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Walking in to BB after opening


bigdave125

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Hi all,

 

I'm not new to BF, but have a question for you experts!

 

I don't want/can't stand in line on BF eve, but would like to, instead, walk in after they open.

 

What is the best time to arrive to just walk in without standing in line? In other words how long until the line dissipates and I can just walk in?

 

Do all of the BB's open their doors at 5:00 am, and if so, are the lines gone (to get in) by 6:00 or so?

 

I would like it to be as close to no line as possible, but not too late to miss out on all the deals?

 

Any help?

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Bigdave

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Welcome to the community!

 

Most BB will open at 5am on BF but do check with your local store to be sure. The line will dissipate fast after the doors open. The kicker is do you want to wait in the check out lines for an hour or more? If you dont then I would say get there around 1030 to 11am local time. Remember if you dont camp out you wont get any of the door busters or some of the other good sales. I hope this helps and if you have any more questions please ask and post.

 

 

 

Hi all,

 

I'm not new to BF, but have a question for you experts!

 

I don't want/can't stand in line on BF eve, but would like to, instead, walk in after they open.

 

What is the best time to arrive to just walk in without standing in line? In other words how long until the line dissipates and I can just walk in?

 

Do all of the BB's open their doors at 5:00 am, and if so, are the lines gone (to get in) by 6:00 or so?

 

I would like it to be as close to no line as possible, but not too late to miss out on all the deals?

 

Any help?

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Bigdave

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Hi all,

 

 

 

What is the best time to arrive to just walk in without standing in line? In other words how long until the line dissipates and I can just walk in?

 

 

I would like it to be as close to no line as possible, but not too late to miss out on all the deals?

 

Any help?

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Bigdave

I walked in I think around 8am last year. They said the doorbusters were gone in the first hour, and many of the movie sets. At 8am they still had A LOT of the DVD players, a few of certain cameras, no moniters.

 

I think I'm employing your strategy this year. If I'm not getting my DVD player and TV and Walmart, then I will be going to BB. But I don't want to camp out and really prefer not to be there for the opening rush.

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Welcome to the community!

 

Most BB will open at 5am on BF but do check with your local store to be sure. The line will dissipate fast after the doors open. The kicker is do you want to wait in the check out lines for an hour or more? If you dont then I would say get there around 1030 to 11am local time. Remember if you dont camp out you wont get any of the door busters or some of the other good sales. I hope this helps and if you have any more questions please ask and post.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply!

 

You say that the line will dissapate fast. I was wondering how fast? 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, etc. Of course I realize it will depend on the amount of people in line, but since I live in San Diego and will be going to the Mission Valley store, I assume there will be a bunch of people there (not out in the boonies! grin!).

 

The other question I have is that you say I won't get any doorbusters. I can understand that, but was wondering is a doorbuster ONLY the items they hand out tickets for? If so, then it seems to me like the only people that get those deals are the first 20 or so people in line. In which case most people miss out on those deals. Am I off base here?

 

What I'm probably looking for is a 22" monitor. Do you think those will be considered a door buster?

 

Sorry for the dumb question! Appreciate your help.

 

Bigdave

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Not all doorbusters require tickets. They are only available for that price till 11am, the

ones that require a ticket (maybe 10 items in ad at the most) are very limited.

And as for the example of the monitor, We went to CC last year and they had a

couple hundred of them. But they were going fast, cuz everyone there was grabbing one.

As for the line at the doors going away, I'd say 10 min, and everyone would be in the store, after they open them.

But the line at the registers will literally take an hour or more. Unless you know exactly what you want and where it is, grab it and head to the register.

Or maybe have somone go with you and have them to get in line, and

you grab your stuff.

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Hi,

Thanks for the reply!

 

You say that the line will dissapate fast. I was wondering how fast? 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, etc. Of course I realize it will depend on the amount of people in line, but since I live in San Diego and will be going to the Mission Valley store, I assume there will be a bunch of people there (not out in the boonies! grin!).

 

The other question I have is that you say I won't get any doorbusters. I can understand that, but was wondering is a doorbuster ONLY the items they hand out tickets for? If so, then it seems to me like the only people that get those deals are the first 20 or so people in line. In which case most people miss out on those deals. Am I off base here?

 

What I'm probably looking for is a 22" monitor. Do you think those will be considered a door buster?

 

Sorry for the dumb question! Appreciate your help.

