dvdjunkie32

So I went to Sam's club last weekend, and found it a bit disheartening to see that the dvd section contained the exact same boxsets that was on sale one month, even two months ago. The selection has really gone down. Five years ago, I remember going to Sam's on a weekly basis, and they constantly had great deals on dvd boxsets or $5 dvds. In fact, they had one whole rack dedicated to boxsets and tv seasons and the other side of the rack would be new release movies and kid stuff. Now, everything is crammed into one single rack.

Just reminds me how drastically this market has changed on the last few years. Now, if there is a bargain to be had, most likely it is on Amazon. Here are some of my old bargain hunting grounds that are long gone:

Gamestop - they used to sell used dvd boxsets at awesome prices. I would go in during their B2G1 free sale and load up on these boxsets. I had great fun on lazy Saturdays driving to different Gamestops and hitting these sales. I was sad when GS decided to stop letting people trade in dvds.


Circuit City - They usually ran at least one good deal a week in their flyer, and the competition forced Best Buy to offer great deals. The Sunday paper flyers were a highlight. Now I rarely see an exciting deal at Best Buy, and don't even bother looking at their flyer.


Hastings B&M - they used to offer dirt cheap prices on dvd boxsets so I would stock up during one of their sales. Then one year, they decided used means 50% off MSRP. The prices in store are still ridiculous. 80 bucks for a used Star Trek season, for example.


BN.COM - granted, they seem to be making a comeback, but their B1G1 free dvd sales really stink nowdays.


DeepDiscount.com - yea enuff said there..

VikingsSooners

You can still DVD bargain hunting at pawn shops for cheap

Ash Ketchum

Book Off in New York still has great DVD bargain shelves. I find lots of out-of-print anime and Japanese films. They have hundreds (thousands?) of Hollywood releases also. I just never look too often through those bins. My big complaint though is that they phased out their VHS bargain shelves. Those were great and the prices unbeatable. I found lots of out-of-print treasures there. They still have a Japanese-language-only shelf of VHS and I occasionally find treasures there, but not as often as I used to.

dvdjunkie32

Mostly a lot of crap at my local pawn shops. I saw a chewed up copy of Smallville season 1 and they wanted 13 bucks. Forget that.

joe_b

The pawn shops are my go-to spots for bargains - but it IS 99% crap. Still, that 1% usually makes it worth the trip. I just bought the Brotherhood of the Wolf director's cut for $2 the other day. Usually only a couple title out of 3,000+ DVDs catch my interest each trip, but being on the hunt is half the fun.

Box sets are usually way overpriced - especially since they always seem to reek of smoke and look like someone tied them to their bumper and dragged them down the street on their way to sell them. I was happy to discover one of the local shops started selling used blu-rays for $6, but the selection is currently limited to a few crap titles like "Semi-Pro".

asianxcore

I guess it depends on the area you live in and the variety of stores.

Here in the Bay Area (CA), we still have places like Amoeba Records, Rasputin Records, Streetlight Records, Logos and CEX. All which have great deals on New/Used stuff. Those are just the places I normally frequent/know about.

Amoeba and Streetlight have more or less fallen by the wayside since they price all their OOP DVD's by Ebay/Amazon Marketplace prices, but the other stores (Rasputin has multiple locations across the Bay) have crazy prices on their Used items.

So for the Bay Area, DVD Bargain Hunting is still alive and well

kd5

Seeing A Haunting: Seasons 1-4 at Sam's (on a day pass) for $24.88 was part of the reason I bought a membership there (we wanted to be able to pick up on some of the other deals too), but as soon as I bought the membership, they'd sold out of A Haunting and after a couple of months I ended up buying it at Deep Discount for $32(something). Not only that, they condensed the DVD section, made it half what it used to be, there's a kiddie section that makes up half the entire DVD section now, no bargains whatsoever, and the way the rack is, DVDs are all jumbled up in each of the 6 or 7 shelves (positioned so that if you're trying to see what's behind the front DVDs up 5 or 6 shelves, the bottom of your jacket catches on the DVDs in the first shelf and knocks them on the floor). I can find most DVDs cheaper elsewhere, but what really pisses me off is that one month after I'd bought A Haunting at Deep Discount, Sam's got it back in for $19.88.......Bastards!!!

I rarely find bargains outside the internet, most of the stores stopped having any kind of decent sales. Every once in awhile I'll find something at the price I want to pay but not very often. IMHO, they're only hurting themselves by condensing their selection and not offering deals anymore. -kd5-

SterlingBen

And that is just the crap you can see, least one forget that people tend to wash there hands less frequently at home.

Josh-da-man

I think I would rather pay full retail for things rather than hang around pawn shops waiting for something I want to come in.

smurr05

Reel.com...nuff said!

joe_b

Yes, you've brought up this issue in a few other threads.

