Best Buy GCU to be discontinued 3-1-2021

Nephilim

Nephilim

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Ugh. I had a year left. Oh well, good while it lasted.

——

We have an important announcement to share about your Gamers Club Unlocked* membership.

Thank you for being a My Best Buy® member and part of the Gamers Club Unlocked program. We have made the decision to end the current Gamers Club Unlocked program which means we will cancel remaining memberships and discontinue all current benefits as of March 1, 2021.

As a current Gamers Club Unlocked member, we will be refunding you the purchase price of your unexpired membership(s). We will mail you a refund check equal to $30 for each membership. You can expect to receive your check by the end of March 2021. To ensure you receive your check, please log into your account at https://www.bestbuy.com/profile/c/address/shipping and confirm your primary address is up to date. Your Gamers Club Unlocked benefits will remain active through February 28, 2021.

Despite this change, you will remain a member of My Best Buy which earns you rewards on your Best Buy purchases and additional member benefits.

If you need assistance with this, or have questions, please feel free to contact us at
1-888-BEST-BUY (1-888-237-8289) or through our chat channels on BestBuy.com.

Thank you for continuing to be a loyal Best Buy customer!

The Best Buy Team
 
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BBY killing off GCU (finally!) is hardly news, and it's funny seeing all the negative reactions to it.

To the complainers, BBY doesn't need you.  It's just bad business to continue a program where you lose money on every sale.  It's crazy enough BBY didn't kill it off entirely sooner.  That it still would refund you $30/yr when most didn't even pay that is generous. 

Second, the margins for profit on selling games is fast diminishing, coupled with the significant reduction in physical game sales, there is even less reason for BBY to keep maintaining this program or anything like it.  Far better to do something like Amazon Prime or Walmart+.

Lastly, though BBY gave me one particularly bad holiday experience, the retailer is still pretty good, and frankly, I like supporting them over Amazon where I can.  Competition is always good, and I think many here who are complaining are completely forgetting that, for example, Amazon's prices on games and movies are ALMOST ALWAYS no more than price matches of sales by Best Buy, Target, or Walmart. 

Sure, shop others for lower prices.  But to stick it to a retailer solely for ending a program it just can't fiscally maintain, but is refunding you for the difference, neglects the fact it offered it and kept it alive longer than anyone else, and seems quite illogical. 

If BBY screwed you multiple times, and completely #%&ed up a situation, then sure. 

But all the animosity over this?  Nah.

 
ShadowAssassin said:
Curious why everyone stopped buying from BB. Were the points not attractive enough? Do you just like other retailers better?
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I mostly switched to Amazon because I have their credit card and get 5% back on purchases. I also have started buying more from Target because I have the 5% back for Red Card. I do still buy CEs and exclusives from Best Buy though.

 
Tyrok said:
They buy games that cost $60 for $45-48 so they were breaking even until you factor in free shipping and the $10 certs are done in partnership with the publishers to get their preorder numbers up.

The amount of people that still had it a year after they stopped offering it was probably pretty minimal anyway. Surely Best Buy not offering up games "at cost" anymore is the beginning of their downfall. :p
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So how does it ever make sense to put a game on sale for 40? Does Sony cut a refund check for each game sold at a lower cost? Does BB not actually pay Sony for the games in their stores until they sell? When Sony drops MSRP, does BB get a refund /credit for the copies they still have in stores?
 
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It definitely sucks that it’s ending. I still had it till 2024. But I got an e-mail saying they will refund me the extra time I’m losing at $30/year.

I’m Best Buy Elite. I shop there a lot, normally. In 2020 alone I spent over $7000 in their stores. But a lot of the decisions they’re currently making as a company will start to slow me down a lot as a consumer there. Pretty much eradicating the movie sections. Now canceling my GCU. I always go with the best price. Walmart sells most video games cheaper than Best Buy, and employees at the store usually give me more grief over price matching games than movies. I realize they were only breaking even selling games to me, but I rarely ever entered the store and left with just a video game. I usually pick up multiple items.
 
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bojay1997 said:
I mostly switched to Amazon because I have their credit card and get 5% back on purchases. I also have started buying more from Target because I have the 5% back for Red Card. I do still buy CEs and exclusives from Best Buy though.
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With the U.S. Bank Cash Plus card you get 5% back at Best Buy, plus you accumulate rewards certificates on top of that. And the sign-up bonus for the credit card is better than either Amazon or Target's.

https://www.usbank.com/credit-cards/cash-plus-visa-signature-credit-card.html

 
Best buy credit card honestly kicks ass. 6% back total in rewards on purchases. Plus they have random absurd deals. Right now 10% back on all bill payments.

If it weren't for BB credit card i'd stop shopping there. 

I get new amazon prime by rolling prime accounts every 6 months by buying .edu email addresses, so the amazon card sucks for me.

