Best Buy’s Employee Discount: Here’s What You Must Know
Thinking of applying for a job at Best Buy? One thing that might sway your decision one way or another is the Best Buy employee discount. Here’s everything you need to know about their discount, including items that are excluded and some insider tips that will maximize your savings.
What is the Best Buy Employee Discount?
The standard employee discount at Best Buy is Cost + 5%.
So if an item’s retail price is $50, and Best Buy paid $30 for it, as an employee you’d get it for only $31.50.
It should also be noted that you won’t qualify for their employee discount until you’ve worked at Best Buy for at least 30 days.
UPDATE: From the comments section, I am getting several people saying it’s actually cost + 5%, not 10%, so I have officially changed the information above.
Thanks to everyone who commented letting me know.
See Also: 65+ Employee Discounts to Help You With Your Job Search
Can Employees Flip Products for a Profit?
No.
While it’s not illegal for employees to buy stuff with their discount and flip it for a profit, several employees in the comments have said that it’ll get you FIRED immediately if discovered.
So not a good idea unless you’re about to quit your job anyways I suppose.
Do Some Products Not Qualify?
Unfortunately, yes.
You WON’T be able to get a discount on Geek Squad services, Apple products, most computers and tablets, movies, and smartphones.
Can I Score the Employee Discount on Online Purchases?
Yes.
To make it happen you need to have a Best Buy account and register it in the Best Buy employee portal.
I was told to make sure you ONLY do this on a computer in the store that you work-at, otherwise you’ll get rejected by the system.
Once your email is registered, you’ll get a pop-up to confirm your identity and employee number then you’ll be good-to-go.
Then just shop the Best Buy website like usual and you’ll score your discount on eligible items.
BIG thanks to employee Cesar for clearing this one up in the comments.
See Also: 7 Mind-Blowing Ways to Save Money at Best Buy
What Items are a “Must-Buy” for Employees?
Because the discount is cost + 5%, the secret for scoring a great deal is knowing which items at Best Buy have the largest profit margin, which means they have a “low cost” to Best Buy.
Buy those and you can REALLY save some money, easily up to 50% off the retail price.
These items are not laptops and name-brand HDTV’s, but rather things like headphones, cables, cases, and other accessories.
Especially look for deals on Best Buy’s branded items as they have big margins.
These include Insignia and Dynex HDTVs, Rocketfish cables, Geek Squad flash drives, and Modal cases.
If you’re not happy with any purchase you will be bound to the terms of the regular Best Buy return policy.
Do Geek Squad Employees Score the Same Discount?
Yes, they’ll score the same discount as regular BB employees.
See Also: Apple Employee Discount: Score a New iPhone Every 2 Years
Is There a Maximum Discount Percentage?
Best Buy recently topped their employee discount at 50% off the retail price.
But there is NO maximum number of purchases that you can make with your discount.
But keep in mind that “managers will talk to you if anything looks suspicious on your purchase”. (via BB employee Thomas)
Do Employees Get a Discount on Computer Components?
Yes.
This question came from Caleb in the comments, and I thought it was a great question as I couldn’t find an answer anywhere, so I decided to walk into my local Best Buy and find out.
The first employee I talked to had no idea, but I was able to grab an assistant manager on the sales floor and he dropped the knowledge.
As Caleb noted, your employee discount won’t work on pre-builts but it WILL work on components according to the manager I talked to.
But he also said that the margin on these products is fairly small so the discount won’t be big.
Anything Else You Should Know?
Why yes, there are several things worth knowing…
– Brands Can Limit Discounts – Brands that sell at Best Buy have the authority to limit the discount employees receive.
– Questionable Best Buy “Cost” – I’ve been told that you have to take the word for what Best Buy says is their “cost” on an item.
Some employees have questioned their “cost” as inflated.
– Some Products Have a Smaller Discount – Be aware that some stuff has an employee discount, but it might be higher than cost + 5%, meaning you’d have to pay a little more for it.
It will often be cost + 8% or 10%.
– Look for Free Stuff – Perhaps the coolest thing about working at Best Buy is the free stuff stores hand out to workers from time to time.
Could be stuff that doesn’t sell, or new items that the brand is trying to promote.
Ask the Reader: Do you work at Best Buy or have you in the past? If so, what’s the largest Best Buy employee discount you’ve received?
By Kyle James
Photo credit to Mike Mozart.
I started Rather-Be-Shopping.com in 2000 and have become a consumer expert and advocate writing about out-of-the-box ways to save at stores like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco to name a few. I’ve been featured on FOX News, Good Morning America, and the NY Times talking about my savings tips. (Learn more)
“So if an item’s retail price is $100, and the retail price is $60, you’ll get it for $66.“. This makes no sense.
Whoops, meant to say “So if an item’s retail price is $100, and Best Buy paid $60 for it, you’ll get it for $66.”
You a dumbass, read and then come argue
Read it again it states at cost price PLUS 10% that’s why $66
Yeahhh this stuff is mostly false. I work at Bestbuy now but I won’t disclose the discount. It’s not public information.
You’re allowed to say that its cost + 5%. You’re just not allowed to give the actual price you get it for.
