DaleRider

LOL!!! I cannot believe people are looking at the scanned ad and thinking it's wrong. Wasn't last year or the year before. And at $150, it's NOT going to have a DVD burner, just a CD-RW/DVD combo drive. Just because people are finding the "cheapest" eMachines on on the shelf at BB or wherever doesn't mean they're looking at the BF blitz machine, and are probably not. I'd almost guess these computers are assembled to these specs for just the BF sale. eMachines, at least on their website, doesn't even list a desktop machine with a Celeron processor.....doesn't mean there won't be one with that CPU (as eMachines is a subsidiary of Gateway, obtaining Intel cpus is just a matter of sending them over.....), just that their standard cpu they sell is an AMD. The Intel cpus, typically more costly than AMDs, are in the Gateway machines. Gateways typically are pricier than eMachine computers....it's all about price-points and the market they're selling in.

We're going to BB (positively), CompUSA, and maybe Circuit City. Passing up Wal-Mart (cannot stand the mobs there and getting better prices/quality stuff from other stores), OfficeMax, Office Depot, Staples. May hit Sears on way out of town heading back home, but only if we feel brave.

The OD Compaq looks to have a slightly slower processor, if I can make out the speed correctly, just a DVD-ROM drive instead of the DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive the Toshiba has, and has a TON of mail-in rebates to follow through upon instead of an out-the-door price. It looks like the in-store price is $549 (please correct me if I'm wrong!), so sales tax is going to be higher, too. Also, it's a 14" screen vs. a 15" screen, if that makes a huge difference. The video card is unknown as far as I can tell. If it's an Intel Extreme Graphics built-in card, that's another nod for the Toshiba.

And that's hitting the nail on the head! I managed a bicycle shop for 6 1/2 years (we sold Schwinn while they were in business, Trek, Cannondale, GT, Klein, Litespeed, Santana, and a few others.) Our markup on complete bicycles was at best 20-24%, some much lower as you approached the entry-level bikes. We made our money in our shop with accessory sales, repairs, and the like. Bike tire tubes, the ones you pay $3.99 for, we paid on average .49-.69 each for.....sometimes in bulk as low as .25/ea. Huge markup on them and we sold a ton.

A lot of BF doorbuster items are considered "loss-leaders", meaning the stores do sell the items at either a loss, very little or no profit at all. They're designed to get you into the store and, hopefully, sell you other products in addition or alternatively to the loss-leader. Interestingly, in retail, when talkingof markup, a 50% markup is a doubling of the wholesale price.....the wholesale price is 50% of the retail price. Usually items are marked up 50% plus a small percentage added because of theft losses, credit card transaction fees, etc. The high ticket items are marked up less, the low-dollar items are typically marked up many times their wholesale price. A pack of printer paper, the typical 500 sheet ream, while selling for $4.50 or so may only cost the store $1 or less. That's where a lot of the money's made. In BB's store, the Geek Squad is a huge markup ($60 to "optomize" your computer? $50 to install a video card or $40 to slap a memory chip in? Geez!!!) But I'd bet BB is not making much, if anything at all, on the $150 eMachines computer....hoping to sell out quickly and upsell to a non-sale computer....after all, you've been in line for a while and you hate to leave empty handed.

I'm willing to spend 6-7 hours in line at BB......for a pair of laptops and pair of desktops (fair profit margin on them.) We should be arriving at BB at 9:30-10PM Thanksgiving night. Selling 3 of the four computers from BB (both desktops and one laptop) will pay for the second laptop and its memory upgrade completely, giving us a free laptop. A larger battery will be financed by two auction sales next week (Thanksgiving Day auction and the following Saturday's antique auction sale.) Score another couple of "reject" used computers (these bring nice $$ at auction after doing what is needed to get 'em running....tons of spares in the house, so basically just time invested, if any repairs actually needed) at the Junior League's Attic Sale this weekend (they sell castoffs/donations from local businesses, individuals, etc., and almost all they sell does indeed work), and a new battery is on its way with almost no money invested. I've bought P4 computers there over the last few years for an average of $20/ea....these are older models like 1.5GHz cpus, but they consistently bring well over $100-$120 at auction.

