Buy.
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Yeah, well, Best Buy still advertises all these free financing offers so I still put them on the hook too. I’m sure they have contracts with Citibank on how they manage their credit offers.
 
Tyrok said:
In case anyone was unaware. Games typically cost Best Buy between $45-47 a piece so they were already making almost nothing on any game sold with GCU. In fact, first party Nintendo games actually cost $48 so they are already losing a penny on all of those plus whatever it costs to ship them.

They kind of had to cut this off at the knees by removing the sku from the system immediately. If word got out early people would have been rushing to stores to renew their subscription for 10 years. :whee:
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so they could have raised the price a little bit. people would have been fine with a slight price increase. i personally would have gladly paid $60 for the same 2 year membership.

instead they just canceled it and are trying to sweep it under the rug. screw that and screw best buy.

 
jrr6415sun said:
Where do you get that 50% stat from? I will never buy digital for console games, especially not Nintendo.
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I think it's from certain developers like a few pointed out, as a whole with indies... i'd say it may be close to correct.

If you remove indies, and only the big names.. I'd say it's not 50%

The only reason I ever buy anything digital... if it's on deep discount. I buy physical on 99% of my stuff.

There are exceptions.. but very few for me.

2 years from now I want to install an uninstalled game (or even start a game in my backlog...) because internet is down due to 700 feet of snow... oh, can't if digital. (or 17 hour download and 87 patches later, i got bored)

Physical, just pop the disc in and in a relatively short time... i'm playing.

******

Oh... and BTW guys, remember the GCU initial price was $99 for 2 years, they dropped it to $30... They could have just raised the price a tad and not pissed everyone off.... but nooooooo.

 
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In some sick twisted irony, this could be the universe way of telling me to start play through my backlog

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk
 
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daniel77733 said:
Definitely sucks that GCU is basically done. Would have preferred Best Buy to increase the price to $60 or something instead of just ending it.
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Yea why not make it 10-15% or have it not work on collectors editions or something.

I heard a rumor from an employee that they may come out with a new plan with a new name, or add it to their total support plan.
 
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I felt like best buy never even advertised this thing.

I see so many people on other boards who doesn't have it when there was no reason to have have it.

 
awp said:
You don’t get charged on preorders until they ship, right? I was thinking of doing huge order just to lock in my GCU discounts but don’t want to get charged $1000 at once.
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They place a temporary hold that drops off, but you'll need funds available for the hold in some cases

 
well i guess i'll finally start considering going all digital now.  I've never considered it before because of the GCU discount...perhaps it is time

 
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