Circuit City closing – here’s what you need to know

January 16, 12:39 PMGadgets ExaminerDan Appleman

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Goodbye Circuit City

Circuit city will be closing its doors, leaving Best Buy as the last of the big chain consumer electronics stores and leaving about 34,000 employees unemployed. Don’t be too concerned about the impact of less competition on prices – Circuit City is as much a victim of Internet sales as it is a victim of a weakening economy. Some stores will start liquidation sales as soon as this Saturday (January 17th).

And don’t be too quick to expect great liquidation bargains. Discounts at the start of the liquidation are often small. A promised 20% discount often reflects a discount off the list price of the item, not the street price, which in consumer electronics is often less. If you plan to try the liquidation sale, decide ahead of time what you are interested in, and find out the street price before you go to the store so you’ll know if you’re getting a good deal. One of the best places to find this is by searching for the product on Amazon.com, not because their prices are necessarily the best, but because they serve as a market for numerous resellers, which together will give you a good picture of the actual street price of an item. Another good source for comparison is froogle.com. If you have a smart phone with web access, bring it with you so you can compare prices on the spot.

By the time liquidation prices are truly competitive, chances are all the really good stuff will be gone and you’ll be picking over less popular items, including the shelves and lighting fixtures (that are often also on sale).

Remember that items at these sales are sold without return privileges, so if you have any problems you’ll be limited to the factory warranty. You can purchase an extended warranty – those warranties are provided by third parties and will continue even after Circuit City closes. Delivery services will probably not be available.

If you have any circuit city gift cards, use them as soon as possible. They will be honored during the liquidation sale, but after a few days there may not be much left worth spending them on. They will be worthless once the stores close.

Avoid shopping online at circuitcity.com. They may cease operation as soon as January 19^th, and once closed, it may be difficult for you to deal with errors, shipping problems, etc.