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The best place for movie bargains?

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The best place for movie bargains?

Old 03-18-17, 11:24 PM
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The best place for movie bargains?

My pick is pawn shops. So many pawn shops around and the DVDs are only $1. Luckily a friend told me about this deal otherwise I would have never known. I'd never been to a pawn shop before. But about 5 years ago I decided to check it out. I bought at least 25 DVDs at that first store and spent the next week going to every pawn shop in the area.

Sadly I don't think they buy DVDs anymore, so there's never anything new on the shelf it seems. I'll be looking at a shelf with well over 1000 DVDs and I can't find anything I want. And it doesn't help that they are all in random order. But it was fun while it lasted going to all these stores and buying hundreds of DVDs. The last time I went was a couple years ago. A place called Sol's. The store had changed considerably. It used to be dirty and unorganized, but it was somehow remarkably worse now. There was so many piles of crap all over the floor I had to watch where I was going and I couldn't find the DVDs. An employee walked me over to them and there was only a couple hundred DVDs when there used to be around 3000. Then I noticed a bunch of big paper bags on the ground. They had a new deal going on to get rid of the DVDs quicker (at least I think that was the plan). Instead of buying each DVD for $1, you could buy a mystery bag which contains 10 random DVDs for $5
Old 03-19-17, 12:09 AM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

I go to local record stores. I use to go to Biglots and use Oldies.com but both of those went to crap.

The last year I've bought a ton of dvds from FYE.com. I usually wait for a good sale (buy 2, get 1 free, or 30% off, etc) and buy a bulk amount.
Old 03-19-17, 12:22 AM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

Originally Posted by clintfunhome
I go to local record stores. I use to go to Biglots and use Oldies.com but both of those went to crap.

The last year I've bought a ton of dvds from FYE.com. I usually wait for a good sale (buy 2, get 1 free, or 30% off, etc) and buy a bulk amount.
I'm addicted to all the used shops. I just love it when I find a new one somewhere so I can go through the whole store and pick out everything I want. Amazing selection and great deals always going on. Plus it's nice to see what condition the disc and case are in before buying it and not having to worry about getting a rattler in the mail. My favorite place where I shop regularly is CD Tradepost. They pretty much always have a buy 3 get 2 free, or buy 5 get 5 deal going on.
Old 03-19-17, 03:12 PM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

I agree on pawn shops. I built an online business buying most of my used merchandise from them. Unfortunately for me, many of the shops now sell online directly themselves!
Old 03-19-17, 03:26 PM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

I've thought about how the cycle of bargains has changed--I've bought from many different places over the years. Some online retailers and other B&M stores. GoHastings was great for used deals until they closed up shop. Big Lots was a gold mine at one time, but it's rare to find things there now.

At this exact moment, I'm thankful for a Half Price Books outlet nearby. They run a $1 sale a couple of times a year and I'll find many used TV seasons and even a few BDs for a buck each. Dollar Tree has been a surprise with some DVDs/BDs a time or 2 each year, but you have to hit them just right or they're cleaned out.
Old 03-20-17, 10:53 PM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

I have a really good pawn shop in the area, 3 for $1 for DVDs. Blu-Rays were $2 each, but recently the owner decided not to accept Blu-Rays anymore. I have got a lot of good deals in that store.
Old 03-21-17, 07:16 AM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

many of the shops now sell online directly themselves!
One of them I visited has a dedicated (tiny) room for Ebay sales. You're not allowed in.
Old 03-31-17, 01:35 PM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

I went into a FYE at the Coventry Mall in Pottstown, Pa. on 3-30-17 and found previously viewed movies specially marked down to $1.00 each. There was a sign stating Buy one $1.00 DVD and get two more free. So, purchasing in multiples of three each DVD cost $.33/.34 each. I bought 69 DVD's for $23.00 plus tax. If you are quick, you may find other FYE's throughout the country with the same special.

Last edited by smartalec44; 03-31-17 at 01:45 PM.
Old 03-31-17, 10:19 PM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

Originally Posted by bobert3
I have a really good pawn shop in the area, 3 for $1 for DVDs. Blu-Rays were $2 each, but recently the owner decided not to accept Blu-Rays anymore. I have got a lot of good deals in that store.
Wow. I remember when the pawn shops were selling used blu's at a higher price then new at the big stores! Is the format dying?
Old 03-31-17, 10:20 PM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

Originally Posted by smartalec44
I went into a FYE at the Coventry Mall in Pottstown, Pa. on 3-30-17 and found previously viewed movies specially marked down to $1.00 each. There was a sign stating Buy one $1.00 DVD and get two more free. So, purchasing in multiples of three each DVD cost $.33/.34 each. I bought 69 DVD's for $23.00 plus tax. If you are quick, you may find other FYE's throughout the country with the same special.
How scratched are they?
Old 04-01-17, 04:00 AM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

^ Yeah, I found FYE to be pretty hit or miss on used videos. Decided I'd look at the discs before I left the store, if they weren't in good enough condition to get past my radar, I'd return them right then and there (if they made me buy them first). Only exception for me was The Odyssey which was still OOP at the time and REALLY hard to find. Found it there for under $4, disc was scuffed but at least acceptable (to me). I was just glad to finally own it.

