excom101

There has already been a discussion of this in this thread...

And, for what it's worth, the fine print says that the 50% will be deducted after the standard member discount not necessarily calculated at that point.

stevevm

I broke down and ordered a 3rd account and got Seinfeld Complete.

So I got Stargate Complete $105+Tax (had 1 account that expires in December)
I got X-filles Complete for $105+Tax+New membership to replace old 1 that is expiring
and now Seinfeld Complete for $102+Tax+Membership whch I am gving to my brother

So total spent for this is $312+Tax+2 Memberships=approx $380

What a good deal when you think each of these sets is over $200

Gypo66

Okay, the 50% code is expiring soon, and I still haven't placed an order (and yes, I am a member and have a mastercard).

Guess I'm going to get the Ford at Fox set, although I'm hating that it went from 30% off to 15% off over the last week or so.

So should I order it on-line or in-store? Is it exactly the same price either way?

kenbenobi

In-store is only 10% off, unless you order it with Ship to Home, then it is exactly the same as online, but you'd need to have the in-store 50% off coupon. If you don't have that, then you must order on-line, unless you are skillful enough to convince the clerks to give you that discount in-store. YMMV on that, though...

kenbenobi

I have the actual in-store coupon, and it states "AN EXTRA 50% OFF IN ADDITION TO THE 10% MEMBER DISCOUNT". That is exactly how all B&N coupons have worked in the past, and currently work. So whereever you are getting your "fine print", it is wrong...

db27

well, I finally used the 50% online code. was already a member so it was a no-brainer for me. Got the Kubrick set for $27 shipped, figured it should be a worthy purchase. I have actually never seen ANY of the films.

Wolf359

Wish I had jumped on it when it was 30% off, but still $120 for Stargate Complete is an awesome deal. Thanks for posting that coupon code!

bookcase3

BN.com needs to get with the times, re: HD DVD prices. They're outrageous, and I'd love to buy from them.

Legolas

^ When it comes to DVDs, Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc. -- all the bookstore chains are like this. All the mall music and movie store chains are just as bad. But if you're ever in these stores, you'll always see someone dumb enough to pay those prices. I saw someone buy the Alien Quadrilogy for like $80... without even using a coupon.

JediJones

I believe you just repeated exactly what he claimed the fine print said. I just bought the Pink Panther movie set in-store and they definitely took off 10% and then took 50% off that reduced amount. Taking 60% off in one lump is a completely different calculation and would have resulted in a lower price. If that is what the online store is doing then as SoonerDoc said it's probably incorrect. The fine print seems to imply that the in-store method is the correct one. This results in less of a discount which is what B&N would probably prefer.

By the way, I was able to use the B&N print-out in store but it was difficult. The clerk said he needed the "actual coupon" with the bar code and went through a lot of rationale about how they're partnering with another company on this promotion and need it for their records. But he wasn't being mean about it and when I was about to walk away he told me he'd ask his manager if he could give the discount to me anyway. She came over and said the print-out I had was fine, he would just have to type in the number on it for the in-store discount.

JediJones

Not exactly, it says the following...

"The additional 50% discount will be applied to one (1) item in the purchase as designated by the Member - not the entire purchase - and will be deducted after the standard Member discount is applied."

So it says the 10% member discount will be applied and then the 50% discount will be deducted. I don't see any reason for them to phrase it that way unless they want to make it very clear that the discounts are applied separately, as opposed to being added together before they are applied. The order they're applied in technically makes no difference, as long as they are applied separately.

