I've resisted this for years simply on the principle that I shouldn't have to pay a store to give me the occasional deal, and the fact that I didn't buy that much stuff from there.

But, in recent times, I'm finding that I'm buying stuff from there a smidge more often than I used to.
So, it's $25 a year, and you get discounts on stuff, so to make it worth do I just need to buy enough stuff that I save at least $26 a year? How hard is that for anybody else that does have a membership? One thing to keep in mind is that I rarely find anything to buy during the Criterion sales anymore.

Not as familiar with the details as I used to be, but I believe the criterion sales are ineligible for the membership discount these days.

Yeah, the discount is only in-store and excludes Criterion (and probably other sales). I finally set my membership not to renew, and I wish I'd done it before it auto-renewed 4 months ago. Things like free shipping used to be nice, but B&N's online prices are either the same or higher than everyone else, coupons are few and far between, and I'm rarely browsing in a physical store, so it's not worth it for me.

I haven't been a member for a few years, but the membership did make sense for me when they were actually sending out decent coupons regularly, coupled with the 10% discount that included Criterions, it was a no brainer. I easily spent $250 there in a year. Now, I can't tell you the last time I bought something at Barnes and Noble.

Yeah, I'm just not there enough for it to make financial sense, I guess.
What about the other sales, like for Arrow blurays? Do those get a discount?

I think it made sense in the old days before B&N switched owners. I still occasionally purchase at B&N but not enough to justify a membership.