UPDATE: Feb. 27, 2024, 12:15 p.m. EST This post has been updated with details on upcoming Drops through the end of February.
When it comes to shopping, a scarcity mindset is just as convincing as that one friend who always enables you to buy something you don’t need. It’s why there’s often a timer breathing down your neck from the corner of the screen during a sitewide sale. It’s exactly why Amazon’s invite-only Prime Day deals and Black Friday deals popped off, and why Walmart lets Walmart+ members get their hands on new groups of big shopping event deals hours before the general public can.
And it’s probably why Best Buy conveniently announced Best Buy Drops just ahead of the holiday shopping season. We’re pleasantly surprised that Drops turned out to not just be a holiday treat, though — it has solidified its spot as the middle tab of the Best Buy app, and we’ll certainly be taking advantage of this unique shopping hack as long as Best Buy will let us.
Best Buy Drops is a shopping hack dedicated to giving shoppers a heads-up about upcoming high-profile items and deals in categories like gaming, cheap TVs, fan-favorite toys and merch, high-profile hair tools, kitchen gadgets, and more dropping at Best Buy in the next week. As long as you have the Best Buy mobile app, you can preview what’s coming on what day so that you’re ready to click “add to cart” when the item or deal goes live.
If a Drop is currently live while you’re on the app, a status bar showing the percentage of inventory that has been claimed can give an idea of how fast you need to act. Once inventory for a certain Drop is gone, it’s gone.
Credit: Screenshot / Mashable
The Drops tab also keeps a list of past Drops, which have included a limited-edition PlayStation 5 Marvel’s Spider-Man bundle, Pokémon Squishmallows, a super cheap 50-inch TV, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Even if you missed these, you at least have an idea of what similar items could pop up in the coming weeks. To look ahead, check the upcoming tab.
For extra cushion, you can opt-in to Drop Alerts for an extra reminder right before the drop of a product you care about goes live. Joining My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total will unlock even better discounts on Drops than what the general public is getting.
What’s dropping at Best Buy Feb. 27 through Feb. 29
Best Buy is only revealing the names of the upcoming products — not their actual Drop prices — in the Drop preview tab, so any prices listed below are the current price of the said product as it is on Best Buy’s site pre-Drop. Drops go live around 11 a.m. ET on the specified day (usually a string of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in any given week), and inventory is typically fully claimed by 5 p.m. that day.
Dropped: Feb. 27
Opens in a new window
The Dyson-featured Drops may be over for now, but Best Buy is still on its vacuum vibe. The Roomba Combo i5+ is one of several new Roomba models released in Sept. 2023, though it’s technically just the mopping spinoff of the Roomba i5+ that already existed (now rocking the chic self-emptying dock first seen on the Roomba j7+). The Combo i5+ uses a Swap and Mop design involving a separate water tank that needs to be manually clicked onboard to switch to mopping mode. This also means that the Combo i5+ can’t vacuum and mop at the same time, but it can make a map of your home and target specific rooms queued up by you in the app.
The cheapest self-emptying mopping Roomba was already on sale at Amazon and iRobot’s website for $349.99, so we knew the Drop price would have to beat that. It did — at $250 off, Best Buy now holds the record for the lowest pricing we’ve seen on this Roomba.
Dropping: Feb. 28
Opens in a new window
Prepping for warmer weather doesn’t always look like buying a new swimsuit before daylight saving time even starts. In the case of this Drop, it looks like securing a wireless projector for a movie night under the stars. This WiFi-compatible model from Vankyo displays a 250-inch full HD screen and can sync with your phone, a Fire TV Stick, and most gaming consoles.
Best Buy already has this projector on sale for less than $95 before its Drop date, so we could see it dropping by $30 or $40 more.
Dropping: Feb. 29
Opens in a new window
If podcasting, streaming, or more decipherable roasting of your party on Fortnite is still a 2024 goal of yours, a USB microphone is crucial to your setup. The Snowball iCE from Blue Microphones is a solid low-stakes option for beginners, as its cardioid condenser capsule delivers crisp audio that garners impressive reviews for the price.
This mic is already on the affordable side at its MSRP of $49.99. We wouldn’t be surprised if you’re able to snag it for $29.99 when it drops. Your purchase also comes with a free 8×8 photo book from Shutterfly, which reminds us, Mother’s Day isn’t that far away…