Now, as noted above, one pet store I'd look for a dog from is PetSmart as that store exclusively deals with animals from shelters. The Savannah, GA store, our "local" store, has adoption days 3 out of 4 weekends each month.....they have animals from the Humane Society, Save-A-Life, and two other foster-animal organizations in that county and surrounding area. But some things to remember with goldens....a goregous dog, might I add. The breed is a "buddy" dog breed......and I hope your mother likes to throw a ball......over and over and over and over and over.........and that's just the first 5 minutes of this day. The dog will bring that ball to her to play ALL the time to the point of insanity. The breed has long hair and tend to leave its hair everywhere; vacuuming daily becomes a requirement, not a luxury. Proper grooming, read LOTS and LOTS of brushing, is necessary to prevent hair mats. The breed needs LOTS of exercise; remember, the dog was bred for hunting and chasing birds down.....all day long, and they can go all day long if necessary. This dog is not for apartment dwellers unless you have a very active lifestyle and can take the dog on trips to romp.....a lot. Best situation is a yard...the larger the better. About the yard, prepare for holes, and lots of them. The breed is also a digger.....loves to dig and will leave holes everywhere. What are they digging for? Who knows....but they will and do dig, and dig, and dig. Another charming characteristic.....that lovely face with those soft eyes and wet nose houses a mouth that likes to chew....anything and everything. We've got a rocking chair in our house that was passed down to us from Deb's parents. The front of both runners/rockers was the "teething ring" for a series of goldens. No repairing the runners. And while you can provide alternative chew items for the dog, the dog will invariably find just that thing to chew upon that irritates you the most. Being a water dog, they will try to get into any sort of body of water....puppies have been found lying in their water bowl asleep. They'll play with their water bowl like it was a lake. Goldens are goregous dogs and are nice, even tempered animals with hearts of gold and a bit of Dennis-the-Menace in them.....they cannot help it, it's just them. If your Mom can handle their chewing, hair, appetite, exercise requirements, their buddy "always underfootness", by all means get her one. An alternative animal of similar size, temperment, etc., often overlooked....many times unheard of.....but a little less chewy and demanding of your attention, a bit smarter than Goldens (sometimes not the smartest dog....as Deb has told me, a trainer of Goldens needs several things: patience, patience, and a 2 x 4. The 2 x 4 is to get the dog's attention, which will be distracted at a moment's notice by a cloud, squirrel, bird, sound, leaf blowing by, etc., and will fixate on it no matter how much you're yelling, talking, screaming to it), is the flat coated retriever. Debbie is one of a few who helped resurrect the flatty from virtual "extinction" in the United States as a breed. She was a contributing source/author for the Flat Coat Retriever Society of America's book on flatties, written quite a few years ago. She had worked for over a decade, along with a few other breeders across the country, to save the breed from dying out in the U.S. and is listed in the Society's book as such. She has a soft spot for flatties and prefers them over Goldens, despite the fact she grew up with Goldens around her all the time. Good luck in your search! And remember, the best thing for any animal is a good home with lots of love!!!

The answer to that is no.......if they use the tickets, no ticket, no computer. Remember, they only use tickets on the low quantity items and ultra-low priced doorbusters, such as the sub-$400 laptop, the $150 computer, the $450 (AR) projector, and and few other items. Not all items are ticket items. Oh, and the Augusta, GA BB specifically tells people in line not to run as injuries may occur.....they'll ask you to stop or ask you to leave if you don't slow down and walk. Saw it happen last year. Took a cop to remove the patron, though.....but he did.

Check your weather for the low of the night and dress appropriately. It's going to be 45 Thurs. night, at least for now, so we'll layer and lose what's not necessary. But, remember, you'll be in one spot and probably not moving a lot, so you'll get colder than if you were walking, moving, etc. Chair, coffee, book, portable TV...all put away into the car as employees arrive for work at the store. After several hours in line, a sort of friendship forms and everyone watches your place and for "line breakers." Helps that the BB we frequent puts cops out at around an hour or so before the doors open.

If your local BB uses tickets, it won't help to run.....you won't be running to anything without a ticket. On the other hand, if your local BB doesn't use this system, wear sneakers, good luck, and I'll pray for your safety.

Thank goodness the BB's we've been to all used the ticket system. Prevented a lot of problems and seemed the best overall way to allocate the hot items.

