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A question for you guys

DVD Clubs Discuss & Strategize about DVD Clubs like Columbia House

A question for you guys

Old 12-11-06, 05:31 PM
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A question for you guys

Hello,

I've been a lurker on this site for about 3 years now. I never wanted to register and post before. A lot of that is because of what I've seen on other boards. How people can't wait to say "THAT WAS A REPOST" and totally flame you. I haven't seen that here so much. Anyway I just wanted to say thank you to everyone in this DVD club forum for all the codes and all the great deals.

OK now onto my question. Everyone is always looking for the best deals on the DVD bargin forum.Why don't they join Columbia House? I have made out like a bandit. The buy one get one free deals with free shipping and 60% off all other DVD's have made my wallet hurt. You can't find any better deals than this. The Superman Returns 2 disk for $9.98. That is one hell of a price. I just don't see anyone on the bargin board ever mention this club. WHY IS THAT??? The DDD 20% off deal gets the most attention.I've saved a hell of a lot more with Columbia House than I ever did with DDD. That goes for single DVD's and not so much the boxsets,but the TV club is a great deal. I

Anyway thanks again for all of you help. You guys are simply the best.
Old 12-11-06, 05:40 PM
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Welcome to the forum.

Some people(my brothers included) just won't join mail order clubs. They'll say how they hate declining director's selections and how they got burned by CH in the past(one of my brothers had a problem with CH in the 80's and he still holds it against them to this very day). I try to plug members in to the awesomeness that is CH in the DVD Bargains forum and have been smacked down once or twice. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink it.
Old 12-11-06, 05:41 PM
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It takes effort, patience, know-how, and continuous research to get the best deals at CH. These things require time and labor, both of which are not free. The opportunity cost is just too high for some people, so they buy elsewhere.
Old 12-11-06, 05:58 PM
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I really don't think it takes that much planning. I joined the TV club. I got 2 box sets for $9.99. No tax for my state. Then I just waited for the buy one get one free and free shipping codes. I got the 2 DVD's to fullfill my account and I got two free. I also used the 60% off to get a couple of brand new DVD's just released for around $8.98 each. No tax and no shipping. All I did was read this fourm and follow the rules you guys laid out. I spent around $69.95 and got 2 TV box sets that are worth that and then I got 6 more DVD's. All brand new releases. I just don't think it's that hard. There is no was the DDD 20% off sale could beat that. I'm talking 6 new releases.This site is so great.
Old 12-11-06, 06:12 PM
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Originally Posted by SFranke
It takes effort, patience, know-how, and continuous research to get the best deals at CH. These things require time and labor, both of which are not free. The opportunity cost is just too high for some people, so they buy elsewhere.
even without the research (i.e. my first account where i didn't even wait for free shipping and handling), you can still make out better than DDD with 20% off.... but there are some things that aren't available on columbia house, for those you use other sites...
Old 12-11-06, 10:00 PM
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I've asked myself that same question a crazy lot of times. Especially when I see people getting "deals" on titles for around $18 that are part of CH during the DDD 20% sale. Just crazies I guess. Also, same as Sweet Baby James, I tried to turn my pals onto Columbia House but they won't don't it on accounta they think it's this big scam, but oh well, their loss
Old 12-11-06, 11:13 PM
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Originally Posted by supfool!
I've asked myself that same question a crazy lot of times. Especially when I see people getting "deals" on titles for around $18 that are part of CH during the DDD 20% sale. Just crazies I guess. Also, same as Sweet Baby James, I tried to turn my pals onto Columbia House but they won't don't it on accounta they think it's this big scam, but oh well, their loss

i got overcharged on my last account by $5 on 2 different orders (they took away the web discount) and got the following movies:

1) Shrek 2
2) Goodfellas
3) Gone With the Wind
4) The Treasure of Sierra Madrid
5) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
6) North by Northwest
7) On the Waterfront
8) Once Upon a Time in the West
9) All Dogs go to Heaven
10) Downfall
11) The Graduate
12) Munich
13) A Few Good Men
14) American Beauty
15) Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
16) Land Before Time
17) Just Like Heaven

All for slightly under $80 (works out to $4.70 a DVD)... and if the Web discount had worked $10 more off that price...

by the way, i have like 8 copies of just like heaven and probably 6 or 7 of munich... what are you guys doing with all these DVDs?
Old 12-11-06, 11:39 PM
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Originally Posted by ehilbert
I just don't see anyone on the bargin board ever mention this club. WHY IS THAT???
Many people just refuse to join CH. Some people believe that it's nothing but a scam and just refuse to believe that you can really get good deals, and others just don't want to put the work into it that it requires at times.

