On the heels of a lackluster sales report during the holiday season, Best Buy has decided to eliminate restocking fees. Until recently, Best Buy charged customers 15% of the purchase price to restock an opened item. These returned electronics, if sold, usually feature a sales price of 10% off the regular price. It may be bold to offer this opinion, but a restocking fee makes sense as a deterrent for habitual returning. Even though it’s common in the industry — even consumer-friendly Amazon.com refunds only 85% of the purchase price of opened items, but it’s a policy that’s not seen as consumer friendly.
If you have returned an item to Best Buy any time after November 17 and were charged a restocking fee, talk to your store’s customer service department to get a refund. The new policy goes into effect for the future, but Best Buy is honoring requests for refunds for those who were charged the fee.
While I don’t always buy electronics from Best Buy, I always give them a chance to beat other store’s prices. I am often successful in negotiating a discount, especially when I’m willing to buy a product that is discontinued. Even in cases where I can’t convince the manager to offer a discount, they’ll usually throw in some free stuff, such as accessories.
Published or updated December 22, 2010. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
i agree with you. Why should the store take a loss because someone wants to play with some electronics for free? There has to be some deterrent.
I hate restocking fees but that’s just me. Needless to say I’m glad to see them disappearing one store at a time.
I will not purchase from stores with a restocking fee. If for some reason I do have to return something, I want all the money I paid for it back. I think this is a move in the right direction. But, if they see returns skyrocket, then they may need to question their customer’s motive to returns.