For what it's worth, on my receipt I can't tell how they applied the discounts. I just see a single line saying $69.99 was discounted by $41.65 for a total of $28.34. But that's exactly what you get after taking the standard 10% off, then the member 10% off, and finally the coupon 50% off. A big difference from adding the discounts up first and taking 70% off, which would result in $21.00.

kenbenobi

When B&N says an EXTRA discount in ADDITION to, it has always meant above and beyond the 10% member discount. They add it on top off. A 15% coupon becomes 25%, a 25% coupon becomes 35%, etc. So this coupon would be 60%. The only true proof will be once someone uses the actual coupon in-store instead of getting them to override, which I plan to do tomorrow. I still haven't used mine. I'll let you all know the results, even if my earlier stated assessment is incorrect. You have me very curious now.

kenbenobi

They don't even carry HD-DVD or Blu Ray in stores yet, either (at least, not in my stores)

Brent L

I just checked my UPS tracking number and my Seinfeld set is waiting for me at home. I ordered just two days ago. I can't wait to check it out!

kenbenobi

B&N shipping rocks! They don't always pack the boxes the best, but man are they fast!

JediJones

I'm probably going to use another coupon this weekend to get the Green Mile 2-disc set there. I spotted it browsing around on a rack near the front and I believe it was a pretty good deal, 30% off. I think the standard price is $20.99 so if that stacks with a decent coupon and with the membership it might come down to around $10.

Aside from the coupon issues though, my result today at the very least shows that they don't combine the in-store 10% off with the member 10% off by turning it into a 20% off, they discount each separately. So that makes me skeptical that they would calculate for a coupon differently. It's not ever very mathematically logically to add up percentages. That seems more like a mistake someone would make on their math homework. But the proof is in the pudding...

excom101

Yes, exactly. You seem to have both of the points that I was precisely trying to make.

One: Some one has already made the point you're trying to make and it has already been discussed.

Two: The fine print says in what order that both discounts will be subtracted and tells you in what order they will be applied, but it does NOT tell you in what numbers they will be using to calculate them.

If you read the first wording in the quoted text, it first says that the 50% discount will be applied to any item the member chooses, but it will be deducted (literally subtracted...) after the standard members' discount is applied. One could make an argument for this wording being meant to imply that the coupons stack by adding the discounts as you make an argument that the same wording later refutes that. (i.e. They calculate the 50% discount before the members' discount but don't subtract it until after that members' discount is applied.) If, however, this is not the point of the wording-- why distinguish between applying and deducting?

Either way... no one is disputing your mathematical prowess (again... I pointed out the SAME THING more than two weeks ago...), so I say we let this one die...

yeldarb367

I just ordered the Seinfeld complete set using a friend's BN account and my aunt's Mastercard

Amazing!

BKenn01

I wont pay the high prices, but I wont critisize these retailers. They are operating as they have to. The discounters use them as loss leaders. You cant do that and pay Mall rent.

Brent L

Yep, I got my Seinfeld set today. Wow, this is very well done if you ask me.

Trevor

Forgive me if this was said already, I scanned a few pages and didn't see it.

Decided to take the 50% off plunge. My membership was long expired, so I renewed online. It wasn't letting me use the coupon, and I imagine it is because it takes time to activate the renewal and I must be an active member to use the coupon. Is that correct?

I paid for the membership a few minutes ago. Should I wait a day or so, or is it pretty quick?

kenbenobi

Try logging out and logging back in. For new accounts, that's all you need to do. Hopefully that will work with renewals as well...

Trevor

It worked, thanks Kennenobi!

Now anything over $143 I get for selling my original 9 X-Files sets is profit. I should get at least that I imagine. Off to ebay and amazon to research past sales.

kenbenobi

I'm letting it die. I just want to confirm that the coupon in-store is discounting AFTER the 10% off, as reported earlier. I swear it didn't work that way with coupons previously, but regardless, that's how it's working now. So I was wrong, unfortunately. I would have rather had the bigger discount. Anyway, I bought Seinfeld as many of you have. So it actually cost $13.50 more to buy it in-store vs. online, but still cheaper than creating a new membership account online (I already have two, so I didn't want to go down that route).

kenbenobi

YW. I still haven't unloaded my original X-Files. I cry to think how much I paid for them, and didn't even watch all of them yet. But yes, it should be easy to get back the $143 you paid...