clckworang

This is completely the truth. I virtually quit buying DVDs for at least 2 or 3 years, only getting certain big titles, because I was pretty broke at the time. It's only been in the last year or two that I've gotten myself in a position where I could afford to buy again.

Before my spending hiatus, I shopped pretty much exclusively at DeepDiscount. I would do price comparisons, and it was virtually always the lowest price around. And if it wasn't the absolute lowest, the difference would be so slim ($1 or less) that it made little sense to split orders up among other retailers.

I was shocked at how things had changed when I started getting back into buying. Amazon as any type of source for DVDs? Are you kidding? It was pretty much MSRP when I was doing a lot of buying. My first few purchases I spent way more than I should have because I just assumed DD was still far and away the price leader and didn't do my regular comparison shopping (I know, stupid).

Imagine my surprise when I saw Amazon's name showing up toward the top along with DD. And while DD might still have lower prices on the majority of the discs it sells, I think this is pretty much only true of DVDs. If you want the lowest prices for Blu-rays, you're going to have to go to Amazon the vast majority of time, much like I would go to DD the vast majority of time years ago for DVDs. The only hiccup for Amazon is the $25 order for free shipping, but if you order a lot of stuff online, a Prime membership will pay for itself rather quickly.

DD was the online price king for so long, but other retailers just have finally started to catch up.

cdollaz

I'm gonna buy a bunch of cds, and they will be at a price which is lower than I could get them anywhere else.

Viper187

There are a bunch of CDs I'd like to have, but I'll probably save my money for Amazon's BD deals on Black Friday. I already blew $300+ on Law & Order SVU/CI seasons with their Buy More Save More shit, so I'm getting a little drained. lol

taco5

I remember a time when I'd go to DVDPricesearch.com, plug in a title and boom! DeepDiscount was always on top. Not like that anymore. Shame. I looked forward to their sales before Christmas for myself, family and friends.

Calmuser

blah, I was holding off on a few things from that 30% off wherehouse.com sale cause they would of been a few $ cheaper at DD. Guess I should of not waited.

Rammble

Any word on what DVD Planet is up to? They usually have a similar sale as DD.

Bill Needle

Ditto. This, plus the 20% off sales meant little to no shopping around was required other than checking out the occasional "amazing" sales that usually amounted to web site glitches that often ended up not being honored anyway. So I bought all of my sets nearly exclusively from DDD during the twice a year sales (regular titles I mostly get through Columbia House). I didn't need to give it much thought or worry that I wasn't getting the best (or at worst very nearly the best) deal around.

Now with this change in sale policy, I had to take a hard look, and their normal set prices - if I'm not mistaken - are typically already 40% off. So since it appears that sets are essentially not going to be on sale, I shopped them around and found that Amazon had the better price on 8 of 10 titles. I'll wait until the actual sale, but this is a roughly $400 sale that DDD is not going to get from me that until now would have been a lock.

tofferman

I called them this afternoon and asked a csr. She went to a supervisor who told her there was no word yet if they would be participating.

Granted, the csr's can be clueless, but there use to be a time when dvdplanet participated on these boards during their sale and we also knew they would be participating beforehand.

I'm starting to wonder this time around and am a little concerned about the $300 in credit I have accumulated. Let's hope!

BobO'Link

If they truly include *all* their CDs then I'll also be purchasing CDs this time. In the past the included CDs were *always* titles I already own or wasn't interested in adding to my collection. With 30% off MSRP I'll save ~$2 per on titles that normally aren't included at all and are already less expensive than anywhere else.

seymouru

Just like all sales, you have to check prices for the titles you want. For a lot of high-volume titles, DD is not going to be the best deal, even during their store-wide sales. For lower-volume titles, the sale prices are great. Here's the wish list I've been building since their last sale:

Title | Current DD Price | 40% Off DD MSRP | Current Amazon Price | DD Sale Savings over Amazon

• The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: The Best of Season 2 | $24.45 | $24.00 | $26.50 | $2.50
• The Untouchables: Season 3 Volume 1 | $28.89 | $24.00 | $29.00 | $5.00
• Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) [Blu-ray] | $25.43 | 24.00 | $25.00 | $1.00
• The Golden Age of Television (Criterion) | $40.76 | $30.00 | $35.00 | $5.00
• Columbia Pictures: Film Noir Classics Vol. 1 | $45.21 | $36.00 | $45.00 | $9.00

DD total based on current prices = $164.74
DD total based on 40% off MSRP = $138.00
Amazon total based on current prices = $160.50

Total savings off current DD prices = $26.74 (16% savings)
Total savings off current Amazon prices = $22.50 (14% savings)

Not the 20-25% savings we're used to, but for these titles, it still seems like a good deal to me!

g

They should leave the regular price on the site to compare the sale price during the sale. As I haven't thought of all I want to compare.

nothingfails

Luckily, there have been a few music DVD's I've been meaning to get, and looking at DD, it'll be cheaper to get them when the sale is on. Queen's Greatest Video Hits 2 for example only lists at 12.99, and right now it's 12.08, it'll be $7.79. I also plan on getting U2: 18 Videos and Erasure: Hits Video Collection which'll be 11.99, I never see those lower than 16-17 even on sale.

DJariya

Okay, this so called "Sale" doesn't make sense to me for some items.

Example:

"V" the series from 1984 is currently selling for $15.99, which is more than 50% off the MSRP of $39.95.

http://www.deepdiscount.com/V--The-C...VVviewprod.htm

So you mean to tell me that on the 13th, this item will go up in price to $23.97 to satisfy this sale?

b2net

maybe it will be at least 40% off MSRP... so it stands that V will be already "on sale"...

actionjackson29

I just saw V: The Series selling for $14 at Wal-Mart this week.

pcdoctor

DD and DVD Planet are owned by the same company.

bsmith

Some of the pricing you see right now is based on DD trying to compete with other vendors sales. For example, Homicide the complete series was down to $85 to compete with the Buy.com price, while the other new A&E sets are up to $93 (there normally discounted price).

So yes it looks like when the sale goes on they will do a broad stroke and price everything at 40% off MSRP. For items where they already felt they were competitive the price will go down a bit more. For cases where they were trying to match someone else's sales price...well these could actually go up a bit.

cgray

... but don't always have the same sales.

Ropes Pierre

So it is the standard "have to check. every. single. thing." to be sure it is a good deal. i really miss the old DDD, where they had the lowest price, period.

bsmith

I guess its not much of a change for me since I always checked anyways. Even in the 20% - 25% of the last few years I could sometimes find an item cheaper somewhere else. So I don't think it was ever the lowest price period. Now they would price match and I did try that a few times, but usually it was too much of a hassle and I would just buy from the other vendor. In any case, you still had to check around to know.

Tim Tucker

And that's what it comes down to. I've been doing some price checking on some things I'm wanting. For some, 40% MSRP is better than the old sale, for others it's not as good, but still the cheapest price going.

It's going to take more comparison shopping than before, but there are still good deals to be had....

unless DD decides to play games with its MSRP.

Trevor

This was a good thing to do even in the past.

Dvdpricesearch.com takes a couple seconds.

Tim Tucker

Hey, I even use a spreadsheet to compare prices and plot out my buying during these sales.

JackBurton

Agreed. I always check dvdpricesearch before buying any dvd.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people post their DD sale orders with titles that could have been had for less elsewhere. They have been called on it over the years, but usually reply that they don't care and prefer the convenience of making one bulk order.

lumberjack

Kind of like with Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection Blu-ray set. It currently has no MSRP and is already overpriced at $71.12.