 

Bigdave

The 22 inchers were a doorbuster last year. They let in 50 people in at a time. you get timed intervals between groups. With the crowd wrapped around the building, it is easy to see that you will wait about 45 minutes to an hour, depending upon the turnout. Just because the doorbusters are ticketed, does not neccessarily mean that the other items will be there for the grabbing. many of us get them as well. It depends upon the popularity of the item. Another advantage of standing in line, is that the add-ons for some items, such as Targus bag and mice combos(laptop), can be a great deal that are offered only to those who wait. I would wait for the ad to plan or re-think your strategy. Last year's 22 inch was $300 off of retail!:smart:
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I went to a BB in suburban Chicago last year and got in (a long) line at around 4:00. Doors opened at 5:00, but we didn't get in the door untill just about 6:00 AM. The hotest items were gone, of course, but I still got a number of items of interest (including 2 smaller LCD TVs) and some DVDs that were "doorbusters." Some people were still in line after me, probably until about 6:30 AM, so I would say 6:30 to 7:00 AM. Check out lines were quite long, but actually moved rather smoothly/quickly.
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I went to a BB in suburban Chicago last year and got in (a long) line at around 4:00. Doors opened at 5:00, but we didn't get in the door untill just about 6:00 AM. The hotest items were gone, of course, but I still got a number of items of interest (including 2 smaller LCD TVs) and some DVDs that were "doorbusters." Some people were still in line after me, probably until about 6:30 AM, so I would say 6:30 to 7:00 AM. Check out lines were quite long, but actually moved rather smoothly/quickly.

Do you remember which one? It must be the one near the Expressway necause that one was the worst. Lines were very long and it looked like it never moved.

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I went to a BB in suburban Chicago last year and got in (a long) line at around 4:00. Doors opened at 5:00, but we didn't get in the door untill just about 6:00 AM. The hotest items were gone, of course, but I still got a number of items of interest (including 2 smaller LCD TVs) and some DVDs that were "doorbusters." Some people were still in line after me, probably until about 6:30 AM, so I would say 6:30 to 7:00 AM. Check out lines were quite long, but actually moved rather smoothly/quickly.

Do you remember which one? It must be the one near the Expressway necause that one was the worst. Lines were very long and it looked like it never moved.

It was the BB at 1432 Butterfield Road in Downers Grove, near the intersection of the North-South and East-West Tollways (I-355 & I-88). This was a good area for Black Friday shopping with lots of the big stores, and an adventure for an out-of-towner from New York City.

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At my BB, I was far back in line (got there 1/2 hour before opening) and I didn't get in until 1/2 hour after the doors opened. That means I was outside in the Chicago cold for an hour. I was in there early enough to get the non-ticketed items I was looking for, then waited in a checkout line for only about 20 minutes. The line outside disappated at some point between the time I got in and when I left (30 to 50 minutes after opening).
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I would like to add that some stores do follow local fire codes and will only let the number of people in that is allowed by law.

All of our local BB's follow the fire codes and there is a line until late! Last year I didn't want to sleep out and just wanted video games so we went to Sears and back to BB and the line was still around the building. We went to Target and back to BB and still around the building! Went Shoe Shopping at Carnial of Shoes ($10.00 gift card at door at opening) and back to BB (And we spent at least 35 min trying on shoes!) and still a line around the building! Went to Old Navy and back to BB and the line was only about 45 people. We decided just to get in line because they were only letting in as may people as walked out the door.

 

I don't mean to discourage you but just be aware that if your in a major metropolitan area this may be the case at your BB!

 

P.S. I still got everything on my list: 15 PS3 games, 10 movies, One Office Season 1 on DVD, and set of walkie talkies. I had to ask if they had any more of the movies and games and the sales guy went in the back and grab stacks of all I asked for! So it never hurts to track someone down and ask!

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Last yr my hubby and I got to best buy at 6am. By the time we got in there the line for checkout was HUGE. We both waited in line for an hr to hr 1/2. So if you dont wanna wait that long, I suggest getting there pretty early. My sister and I are going BF shopping this yr, and being she has to work later that day well we might get there just as best buy opens or a little before. Im not sure if people around here camp out for BF or not. I just no by the time we got there, the parking lot was completely filled and there was a long line for checkout. I looked around to see what everyone was getting and majority of everyone had was 1 item. I was behind some people who had some big ticket items. And when I got towards the checkout someone up front was handing back to everyone to pass along a big ticket item voucher. So Im not sure what time my BB opened last yr. But I dont think it was 5am.
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Last year they tried to do the small groups at a time and that failed. The crowd overtook

the employee's and before you knew it EVERYONE was int he store. I was 3rd on line so I was in with no problem, and about 5 min later all you see is people bum rushing the door

trying to get in. Some people fell, others were making bee lines to the tv section trying

to get the ticketed items with no tickets. It was actually pretty funny.

