Best Buy’s new members program offers access to hard-to-find items

By Chris MorrisFormer Contributing Writer
Chris MorrisFormer Contributing Writer

    Chris Morris is a former contributing writer at Fortune, covering everything from general business news to the video game and theme park industries.

    It’s been a rough year for people who have been on the hunt for a PlayStation 5, an Xbox Series X, or the latest and greatest graphics card. But a new membership program from Best Buy could greatly increase the odds of getting your hands on difficult-to-find products.

    It’ll come at a price, though.

    Best Buy has debuted a new program called Totaltech (as opposed to the existing Total Tech program), that will include “access to some of the…hardest-to-find products” this holiday season. Membership will cost $200 annually—and will also include 24/7 tech support, longer product protection, free shipping and installation, an extended return window, and member prices on some merchandise.

    The program, which Best Buy began testing earlier this year, is now available nationwide.

    Exactly which hard-to-find products Totaltech members will receive preferential access to was not made clear, but the announcement implies they would be devices that have been supply-constrained, in part owing to the global semiconductor chip shortage.

    Fans lined up outside Best Buy stores this year when new video cards were scheduled to go on sale and when new shipments of popular game consoles arrived. And the holiday season could make things even more crowded in the predawn hours.

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    https://twitter.com/gpu_drops/status/1443119006924165124

    Best Buy will also give Totaltech members access to events such as special pricing on a selection of tech items every Monday, starting Oct. 18 and through the holiday season.

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