Julie Walker

BB used to be a place for great deals. Yet the past couple years,they have slowly started to not be as reliable in pricing as they once were.

Yet this past week,some of the price jumps were just absurd compared to how long they were selling such items for much lower.

The new AC/DC Live At Donington has an MSRP of $14.99. BB is selling it for $19.99 according to the sticker on the cover,which is $5 over the retail price!

Queer As Folk Seasons 1 & 2 used to be $89 at the store near my house in the Twin Cities. Now they were marked up to $110.

The Mondo Cane set used to retail for the still high $126.99 price,was now marked at $145,which is just $5 less than the full retail!

The Hitchcock Criterion set which can be found anywhere between $70-$90 online is $122 at BB,which is just a couple bucks short of the retail.


The Wes Craven box set of three films is $31.99,while the separate releases of the films are $12.99 each. So the box set is the better deal here. Yet it is strange that the majority of $14.99 retail dvds they used to carry at only $9.99 are now only a buck or two short of the retail price.

The Godfather set which has a new MSRP of $59.99 is still stickered newly at BB with prices ranging anywhere from $68.99-$90.99!


Then add in the fact that the majority of their Blue Underground titles are in the $17-$19(full retail) range,with only a few of the earlier newly marked down releases at $14.99.

+ There are plenty of other examples of the all over the map pricing at the place,which further proves the place is anything but a 'Best Buy'.


Also to note,the reason I was curious about the pricing issue is that the majority of these titles,the ones they have had for months have been jacked up in price once the holidays began. Meanwhile other releases have been pretty close to retail for the past couple years.

DVD Josh

If you are shopping at Best Buy to buy anything other than a new release and use your RZ card, then you are silly.

ckolchak

Best Buy and Borders both are no longer discounting as much as they used to.
i was shocked to find OUATITW at Border for full retail.
if i hadn't already had credit there i would have gone elsewhere.

nodeerforamonth

Best Buy was selling the new Foo Fighters DVD on day of release for $17.99.

An indie record store was selling it for $12.99!

scarredgod

yes, Best Buy absolutely raised their prices about a month ago, i watched them doing it. i posted it about it in a few places. many DVDs are above retail as you said. luckily Circuit City hasnt raised the prices and i shop there now.

the fact is that since Best Buy owns or closed down down all the competition, they really have no reason to keep the prices low anymore. apart from Walmart, which doesnt get the selection BB does, and mail order, which they probably arent too concerned with, Best Buy is winning the B&M DVD sales and they think they can milk a couple extra bucks per DVD and no one will notice or care.

DVD Josh

Scarred is right about the business model. When Guitar Center moves into an area, it has ridiculous pricing on musical gear for about 3 years to run out the competition. When it does, prices skyrocket. This is the reason why people drive the country going to GC grand openings though, you wouldn't believe the pricing.

Tarantino

I'm glad I work there - now my discount on DVD's looks a little more substantial.

acostigan

I saw this one at Circuit City for $12.99 the other day.
I'm proud to say I didn't step foot in BB this holiday season. I guess I'll be going across the street to Circuit City or Ultimate Electronics from now on.

C_Fletch

That would be the reason I have stopped shopping there in the past few months.

The Void

I haven't noticed but I don't buy much from them anyway. I buy almost exclusively online, sometimes from bestbuy.com but I think I've only bought 3 DVDs in Best Buy's actual store.

yeek

Yep, I noticed the higher prices too...I was surprised actually...stuff that were 12.99-14.99 were raised to 16.99 and above..I picked up a dvd knowing that it was usually 14.99 and was shocked to see it had gone up to 16.99...I didn't think Best Buy did that...they are always lowering, not raising...oh well....

Julie Walker

Oh ironicly with the AC/DC dvd. I was able to pick it up at Sun Coast which is right across the street from BB in the mall I work at...& for only $10 on sale! I never bother with SC either,but it was a good deal & I was'nt finding it any cheaper in stores.


Also I DID want to ask some people what the hell was up with the AC/DC price tag(among others),but alas no clerk was around to question/help & neither were the managers. So I just left the store not buying a thing,which makes them get the picture,since I used to be a regular,but now only browse & rarely buy there & they wonder why

PJsig08

I posted this in another thread: It's definitely true though. Besides my RZ card (and the $5 off) or a decent first week price, BB is slowly becoming worse and worse for DVD shopping.

UAIOE

Hopefully the prices will go back down after the begining of the year

Oh and CC got my money when Best Buy wanted $17 for "Christmas Vacation" while CC want $14.

marty888

Same here - and I've also given up trying to navigate their website for online shopping. The first half of the year I probaby made a BB purchase several times a month, but nothing now since late summer.

Iron Chef

The Best Buy here, in lovely Madison, WI, is charging full srp for some box sets. I went in to the west side BB two weeks ago to pick up the High School Reunion box set, and it was on sale for $39.99, marked down from $49.99. The crazy part is that each one of the movies in the box set can be purchased at BB for $14.99 each so at full srp, you are paying $5 more for the same 3 movies than if you bought them seperately!

I ended up buying it at amazon.com for $29.99, and had it giftwrapped and shipped for about $35

Michael Corvin

I was hoping to get C.S.I for a gift at around $59, only to find it in store marked at $73.99. No thanks. I thought it was just me.

darqleo

Word! I mostly get my DVDs from DDD.com and when B&M have release day specials. Anything else is a waste of time and money (for me, at least).

smirnoffski

Yes, it is only worthwhile to purchase new releases from BB during the first week of advertised prices.
But when not on sale, BB regular pricing on DVDs is just ridiculous.
Circuit City has much more consistent regular pricing and they are now even outdoing BB sale prices.

Let's not forget Fry's which probably has the best B&M DVD selection and the best prices I know of.

And let's not forget the club stores!

steebo777

I haven't shopped at a Worst Buy for awhile. I'll just stick with the trusty DDD

El-Kabong

What, people still buy DVDs from real brick and mortar stores? Wow - get with the program people. It's the 21st century! Shop online!

Iron_Giant

To BB credit, they did lower the price on about 20 older titles to $7.99 (I think the price is a temp sales price).

Julie Walker

Hey shopping in stores can offer something you can't get online

Of course online is pretty nice,but actually getting out & to the stores & finding what you want,holding it in your hands & able to own it right then & there is something online does not offer.

If we all shopped online only & did all our business online,then we would never get out at all & what fun would life be then?

Classic Films

Amazon has also raised prices lately on some future DVD releases.


New classic films from Warner Bros had their discount reduced from 30% to 15% ($ 13.99 to $16 .98) The films include The Great Ziegfield, Mrs. Miniver, Gaslight, Grand Hotel, Goodbye Mr. Chips,
and the 1935 Mutiny On the Bounty. The new 2 disc My Fair Lady also had its price raised from $18.89 to $22.94 . This discount was also reduced from 30% to 15%. .

This is also true of the upcoming Disney Treasure sets .

It seems Amazon is reducing discounts on many classic titles. I guess sales figures don't justify the larger discount, though I believe the Disney Treasures sold very well.

I was able to order all of the above before the price increase and with share the love but this doesn't look good for future releases.

Aphex Twin

You should have went to the Wherehouse. They had good discounts this holiday season. It was like 50-90% on everything. I'll probably go there a lot from now on, instead of Best Buy.