DVD Talk Forum - Columbia House Sale Offer Codes, Part V

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Columbia House Sale Offer Codes, Part V

[This thread supersedes Part IV, which has become quite long.]

This thread is intended as a place to list Sale Offer Codes that may be of interest to other Columbia House DVD Club members.

Sale offer codes differ from Enrollment codes. To learn about the best Enrollment codes please check out the CH Enrollment Codes Part II Thread.

thejester and LKRUNNELS have been kind enough to do some code trawling for us in recent months. Thanks!

FAQs by lizard:

Q: What is a "sale offer code"?

A: Columbia House offers a variety of promotional offers and sales to its members. Some are worthless but others can be terrific deals if properly used. Sale offers are designated by a six digit number beginning with "80", for example 803048.

Q: Will a sale offer code work on MY account?

A: Perhaps. In the past offer codes were strictly limited to the accounts that Columbia House assigned them to. Then we started finding numerous codes that would work on most or all accounts. Use of codes is strictly a "YMMV" ("Your Mileage May Vary") situation.

Q: Will a Sale offer code work on my TV Edition Club account?

A: Usually; same as with regular DVD Club accounts. TV Edition Club accounts have exactly the same fulfillment requirements and sale offers as regular DVD Club accounts.

Q: Will a Sale offer code work on my CH.com account?

A: Sorry, No. CH.com accounts rarely utilize sale offers of any kind. They are designed to be simple, with free shipping all the time and no Director's Selections to fuss with. But average DVD costs are substantially higher than properly optimized regular DVD club accounts; that's the price one pays for convenience.

Q: How do I enter a sale offer code?

A: Log-in to your account. At the top of the page will be your current sale offer. Click on "details" and you will get an explanation of your current offer. If you click on the "Looking for the Offer in Your Mailing?" link, it will take you to a place to enter your sale offer code. This is described in more detail in The "How do I enter a code" answer! thread.

Q: How long do sale offers last?

A: In the past, sale offers have lasted from two days or so to several weeks. Some codes have expired and then been resurrected weeks or months later. If you spot a code you want to use and it works on your account, remember this: "You snooze, you lose".

Q: Where do I find the BEST sale offer codes?

A: You should be able to find the better codes posted on the last page or two of this thread. That's the purpose of this thread. Certain prized sale offers may be posted in their own threads and draw much discussion.

Q: I got a sale offer in an e-mail; how do I find out what the code is?

A: Using a browser like Internet Explorer, click on the e-mail and then partway through the page loading process stop the load. If you time it correctly, you will see an interim URL and it will have the sale offer code embedded in it: 80xxxx. It takes practice to stop the page load at the correct time. This method doesn't seem to work with current version of the Firefox browser. I am uncertain if it will work with other browsers, such as Safari.

While you don't need the code to use the sale offer (just clicking on your e-mail is enough), by posting the code here others can try it to see if it will work on their accounts.

Q: What are some good sale offers?

A: The most highly prized sale offers here are B1G1F (also abbreviated BOGOF), which stands for "Buy One Get One Free", and various forms of "Free Shipping". Some offer codes can include both B1G1F and free shipping. A recent (3/27/08) code offered B1G4F (plus shipping). Using such a code can lead to per disc averages as low as $4.39 and many of the purchases can be newer titles or 2 disc Special Editions not yet available for enrollment. For fulfilling an account, it doesn’t get any better than that.

Q: I have free shipping on my account, why isn't my box set getting free shipping?

A: Columbia House used to include box sets, and other "Special" priced DVDs in free shipping offers but this is no longer allowed except on rare occasions. So, free shipping usually applies only to regular and sale priced DVDs or HD discs. Free shipping is not allowed on Funcash purchases.

Q: I have a B1G1F sale offer on my account, can I buy a box set or a Pre-order using it?

A: Yes and No. You can't get box sets and Pre-orders (usually) as freebies, but you can use one to qualify for a free regular DVD that is priced the same as, or less than, the qualifying purchase (and the qualifying purchase will count for fulfillment if it is priced at $19.95 or more). An exception to this general rule is that pre-orders often become available as freebies a week or so before release date.

Q: I have a B1G1F sale offer on my account, can I buy a Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD using it?

A: Yes and No. You can't get High Definition disc (usually) as a freebie, but you can use one to qualify for a free regular DVD that is priced the same as, or less than, the qualifying purchase (and the qualifying purchase will count for fulfillment if it is priced at $19.95 or more). Columbia House did have a B1G1F sale on HD discs at one time, so it is possible that they may have future sales of that kind.

Q: I have a B1G1F offer on my account, can I get more than one free DVD?

A: Sometimes. Some sale offers allow the purchase of more than one free DVD, others limit the account to just one freebie per order.

Q: Can I use a B1G1F offer more than once?

A: Yes, the offers can be used on as many separate orders as you want until they expire.

Q: My account has "Buy one get 50% (or 60%) off". Is this a good deal?

A: No. Those are the standard offers most accounts get and they are completely worthless. Why? Because the sale DVDs don't count for fulfillment yet they cost more than the average DVD cost in a well-optimized account (currently about $4.80 per DVD using a B1G1F plus free shipping sale offer [7-2-07]).

Please understand that it is the business of Columbia House to entice you to spend more money on DVDs than you otherwise would. So, they throw sale offers at you that sound good but really aren't, because they up the average cost of the DVDs that you buy. And they throw "Director's Selections" at you in the hope that you forget to decline them (which is very easy to do on-line). For best results, learn the Clubs Forum "mantra": "Enroll, fulfill, cancel, repeat". Buying the minimum required DVDs after enrolling usually leads to the lowest average cost of DVDs.

Q: Are there any other things I should know about sale offers?

A: Yes, you should be aware that when using complicated sale offers like B1G1F, Columbia House sometimes screws them up and you will be left trying to sort it out after the fact. You might even have to send back the order so that you can start over with a clean slate. If you are using a sale offer code that was not on your account you are in a weak position when it comes to explaining to a CSR (Customer Service Representative) why they made a mistake with your order and that they should fix it. Please be aware of this.

Most of us have no trouble with our orders but you can be assured that those who do will be vociferous when posting their bad experiences in this forum. When correcting a mistake it is best to "let the dust settle" for a few days rather than rush and have an order screwed up even more.

If you have any additional questions about sale offer codes, please feel free to post them here.

Other helpful threads:
"How do I enter a code" answer!
Questions about Columbia House? Ask them here, Part II
The Columbia House DVD Club FAQ
TV Edition Club, Discussion thread
Official Columbia House Deal-of-the-Day Thread

Effective 03/01/10, Customer Service Number will be 1-717-918-3232. Don't know whether or not they are doing away with the toll free number completely.