Demonmoon68

I am on a mission to increase my Criterion Collection collection... Does anyone know where to find some really good deals on them or maybe another venue im not thinking of????

I know about amazon, ebay, and borders clearance, but other than that im really at a loss.. and i was very disappointed after i counted and i only have 32 CC films.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.. thanks

Mosskeeto

This thread probably should be somewhere else...but until then, here are my thoughts.
Occasionally some online merchants will have deals that are exceptional but short lived. Like a price mistake or the great sale last year at DeepDiscount which slightly discounted the MSRP and then offered a Buy One Get One Free sale. Not every title was available but not too many complained.
Others here can relate the deals that Columbia Club has; I'm not a member. There is a separate Criterion thread here with lots of insight.

Al_Tahoe

Columbia House only offers 5 Criterion Collection DVDs:

8 1/2
Hamlet
Hearts and Minds
Red Shoes
Ruling Class

wildman1037

Check Borders. Many of them are running a 40%-50% off DVD sale right now. Some are only on specifically marked DVDs, but some stores have it on their entire stock, which includes Criterions.

Richard Malloy

Very frequently, Amazon has the best price on new releases. Lately, Tower has been undercutting them, but Tower is a much less reliable vendor. Otherwise, wait for the bi-annual DVD Planet (and to a lesser extent, DeepDiscount) 20%-off sales.

tlwizard

DVDplanet typically offers a 30% discount plus has a plethora of coupons.

Although, as Richard Malloy said, if you can wait for the 20% sale (that should be coming up in June, I think) that's a great deal. But for the rest of the year, the coupons works out really well, too. Or if you build up some credit selling back old DVDs, you can also apply that to your purchase.

blokhed

Well, I wasn't going to answer, but since you added two extra question marks...

Like everyone else said, DVDPlanet's 20% off sale.

hindolio

the 20% off sale is sooo 2007. its all about the 25% off sale now

MoviePage

As it should be, since they have increased their normal prices. The standard 30% off no longer applies.

bwsmom

And since you know about ebay, we can safely assume you also know about Half.com? I've been using them much more frequently as of late, and have been VERY happy with my purchases, including a number of OOP items.

JoeySeven

I have about 15 Criterions.All bought for $12 or less.

I'm a cheap A$$ DVD buyer.

1-DVD swap sites(3)(exchange DVD for DVD)got 3 here including 'The Killer'
2-Pawnshops(4)--Hard to find here,but this is where I found out about criterions for the first time.
3-Second Spin(2) when they have their sale(20% off and free shipping)
4-DVD Pacific(3) On sale,didn't last long.less then a day

bought one off EBay.

Also there is 'Essential Arts and Janus' that are very good.
I think they are both own by Criterion.

beebs

B1G1 Deep Discount sale last July on Criterion was crazy good. Wait for it this summer... it's likely to reappear.

In the meantime, I'd score the Columbia House Criterions --

They are not available for enrollment, but these are the web numbers. Sign-up using offer code 27B. Get 7 enrollment choices for $12.78 total, including shipping. Wait for a B1G1 deal and pick up these titles to complete the membership.

8 1/2 is Web #1032594
Hamlet is Web #1032602
The Red Shoes is Web #1032601
The Ruling Class #1032600
Hearts & Minds is Web #1032595

You could get those 5 plus 7 others for $92.06 + tax shipped.

You would be hardpressed to score those 5 titles for less by themselves. Best deal I'm seeing is about $127 with coupon from DVD Empire for those.

MoviePage

I very much hope you're right. I spent almost $400 on that sale last year, and wanted even more if I could have...

beebs

For just that reason, I actually hope I'm wrong.

hindolio

b0g0 criterions im thinking are not going to be the norm. especially with the br versions coming out in force. but im also hoping im wrong because b0g0 are always welcome.

jbeeching

For Criterion discs- I find that I have better luck at local stores; in Tennessee there's McKays Used Books and Music- three giant stores that usually have some rare DVDs (my most recent find there was the "banned" Sleepaway Camp 4 disc boxed set for 10 bucks). I picked up the Videodrome DVD for $12 as well there- it just takes a little legwork...

Jeff
Budget DVD Hunter
budgetdvdhunter.wordpress.com

EarlB

I agree with the other posters - check your local used book stores. I live in a college town, and every once in a while (like just before Spring Break), students will bring in a batch of DVDs for some quick cash. I've gotten many a Criterion that way.

PopcornTreeCt

As someone who has the entire collection *ahem I advise you save your money for DVDPlanet's sale. If you're serious about it and want more than just Kurosawa and Wes Anderson then wait. You can certainly check out your local used stores but if someone's spending $25-$30 on Bergman or Godard films chances are they aren't turning them over to used stores for a couple dollars.

There's no quick easy way to get cheap Criterions.

EarlB

"You can certainly check out your local used stores but if someone's spending $25-$30 on Bergman or Godard films chances are they aren't turning them over to used stores for a couple dollars."

I agree with the above in spirit, and second the notion of waiting for a decent online sale, and I certainly don't want to start an agument, but local shops shouldn't be overlooked entirely. You never know what you may stumble across. I purchased THE RED SHOES and THRONE OF BLOOD at my local second-hand shop for $4.00 each.

efordvt

Believe it or not - Blockbuster! I got Carnival of Souls used for $11. Also, the best is when video stores close down.

strangetramp

yeah video stores can be pretty cool as well as used places. i've gotten two copies of last temptation of christ, touchez pas au grisbi, fanny and alexander, the passion of joan of arc and the third man all from rental places for 5 dollars or cheaper. and about a dozen for around 8 or 10 dollars.

besides that online sales are the place to go, amazon sales, dvdplanet, secondspin, and deepdiscount. i would love to see that buy one get one free again.

oh and yeah definitely check out borders right now, i picked up umberto D and death of a cyclist for 18 dollars each and a friend of mine picked up onibaba and shoot the piano player.

oh and i got killer of sheep there too, not a criterion but a wonderful movie that was 40 percent off too.

drmoze

Netflix. Watch 'em and return 'em. (Oh wait, I forgot--most people buy Criterions and never even open them, much less *watch* them!)

NoirFan

Bah, speak for yourself.

Demonmoon68

I would agree with noirfan, i have never heard of someone paying 30-40 on a dvd and not watching it... but theres always a first

Trevor

I haven't watched 40 or so of my Criterions, but then I've only paid $5-10 for most of them.