[rdl]

Maybe they should charge a membership fee, like Costco, and sell their products close to cost. Especially once Amazon has to start paying sales tax, this might be enough to make it work.

Although, I had a gift card or something which required I make a $25 purchase (batteries) in person at a Best Buy, and the experience was horrible. I'd pay 1.2-1.5x as much to buy from Amazon and not have to deal with an icky store, obnoxious salespeople, and painfully slow checkout process.

[jrockway]

Amazon charges sales tax in NYC, and I still prefer them to Best Buy. The problem is that Best Buy never stocks high-end items, only overpriced low-end items. So there is just no point in visiting unless I want to pay $60 for a shitty USB cable, which I never do :)

[rdl]

NYC has B&H, so I don't understand why the issue of where to buy AV equipment is even an open question :)

[jrockway]

This was a big shock to me when I moved from NYC to Chicago. Stores in NYC actually stock things I want to buy, and the employees actually care about their customers. It's very, very strange.

(My first experience was buying shoes from the Asics store. I walked in, asked for a Gel Evolution 6 in size 11 2E, and they had it in stock. Never in my life have I been able to buy shoes at a store...)

[DougN7]

You just explained it perfectly for me -- Best Buy is CompUSA, just on a curve 5-8 years behind it.