My wife's father used to breed goldens.......and she and he strongly suggest you find a reputable local breeder of the puppy instead of using PetLand. Several reasons include: you cannot see the parents (this will give a clue as to the puppy's temperment as an adult, maybe not give a total picture but at least a clue), you can speak personally to the breeder and see how many times the mother has had pups per year (over two litters a year is hazardous for both the pups and mother), you can see the acutal living conditions the puppies have had, you can see the general health and age of the parents. PetLand, on the other hand, isn't too particular from whom they purchase their pups as long as they are AKC reg'd, so they can and do purchase from puppy mills....and puppy mills are terrible for inbreeding, poor living conditions, too many litters per year, etc. Contact the AKC and find a local breeder. You'll be happier in the end and with a healthier dog. But wherever you buy, try to get a puppy with good bone (larger bone structure), good temperment, not overly shy (a golden should be a very gregarious dog so should WANT to be your friend!), and has sound hips.....overbreeding and inbreeding has led to many hip problems including dysplagia which can cripple a dog early in life.

I know enough to know that if you're not in BB's line by 2AM, you can just about count the two doorbuster computers out unless someone's nice enough to listen to you ask nicely for your unused ticket. We're trying for the projector (minimum 3 per store, more likely 10) and some other stuff besides the laptop and desktop. We're not shopping for the little things like the HD or video card, which are both not the better deals on BF. Heck, I bought an X700 Pro two months ago for the wife's computer for the same $99 with NO rebate, so paying $199 and waiting for a $100 rebate does nothing for me. C'est la vie......show up at 4AM and we'll smile from the front as you line up 300th. :)

But at least I know what I'm talking about........... :)

No, it won't be hell trying to get a computer, at least the doorbuster ones. Either you're early enough in line to get a ticket for it or you're not. No ticket, no computer. Simple as that. Running into the store isn't going to do a darned thing for you for that $150 eMachines computer. This is how BB has always worked, and probably always will. As the saying goes, "The early bird gets the worm," and BB rewards those willing to sacrifice some time to stand in line for the right to be first in picking out what you want from the ticketed items. And here's the real ugly part.....we are so willing to be close to the front of the line, we've always had our pick of all the "prized" ticketed items, even though in many cases we don't want most of them. My wife and I, acting like total strangers to each other, will take one ticket of each item. So if we don't want the item? Well, let's just say some people can be quite "persuasive" in their desire to get one. And last year, to obtain one of the computers, you had to listen to a member of the Geek Squad try to upsell you extended warranties, a bunch of "add-ons" that they swore the computers wouldn't function without (i.e., surge suppressors, extra RAM with the heavy Geek Squad cost for installation, wireless keyboard and mouse, laptop bag, etc., etc.....they had a long list of "extras" that were recommended for each computer on special that day....all overpriced vs. what Newegg and ZZF sells the same for, even on BF.) Only after either refusing all their crap or accepting some or all of their "recommended" junk would they let you get to the customer service desk to pick up your computer, as long as you had your ticket in hand.

Last year, we made the mistake of returning to BB after we'd been in BB for the doorbusters then heading over to Sears (which had everything left an hour after the doors opened, btw.) The checkout line, now approx 2 1/2 hours into the bliz hours, had snaked around the interior circumference of the store twice.....ran up one aisle, along the back, down the aisle along TVs (on the right side of the store), then doubled back up along TVs, along the back, and back down the original aisle. The checkout line looked to be several hours long by that time which is why BB is the first place we'll go to, never last. Wal-Mart, by comparison, is much better setup to handle a huge volume of shoppers in almost any store......much better than BB or CC or most any other seller except maybe Target.

Exactly!!! After spending several hours in line, you get to "know" the other BF'ers in line with you, esp. if you are VERY early to line. While we got there at midnight, the line didn't start getting long until around 3AM, by 4AM, you could forget the doorbusters completely!!! And probably most of the hot-priced stuff!! We had no problem with leaving the line for short periods and returning to our place during the morning's progression of time....everyone had to bathroom break sometime and the closest was a mile away. An hour before the doors opened and they started passing out tickets, we pretty much collectively took all our chairs, Thermoses, books, etc., back to our cars and retook our rightful places in line. Not a problem in the least.