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If you are not shopping for a doorbuster - then do your shopping online on Thanksgiving day EARLY. Not all the monitors were doorbusters. You can select in store pickup for free and if the item is not available, Best Buy will ship it to you for free. The items I ordered online that I had shipped to my home had free shipping offers.
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I went to BB about 8:30 last year. Walked right in. Grabbed a DVD player, a Pansonic cordless phone set and a copy of Adobe Photoshop within 15 minutes. Got in line - waited maybe 20 minutes and was on my way to the next store.

The items were not improbable, but the wait time was relatively short!:)

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I think the biggest thing here is that it is going to depend on the store. Last year the store i was at (Spanish Fort AL Store 678) only let 30?!? people in at a time, stopping for a minute or so between those groups. So, the line took forever for everyone to get in the store. The year before that, at a different store (Apple Valley MN Store 245) they just opened the doors and let everyone mad rush in, so the line was gone very quickly.
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I think the biggest thing here is that it is going to depend on the store. Last year the store i was at (Spanish Fort AL Store 678) only let 30?!? people in at a time, stopping for a minute or so between those groups. So, the line took forever for everyone to get in the store. The year before that, at a different store (Apple Valley MN Store 245) they just opened the doors and let everyone mad rush in, so the line was gone very quickly.

I'm surprised to see someone else who was at Apple Valley - I never find anyone near me on here.

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Hello Dave

It's funny that you mention the 22" monitor. I went to BB last year at about 7am and there were no lines outside. I looked for the 22" Westinghouse LCD WS monitor but none were on the shelves. I asked a Geek and he told me they were gone as soon as they opened. I was bummed but looked around at other stuff. I then found one of the monitors leaning up against a display way in the back of the store. The box looked ripped on the side. I took it to the geek desk and had them make sure there were no internal damages. I then had to wait in the checkout line for an hour. There was a guy with balloons and a sign that said "END OF THE LINE", so you knew were to go to get in line. It was nuts...but I love the monitor. GOOD LUCK THIS YEAR!

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The worst part about waiting all night is that once you get in and get your stuff, you gotta wait in the check-out. If you are quick, you can get out quick. But if you get held up, kiss the next hour or so good-bye:tongue1: .
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Last year I walked into a Best Buy around 2 or 3pm and bought the Panasonic Plasma TV for $799 (I assume this was the doorbuster or secret sale item). They didn't have any more in the store but they allowed us to order 3 TV's (bought for the whole family) at the same price.

 

You think it will be like that this year? I am looking at the Panasonic Plasma for $899 that says it's a doorbuster. It's strange that the model # says TH42PE7U when there is no such model number. Circuit City's ad has the TH42PX75U for $100 more so maybe it's the same TV. hmm.

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Last year I got there at 2 AM wanting to get a Compaq SR2039X, however I didn't get a ticket. Later that night around 10:00 PM I called a Best Buy, they had one and the very kind employee held it for me, I came, and got it. So it all depends on how lucky you are and what it is you want. This year I want to buy a 22" LCD for it (Getting there a little bit sooner too:D) .
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Our Best Buy is small! Last year we walked in about an hour after the opening and the check-out line wrapped all the way around the inside of the store thru aisles, back and forth, etc. It was nuts! Needless to say we walked in, saw the line and walked right back out.

 

For the bigger stores I'm sure the line is better, but for the small ones its bad.

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The 22" envision is the only reason I am going to BB this year.

Someone mentioned you can order it online?

 

I am looking at the ad for BB for the 22" envision. Just says friday and saturday only. Afraid if i waited around to order it online it would already be sold out in store.

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The 22" westy wasn't a ticketed item at our store but they were gone within a half hour of store opening because of people snatching them up. I saw people with two or three. I got one myself and we love it. There were still people waiting to get into our store over an hour after opening because there were only 4 registers and they were following fire codes.
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