waskydiver

Overstock is having problems. Don't get lured in by their MSRP's.

First, I find it ironic that "Overstock" is now selling DVD's that aren't even released yet (e.g. Ice Age).

Also, beware the listed MSRP's are often way wrong. Most recently saw Directors Series, The - Michael Mann and Directors Series, The - James Cameron (DVD). Both listed with a MSRP of $59.98. Both selling for $6.89.

Was thinking "wow... what's that a box set? What a great deal!!!".

Checked the MSRP at Amazon... MSRP is $9.98.

It's just about impossible to find great deals there anymore with all the junk/wrong MSRP/mediocre deals that they have listed there.

I know I'm not going to wade through 8,000+ DVD's looking to save a couple bucks.

LBPound

It's really lame when they list the wrong SRP, because even when you sort by Percentage of Discount, you get a whole bunch of cheapies that are like $3 below SRP that are stating a whopping discount. They did that for the $9.99 SRP DVD of "The Program" as well.

bboisvert

I lost interest in Overstock once they started listing a pile of stuff at mediocre (10-20%) discounts.

If I'm going to spend my time paging through thousands of DVDs, I want them to be at clearance prices... if they are going to list things at higher prices than Amazon, well it really isn't an "overstock" situation any more is it?

That's the same reason I never use Half.com any more. They were great when the place was filled with bargains. When you increase your stock tenfold, but start listing things practically at MSRP, I have better ways to waste my time.

dvd2001

I've mentioned this situation about the often erroneous "% discount" at Overstock in several recent threads, trying to warn fellow DVDtalkers about that problem. When looking there, it's always a good idea to have another browser window open to Amazon, so you can get an accurate current retail price to reference.

In that recent Overstock customer feedback survey, I mentioned this situation to them, since it's very misleading. As mentioned above, this makes sorting by "discount" nearly useless.

I encouraged them to live up to their logo "name brands at clearance prices", which they seem to have lost sight of, at least in the DVD department. As also mentioned, it's ridiculous to have "overstock" on pre-orders for DVDs.

I also agree that the hassle of wading through 8,000+ titles simply isn't worth it to find the rare case where they might actually have an outstanding deal on something.

I happy about some great deals in the past, but I think in this case, we can look to Yogi Berra to sum it up:

"Nobody goes there anymore because it's too crowded."
(at least in the DVD department)

BigPete

There is a very handy link over at DVDPriceSearch on the coupons page ... it will pull up all DVDs priced lower at overstock.com than anyplace else, and it's usually up to date +- 12 hours. Worst case, you'll find a great price that's out of stock when you get there.

waskydiver

Wow... that is really handy... thanks BigPete

boc4ever

Checking out the DVDs is a colossal waste of time anymore. As stated before, having 8,000 titles on hand is great on paper, but the deals are impossible to find. Even if you list them by discount, or marked down, you still have to wade through all the non-bargains to find the gem. Even then, the prices aren't blowing me away. The last order I placed from them I grabbed the 2 disc SE of the Doors for $7.99. Now it is $6.99. That is about the extent of the "deals" I have found. And I also took that survey and suggested only listing the discs that were truly bargains. It is a shame too, because I used to check their site several times a day to see if they received new stock. Now I check it around every other day, get bored, and give up.

jiggyblau

Lots of etailers (and B&Ms) tend to be lazy with MSRP. Amazon and buy.com are awful with their electronics stores. I mean come on... I just bought a CF card from buy.com. It was $44 but the list price given was well over $300 for a 128MB card. Also, when there's a price drop by the manufacturer, you can always bet that Amazon, buy.com and the rest will just use that discount as a percent off discount for themselves.

Even new stuff, like the Canon S230 at Amazon. It's list price there is $499, but it was released at $399 just last month. It's just a tactic to make it look better. It's sad that so many stores get away with it. To me, it's bordering on fraud. I don't care if they charge more than MSRP, but don't fabricate a price that's given by the manufacturer. Not all consumers are as savvy as we are.