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-   -   Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/blu-ray-bargains/581411-barnes-noble-criterion-sale.html)

doctorthodt 11-11-10 03:40 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by BuckNaked2k (Post 10485632)
I think they are correct here.

No, they're not. The language on the coupon is unmistakably crystal clear.

The B&N Selling Price is the price at the cash register before taxes and discounts, including the standard Member discount, are applied.

tasog37 11-11-10 03:40 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by BuckNaked2k (Post 10485632)
I think they are correct here. If you are talking about a $30 title, the sale price is $15, which would negate use of the $5 coupon. If you were talking about a $40 title (like a Blu-ray), then you would have a case. (Some folks have met with the $19.99 vs. $20 argument, which is total BS.)

Yeah, but the coupon says "The BN selling price is the price at the cash register before taxes and discounts, including the standard member discount, are applied."

I've successful argued this in at least ten different stores, that particular store was just being stingy. But I use the term arguing loosely, it's always a friendly conversation. I think that's a real key to the whole thing.

Edit. High-five Dr.!

BuckNaked2k 11-11-10 03:44 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
"...with a current B&N selling price of $20 or more."

:sarcasm:

doctorthodt 11-11-10 03:51 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
.....yes, and as the fine print states, the selling price is the price before any discounts or taxes are applied. Essentially "selling price" = MSRP, therefore the coupon is valid on ANY DVD/Blu-Ray with an MSRP of $20 or above.

Slave2Blu 11-11-10 04:05 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by doctorthodt (Post 10485655)
.....yes, and as the fine print states, the selling price is the price before any discounts or taxes are applied. Essentially "selling price" = MSRP, therefore the coupon is valid on ANY DVD/Blu-Ray with an MSRP of $20 or above.

I believe the intention is that the bn selling price is the price you pay by walking into the store and buying the title off the shelf. No coupons, membership, etc...

Whether that is the case or not i don't know, all I care is they let me use the coupon more often than not. And I love them for it.

toldawg128 11-11-10 04:10 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by doctorthodt (Post 10485655)
.....yes, and as the fine print states, the selling price is the price before any discounts or taxes are applied. Essentially "selling price" = MSRP, therefore the coupon is valid on ANY DVD/Blu-Ray with an MSRP of $20 or above.

But you didn't enlarge the words "at the cash register". What it rings up at the register is the selling price.

BuckNaked2k 11-11-10 04:14 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
Don't confuse MSRP with "current B&N price".

"Current B&N price" is the price at the register for any schlep walking in off the street, (no membership, no coupon), on that given day. So during the sale, the current B&N price on a $40 title is $20, and the current B&N price on a $30 title is $15.

The $5 coupon can only be used on an item "with a minimum B&N selling price of $20 or more".

Trevor 11-11-10 04:27 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by toldawg128 (Post 10485693)
But you didn't enlarge the words "at the cash register". What it rings up at the register is the selling price.

Looking at my receipts the original $39.99 or $29.99 price is always printed, then the various discounts are shown.

I can almost see your argument, but to me, it's pretty clear that the coupon should work on even $24.99 Criterions. Once, and if you bought a membership during that period.

tasog37 11-11-10 04:33 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by Trevor (Post 10485722)
Looking at my receipts the original $39.99 or $29.99 price is always printed, then the various discounts are shown.

I can almost see your argument, but to me, it's pretty clear that the coupon should work on even $24.99 Criterions. Once, and if you bought a membership during that period.

Exactly.

These interpretations are interesting, but as DoctorThodt said, the printed wording is clear.

Furthermore, try it. Assuming a rational employee, this is the conversation you will have:

"Oh it looks like this coupon is only good on titles over $20, sorry!"
"Yeah, but if you look a little further down it states the BN selling price as the price before discounts are taken, which is $30!"
(reads)
"Oh ok, looks like youre right! Wow, that's a great price!"

...I (and many of us, I'm sure) have had this exact exchange many, many times over the past year or two.

