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The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus, easily one of the best higher-end Chromebooks you can buy these days, has seen a puzzling price increase at Best Buy. While Samsung’s official website maintains the device’s base price at the established $699.99, Best Buy has decided to increase it by $50. This move should definitely raise some eyebrows, particularly given Google’s consistency with the $699.99 ceiling for Chromebook Plus models.
Thanks to Google’s efforts, the Chromebook Plus initiative has managed to deliver consistent and premium user experiences at predictable costs of up to $699. This $699 top-end ceiling for Chromebook Plus has been a big part of the overall strategy, ensuring consumers have a boundary of price points to shop within when making a choice on a device.
The reasons behind this price adjustment at Best Buy remain unclear. It is possible that this is a temporary adjustment, or perhaps a localized pricing strategy specific to Best Buy; but without some clarification, all we can do is speculate for now.
The place to buy is samsung.com
So, if you are in the market for the new Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus, the only avenue for now is over at samsung.com. For reference, we’ve advocated buying direct from them in the past, and that suggestion still stands.
When purchasing from Samsung, you can add the optional Samsung Care protection plan, get a larger 30-day return window (15 days to initiate, 15 days to ship it back), and take advantage of some pretty great trade-in values as well.
While devices get set to certain MSRPs (manufacturer suggested retail prices), retailers are still free to do what they choose. In this case, with the same device available for purchase directly through the manufacturer’s website, I’m not sure what Best Buy’s end goal is. At the end of the day, $50 is $50, so I’d imagine sales will absolutely be lost over this, and it at least makes me hopeful for a return to the standard $699.99 at Best Buy soon.
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