jeffbase34

When I look back a few years ago, I am sadden how the landscape for dvd buying has drastically changed at least in my area. One of my weekend pleasures is dvd bargain hunting in stores, but now options are few and far between. Here's a look back at the "good ole days".


Gamestop -

Remember when Gamestop sold used dvds? While their prices sucked on movie dvds, used prices were good for dvd boxsets. Then when they had a B2G1F sale, I really cleaned house along with my Edge card.


Sam's Club -

I used to go to Sam's Club 1-2 times a week because their dvd stock constantly changed. They offered some amazing deals on dvd boxsets. I remember when they had 2 packs of Married with Children seasons for 20 bucks.

Now, I go to Sam's Club once a month, and the stock is still the same. Twilght Zone Definitive for 50 bucks a season, lots of crappy dvd tins, low grade stuff. I haven't seen a real bargain there in almost the whole year that I've had a membership.


Hastings

Hastings used to have excellent prices on their used dvd boxsets. I remember when I could get Star Trek seasons for 40 bucks. Then they would regularly have a 30% off sale on top of that. Now they sell a used Star Trek season for 80 bucks! Outragerous prices. Expect to paid 80 bucks on any HBO series. No more amazing Hastings deals.


Circuit City


Love em, hate em, the death of CC was a huge loss for dvd buyers. They offered great competition to Best Buy, and would have some really good sales on dvd boxsets. I miss the Sunday fliers, and one less stop for Black Friday goodness.

Barnes and Nobles

While I primarily bought from them online, I have not renewed my membership for almost a year due to their lack of great sales. They used to have amazing sales on tv series and I enjoyed browsing through the website. The best experience was when they offered the B1G1 free sale and it was briefly available for all items.


So now I am left with Target, Best Buy and Walmart. And I dropped 90 clams on Star Trek TMPC blu-ray because there are no competitors offline anymore. Really sucks.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

You're not really bargain hunting unless you're checking pawn shops. They're even cheaper than Gamestop used to be since most shops sell every dvd for the same price, no matter what it is. In my area it's $4 each while the expensive place across the street from it is $5 per movie, including box sets.

leacha

My wife and I noticed a change once CC closed. The B&M stores always had inconstant prices but every Sunday you could be sure there was a sale going on at CC and BB. Sam's was just as you described. Wallyworld was well Wallyworld. If they had competition nearby they usually had the best price on new releases. But since CC closed BB has stopped with the sales and everybody else is $$$. Welcome in the new age of internet sales for the smart common man.

Brian T

Why not shop online? The prices are almost always better (sooner or later) and in many cases, there's no sales tax, free shipping, secure packaging (for the most part), etc. I do agree that you're not really hunting unless you hit pawn shops, used CD/bookstores, and bargain bins not associated with Wal-mart (such as those at Big Lots), but the vast majority of discs I've purchased in the last five years (particularly after establishing a U.S. post box) has far outstripped the stuff I've bought in stores, and it has certainly saved me a substantial amount of money and freed up time for more productive things. In fact, if I do wander the aisles of a store anymore, it's usually just to browse things to buy at Amazon later on.

jeffbase34

For me, it's the immediate gratification factor. I don't like waiting for my orders, or even worse, they get delayed. I work 20 miles from my home so I usually either sweat it out if the post office dumps my package outside for easy theft or gives me a pink slip and I have to wait till Saturday to pick it up. Online shopping is just a big hassle for me.

It does get ridiculous sometimes. When I needed an HDMI cable, the cheapest one in store was 30 bucks at Walmart. Best Buy sells em for 100-200 bucks. lol Got it online for 6 bucks.

JOE29

I use Amazon marketplace a lot now. They are used sometimes but I can get a cd / DVD for a quarter of the price. I've bought things there for $4-$5 that regularly would be $20-25. So i've saved a lot of money there.
I do miss shopping a lot in the stores though. I still do it but if I do, I already know what I want to get before I go. I used to spend about an hour just looking at the DVD's in the racks at the store and then just buy something. Part of the Problem now is that I have so many DVD's now that there isn't much to look at in the store because I already have it at home. There's something to be said for when I was first starting out buying DVD's and excited about it when I had nothing and wanted everything, now years later I have most of what I want so it takes some of the luster off of looking at DVD's in the store.

Brian T

Satisfying the immediate gratification factor only results in mountains of unwatched DVDs for which you could have paid a lot less if you'd simply waited. The less you pay, the better the return-on-investment if you should decide to unload "lesser" titles on Amazon, at Pawn shops, used CD stores, etc.

This does bring back memories though
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/55...tion-asap.html

mike07

I still shop at B&M stores for the most part. If you look hard enough, you'll be able to find deals out there. The bargains forum here at DVDTALK is a great resource. I only shop online during the big DD/DP sale.

Cardsfan111

True, there are some places that I never frequent anymore--some of the ones you cited as examples. Then again, I never used to hunt for DVDs at Big Lots and now there are all kinds of deals to be had there. I also like to check out the used book/dvd stores, including the half price stores when they send out their coupons via e-mail.

Dmacsg1

I still pay attention to the $5 bin at Wallyworld but even that has lost it's luster as I know eventually all those titles will end up down the road at my local Big Lots. I still check my local Blockbuster as they will have a good deal from time to time. Don't forget to check if you have a Ross Dress For Less Store near you as they also sell DVD's at Big Lot prices

Good Hunting!!

flansered

If that's the case, then why not just get things shipped to your workplace? I live about the same distance from my job and don't want things sitting on my doorstep (especially since I live across the street from a school and I do not trust no good punk kids).