Giles 11-11-10 04:46 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by jrsl76 (Post 10484044)
I guess a better explanation is in order:

The Darjeeling Limited (enjoyed theatrical viewing, but least favorite Anderson, haven't watched it since I picked it up)
Bigger than Life (Excellent, but want to rewatch it to firm my feeling)
A Christmas Tale (Haven't seen it)
Close Up (Haven't seen it)
Gomorrah (Different than expected, but very good)
The Leopard (Stately film, good acting, beautiful technique - didn't love it, want to pick up the Blu and give another chance)
The Night of the Hunter (Excellent film)
Revanche (Still need to watch my Blu)
The Thin Red Line (Excellent, been a while since I saw it)
Antichrist (Just bought, need to view)
Black Narcissus (Arguably one of P&Ps best films and I haven't seen anything bad by them)
Black Orpheus (I liked it, didn't love it when I first saw it. Want to see again)
By Brakhage (Only seen a few of these. The fact that a lot of them have no sound puts me off a bit.)
Che (Still need to view my Blu)
Crumb (Just re-watched. Excellent)
Days of Heaven (Stunning film. Loved it less when I recently re-watched it, but it's still great)
Everlasting Moments (Haven't seen, but I keep hearing how great it is.)
Hunger (Very powerful, but don't know that I loved it.)
Paris, Texas (Heard about this for years. When I finally saw it earlier this year, I was blown away. One of the best films in the collection.)
Red Desert (Still need to view my Blu)
The Red Shoes (P&P again. Great film)
Ride with the Devil (Enjoyed more than others when I originally saw it. Need to view my Blu still)
The Secret of the Grain (Like I said before, I was surprised at how much I really loved this. Very humanist.)
The Summer Hours (Haven't seen)
Walkabout (Excellent film, but it's been a few years, so I need to watch my Blu I picked up last sale. Jenny Agutter is never a bad thing.)
Wings of Desire (Still need to watch my blu)

I loved this movie, definately blind buy it.

Laser Movies 11-11-10 04:54 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by BuckNaked2k (Post 10485703)
Don't confuse MSRP with "current B&N price".

"Current B&N price" is the price at the register for any schlep walking in off the street, (no membership, no coupon), on that given day. So during the sale, the current B&N price on a $40 title is $20, and the current B&N price on a $30 title is $15.

The $5 coupon can only be used on an item "with a minimum B&N selling price of $20 or more".

I've always believed this is how they intended the $5 store coupons to work but since the words on the fine print are not completely clear they left a loophole to exploit on $30 list titles. If you compare the online version of the $5 DVD coupon it will only activate when the online price is $20 or more. Anything under $20 will not activate the coupon. Before B&N did away with the online 10% member discount the DVD had to have an online price of $20 or more before the member discount was subtracted. So the coupon would work fine on a $20 DVD after a $2 member discount was deducted, and you could get the DVD for $13 before sales tax. It should work the same way at stores with the $20 Criterions, but the $15 Criterions technically should not. However a lot of stores are allowing you to purchase the $15 titles because of the gray area created by the wording of the fine print.

Dan 11-11-10 05:13 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
Has anyone had any issues with not having a physical membership card?

I just signed up for the free membership on Monday, but I don't have a card. Do they just take your name/number or do they just need the card number? Do they verify your address...? Just curious what kind of resistance, if any, I'll run into without a physical membership card...

wormraper 11-11-10 05:18 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by SomethingMore (Post 10485817)
Has anyone had any issues with not having a physical membership card?

I just signed up for the free membership on Monday, but I don't have a card. Do they just take your name/number or do they just need the card number? Do they verify your address...? Just curious what kind of resistance, if any, I'll run into without a physical membership card...

they should have sent you an email after you signed up with your membership # in it. they'll take it just fine

dino88 11-11-10 05:36 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
I thought I was done with the sale, instead I went a little overboard today.

Bought:

Paths of Glory (blu) - $13
Seven Samurai (blu) - $17
John Cassavetes: Five Films (dvd) - $42

I also ordered The Walking Dead Compendium for $32.

Chucky 11-11-10 06:08 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by SomethingMore (Post 10485817)
Has anyone had any issues with not having a physical membership card?

I just signed up for the free membership on Monday, but I don't have a card. Do they just take your name/number or do they just need the card number? Do they verify your address...? Just curious what kind of resistance, if any, I'll run into without a physical membership card...

I did have issues with this... took a few days for the membership number that was e-mailed me to come up in their system. So you may have to give it a few days.

Slave2Blu 11-11-10 06:20 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
I'm open to the different interpretations, maybe mine is wrong per the current coupon wording, but I think it's what BNs intention is.

On the other hand, I hope they make no clarifications and everything stays status quo. The more attention there is on this the worse it will turn out for us, that much I'm sure of.

Spunkymonkey 11-11-10 06:57 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
Any opinions on what would be a better blind buy?

Red Desert
Secret of the grain
Walkabout
Black Narcissus
Days of heaven
Bigger than life

Kind of leaning towards Red Desert or Secret of the Grain. Anyone care to touch on how rewatchable these films are?

