Wednesday, February 28, 2018

What a Best Buy for Business Program Can Offer Your Business (and What It Can’t)

If you’re a business owner who constantly shells out working capital for electronics, you might be wondering if there’s a Best Buy business program for people just like you. And your hunch is right, because there are Best Buy perks for business owners. But it’s not a Best Buy business credit card like you might think.

There’s no actual Best Buy business credit card, but Best Buy does offer a Best Buy Business Advantage Account. This is essentially a corporate purchasing program that offers business owners a long list of perks, along with a nice, shiny Best Buy for business purchasing card. It’ll make you feel like you’re actually spending with a Best Buy business credit card.

But is the Best Buy for business corporate purchasing program the most lucrative way to shop for electronics for your business? Let’s look at what Best Buy’s business program can offer you, as well as its top alternatives:

TL;DR: What Can Best Buy for Business Offer You?

Although a Best Buy business credit card doesn’t exist, Best Buy does offer a corporate purchasing program that extends you a purchasing card. That said, you won’t see many returns for your business by spending through this program. The main pull of joining this program is the customization that Best Buy allows for purchases.

However, this upside doesn’t quite make up for the fact that you won’t be able to make purchases with your business credit card through the Best Buy Business Advantage program.

If you want to access more returns for your business’s spend on electronics, then you should consider choosing a business credit card like the Amex Business Gold or the SimplyCash Plus that will reward your business with points or cash back.

Alternatively, if you want access to flexible financing, look to the Blue Business Plus, which comes with the longest 0% intro APR period on the market. With this card, you’ll have 15 interest-free months to gradually pay off any big electronic purchases your business has to make.

best-buy-business-credit-card

Best Buy for Business: The Details

If you want to streamline and discount your electronic purchases, then the Best Buy Business Advantage program is a solid, store-specific upgrade for you to consider. You’ve likely gathered that, generally speaking, this Best Buy for business program will give your business access to exclusive perks and optimizations for your Best Buy shopping.

Getting into specifics, Best Buy Business Advantage does come with a lengthy list of features. But there are a few that are most notable.

Detailed Net 30 Invoices

For starters, all of your purchases through the Best Buy Business Advantage program will come with detailed net 30 invoices.

What that means plainly is that purchases you make with your Best Buy for business account will be invoiced with detailed documents that require your business to pay in full within 30 days of purchasing an electronic from Best Buy.

Best Buy for Business Website Access

Another top perk of participating in the Best Buy Business Advantage program is that you’ll have access to Best Buy’s business purchases website, Best Buy for Business. This site offers up exclusive deals and financing options to businesses that participate in the Best Buy Business Advantage program.

With Best Buy for Business, you can access discounts for purchasing electronics at a high volume. Plus, you’re able to choose from flexible payment options, which can open up even more possibilities for the electronics your business can afford.

Option to Purchase by Phone

Additionally, if you join the Best Buy Business Advantage, you can make purchases over the phone. So, if you’re not able to make it to a brick-and-mortar Best Buy, but you’d prefer to purchase through a human-to-human interaction, this program opens up the third option of buying electronics through the phone.

Customizable Account Features

Finally, you can customize multiple facets of how the Best Buy Business Advantage program works for your business.

With your business’s account, you’ll be able to manage individual buyers’ accounts while even allowing multiple buyers to purchase under a single account. Plus, if your business has tax-exempt information, you could keep this info on file through this program, so you won’t have to file every time you make a purchase.

Earning More for Your Electronics Purchases Than With Best Buy for Business

One notable downside to purchasing electronic through Best Buy for Business and the Best Buy Business Advantage program is that you won’t be able to purchase with a business credit card. Because you’ll only be able to purchase through paper, electronic debit, or a combination of the two, your spending won’t be rewarded with points or cash back for any of the purchases you make through the Best Buy Business Advantage program.

And if you do spend that much on electronics that you’re weighing joining a Best Buy program for business, you’ll likely want to get some sort of reward to benefit your business. Whether that’s cash back, travel rewards, or whatever you’re hoping to earn, you should be maximizing your spending for your business.

Opting to shop instead at another electronics provider that will let you purchase with a business rewards credit card could potentially show your business greater returns than the savings that you would see through Best Buy for Business.

Alternatives to the Best Buy for Business Program

Check out these business credit cards that can show your business huge rewards for all of its electronic purchases:

For Rewards Points, Look to the Business Gold Rewards Card

First up, the American Express Business Gold Rewards Card is one of your very best business credit card options if your business does most of its electronics spending on computer hardware and software.

