Circuit City is hurting right now and apparently that is justification for ripping people off under the umbrella of a liquidation sale. These so-called sales are within the 155 stores that are being shut down immediately, but a few reports have indicated that prices are being marked up and then receive a magic 10% off, resulting in a “sale.” In fact, these in-store prices are higher than the Circuit City website which is exactly counter the latest Circuit City ad campaign which claims “A One Price Guarantee.”
Really, Circuit City? Have you slumped to the same level as furniture sales where you need to simulate sales in order to sell your wares? Wow. So is there any reason to shop at Circuit City now that even their liquidation sales aren’t really sales?
Wow if this is true this is ridiculous.
wow do you believe everything people say with out doing your own homework? I’m sure you went around telling everyone how horrible they are because of this too.
Wow, yourself buddy. I am somebody who DID do my homework, and I saw this first hand. I went to get some deals and it turned out that I was very disappointed. Go try to be your awesome little -nonconformist- self some place else.
Don’t even waste your time bother going to their “close-out” sale!
Even if things are truly marked down 10%, that is something I can get at other stores by just opening a credit card!
Liquidation sale means you sell things at prices to make them move. They are truely idiots since they will waster more money keeping things open whereas with REAL sales everything would have been gone in two days~
Now wonder they are going bankrupt!
Are you guys idiots. I worked at one of the stores that closed last year. Obviously right away not everything is going to be a good deal. Every week the prices will drop. The liquidation company is trying to maximize there profit as much as possible. Also dont be assholes to the employees, there getting screwed in this deal, do you think they care less if you dont like the prices in the store, they dont set the prices, in fact the liquidation company didnt tell us price markdowns until the night before.
hahaha that is true,I was there yesterday looking at camcorder the same one I bought during Christmas and I just can’t believe how they raise the price. I paid $329.99 it was mark 399.99 yesterday.
IT IS SO TRUE, I WENT IN FRI. TO CHECK PRICES ON A FEW TVS AND WENT TODAY, AND THEY COST MORE TODAY THAN FRI!!!!!!!
ANYONE WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE THEY ARE GETTING SCAMED HAS NOT DONE THEIR RESEARCH! I too was at the store the friday before, and i wrote down all the prices of the things i wanted to buy, LCDV, Nikon Camera, etc….On Sunday the liquidation prices were HIGHER than Fridays (even after 10% reduction!). This should be illegal. I asked several employees about this, some of them told me it was true, the others were just bitter and dont respond.
Yep I went the first day after the announcement Saturday 1/17/09. What a joke all the junk is marked down 30% TV’s not really marked down at all. I’ve been back every other day since. No change. Only fools buying. This is suppose to be a liguidation. My guess is there never be any 50% or more off any TV’s. They will end being bought in lots and sold on ebay by vendors at retail or near retail prices. Scam Scam Scam. Circuit City You Suck. Oh yeah and the liquidatiors handling the deal all of yall suck too very much so.
After many times dealing with these liquidation sales at K-Mart, Hollywood Video, Value CIty and others, I now wait until at least 3 weeks after liquidation starts to go in and look around. There might not be much left, but I do find stuff once in a while. $2 DVDs & CDs are a good deal to me. Some people think that if it is on clearance here than it is a deal when it is higher than other stores.
Honestly, I seen large flat screens new in box at 60% off at a Circuit City that closed in December and no one was buying because of the economy. It seems like these sales would be quicker to keep from losing money staying open.
I for one will not miss Circuit City and their high prices.
Is true. I went to check it out and everything was so highly priced up. I was a loyal circuit city customer but their liquidation sale was very disappointed.
Went to circuit city thinking of getting some deals before Xmas…. Lower priced items are ok with the 10% off.. .did not see any 20% but the big signs boast 10-20%off nothing held back. Then I wanted a new digital camera. Researched it online and expecting to pay 179.99 minus the 10% off and the store has it for 199 FIRM, when i inquired about the “nothing held back” the salesperson walked away……. hmmmmm nothings changed Best Buy here I come.
Best Buy??? LOL!!! They are terrible!!!!!
To be clear…outside of the electronics industry, this happens all the time. Sporting goods are a great example. A highend snowboard deck is priced at $1000 but on sale for $799, lol.
Nothing really new here. Stores have been doing this for years. I worked at a lot of stores when I was younger, & when liquidators would take over they called it a “sale.” Of course they can call it this. They are selling things.
Unfortunately no good prices were to be found. They would re-price items, and take 50% off resulting in actual higher retail pricing.
This report is absolutely true regarding the higher-priced items being priced at 10% off MSRP, not 10% of Circuit City’s prices. But the report is NOT true that it is Circuit City doing the scamming… the store’s contents have been sold to a liquidator, and the liquidator is the one setting the prices. The stores that have been closed are no longer “Circuit City” stores (which is why all prices are final, no haggling, no price-match, no Circuit City coupons, and no Circuit City financing).
thank you for clearing that up, I was waiting on someone to reply with the correct answer. It has nothing to do with the city. they are ordered by a judge to use an outside company. they then in turn use those funds to pay off their creditors the billions owed. CompUSA did something similar. So before you go whining next time do your homework.
Your post implies that you knew what was going on. If you knew the correct answer to clear things up then why didn’t you post it instead of making a snide remark? Besides, that post you made your comment to stated “If it’s true…”, not that they believed that it was. So before you go making snide comments next time offer up some useful information.
Your the only one whining, Fake A$$ no it all…..lol
This is true! My friends went in this past Friday to get me the entire series (21 disk) set of Sex and the City. They gave it to me on saturday and when I opened it we noticed that all of the disks were in backwards, so when we fliped them over they were maxwell brand cdrs…all blank burnable disks! We took it back on Saturday with the recipt and the store manager was very rude and we could only get store credit. Well the problem is is that there were no more Sex and the Citys left and he said he was unable to check any of the other stores and that my friend had to use the store credit within the next two days or she would lose it. So we got ripped off with blank disks, can’t get another set, and have to use store credit by today. Even though they are no longer Circuit City, they suck and have lost all value of customer service.
I work for a circuit city and while it is true that not all things are actually marked down(some things are actually marked down), you have to realize, this is not the work of Circuit City but rather of the liquidation firm. Circuit City no longer owns these stores nor the merchandise inside of them. They have already been paid in full for the items by the liquidation firm.
Went to a near by closing store and picked up a dennon reciever nearly 200 dollars off from best buy and Frys prices. However all their blu-ray movies were marked to full retail of 34.95 with 40% off when places luke target sell some if the same titles for 19.99, I was dissapointed with the movie “sales”.
I do not feel sorry for CC,or all you Carpet baggers,looking to get a good deal..FU..I feel sorry for the people that just lost their jobs
Capitalism at work. It is how the economy works. We will rebuild ourselves. But in the mean time do not attack those looking to save money. The closings happened and there is nothing we can do about it. If anything we are helping get rid of all of circuit cities dept they have. In the meantime…carpe diem.
It sucks that over 34,000 people have lost their jobs, it scks that there is racism, sexism, antisemitism. It could be worse. People should be greatful that they are alive. Happy to be here and trying to find a way to get through this. who cares that you have to pay regular price for electronics an movies. some people can’t even afford to feed themselve or their children.
People losing their jobs, racism, and sexism are bad. Do not try to bring anti-semitism into the same context as those other things.
so you’re an anti-semite then? hopefully you get worse than those who lost their jobs
If people can’t feed their family, that’s their problem not mine. It’s in our nature to wanna get a better deal so don’t rag on the people who put themselves in a position to afford items other than the necessities. Most of the products being sold in stores are marked up 100% or more from the cost to make the product.
thank you Sinead O’conner
well, obviously Joe is a dumbass. but the Circuit City Employees are set to receive severance packages (I am a Circuit City employee), so they have been helpful in that way (even though it is the government that will actually be the one paying for my severance). Either way, a management team from the liquidation company comes in, fires off all of our loyal managers, says all of circuit city’s policies don’t matter, tricks you into buying things, and then shows you the sign that says all sales are final.
Circuit City was even worse then Best Buy.
Best Buyhas always been terrible. Will they now get even worse do to loss of a major competitor ?
This sucks. I checked the store today morning and its exactly like “joe hater” said. Their prices are way over the line and you can find better deals online even with their 10% they dont match up the products. I was trying to buy a linksys wrt610n router from there but the price was $169.99 ($170) and then 10% is $17 that makes the final price around $$153 and then tax. Well i get that router for $140 from dell.com. What kind of sick losers do that to fool people and the worst part is: people actually buy things by thinking its on sale. Freaking fake sale.
I’m a CC employee. The sales aren’t good at all. People would have actually gotten better deals last fall on our prices. Now with the marked up “Sales” our stores are packed. Where the hell were all these people before when our prices WERE actually lower?? oh well, at least we get paid for 60 days without having to work.
I cannot believe all the idiots that go to Circuit City thinking they are getting a good deal just because they are closing. WHAT IDIOTS!! Check the mark-ups then go elsewhere to buy. So long Circuit City, YOU WONT BE MISSED!!
Thomas and all you Cicuit City employees thanks for your input. I was on way to the store today to pick up a PC and or Lab Top. I guess I will proceed with caution now. Any input on this third party who will be covering the extended warranties? Do we need to pay for shipping if a item is damged ?
Hey what happened to ordering on line???
Theres just all that crap up there. No more web site either to shop at .
The normal CC WEB site immediately shut down. I was on the WEB site and within 30 minuts of the Yahoo news about hte liquidation the WEB site shut down and the announcement message was present. This was planned weeks in advance. It happened to quickly.
I think CC putting up prices at my location in
Rocky Mt area, store. I fell sorry for the employes of the store here, I worked for a company in the past that went under in 99, but we did lower our prices 30 to 60 precent of the cost prior to the
anouncment. I going to get some cd and ink before it goes but I been burned by bad DVDs that i bought at CC.
It is unfortunate that Circuit City has closed up and liquidation procedures had begun however that is no excuse to intentionally RIP PEOPLE OFF! Here is my recent experience has of yesterday in fact! I was looking at a GPS unit for a car and I compared the model series I wanted which was the Nuvi 765T. I trotted into the Circuit City store thinking that they would have a lot of inventory since the liquidation sale, HAHAHAHA, just begun. They did not have the Nuvi 765T but they did have the Nuvi 265WT. I was very hesitant at getting this unit but I eventually said go ahead and charge it….. I get home and I wanted to compare just what I was missing on the lower model. From the 765T model. I noticed that their price at Garmin, the friggin company price, was $329.99! WHAT! I figured it out that Circuit City charged me $349.99 minus 10%, which came to $314.55 with tax it, was $344… I crapped my pants and immediately called the store up. This unit sells for around $265-$270. She said all sales are final, I said who is the liquidator. She did not know. I said I was calling the news station on this and hung up. I am marching down to the store today with the unit and demanding a credit or a refund. I have to many printed prices that are far below $314.99. What a rip off!
No way in hell am I accepting this. I will even take it at a lower price without any discount but not $60. dollar price difference compare to the rest of the world for a store wide liquidation sale. I will post my results today but
What a RIP OFF!. I just came back from Circuit City after speaking with MIA(SP) she said that prices are set at manufactures list price when the unit first came out. I called Garmin and the list price was never set at $349.99. It was always $329.99.
So I went to circuit City thinking I got a bit of a break on the 265WT. Circuit city took off 10% from $349.99 and sold it to me for $314.99 add the sales tax and it came to $344.55.
I am so pissed. They went above list price to make you think you are getting a deal.
Buyer beware! Time to call the local news station again.
Do your homework before shopping at a liquidation sale where you know that all sales are final! It is not the fault of the retailer, liquidator, or store clerk that you decided to purchase something without looking into the product and comparing prices at other establishments first. Stop being lazy and start taking responsibility for your own mistakes. Companies are in business to make a profit, not to cater to individuals who expect the world but are too lackadaisical to put in the small amount of effort that it would take to be an informed shopper. It is perfectly fair and ethical for a business to charge any price that they would like for their products and services; in a capitalistic society with a sufficient level of competition, the consumer has the obvious recourse to simply not buy products and services that are overpriced. Unless the store purposefully misled you about the manner in which the sale price was calculated, they are in the clear as far as I am concerned. The problem is that you assumed (incorrectly) that the sale price was a good deal and based upon a ten percent discount on the prevailing market price of the item. Also, with just a couple of minutes worth of searching online, I have found that the actual MSRP on the Nuvi 265WT is, in fact, $349.99. BE MORE CAREFUL IN THE FUTURE!
Nuvi 265WT MSRP: http://www.productwiki.com/garmin-nuvi-265wt/
Easy one first. The MSRP for that model GPS was never set at $349.99. I called Garmin directly and confirmed this. I would love for you to show me where Garmin set the MSRP price higher. Show me the WEB sites you speak of. Please do not provide links to an electronics store in New York City either….
Second. No it is not ethical for a company to come in and jack the prices up on the products then trick people into thinking there is a sale going on. That is exactly what they are doing. Why don’t they announce that pricing is set at list price or higher then discounted?? You must be a salesman with some issues or you are an employee of the liquidator. There are ways to get even.
Next liquidation sales I am going to personally stand in the parking lot handing out flyers to people heading for the doors warning them of the scam they are about to embark in.
1) If you would actually take the time to read my previous comment in its entirety, you would see that I did indeed provide a link for pricing reference at the end of my post. The link leads to a neutral website that clearly states that the MSRP of the Nuvi 265WT is $349.99. I have confirmed this price through a number of other websites as well. Please note that this is the original MSRP, the current MSRP as per Garmin has been reduced to $329.99 in light of the fact that this GPS model is no longer the latest and greatest on the market.
2) Please try to understand that the prices on the goods sold at Circuit City’s liquidation sale have not been raised in the attempt to mislead anyone; pricing is simply based on the MSRP rather than the discounted store level. A savvy shopper knows that this means that there are no real deals to be had until the discount rate reaches at least thirty percent or thereabouts. This would likely be an unethical situation if the Circuit City Company itself arbitrarily changed the normal sales price of a product simply to discount it and advertize it as being a special deal, but that is not what is happening in this case. The liquidation companies now have full custody and ownership of the products on Circuit City’s shelves, and their pricing practices simply differ from that of the former chain retailer. The liquidators operate in this fashion (basing everything on the MSRP) simply because it simplifies operations on their end (no need to overhaul the POS system or mess around with different discount rates for individual items). I visited a local Circuit City to see if there were any deals lurking about (I found none), and I clearly remember seeing at least once a notice that stated that only base prices apply and not any of Circuit City’s prior specials or sales. Customers were instructed to ignore any signs indicating sale prices or such that might have been missed when the employees swept the store and replaced the shelf signage (they unfortunately seem to be rather terrible in this regard). No one is twisting anyone’s arm backwards to buy the products on the shelves. You need to enter the store with enough background knowledge and common sense to be able to sort out the deals and bargains from the overpriced stuff.
3) I have never been employed by a liquidation company and I have not worked in the sales / customer service industry for years. I am simply someone who is approaching the situation with an understanding of business and retail operations. I honestly think that I am approaching this matter from a neutral perspective. You simply need to take the time to analyze the situation from the liquidator’s standpoint and stop thinking like a greedy, simpleminded consumer who wants great bargains without having think or do research.
4) Have fun in the parking lot wasting paper, annoying people, and making yourself look like a raving lunatic. Also have fun writing to the Attorney General, as I am sure that your letter will be fast-tracked to the big circular file.
I have had good and bad experience with CC in the past. More than once their computer didn’t correctly show the right number of in-stock items, and when I got to the pickup window, there was nothing to pick up. I can’t bad mouth the sales people for trying to make a sale, but when I asked the clerk for the equivalent phone battery that I was holding in my hand, he said “This is the one you need”, of course it wasn’t anywhere close. I went to Radio Shack instead.
I agree with comments from others about Best Buy & Walmart, they are no joy to shop in either. I get the best product, best prices and best service from places like TigerDirect, and Amazon.com on the web.
And no, I didn’t even bother to goto CC after I heard of their demise. I figured that I wouldn’t get a good deal.
This sale is so lame, they even have a line to limit about 15 groups of people at a time to appear “hot”.
Here is some interesting information.
http://www.circuitcity.com/closed.html
I went to CC on Sunday to buy a car charger for my iPod that is listed on Best Buy’s website at $19.99. CC tried to charge me $80!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
People need to contact the Attorney General and demand some guidelines be set in place for these scam artists to follow. I know I plan on doing this.
We will see who the last one laughing will be.
Dude…KM….get over it. You thought you got a good deal but you didn’t. You should have done some research before you decided to purchase something. As far as providing a web site showing the original MSRP, he did provide a link in his post. All you have to do is click on it. It’s not their fault you bought it. You voluntarily handed over your money in exchange for their product. Shame on you for placing the blame on the liquidator for your bad choice.
I went to circuit city and bought some snake oil! I’m set and good as gold.
As a CC current Employee ( for a few more weeks) let me say some things…. We are owned by a liquidation company, we are no longer CC. We employees have no control over ANYTHING.
The Liquidators up prices to full retail price and discount from that…come on now…. this happens at EVERY liquidation sale…not just CC. I have instructed every customer that asks about the sales the truth….why do I can I am being fired.
We are not recieving, commission, bonuses or severence packages, we work til we close and then we are out the door too.
Don’t treat us like shit, we have no control over anything, can not make deals, and come on , we are out of a job, have a heart and quit being whining, crying 2 year olds.
I was going to purchase some iPod accessorries at 30% off the marked price. I took the items to check out and had two problems. Some of the items were in the computer at a higher price than marked and then the discount was different on the different items. This is truly a scam. This was the Circuit City in Spartanburg, SC.
BEWARE!!! I have been shopping for the 52″ Sony HD LCD… the W4100.
2 weeks ago they were 2199.99 and now DURING the liquidation the store here in Baton Rouge, La has it for 2499.99 on sale from 2899.99 and because its on sale the 10% does NOT apply….
SHADY SHADY BUSINESS!!! Heads up guys… go ANYWHERE but CC
Oh my dear god. I dont even know where to start with what ive read. First of all im a circuit city employee (or was) and im simply shocked to see how many people dont understand this concept so ill put it in laymans terms
1. The merchandise youre buying is NOT the property of circuit city. The employees arent even paid by circuit city anymore the name is just there so you have a reference point so you know what LOCATION to go to.
2. liquidation “sales” are based off of MSRP prices. Meaning circuit city sales are over, the liquidator says “this is what im supposed to charge, you get 10% off this”
3. Where were all you deal hunters when this shit was actually ON sale? Im just shocked by how many people flock to the store to buy this stuff for MORE than what it usually costed, knowing theres no refunds.
4. Customer service is dead, i did well on the floor always making budget and always had customers come back to buy from me (during my 3 years there) and i will tell you if youre looking for customer service those days are gone. PLEASE dont come in with the idiotic question “whats the difference between plasma and lcd?” because we will point at 2 tvs and tell you ONE of the maybe 15 different reasons. So make this death quick and painless (do your research and know what you want). if you want a good suggetion
A650 series LCD from samsung
85U series Plasma from panasonic
Ending comments: So please stop calling it a scam. Its not a scam truthfully bestbuy and hhgregg dont have to put anything on sale, but by putting one thing on sale, you come in and you shop and buy other overpriced stuff (give and take). Liquidators dont have to give anything because IF YOU DONT BUY IT SOMEBODY ELSE WILL. So they charge what sony/samsung/panasonic says the items worth, and they give you x% off that. Please dont think im heartless either, i did this job for fun, and discounts (i have no bills) and just like anyone else i love finding good deals and helping ppl find good deals hence why i told a couple customers to either wait, or go to sears or wherever else because it was cheaper than 10% MSRP.
P.S sorry for shouting at times…lol it helps drive the point home
@kill_switch
The people who wouldn’t buy from Circuit City before the “sale” still aren’t shopping there. We continue to shop around for the best price, and CC isn’t it.
You’re getting the clueless, the lazy, and the just-plain-don’t-know people right now, those that think shopping around is too hard and believe everything they are told.
@ Griff
you sir are absolutley correct. I had the benefit of being there (when the store was open) and things would go on an actual clearance ie. $130 motorized tv mount for $30 dollars. But, you are right, with consistency, online prices demolish anything youd normally find in stores…
So you live with your mom? (NO bills?)
@anonymous
No i dont live with my mom im away at school, i go to college, my scholarships cover tuition; and housing,cellphone, insuarance and everything else is covered by the parents as long as i keep a certain GPA. Sounds spoiled but id say its a fair system. Almost had a good burn though..almost
I for one will be sad to see ‘em go as they are right down the street from me. Just recently (prior to BK), I bought a 32″ sharp LCD for $475 (online still cannot touch that price), a 30′ HDMI cable for $50 (clearance bin) , and a new guitar for GH for 10 bucks. To top it off, I just received a $48 CC rebate merchandise card (from Entertainment book) for the TV purchase, and promptly used it for a 4GB Extreme III SDHC card. Free.
I agree with everyone that the liquidators jacked up prices. They’re doing their jobs and it works. People don’t have to buy.
I for one am glad to see CC go. They were a terrible company to work for and needed to go under. A bunch of crooks and liars. Burn in hell Circuit City.
Today I bought a camera at Circuit City which is going to close down, for $220.00 I did my research, and found it costs $200.00 dollars everywhere else. Thanks alot Circuit City…
research before you buy!!!!!!
I just bought a 52″samsung TV 20 days ago for $1959.00. When I went to circuitcity in Braintree,MA to get the advertised 15% off the store manager told me that the same TV I bought less than three weeks ago is now ON SALE for $2249.00. HUH!
By the way, Circuit City is not handling the liquidation sales. This is done by professional liquidators. There are no deals when places go under liquidation sales. Just remember Circuit City is not responsible for the prices, so don’t bash Circuit City for the prices that you see at the liquidation sales.
I had fun reading some of the comments. I truly have some insight to the CC sale. I wanted to buy a flat panel from there. I’ll wait till March maybe the prices will look better.
Deal, or no deal? Well its a no deal at Circuit City since they are raising their prices and then marking them down. I purchased a Kodak easy share printer recently for $89.99 at Circuit City which also sells for this price at Target and Wal-Mart. I stopped by today and that same printer was for $119.99 with a 20% discount from $149.99. What a deal, yeah right.
I actually got a decent deal on an LCD monitor (more than 25% less than MSRP, and about 12% less than any online price I can find). No problem there. However, the sales clerk told me I needed to buy an HDMI cable, because none was included in the box. I bought the LCD and the cable. Once I purchased, I opened the box and found an HDMI cable included (not mentioned on the outside of the box). CC refuses to take the HDMI cable back.
There’s a difference between what people are calling a rip-off (when they could have compared competitors’ pricing) and a a customer being coerced into a fraudulent purchase by a sales clerk who is being trusted by the customer to be truthful and knowledgeable.
Well, yeah…they are a rip off anyways. I called about a universal laptop cable during one of these so called liquidation sites. They told me $70. I inquired if they were included in the sale only to be told that yes, this was the discount price and they did not foresee them going any lower.
Anyways, I purchased mine at Buy.com for like $20.
This company is a joke!
Who the fuck cares? if you dont like it dont take advantage of the sales. you have to wait untl the store is almost closed to get anything cheap. so shut the fuck up and waittt.
All PC games have a 40% off discount, for example Spore Galatic Edition is 70$ original price at Circuit City, it’s marked down 42$. While this might be cheaper then most stores; whom sell it for 49.95$, they bait you with the 40% false advertisement with the mentality that you’re saving a ton of cash. It’s pretty pathetic that Circuit City will go down scamming people on their way out, it’s also a shame that Best Buy has better standard prices then Circuit City’s sales. The best part of all of this is that there are no returns, so if you get something expensive without a warranty you’re assed out.
Here’s another killer Blank DVD’s were marked down 40% off, and they came out to 40$. I can get the same amount of blank DVD’s at Bestbuy for 20$. I think that sums up ‘doing your homework’.
the real sales are going on right now, bought a pioneer subwoofer for 13 dls, msrp its 80 dls,
Went to a CC this past Saturday and items are still expensive!! 40 to 60% off and items were still priced higher then nearby retailers. Plus, I was treated very rudely by not one but two employees when I asked about some office equipment that was for sale that had no price tags. One responded with, ” Everyones busy, cant get a price now” and another responded with, “Probably too high for you anyway (while laughing)”. It is for reasons like this that I hope CC gets everything it deserves. WHAT RUDE SCAMMERS!!!!