TL;DR: The new Best Buy Drops tab on the Best Buy app gives you a head's up about upcoming new product drops, limited edition releases, and major discounts on high-profile items ahead of the holidays.
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 why Amazon's invite-only Prime Day deals popped off (and why they'll likely be back for Black Friday). It's probably why Best Buy announced Best Buy Drops right before we hit full-blown holiday shopping season — and we're totally falling for it.
SEE ALSO: Best Buy unveils its Black Friday plans: Early access to deals starts right before HalloweenBest Buy Drops is a new shopping hack dedicated to giving shoppers a heads-up about upcoming high-profile items and deals in categories like gaming, smartwatches, toys, 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. This kind of preparedness is the name of the game with Drops, as some items are so popular that it's only a matter of minutes (or seconds) before they sell out.
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.
Drops can include a huge price slash on a popular item or availability of product that wasn't up for grabs before. Credit: Screenshot / MashableThe 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 QLED TV, and the recently-released 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. For specifics, check the upcoming tab: Drops for the last full week of October include the GoPro HERO11 bundle, Logitech Pro X Superlight mouse, and Hover-1 electric hoverboard.
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.