If you pick the Amex Business Gold card, then you can receive an unlimited 3x rewards in your choice of one of the following spending categories:

  • Airfare purchased directly from airlines
  • Purchases at gas stations in the U.S.
  • Purchases for print advertising in select media in the U.S.
  • Purchases for shipping in the U.S.
  • Purchases for computer hardware and software in the U.S.

This means that your business could basically see a 3x rewards return for every single dollar spent on computer hardware and software, should you opt for the Amex Gold and choose to earn the most for this category.

But you also won’t have to completely say goodbye to earning for the other four categories you didn’t opt to earn more for. In fact, you’ll earn a solid 2x rewards for every dollar spent in those four other categories for up to $100,000 in purchases every year.

Finally, you’ll also earn 1x rewards for every other dollar you spend on everything else for up to $100,000 spent a year.

Be sure to keep in mind that this business credit card, unlike the Best Buy Business Advantage program, comes with an annual fee, at $175. And it’s definitely high, especially for small businesses that aren’t working with astronomical budgets.

That said, Amex will waive your annual fee for your first year with the Amex Gold, so that will be the perfect test run to see whether or not this business card shows you enough returns on your business’s electronics spending to justify its eventual fee.

For Cash Back Rewards, Consider the SimplyCash Plus for Business

Another great option for business owners who want to see big returns for electronics purchases is the American Express SimplyCash Plus for Business. In contrast to the Amex Business Gold, this business credit card rewards spending with cash back rather than rewards points.

The SimplyCash Plus’s cash back rewards program is a tiered rewards program that lets you earn for multiple types of tech and electronics purchases at varying rates.

At its top rewards tier, the SimplyCash Plus will get you a solid 5% cash back on office supplies and wireless phone service providers. This rate will apply for up to $25,000 of what you spend within those two categories every year.

The second rewards tier will earn a little less but is far more customizable—you’ll earn 3% cash back for you business spending within your choice of one of the following categories:

  • Airfare (when purchased directly from airlines)
  • Hotel stays (when booked directly through the hotel)
  • Gas stations in the U.S.
  • Car rentals from eligible agencies
  • Restaurants in the U.S.
  • Advertising in the U.S.
  • Shipping in the U.S.
  • Computer hardware, software, and cloud computing purchases made in the U.S. and directly with select providers

Again, this rate will apply to up to $25,000 of purchases every year.

Finally, you’ll earn an even 1% cash back for every other dollar you spend, whether you spend outside of these categories or spend beyond their caps.

You’ll be able to access these cash back returns for no annual fee at all, so you won’t have to measure your cash back returns against an annual lump sum, unlike with the Amex Gold.

If You Need to Pay Off a Huge Electronic Purchase Gradually, Opt for the Blue Business Plus


On the other hand, you might be looking for another option that affords the flexible financing that Best Buy Business Advantage offers.

In which case, you should consider making larger purchases on a business credit card that comes with a 0% intro APR period. And with 15 months of 0% intro APR, the American Express Blue Business Plus comes with the longest intro APR period on the market.

This intro period means that your business can carry an interest-free balance on the Blue Business Plus from month-to-month, provided that you make your minimum monthly payments on time, every time.

So, if you need to make a big-ticket electronics purchase for your business, then you can make this purchase with the Blue Business Plus and pay the cost off gradually over 15 months without garnering a single cent of interest.

The Blue Business Plus will also reward you for the spending your do with the card—you’ll get 2x rewards for the first $50,000 you spend every year, and 1x rewards thereafter.

Plus, the Blue Business Plus doesn’t come with an annual fee, so the flexible financing and rewards returns it comes with could be yours for free.

Best Buy for Business: The Bottom Line

So, what’s your next move on Best Buy for Business?

Well, though your next move is certainly up to you—you’re now well equipped with all of the knowledge you need to make the best decision for your business. From our vantage, we’d highly suggest that you spring for a business credit card over the Best Buy Business Advantage program.

By upgrading your business spend on electronics with a business credit card, you’ll be able to access high returns and optimal flexibility that a Best Buy-specific program simply can’t offer.

The post What a Best Buy for Business Program Can Offer Your Business (and What It Can’t) appeared first on Fundera Ledger.



from Fundera Ledger https://www.fundera.com/blog/best-buy-business-credit-card

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