Also thinking about Walkabout but I didn't enjoy Roeg's 'The Man Who Fell to Earth'. It was a little bit too weird for me, especially later into the movie.

Eric D. 11-11-10 07:17 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
Walkabout is much more "mainstream" than 'The Man Who Fell to Earth'. It's a beautiful film and one of my favorites. My only issue with it is that there are quite a few real animal deaths on screen. I like kangaroos. :(

Jfunk1 11-11-10 08:08 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by Spunkymonkey (Post 10485968)
Any opinions on what would be a better blind buy?

Red Desert
Secret of the grain
Walkabout
Black Narcissus
Days of heaven
Bigger than life

Kind of leaning towards Red Desert or Secret of the Grain. Anyone care to touch on how rewatchable these films are?

Also thinking about Walkabout but I didn't enjoy Roeg's 'The Man Who Fell to Earth'. It was a little bit too weird for me, especially later into the movie.

If you're blind-buying 2 titles from that list, I'd recommend Days of Heaven and Black Narcissus. Those are classics that are enjoyable to watch. I like Walkout and own it. I enjoyed Secret of the Grain, but didn't feel the need to revisit it. I found Red Desert to be a film to admire in parts, but not altogether satisfying. Same with Bigger Than Life.

Quake1028 11-11-10 08:41 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
I want to pick up 3 more titles and then I'm done. I'm thinking:

Kagemusha
Vivre sa Vie
Walkabout

Thoughts? For reference I own Seven Samurai, Seventh Seal, M, Breathless, The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, Darjeeling Limited, The Thin Red Line, Paths of Glory, Charade and The Magician.

DthRdrX 11-11-10 08:47 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
Kagemusha is one of my favorite Akira films. Many scenes are literally like watching a painting that keeps moving.

Walkabout is a good film, but i'm not sure if it's something most will revisit again. As previously mentioned it's got Jenny Agutter. ;)

Havn't seen Vivre sa Vie yet!

Paul_SD 11-11-10 08:55 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Walkabout is much more "mainstream" than 'The Man Who Fell to Earth'. It's a beautiful film and one of my favorites.
Mine too. There is some interesting thematic parallels between the two films (modern society's ability to corrupt), but Walkabout is far more accessible- not to mention gorgeous to look at. Even when Jenny Agutter isn't in frame.
I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Days Of Heaven and Walkabout are sitting on my shelf in high definition. A lot of significant titles are still a long way off, but this format definitely turned a corner in 2010 for me.


If you're blind-buying 2 titles from that list, I'd recommend Days of Heaven and Black Narcissus. Those are classics that are enjoyable to watch. I like Walkout and own it. I enjoyed Secret of the Grain, but didn't feel the need to revisit it. I found Red Desert to be a film to admire in parts, but not altogether satisfying. Same with Bigger Than Life.
Haven't seen SOTG or RD yet, but I would agree with DOH and BN probably being the two most accessible in the list. Your mileage is always going to vary, but both films are exquisitely photographed and the Bds show off the visuals well.
After hearing for years about BTL, I had the same reaction that you did. Was excited to hear Criterion was going to release it, but ultimately a rental would have sufficed.

PopcornTreeCt 11-11-10 09:20 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 

Originally Posted by Quake1028 (Post 10486093)
I want to pick up 3 more titles and then I'm done. I'm thinking:

Kagemusha
Vivre sa Vie
Walkabout

Thoughts? For reference I own Seven Samurai, Seventh Seal, M, Breathless, The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, Darjeeling Limited, The Thin Red Line, Paths of Glory, Charade and The Magician.

Vivra sa Vie is my favorite Godard film and I love Godard. Kagemusha, it's hard to say "worst" because Kurosawa is amazing and never made any bad films, but Kagemusha is one of his "least"quality films. Walkabout is a solid film. I wouldn't consider it more accessible than the others it's a great film with beautiful cinematography.

Paul_SD 11-11-10 09:30 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
I was planning on keeping it light this sale, but so far I'm 6 for 6 as far as coupon use goes, so I think I'm going to be expanding my original Buy list. Picked up The Last Metro last night (been picking it up and putting it back on the shelf for the last three sales) and am going to try to score Vivre sa Vie and Wings Of Desire in the next few days.
Secret Of The Grain has piqued my interest, but I budgeted $150 for the sale, and with these additions I'll just hit that if I can keep using the coupons here.

flix1 11-11-10 09:30 PM

Re: Barnes & Noble Criterion Sale
 
Well, my local B&N restocked today. They had multiple copies of most films, but no House. Ended up picking up the one copy of Antichrist.


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