@davebg5:

:-|

Yeah that's what I meant to say. btw in ear monitors for the WIN.

However, if you go there for accessories, you deserve to get gouged.

Always, ALWAYS shop around online before going to Best Buy or Circuit City.

1) Apple ear buds suck at any price
2) Best Buy is the worst
3) But I enjoy reading about Best Buy's antics and it's always good to be reminded that best buy continues to exploit.

Snoop-blog: Take a look at the Etymotic in-ear 'phones. They're basically ear plugs with ear-buds built into them. Comes with various sizes of foam plugs to try...and if you end up wearing them quite a bit, you can get an audiologist to make custom ear moulds for them. Beats the daylights out of any of the "noise cancelling" headphones. Better to keep sound out of the ear rather than trying to blast it away with an out-of-phase matching noise.

And yet they've provided me with an account so that I can comment. And that's just what I did. I expressed my opinion, intending to convey the point that price differences among identical items exist wherever a market economy exists, and that market economies are surprisingly common. You didn't like my point. "Oh well", indeed.

(Also, "ubiquitously well known" is not necessarily redundant. It may be hyperbolic, but the phrase "well known" need not connote that something is absolutely known by everyone. Hence my addition of an adverb that connotes far more than that).

I work at RadioShack

We sell those same headphones for $29.99

umm, i don't know if anyone else noticed this or not...but that screen shot is not from apple's website. it is from bestbuy.com. yes, apple's website is priced at $29.99 and best buy's is 49.99 for the same headphones, but seriously...if you're trying to make a point, include the correct screenshots...

I hate these headphones. They hurt my ears, and they fall out. I bought a pair of cheap ones that hook over my ears at WalMart (yeah, I know, I know!) and they work better and stay on.

The Best Buy here is so noisy you can't even hear yourself think. I mean, the din is incredible. They must have every TV and stereo turned up all the way, all playing different shows/music.

I love Circuit City. My laptop, LCD TV, surround sound, and 2 iPods came from there. They were extremely nice when the TV blew up as they were installing it, and brought me another one. I've always gotten great service at CC.

I have one pair i never use that came WITH my iPod, and another pair i had to buy because my wired remote broke and they don't sell it without *another* set of stupid, uncomfortable earphones.

I'd sell em for $20 each to whatever strange person actually likes them!

Though it is weird that Best Buy is selling an apple product for 20 dollars more than apple does

Oh wait...

>_>

First, there's the large number of commenters here seemed to be surprised or appalled by this information. And considering that most of the regular commenters on this site are also regular readers on the site... that might cast a bit of doubt over the ubiquity of the aforementioned knowledge.

Second, barring sales, most Apple-branded products are the same from store to store. The Mac laptop you see at Best Buy (unless it's on sale) is generally the same retail price as you see on the mac site. So you rarely see an Apple-branded product going for almost double the manufacturer's own retail cost.

Third, you're not an editor of Consumerist, nor do you pay to access its content, so if you happen to find this one story trivial or unnecessary, oh well.

Though this may be a "consumer issue" per se, what underlies my complaint is that it is entirely trivial and ubiquitously well known. And hence a non-issue in the real world.

Moreover, what would the solution be -- that all stores sell identical items at the same price? I'm as socialist as the next medicare-loving Canadian, but I'm also as pragmatic as to think this "issue" a non-starter.

And, anyway, what lesson is this "issue" supposed to be pointing out, in the first place? I'm sure a few five-year-olds reading this blog might be unnerved by this news and take issue with it, but I hope no one else does.

This is something I call the convenience charge,. You pay extra for the convenience of not looking elsewhere. They charge $50 for iPod headphones for the convenience of just getting what you had before. You're paying for the convenience of being able to buy it along with your Hi-Def DVD player, or external hard drive.

A few weeks ago I bought a new DS game at BB (I know, I know, but I had a gift card so I only had one option), and the clerk asked me if I wanted to purchase scratch protection. ON A CARTRIDGE.

The people who work there are a step below trained monkies

The next time I get gift cards, maybe I'll just save them for the next Black Friday.

I've gone through 3 of them in a year because they're made so poorly. Two of them started fuzzing out and the 3rd one cracked on me, so the headpiece doesn't stay on. (I got the extra 2 for free from friends who aren't as cheap as I am)

Spend a few extra $30 or so and get a pair that will last in my opinion.

Yeah, I done the same at times. But these days, you need to think about these kind of things, as the rising cost of gas affects how often you make trips like that. It might not be convenient to return the item within the 30 days return period.

Best Buy isn't bad. Sometimes you can catch a good sale. I recently got a Pelican charge cable for my Xbox 360 controller for $5.00.

Normally, I prefer to purchase my accessories on eBay or Amazon if I do not need them right away.

I stand by my new conclusion that Apple is the charlatan in its industry.

