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FS - What is the general discount for an open box camera?

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Sr. Member
Nov 5, 2013
624 posts
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FS - What is the general discount for an open box camera?

Is it 10% or $50 off?

Or, it depends on the camera price?

Now, I find a $800 "open box" camera at Futureshop, what is the price that they "should" sell it to me?
9 replies
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Sep 24, 2005
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N/A
depends.
i think the system automatically discounts 5%, but management can change that price.
if you see an open box item you like, you can always negotiate with them.
they don't like having open box in the inventory system, so they are eager to sell them. if it is a clearance item that's open box, you can usually get a good deal.
“Children see magic because they look for it.”
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Oct 13, 2007
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Edmonton
Pretty sure I got 10% on mine a few Christmases ago at FS. 10% is fair if the item is basically untouched and everything is there.

You should be able to get $80 off no problem.
Deal Fanatic
Aug 4, 2005
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Brampton
10% I think is the standard amount. Any less and they are just being greedy.

I would try and get more then 10% off. You can negotiate the amount especially for higher priced items.
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May 28, 2012
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Saskatoon
Don't assume that it is simply an "opened" box. I bought a dslr on clearance at Best Buy years ago and after I brought it home, I unpackaged it and found that it had been a returned camera that had been sent in for repair. The receipt for the repair was in the box. It served me well for a few years but if I had know that it was a repaired unit, I probably wouldn't have purchased it...if I remember correctly, the discount was around 10%, not much more.
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Jun 22, 2012
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Shhanada
It can vary from location to location and from one salesperson to the next. So there's no price they "should" sell it for.

Future Shop often does silly stuff like 3% off open box item, and they hold to this while the new sealed item is on sale for 20% off and effectively much cheaper.

With some items it hardly matters if it's open box, but with cameras there's a lot of unknowns. Personally I'd want a really big discount and a really solid warranty if I bought an open camera.
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Sep 24, 2005
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Mars2012 wrote: Don't assume that it is simply an "opened" box. I bought a dslr on clearance at Best Buy years ago and after I brought it home, I unpackaged it and found that it had been a returned camera that had been sent in for repair. The receipt for the repair was in the box. It served me well for a few years but if I had know that it was a repaired unit, I probably wouldn't have purchased it...if I remember correctly, the discount was around 10%, not much more.
when i used to work at futureshop, occasionally, we'd get sent these 'repaired' units to sell.
i worked at the 'communications dept', (cameras, camcorders, cellphones, PDAs) and we'd get these units that were 'lemon' units, meaning they were accepted back by futureshop because of the lemon clause in PSP warranty: more than 3 repairs and the customer would get a brand new replacement. these things would be repaired, and put on the floor to be sold. these were clearly well used and well worn units, and would never qualify as refurbished product.

one time there was this sony camcorder, the top of the line camcorder we had at the time, retailing for around $2500.
a customer bought it, but returned it because a trim piece on the camcorder was loose. so i got the merchandisers to return it, and usually, we never see those things again, but the warehouse kept sending it back to our store. 3-4 times, if i recall correctly.
“Children see magic because they look for it.”
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Feb 26, 2004
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I've seen open box cameras there that were more expensive than brand new ones
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Sep 20, 2008
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Calgary
When I worked at Bestbuy, the starting point was 5%. The longer it was sitting there, the more was taken off.
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Mar 11, 2008
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Langley
I used to work in management at Future Shop and had authority to price open box items at whatever I saw fit. Some of the pricing would be based on the physical condition of the unit but it would also depend on how much opened inventory was in the store/ department at the time. I would also look at how much volume the store/ department and what the margin of the store/department was on that particular day since selling a large open box item at a cheap price would negatively affect the margin. There are a great deal more variables that can go into getting a really good deal on an open item and in some cases it is just being there at the right time.

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