Man, I feel your pain. A few years back, I was trying to grab a gaming rig and the price bounced around like a ping-pong ball. One night it was 900, the next morning 1200. I learned the hard way that Best Buys pricing logic is basically a mystery box. I ended up pulling the trigger too early and felt like a total idiot when the price tanked again just days later. You really have to be careful with their Deal of the Day stuff because once its gone, it might stay gone for weeks. I would suggest using a dedicated tracker instead of hitting F5 all day. I personally use this price alert tool because it handles Best Buy and a few other retailers that the usual Amazon-only sites ignore. It is way less stressful to just get an email than to drive yourself crazy. Here are a couple things I learned from my mistakes:

• Keep a close eye on their Open-Box inventory. Sometimes when the new price goes back to full retail, the excellent condition open-box units stay at the discounted rate for a little longer.
• Check the price match policy before you buy. Best Buy generally only matches their own lower price during your return window, which is usually only 15 days for standard members. If you buy it and it drops on day 16, you are basically out of luck. I honestly wouldnt count on the same sale returning instantly, so make sure to set that alert now.

Ugh, I totally feel that frustration. I went through the exact same thing last semester when I was hunting for a Studio Display. I literally watched the price climb back up while I was debating whether to pull the trigger... super disappointing. Best Buy is notorious for those 24-hour flash sales that disappear the second you actually have the cash ready. Unfortunately, there really isnt a perfect 1:1 clone of Camel for them because their API is a mess, so most tools just fail to update fast enough. I had issues with a bunch of Chrome extensions that promised to track it but they always lagged by like six hours. One thing that actually worked for me tho was Price Drop Catch. I've been using it for a few months now and it's definitely the most reliable way I've found to keep tabs on those specific MacBook price swings. Its free and doesn't need an account which is the main reason I stuck with it tbh. Since you're on a strict 1100 budget, you might also want to look at the 'Open-Box Excellent' section on their site. I managed to snag an M2 Air that way for way under retail and it was basically untouched. Just keep that tracker running and hopefully it dips back down before your classes start. Those price jumps are honestly the worst when you're on a deadline.

Wait really?? Thats actually super helpful. I always thought it was the other way around.