People still shop there, and Sears, and Circuit City, and Home Depot, etc.. because for every customer service issue here on the consumerist there are millions of perfectly fine transactions which never get reported on. Its just like the old saying goes. Only the bad experiences ever get attention.

For example I just looked for Best Buy stories on consumerist and found 5 for July. Im sure throughout July there have probably been a few hundred million transactions across all their stores. They have like 1000 store. So there are still lots of happy customers. Also some people have no other choice to buy computer components and such if they dont have internet service

Yep those are great websites for no-name generic crap that I wouldnt get caught dead using. Also while Best Buy probably needs to charge more than Apple due to Apple charging Best Buy more than they charge themselves $20 more is a bit much

The wire was starting to get frayed (I bought it about seven years ago) and went in to buy a replacement. It's now about 20-25, because they changed the color from black to iPod white and started branding them as "iPod compatible." CVS still sells the cheap ones though, and honestly, I can't imagine there's any difference.

Because it AIN'T Best Buy, it's "Worst, Shittiest Buy."

Get smart.

Just say BYE BYE.

I usually buy a new pair of $10 ear buds every two months at this point.
If you use them every day, go running with them, and occasionally jerk them out of your ears, they will wear out quickly.

Case in point: Two weeks ago I went into my Best Buy to purchase a Garmin GPS they had on sale. I went in, grabbed the Garmin and a DVD I wanted from their bargin bin, went to the POS and bought the items from the cashier. No problems, didn't even have to show my receipt on the way out. I'll keep shopping there as long as I know what I'm buying.

[rrfaua.blogspot.com]

My theory: It's to pay for the gas to get the headphones from the mall across the street to the Best Buy.

Wow. The Apple headphones suck anyway. I bought a pair of 20 dollar over the ear headphones that have better sound, are more comfortable, and actually stay in my ear. 50 dollars? I have to say el oh el to that.

@unpolloloco:

Yeah, thank God for eBay & the internet for those.

It get's worse. Full pricing on an Alltel Blackberry 8330 is $519. Best Buy has it up on their website at $679.

What with the all the pricing "mistakes" like the internal vs. external Best Buy website, its employees stealing merchandise and replacing it with tiles, and the general crappy attitude of their customer service ("If you found tiles in your hard drive box, you need to contact the manufacturer - it's not our problem"), I really, really hate Best Buy.

I know it's a long shot, but are there any Best Buy afficionados out there that can defend the company? I'd really like to hear why anyone shows there anymore, seriously.

Just don't shop @ Best Buy. Even when you THINK you're getting a deal if you need any form of customer service your "deal" is going to turn out to be one. I don't understand how this company is surviving, especially in these economic times. Obviously, people are still shopping there. If they do, and manage to have a problem that is major enough to post about here, I don't feel sorry for them in the least.

The last time my wife shopped there, we ended up with a surprise subscription to Sports Illustrated in her name a couple months later. Just another in a long line of their fine service.

The iPod is a great little gadget, the packaged earbuds on the other hand I'd give away free and still feel sorry for anyone who ended up sticking those things in their ears.

I couldn't say, but I wish someone would have mentioned when I bought my iPhone that they charge $15 extra to USE the exchange mail that Apple put in the iPhone 3G, and that NONE of my docks or chargers would work with it. WTF?

Wow only 49.99 for an earache. great! Seriously, how can earbuds be a one size fits all? Those things are always so painful, and when they get accidentally yanked? Ouch! Maybe I just have small ear holes.

the second picture contains screens from both websites.

@astrochimp: of course it's news. This is a consumer website. This is a consumer issue. I thank the site for giving me this information. I will now be able to make a more informed choice if I elect to purchase this item. You need to be reading a different blog. Perhaps one that allows you to select the stories you would like to see published. Something like make.believe.editor.com

Why not drop the consumerist hammer on these 400% disparities rather than very meagre 66% ones.

seriously, they USED to be 39.99. (trust me, i know) if not 29.99. but best buy figured out that apple fans don't care about price as long as it has that little apple on it, and they have raised the price.

people who care in the least about headphones won't buy those apple ear buds. people who care about apple will pay the extra to get their ear buds.

(at that price, you actually could get the ear buds AND A FREE IPOD SHUFFLE... oh wait, thats just a shuffle that comes with the ear buds.)

This is the answer to the title of the post. And it is not news.

Best Buy hasn't been best for many, many years.

Considering the craptastic nature of pack-in headphones and the plethora of alternatives in the same price range, I'd say anyone who decides to spend additional cash on pack-ins deserves to get ripped off.

That's why they're called Best Buy... best for the company's bottom line!!

Simply text message your search query to 466453 ("GOOGLE" on most devices) and we'll text message back your results.

To get product prices, enter 'price' followed by the product name (ex: price dvd player, price camera), or enter the UPC/ISBN code directly.

Can't beat it. :)

Monoprice.com as well.