Price increases on box sets
 

For the past several days, a number of CH box set prices have been higher. A few examples:

Married With Children seasons 2 and 3: Is $39.95, was $29.96.

Benny Hill I,II,III: Is $49.95, was $37.46.

Showgirls VIP: Is $39.95, was $29.96.

Cleopatra 2525: Is $49.95, was $37.46.

Even with some of the better deals, these are all now clearly more expensive through CH than a DDD 20% off sale. Hopefully this is not a long term trend. If it is, then my CH approach probably shifts to just buying individual titles. I had been focusing my fulfillment purchases on box sets; but at these prices that is no longer a good approach.

Interesting. New ownership might be changing things up.

Between this trend and The Great Fun Cash Robbery, I may never again be able to buy a box set from CH.

New ownership just might turn out to be the downfall of CH. The good thing about the club was the bargains. When they go away I believe that most customers will too.

I think the customers they don't make much money off of will go away.

I disagree. Most of CH's customers are the Joe 6-Packs who think that a $10+ per dvd average is a great bargain. All of us here on the boards are a big minority in the grand scheme of things. It may be going downhill for us dvdtalkers, but let's face it - most people out there buying dvd's just aren't all that smart to begin with.

I think it's a little premature to assume that "all the bargains are going away"... and that "it's all because of new ownership". Take it easy. Relax. Wait for more bargains. That's the way it goes. :)

I agree. It's too early to tell just yet. I think we might end up having fewer bargains, but there will still probably be some to come....hopefully.

I think something is up with their web site right now maybe due to the redesign. But all the prices are jacked. The boxsets are priced higher than the list price. The rest of the titles don't even show a price. I sure hope this is just an error, becuase the prices they are showing for the boxsets are outrageous.

Agreeing with Big Worms, I think the price increases are more likely due to the ineptitude of the web monkeys coding the the CH site rather than any BMG machinations. "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity" and all that.

I think this up to 50% off TV sale may have been the catalyst for the jump. I noticed on the first day of the sale that some BBC sets and Star Trek season sets were in the 40-50% off range but are now just 3 cents under MSRP. And now almost all of the boxsets on the actual TV sale pages are only showing the standard 25% discount rather than the 40-50% discounts of just yesterday. I doubt *crosses fingers* that this is some price point trial baloon being sent up by BMG suits. Even they wouldn't implement a 50% sale page with nothing at 50%. There's just a major problem with the implementation of this sale imho.

Also the "revamp" of the site means kinks galore to be ironed out(not that they'll ever get 'em all). Hell, since its inception that site could charitably be described as screwy only on a good day. Combine the sale and the redesign and you've introduced enough complexity to fry their poor monkey brains I'm afraid.

Regardless of whether it's intentional or not, these are effectively major price increases which are major suck. I am curious what prices you'd get over the phone(not curious enough to actually call though). If things aren't sorted out by the end of the TV sale on the 18th, I'll start getting more concerned. Right now this appears to me like run of the mill CH incompetence. Hopefully it's nothing more sinister.

Add them to your cart, the price changes.

Married With Children Season 2 $29.96
Married With Children Season 3 $27.97
Showgirls VIP $29.96
Benny Hill $37.46
Cleopatra $37.46
Most prices are still the same.

I was planning on getting the Black Adder complete collection sometime after Tuesday since the MSRP drops to $100 (from $120). CH had it for $90 and I was expecting it to go to $70. But now it's listed at $120, so if these price changes are intentional, it'll presumably just go to $100 Tuesday. Though on the plus side, the individual series discs are now priced at the MSRP ($25 each for the first four series, $20 for the fifth series), so they count as fulfillments (CH had always had them for $15 for the first four series and $10 for the fifth), and after the price changes Tuesday they'll presumably be $20 each for the first four series, and $15 for the fifth series. I had wanted to get the complete collection set, but now I think I'll go with the individual series discs.

I thought when this sale first started that Cleopatra 2525 was just under $30 bucks. I remember being pissed off that I just missed out using my $10 off my first $30 web order on it.

Yeah I've noticed on my CH.com account (formerly dv2) THe sets I've been looking at are all showing up at MSRP (Babylon 5 and Thundercats) When I search for Star Trek it won't even display prices. It has to be an error since they advertise 40-60% off everything.

Thanks for the info -- I would have been discouraged from even trying to order, if I believed the listed prices. Put them in the cart and see what happens. It's back to the old game of CH Roulette. :-)

I don't know what changes BMG intends to make. However, BMG music club prices on their standard deal were generally better than CH CD club deals. And they have a new offer called yourmusic.com which offers the most unbelievable deals on CD box sets I've ever seen.

So, overall, I don't think that CH is going to be a bad deal just because of the new owners.

And let me add one more thing: BMG has NEVER screwed up my order! I always get what I order, and I've bought 100 or more CDs from them. If they bring that kind of efficiency and accuracy to Columbia House, I think most of us here would be very pleased. I suppose it might take time, but I really hope they can fix CH's crazy computer system and their devil-may-care approach to packing orders.

That's true about the BMG CD clubs. In the ancient days (I haven't bought a CD for many years) they had a far, far better join/fulfill/quit/rejoin deal going than CH. Maybe that will come to pass. I'd take that over slightly better than market price deals on box sets any day. I can save those up for the DDD 20% sales.

Prices show back to what they were before the glitch for me as of now.

However, sets like Homicide, that never did show a discount, still are not doing so.

They are $9.99 each at CH.com Plus free shipping.

Picked up Cleo 2525 for just under $30. Added a $6 title so I could use my $10 off a $30 order. Still got screwed on the S&H. Ended up out of pocket about $32 bucks.

Heres some prices Im getting
Ben Hur 4-Disc: List Price $39.92, Special $39.95
Aqua Teen Hunger Forice: Volume 1 (or 2 or 3): List $29.90, Special $29.95

Whats up with this crap? I hope this is a mistake?

Are those on the web page prices or in the shopping basket at checkout prices?

I am still really having a hard time getting my head around the concept of paying about $300+ (by the time I am done with all the west wings my wife wants) essentially to time shift a tv show that has a dozen episodes on each week. Strangely I appear happy to do it, but it makes no sense to me at the same time.

Ben-Hur price (on my normal DVD account) is $29.95 and ATHF vol.1 is $22.46 (once you put it in your cart).
Quite a few boxsets have had wrong prices on the site, but show up correctly once in your cart.

I just got my monthly flyer and it said in my deal that box sets were up to 50% off. But it's not showing up on my site and unfortunately, I don't have my online code. Does anyone else have this deal? I noticed the Friday the 13th Set is one of the sets that is 50% and is now $39.98 with no other purchase required. This is by far the best deal on that set.

How much is Babylon 5 S5 at CH?