I mentioned CH a long time ago in the bargain forum, and totally got flamed for it. Many people just don't like hearing about CH, for whatever reason. With all the DVD fanatic here, you'd think that over half the members would be a member of CH and that this part of the board would be the most active folder here.

I don't get it either, but that's just how some people are.
Old 12-12-06, 01:02 AM
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Meanwhile I've set up accounts for other family members at their addresses only to see them ALL fall into deliquent past due status. They are excited initially over the deal but then somehow lose interest or just don't care. Yet they see me week after week getting boxes of DVDs in the mail.

Brother-in-law recently paid $19 for "Nacho Libre" and that was with a coupon.
Old 12-12-06, 06:09 AM
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The funny part is, you used to have to be patient and use all the tricks to really get great deals. Now you can often get cheaper deals than other sites, without even factoring in the enrollment picks.
Old 12-12-06, 06:31 AM
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Well i love CH and Tv club most of the time I love the deals i get here and on the bargains forum i check both regularly ... i got James bonds set for 29.90 a piece at CH and i got Superman Ultimate at BN for 48.97 so there are deals on both forums you just have to make use of both...

both for new releases that aren't at ch the bargains forum is the only place to check for those ... but those that are there through the CH i get for BOGO most of the time under 10 for a new release is REALLY NICE and 2 disc sets even better
Old 12-12-06, 09:58 AM
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Personally I use both forums, and treat them as a complement to one another. That being said, anything that CH carries I buy there, save for sets, which I typically buy at DDD during the 20% sale. Obviously there are (far too) many titles CH does not carry as well. My problem is I just don't have enough enrollment titles I want any more to make it feasible to get sets through CH except in unusually favorable circumstances. I typically end up balancing new release schedules to get a new enrollment/pre-order fulfillment cycle going every month or two now.

The bargains forum is also more of a "strike now" discussion. For instance, I was able to get the SNL first season for $30 without having to find a bunch of enrollments. I buy too many sets and don't really want to keep an unfulfilled membership waiting for the now too infrequent a free shipping on sets deals, MIA 40% off sets sales, or whatever through CH. But there are occasions where time is not a factor (such as a pre-release) and CH will have a deal far better than the one being touted in the bargains forum. At those times I may mention that not only can you get this title for the same money or cheaper, but get 7 other titles as well for about $2 apiece. Typically it gets ignored, but I also mention that for more info see the clubs forum, so who knows how many folks may have ended up over here that way.

Bottom line for me is that I actually like that there is a separate forum for both, and CH gets plenty of coverage here without being swamped with "I saved $1.25 and got Nacho Libre for $19.44 by spending 2 hours driving to 6 different stores."
Old 12-12-06, 11:43 AM
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^Like you, I have just about all the enrollments I want and rarely cycle memberships anymore (also, I am mostly buying HD DVDs nowadays). But I sure got a lot of my DVD collection from Columbia House!

Before this forum was created (from the now defunct "Will click for DVDs" forum focusing on free DVDs) Columbia House information used to be in one long thread in the Bargains forum. It is nice that DVD Talk is willing to give us a place to spread out a bit (and include other clubs, such as Disney).

I, too, have seen the mentioning of CH get flamed in the Bargains forum. Some are from people who have had bad experiences and want everyone to know just how difficult CH can be at times. But most people, I think, are simply ignorant about what Columbia House is and how it works, not to mention just how low the prices really are with optimized memberships. And they don't like to be told, however politely, that their "bargains" really aren't much of a deal.

Every now and then someone new stumbles on this forum and is willing to make the considerable effort to learn how to best use CH memberships. I think we will have to settle for that and let the rest of the folks in the Bargains forum wet themselves over their $15 DVD "bargains".
Old 12-12-06, 11:50 AM
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You got me... I loves me some CH.

But yeah, I read the bargains forum for deals on the titles that aren't available at CH. And yeah, after 36 memberships, the enrollment choices of interest to me are pretty much slim to none. I open a new account every 6 to 8 months or so, give or take.
Old 12-12-06, 12:00 PM
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I just never could understand why all these people on the bargain board who live and die by saving $1 would not do the Columbia House thing.

I guess it would take a lot of planning to try and get your average DVD to cost around $4.50. I don't even bother with that. I say if I can get a free DVD code with free shipping and get new releases for around $9 with that code also I'm doing pretty damn good.As for spending all that time trying to get my average DVD cost's to around $4.50 that just not for me. That is a lot of time wasted to save an extra 50 cents or 75 cents per DVD. Thats just me though. Thanks for all your input and help.
Old 12-12-06, 01:32 PM
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I just never could understand why all these people on the bargain board who live and die by saving $1 would not do the Columbia House thing.
That's what puzzles me also. I can understand how some people might be averse to dealing with the hassles of CH. But the bargain forum posters who seem to relish the arduous process of stacking 10% off coupons with the $5-off-$50 code, factoring in the $3 mail-in rebate and the cashback membership discount that comes with the Discover card application and waiting for "free shipping Friday" so they can get that boxset for only $57 at Barnes and Noble instead of the $59.95 it costs at DeepDiscount... they would seem to be ideal candidates for the CH experience. Yet many scoff at the notion for some reason.

