Whoops. Thanks for trying to help though. I've got other email addresses that I can utilize though if I want to purchase more stuff.

I noticed B&N lowered the David Attenborough version of Life to $39.99 today.

Edit: I tried every coupon on the list and none of them would work since it is a pre-order. Not sure if the current price will hold to the release date of June 1.

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/.../883929099252/

Man, BN just keeps on sucking, IMO. They removed the member discount in favor of fast shipping. Yea right. Waiting 3 days now and UPS has rescheduled the delivery for a later day. I can't even get the fast shipping benefit out of my membership.

I had my "M" Blu-ray ship literally 2 hours after I ordered it, with free 1-3 day shipping. I have no complaints about their faster shipping, but getting rid of the member discount is terrible. That somewhat dampers any potential deals we'll get during the Criterion sale (if it actually happens).

Is there a way to get free shipping on promotions for non-members without spending $25?

This link has given me free shipping on everything, even though it says you must spend $25. It's always shown up free during checkout.

To get the 3 for $20 promotion along with free shipping without a membership would require you to spend at least $25. Since the promotion does not work through any of the bookstore links there is not many other options to get around the restrictions. You could probably make the purchase through Bing and earn some cash back. If you add some filler to get to $25 you could also use a coupon to save a little more if you can keep the total from going under $25.

The problem is that the current 3 for $20 promotion does not work through any of the links. While you would get free shipping it cancels out the promotion and increases the prices.

But the special links kill the 3 items for whatever $ discount.

I want to do the 3 bargain books for $9.99 deal. I was willing to buy 9 books to get over $25 for free shipping, but B&N only gives me the discount on 3 books.

I thought it was one of the 3 for $20 offers I've seen for DVDs and CDs. Still probably the same situation with books. Unfortunately B&N usually only lets you do one 3 for promotion per order. The sale doesn't look worthwhile if you are paying $5.97 for shipping though, and you have a much larger gap to fill for free shipping. I think you might be a little better off doing single book orders using one of the 10% coupons on each one. You could get an additional 11% and free shipping with the GSA link. Otherwise it looks like you would need a membership to get the deal with free shipping. Have a feeling B&N purposely set up the sale this way to sucker you into a membership, but you could get one and cancel it before 30 days.

Your best bet for the Criterion sale is in-store. The prices will be at 50% off on-line and in-store, but you'll be able to get the 10% additional membership discount in-store along with the $5 coupons (YMMV).

Oh, so the 10% member discount is only dead online, and not in-store? I prefer to shop during that sale in-store anyway, so if that's the case, then no worries.

Anyone have any historical info on BN and their pre-order prices? What are the odds Life will still be 39.89 on release day? I'd like to use the coupon on that day if possible but if it's more likely to go up in price I'll order now.

I believe that is correct. You still get the discount in stores but not online.

I would think that anyone who paid $25 for their membership, with a promise of 10% off in-store AND online, should be able to return their membership for a refund. If I was still a member, I'd be PISSED that they took that away without warning. That is false advertising. I could understand taking the discount away at the end of your current membership term, but for any current membership, it sounds like bull to me...

^ You still get a discount online as well, it's just that it's the same discount available to everyone else ordering from the website.

Is a discount really a discount in that case?! If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought I was reading that the program changed so that it now had faster shipping with a lower minimum, but no discount... I wouldn't really say that the discount is "dead online" as others are stating. It just isn't as beneficial, since anyone can get 11% off (at least for now, you never know how long that deal will last)

B&N did not reduce prices across the board, or make the member price the new online price for all customers. Some prices decreased, some are the same, some increased. However you are correct that all customers receive the same online price, but free express shipping is not worth the trade off for the cost of the membership. So far I've found little advantage having a membership now. No way I'm renewing again if this is what we get in return.

It's certainly annoying, but it's not false advertising, or a violation of the Membership Agreement (which provides that "We may change the terms of this Agreement at any time without notice or liability by posting a revised Agreement on the Member Program website located at www.bn.com/membership").

No laws were broken but it's not great customer service to be sure. I am surprised they did this without offering any sort of compensation to members.

I'll still likely renew for the Criterion sale.

Unless you intend to spend at least $250 per year in store, the membership has seemingly lost all value. I suppose there may be "members only" coupons issued in the future, but there is no assurance of this.

As I posted before, I've run wild over the last 10 months getting super discounts on the Beatles' box sets, and a huge haul of Criterions, but those days are coming to an end. The July Criterion sale will be my "last hurah", and get me fairly current on their catalog, but then it'll be lights out for my membership.

Unless they are planning to eliminate memberships altogether I would be surprised if B&N stopped issuing member coupons. Even though there are fewer of them compared to past years they are still showing up every month, but most of the coupons now are for all customers. Even if I didn't have a membership I would still buy from B&N if there are still good deals, and if the Criterion sale does materialize in July it looks like a great sale without having to buy one. With the GSA link and a nice supply of online coupons you should still save a lot of money.

Anyone know how long does the BBC sale go to?

I don't know. Haven't seen any information when it's supposed to end.

Has anyone used AAADG15 with success? I got this in my AAA member email and it didn't list any restrictions. But when I tried to use it on a Nook order it didn't work and didn't provide further information on the restrictions.