So is the employee discount cost + 5%? I was told it was cost + 10%
It’s 5%
Can am employee use there discount to buy something then sell it to someone else for profit. For example if work for BB and I buy a TV someone wants but charge what I get it for with my discount plus 100 bucks is this against store policy? Also let’s include I’m buying it and they pick it up at a store near them. Please help me out here.
it is absolutely illegal and will get you fired on the spot
It´s not illegal, but will get you fired immediately after being discovered.
Current employee. Cost +5% and we do get discount on Geek Squad protection plans.
Gabriela is correct. Cost plus 5% is public. The COGS or cost of goods sold is sensitive information and not for public disclosure.
Lmao get a load of this goon. It actually is public information you buffoon. No wonder you stock shelves for a living.
LMAO
To late you dumbass
wanna be try hard 😂😂
Its on their public website dumbass
Just got a job as AP at Best Buy can’t wait to start working
This is not true. I’m an employee. It’s 5% above cost and we get discounts after 6 weeks of employment. Sooner if your seasonal. Also there is discount on geek squad I put it on everything I buy. Where did you get this info lol. Also insignia brand gets the best discount. We do get discounts on brand names and lap tops. Only thing that’s almost never discounted is apple and game systems
Hello Tarra, I had a question, how do the employees make purchases with their employee discount? Can you purchase online? Can you somehow buy from a store that is in another state if you were on vacation? And how do they identify you as an employee if so?
Crazy that this was here for 6 months and no one answered your question. The answer to you’re question is yes you can still get discounts from the your own Best Buy account but first as an employee you have to register your Best Buy account in the Best Buy employee portal. You can only do this with the computers in the store you work at because if you try to do it anywhere else it rejects you because you don’t have a “token” witch is like a key to access the portal. Once you registered your email your Best Buy account is under you’ll get a pop up to confirm its you and I’ll ask you for your employee number. And that’s it, you can order stuff from the website or app and still get your discount on eligible items. Hope this kinda helped
Is there a limit on how many items you can purchase with your discount?
Nah, but I’m sure ur managers will talk to u about it if anything looks suspicious on your purchases. BestBuys policy for the employee discount is that u can only use it for yourself, your spouse and your kids, no one else.
When I worked at Best Buy the biggest discount I received was on Klipsch home theater speakers. I spent around 4,050$ on Klipsch Reference Premiere speakers. The cost before my fellow employee typed in my employee number at checkout was about 8,500$ give or take 10$. So I paid around 45% out the door and shipped to my house free.
As a best buy employee, this is heavily inaccurate. Employee discount is store cost + 5%, no limit on how low it can go and it doesnt take 3 months to receive.
I´m a long time employee, it´s cost plus 5% after three months of being an employee. This can and often is relaxed if you were hired near or during holiday (Thanksgiving to just after Christmas).
This is all wrong it’s cost plus 5% not 10% and you have to be employed 30 days not 3 months to get the discount.
Weird question. Does it work on electric scooters and things like that? What are the restrictions.
Does an employee of BB pay a luxury tax on items they use their discount on? Recently money was removed from an employees check and BB said it was because of a tax for using the employee discount on high dollar items.
I’m a bb employee and recently found out about this actually. Apparently if the discounted item is over 20% off for the employee, the discounted amount is taken out of your paycheck for taxes. So if you purchase something that’s extremely discounted, you’ll see a smaller paycheck but you’ll get that money back when you get your tax return. It sucks when you work 80 hours for the two weeks and your paycheck is like $200 because you purchased high price/high discounted items.
Other questions to be answered in this forum, it’s 5% above cost after 30 days of working. 90 days of employment allows for online purchases as well as other benefits like insurance. Geek squad is actually highly discounted so most employees add it on to anything that qualifies. The only restrictions are the items that BB purchased at the normal rate, such as game consoles, some laptops, phones, etc. Scooters, TV’s and such there’s a small discount depending on the brand. As far as how purchases are made from store to store, you just specify that you’re an employee and they ask for your employee numbers and it automatically gets added on (with verifying name). Online purchases, I haven’t dealt with yet, but yes, once activated through the employee portal on your own store’s computers, you can then get online purchases. Depending on which store you work at, check with your managers for secret discounts that your store has too! I found out my store has a deal with the nearby DSW store and we get 20% off shoes if we verify with our name tag that we work for best buy.
I probably won’t check this forum again, so hopefully that answers a lot of people’s questions.
It is certainly + 5% and it is only 30 days now. All employees however get discount starting Nov 20 regardless of time with the company.
my friend here ramiz is starting out in best buy and he wanted to know how the discount works as he thought it was just a 5% discount which i said nah that sucks and searched this up thanks for the help! heres some words that ramiz would like to say, “thats cool let me tell you about geeksquad” and he gave it a thumbs up!
Bosnian ?lmao
Awesome article but it confused at times bc it needs fixing on the 5/10% discount.
What do you mean?
Still says 10% in one part
Aww, ok, found it and got it fixed.
Hey I wanted to ask, I know you don’t get a discount on pre-builts, but can employees get discounts in computer components?