That said, I've long given up trying to convert people, and don't like it when some CH junky posts in the bargain forum about how much cheaper they got a certain title. It just sounds like rude bragging.
Old 12-12-06, 03:53 PM
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Originally Posted by ehilbert
I just never could understand why all these people on the bargain board who live and die by saving $1 would not do the Columbia House thing.

I guess it would take a lot of planning to try and get your average DVD to cost around $4.50. I don't even bother with that. I say if I can get a free DVD code with free shipping and get new releases for around $9 with that code also I'm doing pretty damn good.As for spending all that time trying to get my average DVD cost's to around $4.50 that just not for me. That is a lot of time wasted to save an extra 50 cents or 75 cents per DVD. Thats just me though. Thanks for all your input and help.
This is the way I view CH too. I'm really not in it for the bottom price possible. I am thrilled to get a new release for under $9.00 though, especially at this time of year as DVDs are a huge part of our Christmases.

I like the other forums though because they give you the circulars for various stores for the week. At times, you can pick up some older movies for $3.00 and $4.00 (yes, it's rare, but it does happen) and at those times, I might get a few movies I wouldn't get otherwise. It's also nice for movies that CH doesn't carry.
Old 12-13-06, 12:41 PM
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I see four classes of people.

a) The Proud: these are people who would feel "cheap" if they used CH
b) The Lazy: these are people who just can't muster the energy to learn about and use CH effectively (many inwardly feel like they are the proud, but that's not really true)
c) The Impulse Buyers: these people don't want to think before buying, but want to see-decide-buy in a manner of seconds (car dealers love these folks)
d) The Frugal Zealots: the only group that truly embraces CH. We're cheap and damn proud of it. Saving that .50 per DVD isn't about the money, it's about the accomplishment (a different kind of proud). One of my friends once accused me of "squeezing the buck until the Eagle smiled" (not sure what he intended, but it sounded about right to me)
Old 12-13-06, 02:44 PM
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Originally Posted by viking99
I see four classes of people.

a) The Proud: these are people who would feel "cheap" if they used CH
b) The Lazy: these are people who just can't muster the energy to learn about and use CH effectively (many inwardly feel like they are the proud, but that's not really true)
c) The Impulse Buyers: these people don't want to think before buying, but want to see-decide-buy in a manner of seconds (car dealers love these folks)
d) The Frugal Zealots: the only group that truly embraces CH. We're cheap and damn proud of it. Saving that .50 per DVD isn't about the money, it's about the accomplishment (a different kind of proud). One of my friends once accused me of "squeezing the buck until the Eagle smiled" (not sure what he intended, but it sounded about right to me)

lol, i love being in the last class of people with certain things... i won't think twice about spending money at an expensive restaurant or designer clothes, but i wanna save every penny i can on my DVDs
Old 12-13-06, 02:59 PM
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I use Coulmbia House when I want to. It is just another tool, like any other site. You can get some great deals there one week, and not the next. Just like any other store.
Old 12-13-06, 08:06 PM
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Originally Posted by stingermck
You can get some great deals there one week, and not the next. Just like any other store.
Actually, you can use CH to get great deals every week. Some weeks are greater than others, but they're all great.
Old 12-13-06, 08:17 PM
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Originally Posted by viking99
Actually, you can use CH to get great deals every week. Some weeks are greater than others, but they're all great.
Unless I want Fox titles, other studios, or certain TV box sets. But like I said, depends on the week, and what I'm looking for
Old 12-15-06, 03:12 AM
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Yeah I had been trolling this forum ever since they had the DVD Talk people on AOTS
and never even looked at the CH section because I had a not bad but not great experience with the music club as a kid

but really I gave it a chance when someone in the bargains forums was talking about it (it took about 2 weeks of hardcore reading before I tried it though and now I am hooked)

I used to buy everything at Best Buy
then I went to Amazon

Then DVD Planet

Now CH or if CH does not carry it I go DDD or DVDPlanet

I save so much money now on DVDs it's ridiculous what I was spending before, but still I have not been able to convince a single other person to try.

Last edited by SterlingBen; 12-15-06 at 11:49 AM.
Old 12-15-06, 01:32 PM
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Originally Posted by SterlingBen
I save so much money now on DVDs it's ridiculous what I was spending before, but still I have not been able to convince a single other person to try.
That's probably okay. If all the horses we led to water did indeed drink; the water would probably become more expensive.

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