Last edited by kd5; 04-01-17 at 04:34 AM.
Old 04-01-17, 01:56 PM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

Originally Posted by MooMooMooMoo
How scratched are they?
I have been buying used DVD's from FYE over the years and have no problem with their playability. I have bought a lot of used TV series and am pretty satisfied with them. Besides, they do have a return guarantee on them. The DVD's I purchased for $.33/.34 were for the most part priced as $2.95/$3.95 and were enclosed in some sort of either shrink wrap from the manufacturer or sealed pull over plastic wrap. I recognized many of these dvds from prior visits and I believe were simply discounted to liquidate some inventory.------- Upon further investigation I have found many with the white anti theft strip undisturbed on the top edge of the dvd indicating it was most likely brand new. I sense this chain may have bought brand new dvd's over the years from the manufacturer and was told to market them as used at what ever price the market would bear.

Last edited by smartalec44; 04-02-17 at 02:31 PM. Reason: spelling errors
Old 04-04-17, 07:25 AM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

The last few years my best bargains have been at Half Price stores, particularly special sales in the summer and fall. For example, last summer I picked up the complete Inspector Morse for $4 (granted, on Region 2). Their regular bargain disks and coupon sales are productive, too. Then it would be gargage/yard sales. If my timing is good at Dollar Tree (and the timing must be spot on), there are good finds there. I've never had much luck with pawn shops, so I've long since stopped trying. And Big Lots has been a waste of time for 4-5 years.
Old 04-04-17, 08:06 AM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

Flea markets, then pawn shops.

Have found some amazing bargains at flea mkts. For instance, last weekend, a lady brought out her entire classic movie collection including many lots of Archive editions, OOP movies (most $5, although I heard that she went to 2 for $5 on Sunday) in perfect condition. Additonally, she had quite a few box sets including classics, BBC stuff, and complete series such as Columbo, Kung Fu, McMillan, Vicar of Dibley, etc. for $10 each.

I've found lots of new, sealed recent release (not bootleg) DVDs and BD's (including 3D) for $1-$3 each. You do have to know how to spot the bootleg/imports, but a lot of vendors are buying WalMart pallets and selling stuff at giveaway prices. And some rare & OOP stuff shows up, too.

Pawn shops can be great because they generally have a set price for everything, but that also works against some things such as common sets. In some cases, their prices for used sets is higher than retail stores. But they don't generally recognize the rarities from the common stuff, so you can get some real finds. And since the shops pay so little, they'll often price items to move quickly.

Just recently a friend of mine who owns a game store bought 500 pieces including 180 box sets...most of classic 70s-90s shows...for $100. That's around 20 cents each. He sold the movies for $1 each & the sets for $3-4 each including the Tour of Duty footlocker set, Dr. Quinn big box, etc. (complete series sold for more but were still a steal).

Garage sales are generally a waste of time.
Old 04-04-17, 01:43 PM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

No flea markets or pawn shops in my area. (There used to be tons of pawn shops in the Bronx; what happened to all of them?)

I have a local FYE, but it never has bargains like the ones described here. I've found Mill Creek box sets for $4.97 each from time to time. And once I got lucky and found this--new!--for $1.78:
SWORDS OF VENGEANCE (FALL OF AKO CASTLE/AKO-JO DANZETSU) (1978/Japan) 158 min. Dir.: Kinji Fukasaku. Adness.

Turned out to be a very good Japanese samurai movie about the 47 Ronin that I'd never heard of before and stars Sonny Chiba and Toshiro Mifune.
Old 04-14-17, 02:02 PM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

I guess one could include flea markets and pawn shop type stores like Cash Converters as well as local mom and pop pawn shops. I have found the DVD movies and TV set series decreasing in price as the streaming and downloading gains a bigger share of entertainment market share. The Goodwill stores in my area are not of the discount bin type so I don't have a clue as to what DVD movies and TV set series would cost by the pound.

In regards to flea markets and cash converter type pawn shops, most DVD movie prices for previously viewed are inching down from $1.00 to $.75 and even $.50. Whereas TV series use to command at least $8.00 to $10.00 are now in the $3.00 to $5.00 range. In spite of these lower prices, the Goodwill stores in my area are oblivious to the downward trend and are trying to sell DVD movies at the $2.00 to $3.00 range with TV series sets at the $8.00 to $10.00 range.

I did come across one fellow in the local flea market who clears out storage lockers in arrears, selling DVD movies and TV series sets all for 8 for $5.00 or $.63 each. I purchased six Buffet and 2 NCIS for $.63 a set. Now that was a bargain.
Old 12-09-21, 01:55 AM
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Re: The best place for movie bargains?

All the places here in Nebraska r total shit now. They don’t pay anything for the good stuff. They don’t pay anything for anything. And therefore it’s rare that anything good shows up anymore. Nothing from the boutique labels fetches a decent price. So the only movies you ever find now is generic stuff sold at Walmart. Was down on my luck a few times since COVID and had to sell a lot. I was in total shock that I was offered between 5-50 cents for most of it. Even blu rays nothing even reached $2. Luckily there’s one guy in town who knows what he’s doing. Ben’s Game Zone. Paid me up to $60 on some rare dvds. Decided to bring in all my game systems (had at least 20) and all my games and walked away with a few grand. Really saved me.

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