DiedLaughing

My town has at least 7 used DVD stores and the normal BB, Target, Walmart, etc. so I have fun going through the bins at least 2 or 3 times a month. I've noticed Best Buy usually isn't so I bypass them for new releases and go to Coconuts or Target for the best deals. Just like CD shopping, there is nothing like going thru stuff until something catches yer eye. Online shopping is okay if its a really good sale or something autographed, but I'll stick with B&M for 95% of my collection.

asianxcore

I am lucky to be in an area where there are three big used DVD store chains (Rasputin Records, Amoeba Records and Streetlight Records). On top of those there are various shops that sell used DVD's in the area, not as much as those three but you once and while find a hidden gem.

Obviously there is less to choose from in terms of big name retailers nowadays, but as long as those three stores I mentioned are open and there are some big retailers still around (Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Borders), I should be content with B&M shopping.

EdTheRipper

I very rarely buy anything in-store. In fact, I can barely recall the last time I did. I really don't miss it at all.

Rammsteinfan

Dont forget Fry's... they have been filling the bargain deals hole lately. Great prices each week on BD and DVD. Need to go to Rasputin and see if any other BD's have been mismarked lately, havent been in a month.

LeeVing

Borders and Barnes and Nobles only would sell new releases for 20% off...and that's was only 20% of the MSRP, still a lot higher than BB or Wal-Mart.

Borders shot itself in the foot by only selling MSRP, they would have good titles, many that BB wouldn't get in. But I'm not paying $30 bucks for a title I can get for $15 online. And that's why they are getting rid of a lot of their dvd's in stores. Which really does suck, because I'd rather shop locally than buy online.

visitor Q

I'd rather buy locally if it stays local (money and jobs). Newbury Comics up here in the northeast is a great little chain with its home office located within the state. The chain offers more DVDs/CDs and other goods that you can't find anywhere else. I'd rather pay a slightly higher premium when required or used stuff from them than support national chains. Except for used stuff it's typically hit or miss however. For instance the introductory price for the new SE release of Valkyrie is around $22. In a week or two the price will go up to $28. Forget that. Online I go without hesitation. So it depends on what I'm looking for. Otherwise, it's a great place to browse ...

QFT

asianxcore

How could I forget about the almighty Fry's? I agree their great/random prices on BD titles is always nice.

As for Rasputin, Streetlight and Amoeba, their selection and prices on their used Foreign, Horror, and Cult films always have me coming back. I don't get to the SF Amoeba too often, but the Berkeley Amoeba has a great selection of used Cult/Horror/Foreign films. It's always nice to browse their Clearance DVD sections too as they are usually packed with Horror/Cult films.

Rasputin is nice also because they rarely price OOP used DVD's via Ebay pricing.

marty888

I do buy used DVDs, but it's been about four years since I purchased a new DVD at a store.

bsmith

I'd be more then happy to buy locally for the initial gratification factor, and believe me I have tried. But for the buck online beats it almost every time. The bargain bins can be great depending on what you are looking for or if you are just seeing what you can get for a low cost. However, I am almost always looking for something in particular and I need the online aspects of having the availability of more titles.

If you are in the early phases of building a collection the bargain bins are especially good because they have name titles that have been circulating for the last ten years, but for someone like me that has been collecting since the late 90's, I either have them already or never wanted them. Otherwise, it is mostly "B" or worse titles. If you like those types of movies then that can be good but it doesn't work for me.

I've tried Walmart and Big Lots but have not had much success. Borders and Barnes and Noble I've used online on occasion when they have strong discounts but not much. In store rarely if ever. Best Buy I used to use for initially releases but not anymore, now I just typically browse if I have time. Most used places I've been to charge half retail prices when I can usually get it for the same or close enough online new.

Nope, I just don't think the B&M's can compete if one is looking to make the most of their money.

filmsoncon

I think the only DVD I bought at a B&M in the last nine months was when I picked up "Zack & Miri" at Best Buy b/c I had a big Reward Zone coupon. Everything else has been online, mostly in big sales.

I've got such a backlog of titles to watch that a wait of a few days is never a big deal to me.

celmendo

I rarely bother to shop at the store anymore. I used to be at BB all the time but now they have a crap selection and are almost guaranteed to be out of anything I want. I'll pick up and exclusive now and then, mostly at Target, but it's online for me. I'm tired of wanting the instant gratification and ending up being disappointed and frustrated.

boc4ever

I buy a majority of dvds online but the one pro to buying at a B & M is not getting a "floater." Returns are slightly easier at a B & M and you don't have to worry about something going oos while waiting for the exchange. Oldies.com and DDD are the worst when it comes to this. They require a return before a replacement. Amazon usually ships a replacement immediately and gives you a grace period to return which is nice for swapping out discs on multi sets.

milo bloom

I have to second the pawn shops idea. Here in the Chicago suburbs is a loosely affiliated "chain" of about 7-8 stores called Disc Replay. They have used CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, video games for all systems, some even have vinyl. There's also Half-Price books, which has cheap books of course, but the one near me has tons of DVDs, mostly used but some new ones (like overstock titles from other stores). I've even found a few laserdiscs there in the past.

Heck, you might even try Craigslist. And we're getting into garage/rummage sale season, and I've found a few deals there in the past (Casablanca 2 disc set for $3).


Forgot to add: somebody mentioned Borders and how they're overpriced. My wife and I signed up for their rewards program, and we seem to get a "anything in the store" coupon every other week. We've used it to take a good percentage off boxsets like MST3K and the Forbidden Planet tin.

Drake

One annoying thing about Newbury Comics is that they very rarely send their email members coupons....C'Mon throw us a bone every once in a while!

Back in the day they would always have a coupon in the weekly Phoenix and the Boston Globe Calendar. Every time I go in the clerk asks me if I am a member , who wants to be a member when there are no special benefits!