No friend of Buy.con but I have noticed their prices are going up. It might just be they are changing them after a title comes out which they didnt do before but....

Cat Ballou was always 16.99, now 19.99

Shane was 16.99, now 19.99. I had this title canceled last week when it didnt ship and it is still On-order. Might pick it up at a B&M Saturday.

Arsenic and Old Lace was 14.99 (I think) for pre-order, today it is 16.99 and the release is Tuesday. I did have this on the order with Shane and it is still listed as On-Order, but somehow I dont think I will ever get it.

Yep, 2 other titles I had ordered for an 8/29 release have gone up:

Sound of Music was 16.99, now 19.99.
North by Northwest was 14.99, now 16.99.

Oh well, I was through with Buy.

I think they raise prices from pre-order to regular prices about a week prior to release. I've been tracking about 15 items for pre-order (for the $30 off $150 coupon), and their prices are still quite low (ca. 14.99 - 16.99). However, they appear to prematurely up the price within a week prior to release. Unfortunately, I don't remeber the titles that got the pre-release price-hike, but the titles more than two weeks out have remained low.

------------------
Do you see what a can of worms this portal is? I don't think I can go on living my life as I have lived it.

They always raise preorder prices toward the release date or thereafter.....so far their prices are staying the same on preorders which is at least 40% off!!!!

No, not really Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was 16.99 pre-order and was still 16.99 yesterday long after the
release date. Today it is 19.99.

They're probably getting ready for a free shipping offer!
http://sam.wood.tripod.com/smilies/rotflmao.gif

I'm finding more and more shops are lowering their shipping rates but their prices are getting higher on the sly with the hope no - one notices.

I think the prices of DVD's all round is going up. Just in the last year here they've gone up a few dollars on average.

------------------
Regards...

John 3:16

Boogie Nights also to $16.99 from $14.99 but Scream Trilogy was $50.46 now $49.99. I guess they were getting slammed with the $10 off $50 back then.

It's not just DVDs they're hiking up either. Checked the preorder price yesterday for Pokemon Gold (gameboy), and it was $27.95. Today it's $29.95. I'm hoping this is just in preparation for a free shipping weekend.

They don't always raise the prices. I have had to ask for 3 price matches so far for pre-orders that dropped in price from the time I pre-ordered. T2 and MIB are 2 of the 3 that come to mind. They dropped about $5 ea. in price between the time I pre-ordered and now.

Some of their prices have gone and and some have gone down. This is just like almost every other company online. If you go to dvdpricesearch.com and look for "lowest price by store", you'll notice that buy.com has the most movies at the lowest price.

They may not be as quick to ship as Express.com or Dvd Empire-both superb stores-but they have lower prices. Again, you get what you pay for-I buy from all three stores depending on my desire to get a movie at a particular time and the likelihood of a problem (certain titles are more apt to cause problems). I suggest you do the same...

It sure is confusing. Airplane and Airplane II are both at 16.99 which is 43% off. To make it worse they have another of each for 20.99. It looks like those come with checkpoint devices (anti-shoplifting). I used the 10 of 30 coupon and got both shipped for 27.88. Especially nice since I also had 30 in GC from Reel Triva game. Anyway, it seems you just have to keep on your toes. I wonder how they decide to set their prices?

Buy isn't the only one raising prices. Look at the prices for 800.com pre-orders (AMERICAN BEAUTY, AIRPLANE) and you'll see similar trends.

It's getting to the point where a trip to Costco can get you the same bottom-end price (and without the hassle of shipping and lost orders) that you can get at an online store.

For example, here are the prices on T2 Ultimate:

Costco: $27.99 (plus 8.5% tax, no shipping) = $30.37
800: $27.95 (no tax, plus $1.95 shipping) = $29.90
Buy: $27.49 (no tax, plus $2.95 shipping) = $30.44

In Costco's case, you get the DVD immediately. With 800, you get it fairly reliably. In Buy's case, you get it whenever they decide to ship.

And if this is the game plan, then the online stores should rethink their strategies. It's getting to the point where it's not worth purchasing DVDs unless a coupon is involved.