Official Best Buy Blackberry Storm Pricing - not bad as previously thought
Just like the anticipation for the release of the BlackBerry Bold, many of you out there are wishing you can just wake up tomorrow and know that your local Verizon will already have the Storm. Well, you won’t have to keep dreaming much longer as we’re just a few days away from the official release. However, if you happen to be someone who can wait for a gadget to come out, even if it’s just a few days, then you will have more than just one option. Go to Verizon to pick up your new BlackBerry? Or head to Best Buy where you can grab a new Storm as well as fight the temptation to make impulsive electronics purchases? If the latter sounds more tempting, you need not be afraid of the previously mentioned pricing for the Storm. Yes, the BlackBerry Storm will still cost $599.99, but that’s only if you pick it up outside of contract. Apparently, you can also pick it up for the same price that Verizon is offering it for with a new contract or eligible upgrade. Inking a two-year deal will allow you to pick up the Storm for $199.99, and a one-year contract brings the price of the phone to $299.99. It’s nice to have options, isn’t it? Hit the jump for a quick shot of Best Buy’s Storm signage.
[Thanks, Jason!]
I guess verizons price is going to be the same also, but with a 50 dollar MIR whereas best buy’s is going to be instant, and you get a free plantronics bluetooth and bonus rewardzone points.
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That’s good. I was suprised when I read it would cost more at BB. Why would anyone buy it there then, but they were. I spoke to a sales rep there last week and he said they had 210 pre orders as of last Thursday.
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Any idea if $599 is the official retail w/o contract, or if thats just best buys price point. Only reason I ask is because best buy tends to tack on to the contract free price i.e the LG Dare. Verizon sells it off contract for $400, best buy sells it for $499.99.
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Question: Does “new every 2″ work at Bestbuy? Will i be able to use my $100 credit, making this phone $99- at bestbuy? Thanks!
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BDizzah
No Verizon’s retail price will not that much, but I would assume it will be pretty close to $550 though.
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That $199 is without the inclusion of a MIR?
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GetOverIt,
Thanks man. I’m still going to try to talk my way to that new customer pricing, but if that didn’t work I would have to shell out the retail. 599.99 is steep, especialy when you tack on the NY sales tax (or to be exact nassau county sales tax, closes best buy to me is in nassau, seems people out there are made of money lol). I really can’t wait to get rid of this Pearl, not that its a bad phone just seems like fisher price “my first blackberry”.
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screw the storm I have had verizon for 4 yrs now and cant upgrade my phone till June, so then it will cost me full retail of 500 or 600. I might as well cancel my contract for 110 and go get the iphone. Was looking foward to the storm but not for 500 or 600.
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Isn’t new every 2 only $50 now?
I see a lot of people mentioning $100 but they should look at their accounts again.
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One note - Verizon will make you purchase a plan that includes data, so if you are upgrading from a Treo and you’ve been doing manual synch, it will cost you at least $30 more per month.
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“New every two” is only $50 off now. I checked at the Verizon store today.
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New Every 2 is price plan dependent now. There is a tier system where you can either get $100 or $50 based on the level of your calling plan. Generally in the stores you get $50 off instantly then the mail-in rebate.
This is one thing i do not like about Verizon, that is their policies ranging from one department to the next.
BDizzah
I might be able to help you out….should you trust me that much. In my opinion anyone that did not have a blackberry before getting the storm should get a “credit” of some sort towards buying the Storm outright considering you are tacing on that $29.99 data plan to your bill. I will probably make more money selling the this phone to customers buying it outright than extending their plans.
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@GetOverIt
That would be awesome, however I do have a blackberry. I currently have the 8130, and where I got screwed the first time (released the Curve after my 30 day trial period) I would like to not get screwed again. I read this blog daily and it seems that you know your stuff when it comes to big red. My NE2 comes into effect 12/09…Think there are any other loop holes I should look into when trying to “talk down” my local VZW rep?
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As a Best Buy Mobile Manager I’ll give you an outline of a few facts:
Best Buy will have the Storm on 11/21 the same as the Verizon Corporate Stores.
Best Buy will sell the Storm for $199 on a new activation or qualified upgrade. Our full retail price is higher than VZW because we prefer not to sell phones at full retail if we can avoid it. Just try asking for a price match to a VZW store and you might get your way.
Best Buy offers instant savings on phones meaning there are no mail in rebates to hassle with. You will pay $199 plus tax out the door.
For those of you who need the help Best Buy is offering FREE Geek Squad email setup on your new phone. We will configure your most used email account for you so you walk out the door with push email working.
We do not officially honor Verizon New Every 2 credits, but at the Manager’s discretion we will make exceptions. I know at my store we will be honoring NE2 credits, but some stores feel it’s a losing proposition. YMMV, so I would recommend contacting the Mobile Manager at the store of your choice today to see what his or her policy is.
We are giving away a Plantronics 360 bluetooth headset with every Storm purchase, a $49.99 value.
Best Buy offers Geek Squad Black Tie protection on the phone which is a great value and unique in the market. It covers accidental damage from handeling (drops, broken screens, liquid damage), normal wear and tear as well as a free one time battery replacement (It’s as simple as calling 1-888-bestbuy and they mail you a battery free of charge) if the battery fails to hold a charge. The thing that sets this coverage apart is the fact that there is NO DEDUCTIBLE (Asurion charges a $50 deductible)! If you break the screen on your brand new Storm or spill a glass of water on it Best Buy will fix it or replace it (depending on which option is more cost effective) for free. If the phone is too expensive to repair we will issue you a $599 in store credit (full retail price of the phone) towards a new phone. The coverage can last up to two years or be canceled any time and goes on any major credit card or a Best Buy card. It’s $9.99 a month on the Storm, $6.99 a month on some of the more inexpensive phones and $14.99 a month on the iPhone. There is no limit to the number of claims you can make (unlike Asurion) so if you are like me and break phones a lot you are covered.
Pre-orders have ended already but there is a chance you can walk in and pick one up on the morning of the 21st. If you already pre-ordered with Best Buy your phone is guaranteed and you will be receiving a call to schedule your activation appointment very soon.
My Verizon account rep was in my store 2 days ago with a live Storm and I must say it was an AWESOME phone. The screen is really bright with good contrast and high resolution, not to mention how large it is! The screen is heat sensitive (like an iPhone) for scrolling through web pages and your contact list. The screen also depresses and clicks when you want to click a link or type a letter. The typing was very intuitive for me and with only 10 minutes practice I was typing as fast as I do on my 8330 Curve. The build of the Storm I used wasn’t even a final build but it didn’t have any problems, not even a lagging GUI or poor touch sensitivity.
Needless to say I am planning on purchasing one. I have a $100 NE2 credit so the phone is going to be $99.99 out the door with a free $49.99 bluetooth to boot! That’s an impossible deal to beat.
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There is nothing revolutionary about the phone except it’s a mimic or a copy of the iphone minus a lot of features
528 Mhz processor, not 624 Mhz, neutered, matter of fact they have chosen a cheaper CPU pxa930 instead of the powerful pxa320 (Samsung Omnia) which can be over clocked to a 806mhz (pxa320 has 256 kb l2 cache and a 768 kb 3d frame buffer)
Not VGA, only half the revolution! When they thought of the resolution, they saw the iphone as the limit, there is no creativity
No wide screen format to play movies nicely, only square 4:3 aspect ratio, they forgot to copy that.
No infrared port
No flash support
No Bluetooth v2.1
No video acceleration, u have to pay for data plans but u can’t play online games!
No LED, regular TFT LCD
No 16.7 millions true colors like the
No WiMax, don’t even dream about it
No wifi, no streaming (streaming is not allowed in the data plan)
No high number of channels of polyphonic (32 channels only) ringtones typically 72
Pages are slow to load and render and zoom/pan operations were slow and jerky no matter what the software version is, it will be in beta till after one year at least.
Not really built for multi tasking only small memory (128 MB RAM) even it has big Rom
No 8-megapixel camera
No stereo microphone
No stereo loudspeaker
No Hdmi
No electronic dictionary,
No Business card recognition
No finger print reader
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@Best Buy Mobile Manager
Sooooooo, you sell for higher than retail price because:
“Our full retail price is higher than VZW because we prefer not to sell phones at full retail if we can avoid it.”
Avoiding those “high” retail prices = making them more money…..Hmmm i used to like best buy too.
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HMM thats a tough one, honestly your best bet is calling CS and speaking with them pleading your case. I don’t know what calling plan you are on (higher the calling plan the better chances you have….obviously) This is one of those things where you will probably need a supervisor/manager approval.
Only other thing i can think of is if your Pearl happens to start “malfunctioning” this week multiple times which after the third swap out they have what is called a Multi-FRU replacement, where you pay the difference between what you paid for the Pearl and what the Storm is, with a contract extension.
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Not worth getting rid of my iphone over…
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@Bdizzah
It’s slightly more complicated than that.
We actually sometimes lose money selling phones at retail price when we match the carriers. We do it to help out customers who have broken phones or are otherwise in a situation where we can help them out.
I haven’t seen the cost on the storm yet but I imagine it’s around $500 or so meaning we would break even selling it, without paying for shipping or the wages needed to activate it on the account and ring it out.
Any Verizon corporate sales associate will tell you that the money is in new activations, and this is true for us as well.
It’s somewhat like the NE2 situation; we do it to keep a customer happy, not because we make money by doing it.
Verizon has corporate stores with large inventories of product for a reason, and they are making money off their customers every month therefore they have incentive to sell phones at cost. We don’t have this incentive unless not doing so would disapoint the customer.
Our biggest value prop is that we have no mail in rebates. We also typically have cheaper prices (on new activations and upgrades) than corporate stores. Our selection is larger because we have 3 of the major carriers phones for sale, not just one which makes us more impartial.
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@storm analyzer
The last three “comparisons” you made are apps. ibet YOUR phone can’t multi-task worth a damn.
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@Best Buy Mobile Manager
I did the pre-order at Best Buy. I know you stated that they will call me shortly but should I be expecting a call early this week or late?
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@best buy
If you match prices on phones purchased at retail price with the corporate store and sometimes loose money, how are you able to sell the phones cheaper on new activations and upgrade then?
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@BestBuy
I talked to the rep at the store I pre-ordered from and they told me they don’t do NE2. Any chance I argue that they should match the Verizon price (ie 50 bucks cheaper thanks to NE2) or should I just get my money back and head to the corporate store?
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@ Storm Analyzer…have of the things you mentioned are not only stupid but irrelevant to this post…let’s not go into all the things your almighty iPhone, which I should reiterate has nothing to do with this post btw, cannot do. Go find something better to do with yourself.
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…I think they just jack the prices up to promote new activation…and to help out with that oh-so-sweet best buy employee discount they offer. I used to work retail back in the good old (college) days, and people I knew that worked for best buy had the sweetest discounts going!
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