How often do you "Blind Buy"?
 

Do you find that you blind buy a lot of dvds, or do you only purchase movies you've seen before and really like?

For me, it started with just the movies I've seen before and really like...but lately, I've been finding that over 50% of my dvd spending is on "blind buys". Am I alone here?

Too often in my case.

If I think I'll like it and buy it, I don't. Blind buys are dangerous, unless it's a great buy or something you really want and will watch right away. I prefer to rent and wait a few months for the price to drop for new copies on half.com.

I made a few with a Blockbuster gift card, but only because it was from their $8 trade in promo, making the actual price good enough to justify it.

I do that a lot, but I read a lot on the movies prior to buying, so if I heard good things, I'll probably just buy it.

I don't do compulsive buying...i mean blind buying...as much anymore as i did in the past, but I think 99 percent of the people in here do blind buys. If people didn't do blind buys, collections would be in the 100s instead of over a 1000 dvds. I can't imagine most people even seeing those movies released on Criterion growing up whether it be on tv or VHS or in theaters. It's just getting suckered into buying Criterion because they are "respectable" and so that people have respectable DVD collections...

I only do blind buying of import foreign DVDs that don't ever come to the USA theaters/video stores. And even if I know it will come to the USA, I would rather pay 25 bucks to see a foreign movie now then wait 3 to 4 years for it to come to the USA..

Most of my buys are blind buys.

Since the advent of the Blockbuster movie pass, my new routine is to first rent and watch from Blockbuster. Before the movie pass, I did not like the idea of paying nearly $5 to rent and then purchasing, so I would most often forgo screening prior to buying. Now I can decide to purchase after viewing. This has dramatically cut down on the number of popular titles that I blind bought in the past,

I still make a number of blind buys for items that cannot be first viewed at Blockbuster (Criterion, foreign, many television shows and older films that my BB does not carry).

DVDs from outside R1 I blind buy; usually after reading comments about it online. R1's I usually rent unless I've seen it at the theatre and liked it.

75% of my purchases are blind buys.

Since I don't go to the theater anymore because the theaters can't keep their patrons in control (talking, screaming babies, cel phones, etc...), 98% of my DVDs are blind buys.

At least 75% here, too...probably more. All researched, though. I very, very rarely judge a movie by it's cover. Even if it's a good price on one that I think I may like, I'll go home and read up on it. If it sounds up to par, I'll go back the next day to make the blind-buy.

-JP

With the price of going to the theater these days, buying a DVD blind is no more of a risk than actually going to the movies. At least this way you have something of substance left over so that you could get a return on your investment if you didn't happen to enjoy it.

Probably about the same for me. I don't rent. I do my research on things that look interesting (often leading to other titles) before pulling the trigger. If I don't like it, I give it away, sell it or trade it.

Most of my purchases are 'blind buys'.

I don't go to theaters.

It doesn't happen very often. Usually only if I read a good review of a movie I haven't seen or something comes out on DVD that I have never seen, but have always wanted to. Case in point - many movies released by Blue Underground and to a lesser extent, Anchor Bay - are blind buys for me.

Not many since joining Netflix, but I'll still do it once in a while.

I haven't tallied 'em up to get a percentage or anything, but the vast majority of what I get is a blind buy for me.

Owning my own store and being the only employee means long work weeks with little time to go to the movies.

I just blind bought a lot of Anchor Bay and Asian horror from the DDD and Amazon sales. Thanks to the big sale on Warner Brothers TV show sets at various locations, I blind bought West Wing 1 & 2, Smallville 1-4, Nip/Tuck 1, Without a Trace 1, and a few others.

I'm thinking the same here. I don't buy new anymore so that helps. Blind purchases of $5-$7 PVDs don't hurt so bad if the flick is awful.
I almost picked up Kingdom of Heaven today but held out. I figure I can save $10 if I wait and get it off half.com or at BBV.

Only thing I buy new anymore is TV sets.

Probably about 10% of my buys... Maybe a little more. They are always researched first, and based on recommendations by people here and IRL.

More than 75%. For me, DVD is a medium for learning about film rather than for amassing a collection of things I like. As I watch more and read more about film, my tastes change, and I sell off parts of my collection. If I blind buy a film and don't like it, I don't immediately get rid of it, because I know that I might come around to it later. These days I mostly buy classic and challenging films, not because I've been suckered into building a respectable collection as an above poster said, but because these films have a greater likelihood of still being relevant years from now and of withstanding inevitable changes in my tastes.

agreed. well said.

A lot of what I buy is a blind buy... Like others have posted, don't go to the theater, don't rent. If I don't like it enough to keep it, I just trade it in for store credit, sell it, etc.

That said, I only buy a few titles a month at this point... My movie watching time has been pretty limited.

Very little of what I buy is a blind buy. On the other hand, a lot of what I trade for is.

I usually wait for the DVD on theatrical releases, so almost all of those are blind buys. I blind buy a lot of older titles too. In both cases, if I do not like the film, I sell or trade in the DVD.