Of course, you must remember to price match, it must be an IDENTICAL item you are trying to match the price of, not something similar, such as the HP vs. Toshiba laptop.....won't work that way.

At the Augusta, GA BestBuy last year, we got there at midnight to arrive about 5th or so in line.......we were confronted with an RV that had been in the parking lot since around 6PM the evening before. Cannot compete against that!!! We'll be happy with 5th again.

Augusta, GA isn't what I'd call a LARGE area, but its city and surrounding county's population is around 200K. So, the BB is serving maybe 200-250K in population. Last year (our first BF at this BB) by 4AM, the line was hundreds long and growing rapidly. This was with a store opening at 6AM. This year, with the store opening an hour earlier and with CompUSA opening at midnight, we're planning on 9:30-10PM arrival.

You've got that right!! 10PM is about the latest we will go by BB to see what sort of line is there. Probably drop my wife with our chairs at that time to secure our places in line, then I'll cruise to the other end of the shopping strip to CompUSA for some of their midnight specials, then return to BB and sit with her. We should be in and out of BB in 15-20 minutes being towards the front of the line.

We're quite pleased with the BB sales this year......and see some nice profit potential in the computers and laptops. We buy two of each (my wife and I each get a pair.....she kept her original last name so it appears we are different families....) The laptops are sold on ebay.....last year, the same essential laptop deal was done by BB and we sold each for just above $700....decent profit on each. The desktop units will be sold locally for around $300 the day we put them out for sale....this undercuts all the major sellers of desktops and the computers are new w/warranty. Profit potential for the four units can approach $700, which isn't bad at all for being in line for a few hours. But, the video card deal isn't great this year at all, the hard drive may be worth getting only to have a spare lying around (but Fry's is close on size/price a LOT of time), the LCD TV is somewhat tempting, and the LCD monitor....well, wish it had DVI inputs as our computers all have DVI-only outputs on their respective video cards. Hate having to use DVI-to-analog converters....sorta defeats the purpose of DVI in the end.

LOL!!! Have to agree with that.....stood one year, never again. We use, believe it or not, director's chairs for our seating. While heavier than your choices, we both like the sturdy feel and the no-sagging of the wood frames. We set up around mindight, although we're looking to set up at BB around 11PM this year because of their 5AM start time. I'll leave Debbie just before MN to head over to CompUSA (about a 1/4 mile from BB) while she "holds" our place in line. Then I'll come back and she'll go out to take a break, warm in the car, etc. An hour or so before the doors open, we fold up our camp-out junk (chairs, portable TV, CD player, books, Thermoses of coffee and hot tea, etc.), pack it in the back of the car, and wait with just our tickets and $$$.

Limits on items are usually listed in the advert.....such as BB's laptop and desktop doorbusters. Both are listed as a limit of 1 per household. Wal-Mart has a similar limit on their laptop doorbuster. CompUSA does the same. But, if the ad doesn't specify a limit on the item in question, there isn't one.

The quantity the store may have isn't necessarily just the minimum quantity listed in the ad......the last few years, the BB we frequent on BF had MORE than the minimum-per-store listed in the advert. The Toshiba laptop last year, for example, had the same minimum-10-per-store notation in the ad as this year, but the store actually had around 25 to 30 of that laptop. As they were passing out the tickets for the items (we were #5 in line), we asked how many laptops they had and the guy hastily counted his tickets, got up to 25 and then left......and he hadn't quite gotten to the bottom of his stack of tickets. CompUSA last year had essentially the same desktop computer deal as this year....an "AOL optomized" unit for $99 and a year's commitment. There had to be over 50 people in line at the customer service desk signing up for AOL (as a part of the sales deal), all with the PC alongside, this while the ad stated a minimum of 10 or 25 per store. Now, as for Wally-World, I'd completely believe they will have the absolute minimum number of laptops as listed in their ad, but for other things, they will most likely have much more. Four years ago, they had a killer deal on a TV, and as our "spare" TV in the computer room had died, I braved WM for it. At the end of the blitz hours, they still had pallets of the TVs in the center aisle....and the price dropped during the day due to the excess and lack of demand. So, the minimum-per-store of an item isn't ALWAYS the cast-in-stone amount the store will have on hand.