This is mostly a rant so skip this if you can't stomach such things.

Giftcertificates.com Supercertificates seem to be a popular incentive these days (test drive GCs, the AT&T deal, others I'm sure)... does anyone know the best way to get DVDs with these things? You used to be able to get rocketcash, but it isn't available any more.

I decided to cave and give bigstar a whirl, but man are they worthless. Pre-orders that only go out about a week, not to mention only being 20% off generally. But that's irrelevant to this discussion since you can't use GCs on pre-orders. On top of all that I got charged sales tax... So I ended up getting some DVDs that aren't real high on my "to get" list.

I was all set to get Spinal Tap, American Beauty, and Braveheart from Amazon with Rocketcash too. (Yeah I figured out how to order R-rated movies with Rocketcash from Amazon.)

So, anyone find any other way to weasel some DVDs from supercertificates without resorting to Bigstar?

Two questions, though unrelated to bigstar...

1) how would you order R rated movies from Amazon

2) are they any good ways to get rocketcash money out there? I have a $10 account from a cancelled reel.com order and I have no clue what to do with it

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I can't believe I ate the whole thing

Go to Amazon through rocketcash. Go to an R-rated movie like This Is Spinal Tap. The "click to preorder" button will be disabled. Click on the "technical information" link on the left side of the screen... voila, the preorder/order button is now active. An oversight on the part of rocketcash I'm sure.

As far as how to get rocketcash, beats me. Supercertificates were the only way I used to get them.

thanks for the tip

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I can't believe I ate the whole thing

On the original question, try this:

Buy Sam Goody GCs. GC.com will ship paper GCs to you. Sam Goody (or Suncoast or whomever) won't let you convert paper GCs to an electronic giftcard due to "company policy" - at least they wouldn't for me. So, spend all of your paper GCs on DVDs then return them and ask for the return credit to be put on a giftcard. Then use the giftcard at samgoody.com, where $$$ goes a lot further. Wait for 20% off deals from samgoody.com and your $$$ goes really far. It takes some time and effort, but it's definitely better than bigstar. From my latest test drive deal, I got the Toy Story Ultimate box and a $17.49 catalog title (Long Kiss Goodnight) for just over $50, so my out-of-pocket expense was almost nothing. Hope this helps.

--Jim

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My DVD list

I mostly get CDNow GCs from Giftcertificates.com, especially now with a few CDNow coupons ($10 off $20, 15% off, $5 off $20) floating. As long as I make sure the item is in stock, I always get my CDNow DVDs promptly. If you want to shop a B&M, you might want to get a Target GC. Most of their prices are MSRP, but Target still has a better chance of having a decent B&M deal.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stats:
Sam Goody (or Suncoast or whomever) won't let you convert paper GCs to an electronic giftcard due to "company policy" - at least they wouldn't for me.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Perhaps this varies from store to store, but I have never had any problems converting paper GC to a gift card. I simply told the store manager that I was under the impression that the GC is good for online purchases, and just asked them to put it on a gift card for me.

But I would also agree with Stats that Sam Goody/Suncoast might be your best bet for DVD purchases with those Supercertificates. In fact, I am going to order one with my $25 Supercertificate right now. http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/tongue.gif

PAL



[This message has been edited by ~~ PAL ~~ (edited August 03, 2000).]

Good suggestions everyone. I'm still a bit leary of CDNOW what with all their financial problems, and my past experience with them hasn't been good. Besides, I'm mostly interested in pre-orders and while CDNOW is iffy with in-stock titles, they're downright atrocious with backorders/preorders.

The samgoody thing might be worth a try, but giftcertificates.com was out of samgoody/suncoast/musicland coupons when I was there. Their prices are much better than bigstar too (whose aren't?).

Well, we'll see how it turns out next time I get a supercertificate. Thanks all for the responses!

Bigstar.com is worthless!!!!

There prices are up there with cdnow or sometimes even amazon.com. Shipping is a tad bit more expensive but ive really yet to hear as much horror stories with them like cdnow or buy.com and the likes... just no good coupons and not so great prices. i've ordered a few times without a hitch. Even picked up the oop re-animator a month ago. Their not the first place id goto but it sure isnt the last and with a gc and one of their coupons, u'll end up with a decent deal. don't listen to people's responses unless they have a valid explanation as to why they think a vendor "sucks"...

I wouldn't go so far as to say bigstar sucks... but their high prices and few pre-orders, coupled with the fact that they charge sales tax and you can't use GCs on pre-orders... well, they're close to sucking. http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif

I think I'm just spoiled... I'm used to a $50 GC getting 3 DVDs for a couple of bucks. At bigstar I ended up with 3 not-so-special DVDs for nearly $30.

Anybody pre-order anything from borders.com? I can use supercertificates for borders GCs... their prices suck too, but if I can at least pre-order stuff it might be better than bigstar. Unless of course they're notoriously bad. http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif