Samsung, Sony Bow Bundling Deals to Help Sell Big-Screen TVs

With inventory remaining and product line turnover looming, some TV makers’ e-commerce sites resemble the fire sale pages of their retailers, we found in a scan of websites Tuesday. In certain cases, manufacturers are out-dueling their retail counterparts by bundling accessories to sweeten the pot.

Sony matched Best Buy at the $600-off price of $1,499.99 for the KDL-55HX750 55-inch LED-lit 3D connected TV, but the manufacturer tossed in two pairs of 3D glasses for free while Best Buy showed glasses only as a $20-per-pair add-on. Sears undercut Sony on the same model by a buck, calling the TV a “universally priced product” but didn’t include glasses as part of the package. Sears defined universal pricing to consumers this way: “Due to high levels of quality, style and performance, the price is set by manufacturer and additional discounts do not apply.” Sony bundled two pairs of 3D glasses with the 46-inch LED-lit KDL-46HX750, too, while Best Buy came in at the same price sans glasses.

Samsung offered bundles, also, including soundbars and free TVs, we found. A deal good through Saturday was still showing on the website Tuesday, although it had expired, a customer service rep told us. That deal included a free soundbar with a Samsung.com purchase and was tagged to a 65-inch UN65ES8000F LED-lit smart TV marked down $1,280 to $3,499. Another deal, good through Feb. 9, rewarded buyers of the Samsung 75-inch UN75ES9000F LED-lit smart TV with a bonus 46-inch model. The 75-incher was marked down $550 to $9,449.

Vizio matched the price at retailers on its 70-inch E701i-A3 that it listed Tuesday on its deals page at a “special price” of $1,599, down from $1,999. Best Buy and TigerDirect.com showed the same $1,599 price, while Walmart slid in a dollar under at $1,998. Vizio didn’t offer bundles. At Toshibadirect.com, discounts were modest and didn’t compete with retailer prices, we found. The company’s 55-inch 3D LED-lit 55L6200U was tagged $1,699, a savings of $200, but the TV was slashed to $1,097 at Best Buy, $1,099 at Crutchfield, $1,199 at Abe’s of Maine and $1,699 at Tigerdirect.com.

Panasonic’s biggest discount at its e-commerce site was $550 off the TC-P55UT50 55-inch plasma TV to $849, which was substantially higher than the $699 price at Best Buy, equal to the Target price and below the $1,399 price at Sears that came up in a Google search. When we went to the Sears site and navigated several steps to get the TV into a cart, the price came down to $699.

Sharp, LG and Hisense don’t offer TV purchasing from their websites and instead refer customers to nearby dealers, directing them to brick-and-mortar stores as well as e-commerce sites, we found.