Not sure about this, so I thought I'd put it out: I went in to Costco about 2 weeks ago, my first trip since the week before Christmas, when I joined up after hearing about all the great deals on this board. And there was a lot of great stuff- Capra set, Preston Sturges, Martin & Lewis, etc. But the trip 2 weeks ago was major letdown: It seems they had cut their dvd stock about 40%. It seemed they only had what was "hot"- a lot of new release single discs (at fairly common pricing) and not many sets. The Buffys for $16.99, a few leftover Bond sets, and maybe 8 or 9 other sets.

So, I guess my question is: Did I just see the holiday bonanza? Are they normally stocked with just the major sets, e.g. the Bond sets or the Superman set, and the rest being new "hot" releases?

Thanks for any input on this.

They're mostly going to be newer releases. The older releases they sell tend to consist of leftovers and random assortments of cheap movies or sets. They're not going to keep a huge stock, they don't devote enough room to it and DVD isn't a big thing for them from what I can tell. They don't seem to be big on restocking items either.

Bottom line, if you see something you want, buy it then because it may not be there the next time. Also, don't join only for the DVDs. They do good deals sometimes, but other times you can go months without a single thing worth buying.

Costco seemed to get stuff in spurts. In general they have new releases and that is about it. The other stuff comes in from time to time and holidays are loaded with that kind of stuff. I would not dismay to much. I wish I still had Costco. I moved a little over a year ago and we do not have Costco where I am now. I liked to shop there for lots of things other than DVDs, in particular they had some excellent seafood not readily available at grocery stores in this area.

Yeah, I only buy a couple DVDs at Costco every few months, mainly the one's with instant rebates. But I go there for the food and other things than DVDs.

My Costco has been disappointing for DVD's for over a year.

I have found that Costco's DVD section grows during the last 4 months of the year (September to December) and then shrinks back after Christmas. Usually their best deals are on Fox and Warner Bros titles especially their classic box sets. They currently have some of the Warner Bros. 2 disc special editions for $8.99. My Fair Lady, Chariots of Fire, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Philadelphia Story, East of Eden, and Giant are the ones I remember . There were others. They also have the Warner Box sets of Alfred Hitchcock, Doris Day, and Tennesee Williams and others for $42.99 each. What I hate is that they have a 2 tier price system with some stores charging more then other stores. I don't know how much they do this with other items but they do this with DVDs. As store stock is different store to store I find this to be a big problem and turnoff.

Nearly all stores have some sort of price tier system, if they don't then you know they are only charging the highest possible price for each item at every store to cover their highest average costs. Prices vary by location due to costs and competition. Land, taxes, utilities, and labor costs vary widely. Some stores have numerous competitors nearby and some have none. Some stores are built in affluent areas and some are built in working class neighborhoods. If you buy something that costs more in one store and find it cheaper in another, bring in your receipt and ask for an adjustment or return the item and buy it from the cheaper store.

I went to the later part of 2006, and there was a total of about 5 titles, and no new releases to be found. I didn't go back for a while, and when I did, it was the complete opposite of the way I had seen it. They had boxes and boxes FULL of DVDs and three or four more boxes piled on top of those. So...I guess it varies. When I saw it in 2006, I seriously thought they were going to stop carrying them.

DVD deals tend to pop up during holidays. Last year, there were great deals on Warner Musicals box sets around Mother's Day, and the McQueen & Errol Flynn sets around Father's Day. It makes sense to do things that way from their point of view, I guess. I've been holding of buying the new 2-disc "Passion of the Christ" because I'm guessing Costco might have a deal around Easter. We'll see.

Where's the bargain here? This would probably be better suited for the Store forum.

Back around Thanksgiving I spoke with one of the managers at my local Costco, and she said she thought they were cutting back. She didn't think they should be carrying all the under $10 titles. OTOH, aside from the recent spate of B1G1 box set sales all over the place, Costco usually has the best deals on boxes.

I was just going to say that.

Sorry. Didn't mean to piss people off here. Thanks to all who answered kindly - all information much appreciated! I too saw many box sets pre-Xmas and then a couple of weeks ago it was mostly new. Lesson learned: See it, buy it! It most likely won't be there twice.

The Costco by my house is definitely cutting back, I haven't bouhgt anything there in awhile. Needless to say, this summer I won't be renewing.

I just got the East of Eden 2-disc special edition for under $9 (cheapest anywhere else was ~$13). In that section they had tons of DVDs under $10 that seemed like good deals (except the Artisan disc which are notoriously inexpensive).

As far as getting smaller? No. Mine is still one and a half aisles (the rest is CDs with a small separate end of aisle videogame section.

We have a brand new Costco, just up the road in Louisville. 1st in KY. They have been hit and miss. Lots of older titles and some new releases, but not many of what I buy which is TV on DVD. Last week when everyone was getting the deal on the Friends and Sex and the City, I went up there twice and they had tons of the product, but no sale on them. Their prices are much lower than Sam's (I had hoped Sam's would lower their prices, not yet) but Sam's has more dvd. Each week Sam's has most of the major TV releases, not Costco.

My Costco was 1 1/2 isles at Xmas but now barely one. Same with books.

I'm with you, Wildman. I will not be renewing.

Who joins Costco just for dvds? That is just plain nonsensical to me. There is a lot more to Costco than dvds.