For what it's worth, I clean any used DVD before I put them in my machine and almost always replace the cases. For me, it's less of a germ thing and more of an OCD thing - as it's nearly impossible to get a case without shelfwear when you're buying used.

Of course, if you're looking for something specific. Since I'm into more obscure niche label titles these days, the majority of my DVDs are purchased online. Still, it's hardly a chore to swing by the pawn shops every few weeks to see if they've gotten anything new in. I've noticed nearly every major studio DVD of a recent theatrical release starts showing up within 6 months. However, I've pretty much stopped buying new releases on standard def, so I've mainly been using them as a resource for buying cheap catalog titles. It's hard to beat $2 when you're on a budget.

JiM T

yeah, between the decade-ago heyday of online bargains (Yes, Reel.com!!! ) and the now-extinct abundance of places like GameStop, I used to spend an extraordinary amount of time and money. It was a BLAST. But, it was also more effort and expense than I can put forth these days.

Maybe one day I'll complete watching all the stuff I've collected...

Jack Straw

+1

pagefrance

Those days aren't gone just yet! I've found some great bargains at Wal-Mart, K-mart and Target. Wal-Mart is the best as far as bargains and variety of titles, but you really gotta serch through a LOT of crap until you find a gem. Of course, my idea of a gem is The Ice Pirates or Buck Rogers, the complete series.

Hendersonfan

I remember Best Buy used to have great sales. Used to have the WB 2 disc sets B1G1 @ ~$20. They also always had huge selection of movies for

Josh-da-man

I'd say that the lack of sales is probably due more to the studios than the stores. When you see the same titles on sale at different retailers, I would assume that that is the studio's doing and not the retailer.

Silverscreenvid

Pawn shops usually get their "inventory" from people who have had to liquidate their collections and probably a number of other things as well, so they tend (a) not to be well taken care of, (b) usually common best-seller titles or bargain basement junk that came from dollar bins originally. If I want to get a deal on Avatar used, there's places I trust more than pawn shops that can get me as good or better of a deal.

I realize that someone here found a bundle of Criterions cheap, but that's a Holy Grail, everyone searches for it but no one finds it. We have several used CD/DVD outlets here and I can find things there just as easily. It might cost a dollar or two more, but the time I spend going to four or five pawn shops and leaving empty handed is worth something to me.

GoldenWheels

There's still some decent mail order operations....cough cough.

Pizza

Aah, record stores. How I miss them. I am very jealous.

bmasters1981

$13 for a chewed up copy of #1 of "Smallville"? What's wrong with that?

Regulus

Every Friday and Saturday, I canvas the Town looking for DVD and VHS Programming being sold at GARAGE SALES! Movies, TV Shows and other Programming can be bought for PENNIES on the Dollar. This weekend I picked up 14 Movies, 3 Serials, 3 Documentaries and an entire TV Series for the wallet-busting price of TEN DOLLARS! (I checked, buying them brand-new would have set me back over $150.00!)

That'sAllFolks

Actually I think these days are better than the old days for bargains since there is so much liquidation of stuff. What you paid for bargains in the "good ole days" is a fraction of what you are paying today. Yes, Reel.com had some deals where you got DVDs for 1.00, but if you look at what you paid back then overall, it's not that much of a bargain to what you can get new product for today. $5 DVDs were pretty rare and even CH was avg of 8-9 a film (which was great in the day). Now we are seeing some $5 BRs -- not just on BF.

Last week I took a trip across town and got for $1 each at a thrift store:
30 Rock S3 (sealed with cut out)
Tinker Tinker Soldier Spy
Midsomer Murders Set 4 (3 movies)
bunch of single Midsomer Murders which were part of bigger sets
couple of other Acorn Media sets for $1

Other finds:
Marine BR - $1 like new
Cruel Intentions BR - $2 like new


It's true that most of pawn shop stuff is crap, but sometimes there are gems and often you can deal with them if you pay in cash. I think I enjoy the thrill of the hunt, but sometimes it can be a little tiresome. I rarely go out of my way and just stop in when I'm out. There is good stuff at garage sales and the occasional good deal makes it worth it at times, but that can be extremely time-consuming (plus you have to get there early for the good stuff)

Pizza

Pawn shops just look so yucky. I can't being myself to go to one, although I do love watching Pawn Stars. Then I saw that other pawn show set in Detroit. Scary.

asianxcore

These are large record stores too. Most if not all have dipped into all aspects of media. Selling Vinyl, CDs, DVDs, Video Games, etc etc..

Rasputin Records (Maybe a 6th or 7th of their total space haha)

Regulus

You can get is for less than TEN BUCKS if you can wait for "The National Day of Insanity" (The Day after Thanksgiving A.K.A. "Black Friday").