Internet website consumerist.com has leaked the discout items list for the impending CompUSA closings. Apparently things will be nearly business as usual in the slightly more than 100 CompUSA stores throughout the Christmas season, and then in early January '08 the good crappy deals are to be had. At least initially, the best discounts will be of only 20% store-wide, and that 20% is isolated to cables, accessories, cases, power supply, motherboards, and a variety of other non-technical hardware accessories that CompUSA had sorely overpriced in the first place. Keep in mind that on many printer cables, for example, CompUSA commanded a whopping $29 for cables that are common through mail order and wholesale shops for less than $10, sometimes less than $5. ( I remember working at CompUSA and having managers tell me to put a printer cable and a ream of paper in the basket when people came in to buy a printer, because the store would make more money on the cable and the ream of paper each then they would on the printer itself. ) It appears that the initial round of discounts at CompUSA should be avoided at all costs. If the CompUSA going out of business sale is anything like their sister-company ComputerCity's going out of business sale, there were basically no good deals to be had until literally the last day or two of business, and even those deals weren't that special. Keep in mind that "all sales will be final" during the sell-off and getting a warranty replacement part will be difficult. With the staggering number of computers and computer accessories that don't seem to work right right out of the box, this will setup an especially trying situation for many technology lovers who received only a 10% discount but received a 100% non-working item.
Here's a list of the discounted items CompUSA has listed as "Opening Discounts". We should hope that better discounts are forthcoming. Click to enlarge each image.
