Buying the right TV can be a daunting task when compared to buying other appliances. Whether it’s an OLED or an LCD display type, the size of its screen, the ports it has, and how it looks all determine if it’s something that you’ll actually like. If you get a phone you don’t particularly love, you can switch to a different one in a few years or easily sell it off for a new one. This isn’t as easy for TVs that you typically expect to last for a decade, so the risk of regretting your purchase is much higher. With so many TVs on the market and so many retailers to buy from, where should you look to get the best TV deals?
Costco and Best Buy both offer a ton of TV options for their buyers, albeit in vastly different ways. When looking for a TV, the price of the TV itself isn’t a factor anymore, as almost every retailer has competitive prices. What matters now is the warranty, customer support, return policies, and, of course, specific deals and advantages that the retailer provides.
Costco is more generous all-around, having better warranties and more lenient return policies, but only has certain TV models from specific manufacturers. Best Buy, on the other hand, features a significantly larger variety of TVs alongside other competitive benefits, but may have you paying extra for additional options. Which retailer gives a better deal on TVs depends on your needs, but purchasing from either has its pluses.
Comparing warranty options
LG’s base warranty is 12 months for parts and labor if you buy directly from them, but can be extended for an additional cost. For the 75″ LG UHD AI UA77, this costs $76.99 for two years and $96.99 for four. If you buy the same TV from Best Buy, you can additionally get the Geek Squad Protection Plan. This costs $89.99 for two years and $129.99 for five. This plan doesn’t start after the manufacturer’s warranty, though, but rather exists alongside it, so you’ll be getting two and five years, not three and six. It can still be a worthwhile purchase, as the Geek Squad Protection Plan covers things like power surges or even OLED burn-in, which isn’t always covered by other retailers, including Costco.
Costco is more cost-efficient when it comes to warranties, as it automatically bumps up any manufacturer warranties to two years without any additional costs through Costco Technical and Warranty Services. This isn’t always directly from the manufacturer, but Costco matches their warranty and provides anything the manufacturer would for the extended time. Costco used to increase this by an additional two years if you paid through the Costco Anywhere Visa card, but this was discontinued in 2023.
If you want to increase the period of this warranty further, Costco’s Allstate Protection increases it by three years to make a total of five. For the LG UHD AI UA77, this would cost $64.99. This makes Costco’s warranty plans a lot better in terms of longevity and budgeting, since you can cover five years for just $64.99, whereas getting the same protection from Best Buy would cost $129.99.
What each store offers in return policies
When you’re buying something that you plan to use for years, there’s not much room for regret. Even if you think a TV suits you based on its specifications, how you feel about actually using it can be different. This makes it important to have a good return policy to ensure you’re not stuck with a product that you don’t like. Buying straight from LG means that you have 30 days to return the TV in its original packaging. If the TV arrives damaged, you only have five days to file a return before LG won’t take it back anymore.
Thankfully, retailers are a lot more lenient than direct manufacturers for returns. For Best Buy, you can return the item for any reason — provided it hasn’t been in any accidents — for up to 15 days after you get it. If you have a My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total membership, this return period extends to 60 days.
If you’re planning on getting a TV during the holidays, Best Buy also features special holiday return periods. Most items bought in December can be returned any time before January 15th. For My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total members buying before December 3rd, this is further extended till the 31th of January. While this is quite generous, especially during the holidays, Costco beats Best Buy by a huge margin with its 90-day no-questions-asked return policy that applies throughout the year, not just in specific months.
Tech support and other benefits after purchase
Warranties and return policies aside, both choices offer plenty of other benefits as well. If you get a TV from Best Buy, you get quick, hands-on in-house technical support for TVs larger than 42 inches if you’re a member of the Geek Squad Protection plan. Costco, on the other hand, has on-the-phone tech support free of any additional cost for as long as your extended warranty stands. If a television you’ve bought from Costco suffers from an issue that your extended warranty covers, they’ll even send an expert to fix it for you, but it’s typically a third-party person and not a team of their own specialists, like Best Buy.
Overall, Best Buy features a much greater selection of TVs than Costco in person, including some cheaper exclusives, which can give it an edge. However, if you’re browsing online, Costco often has better benefits, such as its ongoing Direct Savings plan that lets you save money depending on how many Direct Savings items you buy. Additionally, Costco has specific agreements with certain manufacturers, such as LG, that let Costco give you better offers. These TVs are slightly different than those available at other places, though, sometimes missing an HDMI port or not having a certain feature, so be sure to check that it has what you need before buying.
Both retailers also feature competitive bundles that feature discounted extended warranties, accessories, and subscriptions. If you’re willing to spend a little extra for benefits and want to browse through more TVs in person, go with Best Buy. If, instead, you don’t want any unnecessary spending and don’t mind looking at only Costco’s selected TV brands, you have more reasons to buy your electronics from Costco instead.
