Lately, Best Buy has been doing something a bit different with their Chromebook deals. Instead of just reducing the price of different models, they are also bundling tons of different Chromebooks along with accessories. We recently detailed a few of the great bundles that paired up different Chromebooks along with a 3-pack of Nest Wi-Fi Pros, and now we’re seeing a similar move that features Google’s latest, greatest earbuds – the Pixel Buds Pro – instead.
To my count, there are currently 15 different Chromebook models paired up with the Pixel Buds Pro to form these bundles. In the event that you needed both a Chromebook and a fantastic set of wireless earbuds, this could be a great way to get both at a discounted rate.
Maybe not as fortuitous as it seems
But I also feel compelled to point out what’s really going on, here. Though you’d expect a tad bit of a price break for buying both a Chromebook and an accessory at the same time, that’s not actually happening. Let me explain. If you look at a device like the Lenovo Chromebook Slim 3 – currently on sale for a staggering $179 – and add on the also-on-sale Pixel Buds Pro (discounted $60 right now), you’ll get a grand total of $318.99 before tax. Care to guess how much the Slim 3 + Pixel Buds Pro bundle is? Yep, $318.99.
Now, this isn’t a bad deal and perhaps one of these bundles causes someone shopping for a Chromebook to realize that the Pixel Buds Pro are also discounted right now. That’s fine, but the whole thing feels a tad misleading. Again, if I agree to purchase something as an accessory to the main thing I wanted to buy in the first place, I’d expect at least a tad bit of incentive to do that.
Instead, what we’re seeing with these Best Buy bundles is less of a deal and more of a “hey, check this out, too” sort of offer. It’s not wrong on Best Buy’s part per se, but I fear that some buyers may look at a bundle like this and think that they are getting an extra discount without looking deeper into it.
In the Chromebook Slim 3 example above, both the Chromebook and the Pixel Buds Pro are fantastic deals all on their own, and you’ll save the exact same amount if you buy one now and decide to buy the other later (assuming the sale is still ongoing). To me, putting them in a bundle implies that this isn’t the case, and though I think these bundles are great deals for people specifically shopping for those items, we also want you all to be informed shoppers. If you want both a great Chromebook and great earbuds, this is a solid offer. Just know that you gain nothing from bundling them together and basically just save yourself a couple clicks on Best Buy’s website.
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