Archive for the 'General' Category
Why do Plasma TV Stands cost so much?
If you’re in the market for a tv stand for your newly purchased plasma screen tv (which you got a great deal on, I hope), then you have no doubt run across the exorbitantly high prices they tend to garner. Many of them cost $200 on up to $1000 plus. Does it seem to anyone that we may be getting hosed? Well, if you answered a resounding “YES”, then you may proceed with the rest of the article.
So the question remains then: why do these low-quality, cheaply-made, snap-together tv stands cost an arm and a leg and maybe even a big toe? The answer, my friend, is the same as it is in real estate: location, location, location.
Consider the situation: You just bought your shiny new Samsung 50-Inch Plasma HDTV, and your about to wet yourself with excitement. You somehow get that thing home, thanks to your brother-in-law who curses the day he ever bought that F350 longbed. You break your back and his trying to get that acward yet massive box into your house, uncrate it, and regret sincerely that you didn’t just pay the guy at Best Buy to deliver it. So, your starting down at it and then up at the wall you’ve set aside - it will be the center-piece of your entire world. And then it sinks in. How are you ever going to hang that beast on your pristine living room wall? You look over at your brother-in-law to ask his advice, but he has already checked out (he can read the tea leaves, oh yeah). So, you decide after much internal debate - that you might just be better off for the time being to get yourself a nice, cheap tv stand. Nothing fancy, just something to put the tv on, after all who’s going to be staring at the tv stand when you have a 50-Inch Plasma HDTV directly above it? So, you return to Best Buy (or whatever electronics store you bought the plasma from). They have two stands that may hold your tv. One is perfect, and it is $800. The other is of questionable quality and may collapse under the weight of your collosal television, but it only costs $650 so you go it. On the way home, you are either praying that your tv survives once you set it on top or you are calling your brother-in-law again to return for another back-breaker.
Now, what have we learned from this? Brothers-In-Law are useful in some cases? Yes. Always pay for the delivery? No doubt. Never buy a tv stand from an electronics store? Now you’re catching on.
Electronics stores do not specilize in furnature, so your best prices are not going to be there. In addition, they have a captive audience. You just bought a freakin’ huge tv from them. Why not just get the stand while you’re there. Finally, since they aren’t primarily selling tv stands, they are only going to have room for a few of them, leaving your selection minimal at best.
Bottom line: Forget buying a tv stand at an electronics store or general retailer. You will get the best prices at a store who specilizes in furnature or online (watch the shipping).