I rarely buy dvd from an actual store. I would say 99% of my dvd-purchasing is from internet sites. I feel dirty when I do overpay for things at stores, and I jsut can't be bothered to rush around from store to store trying to find all the new releases every week. This is probably not a problem for people who just buy whatever new blockbuster that came out on dvd that week........but I have very eclectic tastes and trying to find everything at B&M stores would be a total nightmare, if not impossible. It's just easier to order everything online and sit back and wait for the boxes to come in (not to mention not having to pay sales tax or for the gas to drive to the stores).

I usually buy from DDD cause 90% of the time it’s cheaper than anywhere else. Even when Best Buy has a sale on something it’s still more expensive than DDD.

I buy most everything online. I get most all of my new releases from Columbia House except for the studios they don't carry. Like I'll be buying Sin City at Wal-Mart.

I buy online for the most part, (at least 95% of purchases), usually DDD or columbia house and various overseas stores for other region releases. I will occasionally buy boxed sets at Costco if there is a deal. This weekend, I did buy two Superbits from Best Buy, though. Couldn't pass up the $9.99 sale price.

I prefer buying in person at a store for an important reason:

I can guarantee I won't get a floater/rattler if I buy instore.

I'd rather pay a couple of extra dollars and buy in person than have to pay return shipping fees for discs that arrive loose in the case and are all scratched up.
And if I get a defective disc all I have to do is return it to my local store instead of paying out of my own pocket to mail it back and waiting forever for a new one to arrive.

i'm a bargain hunter, so online only for the new releases or expensive titles. But 90% of the time these days i hit gamestops or a few used shops around town. Can't beat the prices and i get a chance to actually look at the box and the dvd. And if your lucky you can haggle a little. Other than that i'm currently saving for the next 20% off sale at DDD, i'm guessing around november if i remember right.

I get most of my stuff online.

The rare items I get at a B&M are normally from COSTCO.

I don't think your tastes have to be all that eclectic to be out of luck at a B&M store --especially in a small or mid-sized town. Whenever I'm willing to pay extra to get something immediately, I almost always end up aggravated and frustrated by going from store to store only to find they don't have what I'm looking for and I have to order it online anyway. Recently, I've wasted my time shopping for titles like:

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original version, not the remake)
Point Blank
Prozac Nation
A Face In the Crowd
House of Bamboo
The Late Show
Kwik Stop
Red Lights

And when "Primer" was released I looked for it all over the place and found just one copy in one store, out of all the places I looked.

If it's a new release that's going to hit the rental market, I usually wait until I can get a used copy, for half-price, or less.

I prefer to buy in the store on the day of release, since the first week discount price is nearly always the same as or cheaper than online prices.

If I buy online, it's only from DDD. I've only had problems with them twice...once when I bought the Die Hard boxset years ago and the Die Hard 2 bonus disc was literally melted inside the plastic case, and another time when they shipped an order of 10 movies and shorted me one that the slip said was supposed to be in the package. Both problems were resolved with time.

I buy in-store during release week for the sale price. When ordering online, I risk broken cases, bent corners, etc. I'm anal about that.

The only time I order online is the 3-4 times a year when my Discover card earns enough points for a Borders gift card which can be used on Amazon.

What online stores do you shop at that you have to pay to return damaged dvds? I've never had to do this. All you need to do is call and they will mail or email you a free return label.

No. Takes a great deal to get me to buy anything online. I hate waiting for shipping, dealing with getting stuff sent to work or being home when the UPS or Mailman comes, having stuff get beat up in shipping etc.

And for things like DVDs, they're usually cheaper in B&M's or with in a dollar or two of the online prices in most cases.

And since I live in a metropolitan area I don't have to waste gas as their are plenty of stores to stop at on my way to and from work and school.

don't understand the anti-online arguments about wanting to get DVDs on the release day. i usually pre-order thru DDD and they always arrive on release day, if not earlier!

Is that with the free shipping they offer?Or do you have to pay a shipping fee to get them on/before realease day?

i've only done the free shipping. DDD sent out questionaires a few years ago to ask how long it took packages to arrive, and other related questions. and it seems they've used this info to determine when to ship their packages to arrive on release day. i believe amazon ships early too. at least, they used to. haven't used them in a while.

Really, what stores do you have in your area that are cheaper? Today I picked up Sin City and The Simpsons Season 6 at Target. The sales price was only about $4 more than what I would have paid online for both, but the usual price would be at least $15 (or 32%), more (figures include tax and shipping).

Some other examples from Target (Target and Walmart have similar prices, around here, anyway) versus DDD:

Astair & Rogers Collection - $49.99 + tax= 54.29 (T) versus $41.97 (DDD)

Off the Map - $19.99 + tax=21.69 (T) versus 18.71 (DDD): only $3 savings in this case, but effectively that's a free DVD for every six purchased online instead of in the store.

Not to mention the fact that Target didn't have Swing Time available separately from the A&R Collection, and they didn't have My Left Foot. At Best Buy I'd be spending about $32.50 for these two DVDs, versus about $27 at DDD --that's 20% more. In my experience, in store purchases are almost always so much more costly that online I can get an extra DVD for every 3-5 purchased at store prices.

Thanks,that's good to know.I may start using them for some stuff in the future like the Farscape releases since BB takes forever to get them in-store and are more expensive to boot.

Well, I said cheaper or a few dollars more. But their are a lot of stores in the area so prices are always competitive. One or more of Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, or Wal-mart always has a deal comparable (i.e. =/- $2) of the cheapest online prices for mainstream releases (which is pretty much all I buy).

So I just swing by one on my way to work (after checking ads go to the cheapest one). I like the B&M experience, no crowds at the times I stop in (generally 10-11 am) and I can browse the cheap racks, cds, video games etc.

I'd probably order online more if I was buying dvds every week like many here, but given that it's rare that I go once a month (usually just fall when the big summer movies start coming out) I like heading to the store and browsing around a bit and getting the DVD hassle free.

I totally prefer online shopping to B&M shopping. No hassles, quick easy and I get my discs either on release day or a day or two before it in most cases(next-day shipping). If I never shopped for DVDs in another B&M I don't think I'd miss a thing.

I usually pre-order everything online, but if a B&M store advertises a much better deal, I'll cancel the online order and buy at the B&M.

I usually price-match everything at Best Buy, since I have the Reward Zone card.

I do enjoy going to Best Buy every few weeks, just to browse and see what new DVD's are out, but they usually have the music and TV sets turned on so loud I don't stay long.

I've read that in Vegas, they want the casinos to be loud because the sound-assault makes people anxious or hyper, making them more likely to make bad decisions in gambling.

I wonder if the electronics stores turn up all the music, video games, & tv sets to create the same effect (trying to get people to 'gamble' on expensive impulse buys.

Always wherever it's cheaper, but most of the time that's online. Lately, though, new releases are cheaper at the stores. Simpsons S6 was cheaper at Best Buy than it was online at Deep Discount or Amazon this week.

Probably 95% of my purchases are made online. Hell, probably 95% of my collection has been purchased online....maybe slightly less.