Updated: March 12, 2024, 12:20 pm ET This article has been updated with details about upcoming Drops between March 13 and March 19, including expansion devices for Mac, Xbox, and PlayStation.
When it comes to shopping, a scarcity mentality is as compelling as a friend who always lets you buy things you don’t need. That’s why during site-wide sales there’s often a timer in the corner of the screen staring down your neck. That’s why Amazon’s invite-only Prime Day deals and Black Friday deals are popping up, and why Walmart is letting Walmart+ members get access to new big shopping event deals hours before the public.
That’s probably why Best Buy conveniently announced the decline just before the holiday shopping season. We were pleasantly surprised, though, that Drops wasn’t just a holiday treat, it solidified its place as the middle tab in the Best Buy app for as long as Best Buy would let us.
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Best Buy Drops is a shopping tool dedicated to giving shoppers early access to hot upcoming items and deals in categories including games, budget TVs, fan-favorite toys and merchandise, eye-catching hair tools, kitchen gadgets and more. Next week at Best Buy. As long as you have the Best Buy mobile app, you can preview the day’s items so you can click “Add to Cart” when an item or deal goes live.
If you’re currently delivering a Drop when using the app, a status bar showing the percentage of claimed inventory can let you know how quickly you need to take action. Once a certain dropped inventory is gone, it’s gone.
Price cuts may include significant price reductions on popular items or offering products that were not previously available.
Image source: Screenshot/Mashable
The Drops tab also maintains a list of past Drops, which include a limited-edition PlayStation 5 Marvel Spider-Man bundle, Pokémon Squishmallows, a super-cheap 50-inch TV, and an Apple Watch Ultra 2. Even if you missed these, you at least know that similar items are likely to appear in the coming weeks. To look ahead, check the upcoming tabs.
For an extra cushion, you can opt-in to “Launch Alerts” to get an extra reminder before launching products you care about. Joining My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total will unlock better discounts on Drops than the general public.
What sales are happening at Best Buy from March 13th to March 19th?
Best Buy only reveals the name of an upcoming product in the Drop preview tab, not its actual Drop price, so any price listed below is the product’s current price on Best Buy’s website before the Drop. Drops begin around 11am on designated days (usually Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays of any given week) and stock is usually all claimed by 5pm that day.
Drops: March 13
The gaming theme of Drops continues, this time offering busy gamers the enjoyment their dedication brings. The Backbone One connects to any iPhone (running iOS 15 or later) or Android (running 10.0 or later) with a USB-C connector, and can also be used as a wired controller for a PC or tablet. Gaming options include anything on the App Store or Google Play, as well as streaming options via cloud gaming services like Xbox Game Pass or Amazon Luna.
This Best Buy-exclusive version of the Backbone One is a limited-edition drop, not a price-related drop, so we’d expect it to have a regular Backbone One MSRP of $99.99. It’s still a steal, though, as the price includes a Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile customization set and the chance to earn two 30-minute Double XP Tokens.
Drops: March 15
First-time Mac users who aren’t splurging on storage should consider purchasing this 2TB external SSD from Crucial. Whether you often need to move large files for work or just want to back up in case your MacBook fails, the X9 Pro is your reliable assistant, with read and write speeds of up to 1,050MB per second, which is more than enough for general workflows. Drop-resistant durability up to 7.5 feet, IP55 water and dust resistance, and a weight of less than 1.5 ounces make the X9 Pro more portable than the typical bulky HHD.
This is the second time the 2TB X9 Pro is available in drop form, and we expect it to cost $99.99, compared to the usual price of $199.99.
Drops: March 18
Xbox players can also expand their storage space with this week’s Drops. WD’s Black C50 expansion card opens up a 1TB SSD for Xbox Series X and S, which is a pretty important upgrade since new games still require more space than older games. The game doesn’t require any installation, either, so you can plug in and expand your gaming options at any time.
This particular WD expansion card hasn’t dropped below $124.98, according to Amazon price tracker camelcamelcamel, but Best Buy is known for hitting all-time lows with Drops. $99.99 doesn’t seem exaggerated at all.
Drops: March 19
Did you say you’re a PlayStation person? Your chance to increase your console’s storage is coming, and it’s significantly more space than the first two expansion devices offer. Designed specifically for PS5 and PS4, Seagate’s Game Drive offers a whopping 4TB of space for all the games you’ve collected over the years. Available exclusively as a Best Buy drop, this stylish white product includes Rescue data recovery services.