Chaos

I jsut checked out DDD for Tenchi Universe box set - $149, then I went to Dvdplanet and they had it for $130. I e-mailed them telling that they'd been beat in price - anyone think they'll live up to their promise that they'll beat any total price?

strife

They will if it's a US retailer and the TOTAL price is less. Remember shipping is included in that price.

grappa

If shipping is included, why do they advertise it as FREE shipping?


G

strife

They include the shipping from the competitors site in the total price

grappa

I think you're missing the point. If the price is included, it's not "FREE".

Price included = You're paying for it.
Free = You don't pay for it.


G

strife

I'm not sure then what you are getting at they claim lowest Total price. as stated on the site total price is cost of item plus cost of competitors standard shipping charge. That is compared to DDD item cost plus their standard shipping which is free.

Heat

How much is shipping at the dvdplanet site?

And if you are that upset at DDD, just buy it from dvdplanet.

rich-y

Shipping is free, and Deep Discount has to eat that cost. Therefore they only match prices from other retailers if you include the cost of the dvd plus shipping.

Something tells me you already know this though!

baddy

I have to side with grappa, its not free shipping if they are price matching it with the competitors site + competitors expensive shipping. That would be like me price matching a DVD at Best Buy with the sale at Circuit City, and them matching the sales price after tax. Ok, Ok, so maybe thats not the best example but I don't understand why shipping is a factor in their pricematching policy. Sounds like they just automaticly include the shipping fee to their DVD prices, not free shipping.

namlook

Yeah the free shipping claim is just a marketing gimmick. Nothing is free. They don't eat the cost for shipping they including the shipping cost in the price and claim the shipping is "free".

rich-y

You're right that DeepDiscountDVD builds shipping into their price, but so does everyone else.

I guess I'll have to illustrate the downside to the price match policy that you guys seem to want versus the price match policy DeepDiscountDVD currently uses .

Here's an example taken to the extreme::

Let's say that I'm a new retailer and I decide to price ALL my single-disc DVDs at $10.

That's right, all DVDs are $10.

I then turn around and charge you $19.99 for shipping on each disc. Which would bring your total cost per disc to $29.99.

In the meantime DeepDiscountDVD sells the same DVD for $14.99(including shipping). But, under the price match policy you're requesting, DDDvd would have to pricematch the DVD at $10.

It isn't quite fair is it?

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Here's the key: Shipping costs are arbitrary . As a retailer, you can make up whatever price you want for shipping!

Most people who've worked in the mail order industry know that a profit is usually made on the shipping of EVERY package mailed.

It works like this: Some group or person at a company determines that the company needs to make a certain percentage of profit on each item sold - let's say 10% for this example.

That means the average DVD has to sell for 10% more that the wholesale price. Thus, if you plan to discount the DVD and forgo 10% profit margin, you must make up the difference elsewhere -- and this is where shipping charges come in.

The difference here seems to be that DeepDiscountDVD has decided that they're not going to make a profit on shipping and will provide the consumer with decently low prices everyday. In addition, they've also told us that if we find a disc cheaper elsewhere (including shipping) they'll match the price.

Sounds pretty fair to me!

Oh -- by the way -- although I have found other sites that occasionally beat the DVD price at DDDvd, I find it a rare occurence when one beats DDDvd's final cost (including shipping).

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Also -- just to let you know -- I don't always defend DDDvd. As a matter of fact, I'm closely watching their recent problems with getting DVD orders out the door in a timely fashion! This might be something we should all be aware of.

jim_cook87

I just started a new online store, all movies are only $1, but I charge $30 for shipping...

Piazza

It would be nice if ddd would get there order status fixed. It's getting to the point of ridiculous. my status has not been correct for over a week now.