UPDATE: Nov. 22, 2023, 11:30 a.m. EST The new Best Buy Drops tab on the Best Buy app gives you a head’s up about upcoming new product drops, limited edition releases, and major discounts on high-profile items ahead of the holidays. This post has been updated to track the products dropping in the coming week.
When it comes to shopping, a scarcity mindset is just as convincing as that one friend who always enables you to buy something you don’t need. It’s why there’s often a timer breathing down your neck from the corner of the screen during a sitewide sale. It’s why Amazon’s invite-only Prime Day deals popped off (and why they’ll likely be back for Black Friday). It’s probably why Best Buy announced Best Buy Drops right before we hit the full-blown holiday shopping season — and we’re totally falling for it.
Best Buy unveils its Black Friday plans: Early access to deals starts right before Halloween
Best Buy Drops is a new shopping hack dedicated to giving shoppers a heads-up about upcoming high-profile items and deals in categories like gaming, smartwatches, toys, and more dropping at Best Buy in the next week. As long as you have the Best Buy mobile app, you can preview what’s coming on what day so that you’re ready to click “add to cart” when the item or deal goes live.
If a Drop is currently live while you’re on the app, a status bar showing the percentage of inventory that has been claimed can give an idea of how fast you need to act. Once inventory for a certain Drop is gone, it’s gone.
Credit: Screenshot / Mashable
The Drops tab also keeps a list of past Drops, which have included a limited-edition PlayStation 5 Marvel’s Spider-Man bundle, Pokémon Squishmallows, a super cheap 50-inch QLED TV, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Even if you missed these, you at least have an idea of what similar items could pop up in the coming weeks. To look ahead, check the upcoming tab.
For extra cushion, you can opt-in to Drop Alerts for an extra reminder right before the drop of a product you care about goes live. Joining My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total will unlock even better discounts on Drops than what the general public is getting.
What’s dropping at Best Buy Nov. 21 through Nov. 30
Best Buy is only revealing the names of the upcoming products — not their actual Drop prices — in the Drop preview tab, so any prices listed below are the current price of the said product as it is on Best Buy’s site pre-Drop. Drops go live around 11 a.m. ET on the specified day (usually a string of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in any given week, but more the week of Black Friday), and inventory is typically fully claimed by 5 p.m. that day.
Dropping: Nov. 21
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As if Barbie stuff hasn’t already been a holiday staple for decades, 2023 marks the first holiday shopping season post Barbie movie — and probably the first holiday shopping season where whole adults are vying for the pink merchandise just as hard as the kids. One item, which Best Buy is calling a limited release, is sure to be a hit: it’s a remote controlled Hot Wheels replica of the Corvette that Barbie and Ken drive in the movie (technically a 1956 Chevrolet Corvette C1). It can hold two Barbies up front and the trunk really holds clothes.
Though the main draw of the Barbie Corvette Drop is the fact that it’ll be in stock at all, but we’re also hoping for a small price drop from the $54.99 it was listed as. For reference, they’re going for $80-ish at eBay.
Dropping: Nov. 27
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If you didn’t know yet, Roku makes its own 4K TVs rather than solely implementing its popular smart home platform into TVs. Roku’s TVs are already priced pretty competitively — like the featured 50-inch model going for less than $300 at full price — so we can expect Best Buy’s Drop pricing to make this one of the cheapest (if not the cheapest) 50-inch 4K TVs you see this season. For the price, Roku TVs are responsive, easy to navigate, and totally fine for casual watchers who care more about staying within a budget than an elevated graphics experience.
Dropping: Nov. 28
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The internet’s favorite Dyson Airwrap dupe is about to look like even more of a steal when it gets the Drop treatment. Even at its Black Friday pricing of $499.99 (just $100 off), the latest Airwrap still costs $200 more than the Shark FlexStyle at full price. Considering that the FlexStyle fell to $239.99 at Amazon last week, it’s only natural to assume that Best Buy might just pull it below the $200 point to cement the FlexStyle as the hot air styler to snag this Black Friday.
The featured model comes with four attachments including two different curler sizes, a round brush, a flat brush, and a concentrator.
Dropping: Nov. 29
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Here’s a gift idea for anyone whose wallet situation is so chaotic that it makes you uneasy to watch them dig around in it. The Ridge Wallet is an RFID-blocking aluminum wallet with an elastic expander that organizes cards that can be flipped out as if there’s a hinge on one end. The minimalist design can hold up to 12 cards and also features a money clip.
Dropping: Nov. 30
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An Apple product being featured as a Drop feels major, especially when it likely means that Best Buy’s price tag on the cheapest iPad (just called “iPad”) is going to beat Amazon’s current price of $229.99. This is the WiFi-only 9th generation of the iPad, outfitted with an A13 chip and 10.2-inch Retina display that’s enough for average tablet tasks like social media perusing, shopping, email checking, and falling down YouTube rabbit holes.
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Best Buy Drops is an app feature that alerts shoppers about product releases, limited edition bundles, and deals before they drop. Here’s why it’s one of the best holiday shopping hacks.
