Man buys 75-inch LG TV at Best Buy. Then he opens the box: ‘No wonder it was on sale’
It’s not every day you go viral for unboxing a television with the boys, but every now and then, lightning strikes.
TikToker KC (@kcarl2023) has a video currently making the rounds on the clock app—he simply recorded himself opening a cardboard Best Buy box with one friend helping and one friend recording, and people are eating it up.
KC first posted the video on Feb. 15, and it’s since gotten over 60,000 views. So what’s the draw?
‘This is supposed to be a brand new TV’
KC opens up his video by trying, on-camera, to maneuver a truly massive television box with his friend. It’s unwieldy, but they’re excited to check it out.
“Well, this thing is heavy,” KC huffs. “Heavy. This is a heavy TV. Just got it from Best Buy. They had a sale on it … 75 inch. Four hundred-something bucks. You can’t beat that.”
KC then invites his viewers to enjoy a good-old-fashioned unboxing—but that’s when things go wrong.
“Wait, hold on, wait,” KC says as he and his friend reveal the TV inside. “How is that supposed to be like that? … Dude, this is new, right? … Where’s the plastic?”
After KC takes note of the lack of the plastic protective sheet that generally covers new TV screens, his friend recording suggests that maybe he purchased an “open box” TV, but KC insists he bought a “brand-new” one. He also realizes the TV set appears to be missing a light—and more.
“It looks like somebody already opened and brought it back,” the friend recording observes. KC responds as he notices a leg for the TV stand is also missing.
“One leg, here’s the other leg?” KC grumbles. “You gotta be kidding me. This is used … It’s a used TV … Come on. Nice job, Best Buy. This is supposed to be a brand new TV. That’s not brand new … What a waste.”
Commenters have been around the block
World-weary viewers in KC’s comments section sagely offered their own experiences and observations regarding Best Buy televisions. Few seemed surprised by KC’s experience.
“Best buy does this all the time with their returns,” one commenter claimed. “So that’s one of the reasons why we never buy a TV from Best Buy.”
“You need to take it right back for Christmas,” another wrote. “My daughter bought me a computer and then she bought me the pen because I have arthritis and when she handed me the pen, I unwrapped it and there was no pen in it. Would you buy from Best Buy?”
“I got my exact one you have at Walmart in November and paid 398 on sale,” commented a third. “And it was wrapped in plastic with foam board against screen!!! You definitely got a returned tv!!!! Best Buy sells you returned and sometimes repaired TVs and sell saying new.”
@kcarl2023 @Best Buy @❌Jimmy Hall from N.B., MA.❌ ♬ Chill Vibes – ChillPulse
Best Buy online shopping: Is your TV new or used?
If you’re browsing for a Best Buy TV online, make sure you look for the kind you want—because Best Buy actually has four options for TVs that aren’t the standard, sparkling new products: “Clearance,” “open-box,” “refurbished,” and “pre-owned.”
Of these four options, only clearance products are actually brand-new. They’ve just been discontinued by their manufacturer. Pre-owned products are ones that are truly used in the way people typically understand as used items. They were actively owned and used for a while, but Best Buy has “verified” that they still work.
Best Buy’s open-box TVs, on the other hand, have literally just been opened and returned—or they’ve been used by Best Buy employees as display models. These TVs, along with other open-box products, tend to be significantly discounted.
Lastly, refurbished products sit somewhere in between. These products used to be fully “used,” but now Best Buy has had them “repaired and restored to a like-new state.” As with the other categories, the prices will vary according to the product, so that customers are more likely to find a TV that suits their needs.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Best Buy via email and KC via TikTok comment and DM.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
