Why are dvds so cheap at wal-mart?
 

(I'm not sure if this belongs in store or dvd forum because this is more about the price of dvds and not really about specific sales, but feel free to move it to the store forum if it belongs there)

Right off the bat, I hate wall-mart. The place just reeks crap all over the place, however i took a rare peek last night and i was amazed of how cheap the dvds are. And i'm not talking about those bargain dvds but semi new releases. $7.50 to $13.99. Even for the cheapies, Cabin Fever for $5.50, where it's $20 elsewhere. I even bought Everybody Loves Raymond first season for $19.97. Basically almost half off of what you would find at Best Buy or anywhere else.

Forget Best Buy or even Bj's...Should i be shopping here for dvds for now on? jeeez....

from my experience, WalMart's pricing is usually on par with places like Best Buy or Target. Sometimes cheaper but not usually by a lot. I think it has something to do with the fact that like Best Buy or Target, they sell pretty much EVERYTHING (as opposed to specialty stores like Suncoast) so they can afford to take a hit on DVDs or videogames.

"Three copies of Timecop for $18!"

In my experience, WalMart's prices on DVDs are 9 times out of 10 the lowest among BB, CC, and Target. Sometimes the difference is substantial, other times it may be by a $1 or less.

The problem is with how you can count on all WalMarts selling for the same prices. I've seen prices vary by as much as $5 between two WalMarts within 40 or so miles of each other.

Best Buy's pricing has been downright pathetic recently. It seems they almost never have the best price on their own. CC sometimes has good deals, but their inventory is often very low. Target is also hit or miss with DVDs because they simply don't have as big a selection as the others. Best Buy is good with inventory, so pricematching there is often a good thing to do.

But for a big release, I'll often go to WalMart first, because I know their price will typically be lowest. Right now I kind of like WalMart - thanks to them, I - and many others - have added FLETCH to our collections for less than $5!

Its hit or miss by location big time. I know that some things are a lot cheaper at my walmarts and some are quite a bit more.

Their prices are the lowest on DVDs for the same reason everything else in the store is usually the lowest price around. They sell lots of volume at a relatively lower margins. They don't pay union labor. They have their own shipping lines. They squeeze suppliers to lower their margins to give the end consumer a lower price. Basically they are a very cost efficient corporation.

Either a beautiful thing or extremely bad. Depends on who you ask and how they vote pretty much.

:D

I almost bought another one for a back-up tonight too.

Their regular prices are alright but my Wal-Mart never has good first week sales.

What the hell is Wall-Mart?

You know Welfare-Mart ;)

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3337/paris0tp.jpg

"They sell walls there, right?"

IMHO, there prices seem about average, but they do have some sale prices that invariably beat all the other stores.

NICE!!!

Basically they under-pay their workers, keep them from attaining full time status (thus keeping them from getting benefits), hire illegals to clean the store after-hours, and generally a lot of other dirty practices.

And yet the stores are jam-packed with people.

The other thing about WalMart and DVDs is, while they may often have the lowest prices on new releases, and things like their $4.88 deals, they often do not get new releases of minor or catalogue titles. Finding those almost requires going to Best Buy or Circuit City. Despite WalMart's size overall, their stores still don't carry quite the inventory assortment you find at those stores.

People don't care about that stuff, as long as they can save a dollar.

I think it's that flying smiley face who keeps knocking off the high prices.

I don't get it. People are quick to make sure they announce that they hate Walmart as if they need to apologize to everyone right off the bat- then they start singing the praises of their low pricing. If you think you should be buying there because it's cheap, how can you say you hate it? You're contributing to their profitability.
What I notice about Walmart is they sell releases that have been around for a year or more cheaper than most everyone else- when you can walk in and pick up T2 Extreme Edition off the shelf for $7.50, you know they're doing something right.

Any new release that I plan on purchasing (that I'm not buying online) gets bought from Wal-mart. Thats the only option I have around here, unless I want to drive 40 minutes to Best Buy or Target. Their new release prices for an average release are almost always in the $15 range. Thats as cheap as anywhere, unless you do the price match crap which I don't bother with for a few bucks. Plus my wal-mart even gets unusual stuff that i don't expect like Undead and High Tension (Unrated). Plus with the bargain bin and the sales on catalog titles, i think wal-mart is pretty good overall.... and as soon as they get those 3-packs of TimeCop in I will be there buying them.

nightmaster

Me hating wal-mart isnt to do with prices, quite the contrary. It's to do with the atmosphere, rude employers and customers, and everything just being a mess which leads to a very unpleasent shopping experience. It's the last place i want to spend a Saturday afternoon at.

If it wasn't for that, I would be there everyday. So i think that is what most people get at. I think you will find more examples in a similer thread with the Walmart vs Target thread.

DVDs are cheap at Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart correctly assumes that a majority of their customers aren't shopping in their stores specifically or excuslively for DVDs. They can afford lower prices on DVDs and many items because they are a volume seller. They know people walk into their store with a list of items to pick up, and the low prices help pick up impulse buying, as well, and that spreads over quite a bit to their DVD sales.

In short, Wal-Mart's DVDs are cheap so you'll buy more while you're there.

I thought Wal-Mart would not sell unrated versions. They equate unrated with nc-17.

I heard people complaining that local Wal-Marts would not even sell the unrated versions of American Pie.

Have things changed?

Where are the Fletch dvd's kept in wal-mart.In the isle, or the 4.88 bin or in front of the store?
I love that movie and just looked for it today, bur could not fing it.

I understand why people don't like shopping there to a degree. Some Walmart stores are DEFINITELY better and nicer than others as well- the older stores tend to be real armpits. Thing is, I think the same people who shop at Wallyworld leave there and head for Kmart and Target. The clientele shops at all the low price stores, they just seem to be in more abundance at Walmart. Like a previous poster, all I have in my two horse town is Walmart and Kmart, and I shop at them both; I would be happy to take some of my business to Target or Best Buy but not at the expense of a 30 mile drive each way. I don't condone the practices of ANY of these stores as far as what they pay their labor or how they import all of their goods, it's just a sad fact of life that they all do so to some extent.

Thats what I thought too, or I heard they only sell heavily edited DVDs? I have never been to a wal-mart though, even though I'm in a city where they have one every few miles it seems.