Buying at Circuit City Liquidation...

Hey everyone,
I'm thinking of getting an HP mini 1000 linux edition at circuit city, but now it is going to liquidate.
1) The store's website said that the mini was going to be available sometime later this week, will that still be true? Or will the shipment get turned around?
2)Is it bad to buy at a liquidation sale? It sounds like I'd be getting a really good price for things I wanted, but are there any negative effects?
3)Will they be asking the msrp for things at the liquidation sale, or will they already be lowered. Also, is haggling encouraged at these?

Thanks for your help!

 

My experience is you bought it "as is" meaning no returns even if you get it home and it's dead. Also, haggling doesn't usually happen unless its a floor model and even then, they are still stingy. As far as pricing, it always seemed to me that they jack the price way up, then give a 30% discount, thus for the first few weeks, it's really minimal savings. I always waiting until things are at least 50% off.

 

Everything will depend on the nature of the liquidators who've been retained to assist them in liquidating the business, and on the business judgment of those liquidators regarding the value that is most likely to be realized from the inventory.

Bottom line, the only way to tell is to show up and give it a try. However, Hawkeyedm2003 is correct about the "as is" part - once you've paid for it, it's yours and yours alone, for better or for worse.

 

Agreed, with the *store liquidations*, once purchased its yours for the duration.

I wouldn't even bother on haggling, as they are going to prob's tier the percent off with each day/week. So it will start out low, and go up higher.

And, I also always wait til it's at least 50%. I have always felt that the prices are *marked up* for these types of liquidations, so the stores can recup' a bit of their profit loss on it. Even though, that is not supposed to be done!

Cin

 

If they didn't get it yet, they may not. Especially without the means to pay for it.

Granted some transactions are done on faith with liquidating vendors, but not always.

 

During the previous liquidation at Circuit the liquidator marked up prices to full retail and then discounted off that price. Suddenly the discounted prices were higher than the pre-liquidation prices.
After the initial sales to price ignorant buyers were completed, the remaining inventory was boxed up, transported and sold in lots off retail.

Don't buy until you research the price thoroughly. Better be getting a bargain that outweighs the risk since once you pay at the register there are no returns. Only recourse you will have is manufacturers warranty.

 

At my Circuit city which closed in December (I'm in Georgia where they starting closing all the stores back in November) they had 5%, then 8%, and then a whole 10% off laptops. Didn't have any really good deals that was for sure?

 

Exactly. I'm curious to check out my local CC soon, and see how they are *pricing* for the liquidation.

10%...woah..for a store closing? Did they ever go up over the 10% discount, that you know?


Cin

 

I just visited CC at NYC today.

although tags of 30% off posted everywhere, the prices do not seem to be as bargain as i thought they would be.

plus, yellow tag with warning of " no return" scare me away.

 

There is a ton of info on Circuit City here

Including Consumers' FAQ to the Circuit City liquidation

 

I have always thought that Circuit City was priced too high for things - maybe because I shop around online. I would estimate that even things up to 30% off their current prices (not marked up prices that are then discounted) would barely mean you got an item for the regular price. Given that, its not really worth it for a no return item.

 

Nope, you prob's won't see what you may consider to be a bargain for CC, until it's at 50% minimum.

Oh, yes the yellow warning tags...to protect the consumer and *cough* CC!

If someone does get what they consider to be a bargain at the liquidation sales, they should post it!

Thank's for the linky's


Cin

 

Picked up a Western Digital 1TB My Book for $126. Unfortunately, it was just posted in the Bargains thread that Office Depot has a 1TB for about half the price I paid.

Anyways, I live about 3 miles from a Circuit City and I can tell you that this particular store was packed and lots of inventory was going fast. not much in terms of deals for the super stingy, expect about 10-30% in the early going. Once things get down past 30%, you can bet lots of stuff will be gone by then.

 

can't wait to get me some of them liquidated goods.

 

+ rep for posting this. Already did it in Off Topic, but it never hurts to let more people know. Liquidations are almost never worth it....

 

Well, I bought items that were on sale + the 20% off. If you were buying something that was MSRP, forget about it

 

true

I might stop by the one near my house

 

Thanks. FWIW, somwehere in that link I read the liquidation company is the same one used by CompUSA.

 

A friend of mine stopped by and the deals at my local CC were:

CD's & Movies - 20%
TV Stands, & Accessories - 20%

everything else is still at 10% So, really no good deals.

He said it was basically a waste of his time to have stopped by at this point.
And, he will go back in when near 50%.

Cin

 

The one near me was more than an utter waste of time to go to. Things were 10% off, with TV stands and Monster cables 30% off. Their prices were so jacked up though that I can beat their sale prices online with non-sale prices any day of the week and almost any retailer.

 

The "deals" at CC are pretty ludicrous. Everything was hiked up to their original prices or more, and then discounted at 10%. Really nice. And to top it off, expensive items such as TVs and computers are being sold for EITHER 10% off the original price OR the sale price on the tag. I was checking out a laptop that was on sale for $800 and I figured that with an additional 10% discount, it would actually be a decent deal. However, $800 is the final price with no 10% discount because the tag says it's on sale for $800. Pretty lame.

