There were numerous reports on the Intertubes that Best Buy listed the Pre at a mere $99, and allegedly there are some lucky folks that picked up a Pre at that price before Best Buy corrected their mistake. Best Buy marketing manager John Bernier quickly issued a statement via Twitter to correct the blunder and that the mistake would be corrected shortly, but the $100 dollar question is whether or not there are still some lucky souls that can get a $99 Pre before the correction is made? Let us know if you are one of the lucky few!

Source: engadget

It must be torture to be a Sprint, Best Buy or Radio Shack store employee right now and unbox, set up, and sell the Palm Pre to everyone else but not have one in your own pocket. According to an alleged internal memo reported by Sprint Gurus, effective 6/29/09, store employees and Advantage Club members will have no Pre joy until supply shortages ease. It’s like being an Oompa-Loompa in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and never knowing what a snozberry tastes like. Hang in there, employees. If supply doesn’t improve for a while, there’s always eBay.

Source: Sprint Gurus

A forum member over at everythingpre seems to have found and posted some inventory sheets for the Palm Pre launch at Best Buy stores. If these leaked inventory sheets are authentic, they reveal some interesting information about Pre inventory levels and should certainly be heeded if you want to head to a store that has 26 Pre phones instead of 2 or 3. A host of inventory sheets are on display and it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek at the Best Buy store near you so you can strategize your plan of attack on June 6th. How many of you are headed to Best Buy, or will you hit a Sprint store in your neighborhood?

Source:  everythingpre

It is a win-win plan for everyone involved. Best Buy Mobile gets publicity, the Palm Pre becomes a major prize that everyone wants, and you-the contest winner-get a free Palm Pre and 6 months of Sprint’s Simply Everything plan gratis. According to a leaked pic on BGR, starting May 31st and running through June 6th, those with the Best Buy Reward Zone card can enter to win the giveaway simply by going to myrewardzone.com and filling out an entry form. Ten winners will be chosen by a drawing of names. Getting a Reward Zone card is also free, so the only thing you might end up spending to get the handset and half a year of service is your time.

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Thanks to a source, BGR got their hands on information meant for Best Buy reps, which deals with how the retailer plans on selling the Palm Pre. Because of the shortages that will apparently limit to 4 the number of Pre’s each participating store will have at launch, the big box retailer is selling the smartphone in 2 phases. Read the full story

Yesterday, we told you that Best Buy’s director of merchandising, Scott Anderson, confirmed that there will be a short supply of the Pre for the first 4-8 weeks. He wasn’t kidding. BGR was told that the retailer was going to have a total of 4,250 units for sale on launch day. Anderson said that 1,000 Best Buy outlets would be selling the device. If you can remember your Jr. High School math, that works out to 4.25 units per store; well, that would certainly qualify to be called a shortage. Even worse off is RadioShack, where the figures work out to about 2 phones each for 721 stores. EngadgetMobile has learned that Radio Shack reps are being encouraged to try to get potential Pre buyers to switch to the Instinct S30 as a substitute choice. And to think, the U.S. was criticized for buying Manhattan from the Indians for $24.

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BGR was able to grab the retailer’s director of merchandising, Scott Anderson, and ask him some questions about the upcoming launch of the Pre. Anderson admitted that the device could be in short supply for the first 4-8 weeks following the June 6th release. To deal with the expected crowds and lines, Best Buy plans on using a “ticketing process” starting June 6th, and once a store runs out of stock, names will be entered on a log in chronological order. In other words, there will be no deposits taken for the Pre. Every Best Buy store that offers Sprint products will have some inventory of the handset to sell on the launch date.

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After the announcement of the Palm Pre being offered starting June 6, Best Buy Mobile has stated it will be selling the phone without the need of mail-in-rebates. They have been known to sell competitively priced phones at the point of purchase without the need to send in a mail-in-rebate. Customers won’t have to worry about filling and sending out those rebates for their money. So it’s a great thing that you’ll be paying for the device and getting those instant savings right away.

source: Yahoo

A banner display on the Best Buy web site showed the Sprint and Palm Pre logos with the words, “Meet the Palm Pre” on it. Considering the banner doesn’t link to any specific Sprint or Best Buy web page and since the retailer does not allow third party advertising on its web site, the banner confirms the exclusive story we published earlier, saying the big box retailer will be Sprint’s (exclusive) retailing partner for the new smartphone. Another recent story we reported on had it that Best Buy was expecting to start offering the Pre around June 7 with 4,500 units to be shared amongst their outlets. Pricing is expected to start at $199.99 with a two year contract, $299.99 if you are an existing Sprint customer eligible for a upgrade or the whopping $999.99 off contract.

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The Boy Genius is reporting that Best Buy Mobile will be getting a limited inventory of Palm’s soon to be popular phone. The rumor floating around is that the giant retailer is eyeing June 7 as their trial launch for the Pre with about 4,500 units being spread throughout their stores. There is even a glimpse to the pricing which is looking to be $199.99 for new customers signing on with a 2-year contract. Existing customers who are eager and eligible to upgrade will pay $299.99. If you’re the type to not commit to a contract, it’s looking to cost you a whooping $999.99 for it. So far that’s what the rumors are saying for the price point. It may be a little extreme, but at least Best Buy offers instant rebates to ease the pain rather than mail-in ones.

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