Why Shop Online for HDTVs? It's Cheaper!

We took a stroll down to our local big-box stores and compared the prices they offer to the prices you can get online. Far and away, online shopping for HDTVs was much cheaper.

Why shop online for a high-definition television? The answer is simple: you simply can't find a better price in a brick-and-mortar store. Sure, places like Best Buy, Circuit City, and Target talk a big game, but let's look at the facts. When you truly compare the prices from online merchants available through DigitalAdvisor and the prices present in big-box stores, our merchant partners handily beat the competition.

How We Compared Prices

Our staff took a walk through three of the biggest big box stores (specifically locations in Massachusetts, California, and Michigan) to see what they had to offer, then compared their prices with the prices available through online merchants. We've made sure that the included online merchants are honest sellers, and that their prices are valid and completely on the level. We did this by reading comprehensive store ratings submitted by people who've had positive shopping experiences, and by evaluating the online merchants first hand, looking for any discrepancies or suspicious tactics.

What about Shipping?

The "Online Prices" in the following tables includes shipping rates. In most cases, the online merchants offered free shipping on HDTVs. For merchants that did require shipping costs, they were typically between $50 and $100, and the final total still ended up cheaper than the in-store price.

The Results: The Best Deals are Online

Let's start with Best Buy:

HDTV	Circuit City Price	Lowest Online Price	% Difference
Sony 46" LCD KDL46V2500	$2,299	$1,889	22%
Panasonic 58" Plasma TH58PZ700	$4,499	$3,285	34%
Sharp 52" LCD LC52D62U	$2,399	$2,199	9%
Sony 46" LCD KDL46V3000	$2,499	$2,117	18%
Samsung 50" Plasma HPT5054	$1,899	$1,546	23%

*”Percent difference” is the difference between the highest brick-and-mortar price and the lowest online price, calculated as highest price minus lowest price divided by lowest price. Store prices gathered in late September, early October 2007 at retail stores in Santa Clarita, CA; Abington, MA; Boston, MA; Braintree, MA; Brockton, MA; Detroit, MI. Online prices gathered from DigitalAdvisor.com affiliates; the lowest price found including shipping is featured in the table.

The results are clear. Consumers can save hundreds of dollars on mainstream, brand-name HDTVs when they shop online. These merchants offer tremendous savings, and also free you from having to figure out how to get your big TV home in your tiny car without damaging it.

Now let's look at Circuit City:

HDTV	Circuit City Price	Lowest Online Price	% Difference
Samsung 50" Plasma FPT5084	$2,999	$2,148	40%
Panasonic 50" Plasma TH50PX75U	$1,999	$1,149	74%
Sony 32" LCD KDL32S3000	$1,099	$929	18%
Toshiba 42" LCD 42HL67	$1,399	$1,049	33%
Panasonic 32" LCD TC32LX70	$899	$710	27%

*”Percent difference” is the difference between the highest brick-and-mortar price and the lowest online price, calculated as highest price minus lowest price divided by lowest price. Store prices gathered in late September, early October 2007 at retail stores in Santa Clarita, CA; Abington, MA; Boston, MA; Braintree, MA; Brockton, MA; Detroit, MI. Online prices gathered from DigitalAdvisor.com affiliates; the lowest price found including shipping is featured in the table.

Again, online prices trump in-store prices by hundreds of dollars!

How about a store like Target?

HDTV	Target Price	Lowest Online Price	% Difference
Olevia 42" LCD 242T	$999	$898	11%
Olevia 37" LCD 237T	$799	$695	15%
Sony 40" LCD KDL-40S3000	$1,449	$1,205	15%
Westinghouse 32" LCD SK-32H590D	$799	$729	10%

*”Percent difference” is the difference between the highest brick-and-mortar price and the lowest online price, calculated as highest price minus lowest price divided by lowest price. Store prices gathered in late September, early October 2007 at retail stores in Santa Clarita, CA; Abington, MA; Boston, MA; Braintree, MA; Brockton, MA; Detroit, MI. Online prices gathered from DigitalAdvisor.com affiliates; the lowest price found including shipping is featured in the table.

Target specializes in cheap, affordable HDTVs. Or so they say. Typically, they have a lot of non-name brand TVs, with a few Sony or Philips boxes mixed in for good measure. We matched up their allegedly low prices with the prices from DigitalAdvisor's merchant partners, and yet again, online prices are far better than in-store. Even when it comes to excellent affordable brands like Olevia, the price difference between in-store and online can be quite large.