But I did manage to pick up the Logitech X540 speakers for $49.99

 

I have worked at ccity for 3 years and this is what you guys have to understand:
1) There is no markup in laptops so 10% off is actually losing money
2) CCity no longer owns the inventory, the liquidators do, so of course the prices are at MSRP. Which means prices were generally lower when CCity was trying to earn your business
3) 10% is actually a very good starting percentage in my opinion, why would the liquidator break the bank when they know naive people will buy just because it says "sale"
4) Thursday will be the final shipment of inventory to stores which will flush out the company warehouses.

So to answer the main question, The HP Mini may be available thursday IF CCity had purchased its inventory already.

 

Yup, this is all true. I suppose the problem doesn't solely lie in CCs prices but also in the stupid mentalities of average consumers. People are so flabbergasted at the 10% sale, not realizing that the sale will go down as time progresses. It really is a shame, this liquidation had the potential of providing some really great deals but at the rate which my local CCs are going, the deals will be average at best (with a few notable exceptions).

 

so exactly how long will this liquidation sale be going on

 

Per Online New's Articles....at least thru March, after which they will close.
@msnbc:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28691963/



Cin

 

i hope so, thats when i go back home for spring break. hopefully the deals will spice up then at the CC near my home. i dont think theres a CC near my school.

 

Yeah..hopefully by then they will have better %'s off..


Cin

 

yeah march 31st will be the last day.. Although i hope it ends before that. We are guaranteed 60 days of pay from January 16th regardless.

 

thanks for the info

 

No prob...March that's nearly, (less than)...2 months away.

So between now and then..who knows what deals we shall see.


Cin

 

is there a possibility they can be bought over in that time or is too late?

 

It's too late, they missed their window for a buyout opportunity. Their assets now belong to the liquidators.

 

hey guys, didn't wanna make a new thread so i'll post here since it seems most appropriate, this is the 3rd email i got from CC

 

Thank, Vince!

So, I see the discounts are finally starting to move along. Maybe they will be on track with their wanting to close up by mid/end of March!



Cin

 

no problem Cin'

 

25 to 30% sounds good but not exactly closing time good IMO.

 

Coolio

Yep, heard from a friend a bit ago.. he stopped by our local CC..and they still don't have the best pricing, to get a good deal..

Cin

 

I always found their prices to be high, and I visited a "closing store" and STILL found the prices too expensive!!

Almost all their 'deals' can be had somehow through places like newegg or tigerdirect or even best buy!

The current offers just bring their prices to what they should be...

I always used circuitcity.com to read reviews, but don't think I ever bought anything from them, and trust me, I must have bought from every other store out there lol!

 

Liquidations are awesome. They raise the prices 100%, then mark something 30% off. You feel like you're getting a good deal, and they feel good because they're ripping you off.

If you shop there, fine. But make sure you check other stores (including MSRP online) to make sure you are actually getting a good deal.

 

exactly! this pisses me off. im glad i have shop savvy on my g1. i found the regular prices at best buy etc were much cheaper than the even open box prices at cc that were marked 40% off!

 

Circuit City management is not running the show here. When a store is going to liquidate, they bring in "liquidators," who then mark up everything, and THEN take a small discount off the price, which, in the end, is usually higher than competitors' existing price.

One of the reasons they are not so interested in giving great deals is because much of the inventory can be sold on to other retailers, ie Best Buy, anyway.

 

I still see people pulling up in their big trucks buying real big screen tvs with such a high markup. Some people have no clue

 

I can't figure out if I feel more angry or sorry for the average consumer. On one hand, these idiots are going to places like Circuit City and paying a LOT more than they should be yet they think they're getting a good deal. But on the other, because of people like this, I can't expect to get any good deals from a place that's going out of business because the liquidators are making a killing off them.

 

And this is precisely why these people are called cattle, doing nothing more but mindlessly following the herd. There is definitely a lesson to be learned here.

 

There are a lot of factors for this. One of them is (I apologize in advance if I sound rude & I don't mean to offend anyone) that not everyone are as "smart" as you are.

One good example, my parents. My parents just don't know a thing about something called the internet, although they've heard & read news about it. They've never used the internet & they are just not willing to learn, no matter how hard I tried to coax them into it. So for people like them, I think you just cannot blame them for falling into these "cheeky" liquidators' "lion" traps! I know it sucks too & I feel sorry for them because most of them are honest, hardworking folks & a lot of them don't earn too much money.

 

JJ,
You are very correct. I deal with the same things with my parents, but people should be able to at least compare prices between stores and Sunday flyers . Don't you think?

 

FWIW, when I went to my local Best Buy a couple of weeks ago, which happens to be adjacent to a CC, I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes making a call, and I noticed that not a single person coming out of CC had a bag, or any item, in their hands. LOTS of people streaming in and out, but no purchases, it appears.

Maybe people are more savvy than we think.

I haven't even bothered to go in there for three reasons:

1. The aforementioned jack-up of prices by the liquidators.
2. I have read that the really good, high-demand, items are sold directly to other retailers.
3. Call me a softie, but it would just break my heart to shop in the store knowing that all those employees will soon be out of a job. My heart really goes out to them, since I know that nobody would voluntarily work at CC if they were independently wealthy.

 

At my Circuit City the deals sucked....Half the stuff was cheaper at the Best Buy 2 minutes away, and lets not even compare the prices with online stores (Newegg)

 

I have heard that they increase the % off every Thursday. So right now all DVD movies and games are 40% off, so we can expect them to be 50% off on Thursday? I may go and purchase the Fallout 3 Collectors Edition in that case.