 
KemperJones said:
Still glad I got pre-orders in for Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4 before mine ended early last year. At least those are already paid for since I used PayPal, so I don't think there is a risk of getting up charged.
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I hope they don't mess with preorders. I've had Metroid Prime 4 preordered for a while as well (WILL IT EVER GET RELEASED?).

 
Starcrest said:
So how does it ever make sense to put a game on sale for 40? Does Sony cut a refund check for each game sold at a lower cost? Does BB not actually pay Sony for the games in their stores until they sell? When Sony drops MSRP, does BB get a refund /credit for the copies they still have in stores?
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Yes, when MSRP drops, the distributor provides a credit to the retailer which can then be used against future purchases. Publishers and distributors will also incentivize sale pricing by offering other credits against future purchases or marketing co-branding campaigns, etc...In short, having a 20% discount across the board is much different than targeted sales pricing or MSRP drops.

 
shosaisyu said:
Best buy credit card honestly kicks ass. 6% back total in rewards on purchases. Plus they have random absurd deals. Right now 10% back on all bill payments.

If it weren't for BB credit card i'd stop shopping there.

I get new amazon prime by rolling prime accounts every 6 months by buying .edu email addresses, so the amazon card sucks for me.
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Yep, got mine a few years ago, forgot what promo pulled me in but I'm sure it was pretty good for me to get yet another CC. Yep, for the next couple months, will max out the utilities/10% bonus they're offering now. I don't buy games there much but do buy my appliances there and occasional movies that go on crazy sale.

My GCU ran out a couple years back since I didn't believe they'd support multiple years going forward.

 
bojay1997 said:
Yes, when MSRP drops, the distributor provides a credit to the retailer which can then be used against future purchases. Publishers and distributors will also incentivize sale pricing by offering other credits against future purchases or marketing co-branding campaigns, etc...In short, having a 20% discount across the board is much different than targeted sales pricing or MSRP drops.
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Yup, bojay1997 is correct. The most obvious examples of this are when Sony announces their Play promos and you see $9.99 drops across all retailers. It's basically the same thing, but you won't see the manufacturer announce it. It's also the case that certain retailers will place items on sale through other retailer-publisher arrangements.

Yes, it's that nuanced. Even those sales you see at your grocery stores are all negotiated and timed. Crazy, I know, but there's a system in place for all this.

 
Well nuts, I had until 2023, was the sole reason I even entertained buying from them aside from the occasional extreme price screwups I caught them with them. Oh well, I'll keep buying off them and racking up points until whenever the last DDR4 Ryzen comes out or if GPUs ever come back in stock again, then cash out and be glad I'm finally free from them. Though I will miss the Elite status, but as someone mentioned earlier, it's going to be hard to maintain (Especially since I whored my account out to my friends and family) now unless I buy a TV or fridge every year so I'll just stick to Amazon Prime.

 
ShadowAssassin said:
Curious why everyone stopped buying from BB. Were the points not attractive enough? Do you just like other retailers better?
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I still do because there's one within 10-15 minute drive from where I'm at. I prefer physical so it's better to make the drive and get the game on release day morning rather than waiting for mail.

Cyberpunk was last GCU game (which I haven't even installed) so it's a shame. If I recall correctly, there was a time where PS4 Spider-Man copies were scarce or just very low stock, so people couldn't pre-order from Best Buy which at the time had GCU and Amazon with similar 20% off new game membership deal. The ones that doesn't have any video game memberships still carry them. Once these programs got terminated, both Best Buy and Amazon started getting restocks. I'm pretty sure that was the catalyst of these awesome programs ending.

 
Sonic Boom said:
Anyone else remember when GCU first started, they would have coupons in the magazine?
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Remember that one time Best Buy got drunk and they raised the price of GCU to $120? Those were funny times.
 
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I'm another that's in the Best Buy CC rules camp.  My GCU ran out a couple of years ago, but the 6% back in Rewards plus promos has been perfectly fine in my book.  I racked up with the 5% back for Warehouse Stores promo from Oct 1st to Dec 31st.  Add the 2 day free shipping with Elite plus the 45 day post purchase price matching & its a no-brainer.  I always order any games from the website so I can access chat for price matching purposes.  Granted its not GCU good but it's better than dealing with GameStop or anywhere else...

 
Can a bestbuy store check your pre orders instore? Like $5 deposits? Can they check other stores
 
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ShadowAssassin said:
Curious why everyone stopped buying from BB. Were the points not attractive enough? Do you just like other retailers better?
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I almost stopped shopping there entirely when GCU ended. I spent a lot there actually along with using my BBY VISA elsewhere. With this going away, there is no real reason for me to go there. Sure, I will take the promotions they send out to rack up points but once I get my PS5 using my remaining points, I will cancel my card and just only go there when I need something quickly. I get good rewards from my other credit cards.

This move actually saved me money.
 
Nobody has mentioned that because GCU is a flat 20% discount, we now would be entering the $70 for $56 game era...an increased discount.

GCU has been dead to me for awhile, but almost all my new game purchases were at best buy when I had it.

I rarely shop there now, because

1) the return policy besides holidays for non elite members is worse than other retailers

2) i already have a prime card 5% cashback with free shipping and red card 5% discount with free shipping

3) target b2g1 has become my defacto buying option (especially since you can cancel/return a game or 2 if need be) $44+tax for a ps5 game
 
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Kerig said:
Remember that one time Best Buy got drunk and they raised the price of GCU to $120? Those were funny times.
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Remember when you remembered this wrong? When GCU originally debuted it was $120. I remember because I joined the weekend it came out. I also remember how a bunch of people on here were bitching about how expensive it was. Between the discount and magazine coupons my savings paid for that membership within a couple of months. Remember when you were limited to three copies of a title across all platforms? They probably should have kept that instead of relaxing it to three per system.
 
when i first joined, it was really cheap, then later they changed it to $120 for a 2-year sub. THEN they had that weird phone offer if you bought any phone, you saved about $100 off the price of GCU, so we bought $10 burner phones and it ended up making GCU even cheaper than it was ($15/year?). I traded a nephew my phone for his Snickers bar. All of these stories are from memory only, take with a grain of sea salt.
 
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My last two GCU preorders after my membership expired are Bravely Default 2 and Elden Ring.
It really was a great program. Best Buy is still my preferred retailer for video games.

 
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My last preorders before my GCU ended was Metroid Prime 4, Dying Light 2, Tales of Arise, Biomutant, No more heroes 3. Gonna miss this program so much

 
my GCU expired like a year and a half ago.  since then i stopped shopping there entirely (save mx518 mouse for $20), prior to that i was spending $1500+ year for several consecutive years.  reading this thread seems to be a common theme... 

 
Damn, the end of an era. Think I purchased my first GCU for $60 back when they still their own magazine + coupons.. then bought another for $30 or something a year later... Then they had one crazy deal (which is where I stocked up) it was something like buy a pre-paid phone (any kind) and you'd get GCU discounted down to like $5 or something.. freaking weird deal, lol.

Anyways, thanks for the heads up OP. Going to keep tabs on this thread because for some reason I didn't receive an e-mail in regards to this.

 
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Joe Fongul said:
I'm another that's in the Best Buy CC rules camp. My GCU ran out a couple of years ago, but the 6% back in Rewards plus promos has been perfectly fine in my book. I racked up with the 5% back for Warehouse Stores promo from Oct 1st to Dec 31st. Add the 2 day free shipping with Elite plus the 45 day post purchase price matching & its a no-brainer. I always order any games from the website so I can access chat for price matching purposes. Granted its not GCU good but it's better than dealing with GameStop or anywhere else...
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Same. When they had 10% back at pharmacies late last year, I bought a ton of gift cards at CVS for all of the stores I frequently shop at. And all purchases on the card count towards elite status. I usually only spend a few hundred at BB each year, yet always have elite status just from using the card at other stores while using promos like that 10% back offer.

And, if you want to get technical, it's actually a little more than 10% back, since BB doesn't charge sales tax on the portion of your purchase that you pay with RZ certificates.

That said, I will miss stacking that 20% GCU discount when I redeem those RZ certs....
 
I'm glad they are finally ending the program.  It's unfair for everybody else who's subscription expired a long time ago.

 
bruceg said:
I'm glad they are finally ending the program. It's unfair for everybody else who's subscription expired a long time ago.
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As someone who hasn’t had GCU for quite sometime and definitely sad about it, i think when you buy a paid membership it should be honored until it runs out.

this would be better for consumers and cags in the long term. also keep in mind, some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue...the “not fair” mindset will bother you greatly at another time when you are on the right side of “fairness”
 
kraftwerks said:
The now second place dumbest comments were all the ones being made about how the deals would get EVEN BETTER! once GCU subs expired/were phased out.
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Yup. Remember when Amazon stopped offering preorder bonuses after Best Buy stopped GCU?
 
Well to be fair, we haven't seen what bestbuy will do after ALL the GCU accounts are gone in march yet.  Not holding my breath, but that frees them up a bit in pricing freedom.  If they do nothing, amazon will just take further share in this area from them.

 
Yup, like the others mentioned I remember the coupons and the @Gamer magazine. Good times. There are still deals sometimes (they'll clearance some games) and they're still reasonably competitive for Black Friday etc., but nothing like it was. It was a good run.  :beer:

 
I would have to wonder how many people are left after that one Call of Duty charity snafu where they gave out four years for the price of two. That's what I had and that expired in November. It's probably a lot easier to cut it off now.

 
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