Barnes & Noble Semi-Annual 50% off Criterion Sale (2 Viewers)

[Charles Smith]

EDIT: (Never mind.) Got it! Thanks, Moe.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

My balls told me the same thing, but when she'd successfully rung up the 40%, I asked if by any chance I could apply "my other coupon" -- which I'd just determined would be the $8/40. If only!

Yeah, only the 5/50 would work on top of the 40% because it's a transaction coupon and the 8/40 is an item coupon.

 

[Nelson Au]

Are any of you guys Barnes and Noble members? I always get asked and I always decline becoming a member. I mainly go there for the Criterion sales and a few more times during the year. Didn't seem worth the $25. But maybe I'm wrong. I do buy other discs there from time to time and books and magazines.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

It's TOTALLY worth it if you buy at the criterion sales. The extra 10% really pays for itself if you get a couple big sets, and you also get extra 20% and 30% coupons during the sales as well.

 

[David Norman]

There's another way around this - their computers can do "item" coupons and "transaction" coupons. You can only have one coupon for each item, but you can also have a coupon for each total transaction, which is what the 5/50 is.

I've never pulled that one off though I know people have said it works for them. I;ve never really pushed the issuesince some of these coupons are so YMMV. Seems like the one time a clerk tried to do 4 coupons on 3 items, it bounced one of my % off coupons off though it still spread the discount over all 3. Maybe it was entered wrong, but I've never worried about the extra. It's already such an amazing deal I feel petty enough. And with so many folks having trouble getting any coupons to work at all ..........Someone said they actually got the 8off40 to automatically scan for a Reg 39.99 Criterion which I've never heard of that successfully working. If that starts working then it's all hand on deck if you have to argue with them about entering the discount by the exact instructions.

 

[Adam_S]

Are any of you guys Barnes and Noble members? I always get asked and I always decline becoming a member. I mainly go there for the Criterion sales and a few more times during the year. Didn't seem worth the $25. But maybe I'm wrong. I do buy other discs there from time to time and books and magazines.

Yes, but the bad thing about being a member is you save enough that you spend more.

 

[TravisR]

Are any of you guys Barnes and Noble members? I always get asked and I always decline becoming a member. I mainly go there for the Criterion sales and a few more times during the year. Didn't seem worth the $25. But maybe I'm wrong. I do buy other discs there from time to time and books and magazines.

I was in your boat until very recently. I had kept passing the membership up for years and I realized that between coupons, Criterion & other sales, books & magazines, I would easily come out ahead of the $25 membership in the course of a year. In a couple weeks, I've already saved $5.70 and I'll be using another coupon tonight which will knock another $8 off. So in two weeks, I'll have already saved more than half of what it cost me to join and I've only bought movies, books and mags that I would have bought anyway.

I'm not a coffee drinker but I believe the membership discount is good in the café too.

 

[David Norman]

I'm shocked that most of the folks in this thread aren't members (or at least temp members). You can get a Free Trial Membership for 2 months and cancel it before Day 60 for $0 no matter how much you use it. Full membership privileges -- 10% instore, upgraded and free shipping on all orders.I've been a member just because of the Criterion sales -- 10% and extra member coupons all by itself saves me many times the member fee. Though I don't agree with the folks who do this there are plenty of folks who do 2 membership trials a year just in time for the Criterion sale -- as long as you can make new email addresses and make a virtual CC you can repeat as often as you like.They've more than done me right plus I get to support a store I love walking into. Clean, bright, things nobody else carries, most of the employees I've run into are nice, many are well-read book people, many are Movie fans like us. Ask them about a book or Movie and often they'll tell you why they enjoyed it or another similar item that might make a good match (or better choice. I don't run into many folks that can discuss Kurosawa movies at other stores or get excited when they see the Zatoichi or Godard or Wes Anderson item coming out (and not just b/c they might make a sale). I don;t how well they are treated by BN management, but the majority I've met seem to like working there and it's not just a bunch of standard Big Box drones who are doing it b/c just just have to have a job doing something.

 

[Charles Smith]

I will personally take every advantage of still having a great brick-and-mortar chain AND its great membership deal, as long as it's possible to do so. I ignored it for years, myself, but finally joined the party once I found I'd become a pretty serious movie collector a few years back. Until the stores (or, almost as bad, the media departments) really and truly disappear (and yes, I know some have already), I will never be without the membership.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Yeah, the 8 off 40 coupon alone pays for your membership - use it 3 times and that's $24 saved. It's really a no brainer.I think it's douchey to just recycle the trial 2x a year and really douchey to use the 8/40 on regular $39.95 titles. Use it on the $50 and up titles so they don't ban it for everyone.

 

[Nelson Au]

Well, this year, between the two sales, I bought 12 Criterion blu rays, plus two DVD versions because I like having both formats. And I had bought a few copies of magazines of mid century modern architecture and digital art magazines too that were both pricey. And a couple of music CDs too.It does surprise me that a store like this can have all that much when as you say, the other Brick and Mortar shops are closing up. I agree its great to be able to walk into a store and I would support that too. I suppose a membership could have paid off. I'll consider more seriously, I did take home the application for it.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Just used the 40% on Zatoichi - and the guy next to me was doing the same thing, same printout. My cashier got me rung up and done before his two did, and he'd already been there working on it when I walked into the media department.Total illustration of YMMV. I could have gotten 5/50 to work but I just didn't want to push it with all that going on. I was totally fine with being out the door for $66 including tax. I also just bought another $150 of giftcards before that promo ends to spend during the 40% Blu sale in December and now for the January titles aside from Mad World which I have on preorder at Amazon. I used the rest of my first giftcard buy on Zatoichi, so the 3 $75 giftcards got me $30 in bonus giftcards to use in January.

 

[Charles Smith]

I hear ya, Moe. I was prepared to joke with the (regular) salesperson about getting the net price down so low that they'd end up owing ME. Best to be grateful for what we've got, without finding ways to darken their doorsteps.

 

[DavidJ]

Ok, I am not familiar with this 40% off coupon y'all are talking about. Is it printable?

 

[David Norman]

Ok, I am not familiar with this 40% off coupon y'all are talking about. Is it printable?

Sort of. There is a set of instructions for the 40% Code. Print it out (I do this since itjust seems to make it more palatable), carry it on a smart phone,or sometimes you can jsut tell the cashier you have a code to use and read it to them.Like most any coupon there is a YMMV component.I still can't tell if any nonmembers have been able to use it, but it reads like a non-membercoupon and should be a multiple use code (clerk dependent and likely will require separatetransactions).CHeck post 204 on the last page for a link to all the current BN coupons.

 

[DavidJ]

Thanks, David. So to be clear, it is a page with instructions for the cashier on how to apply the coupon code? I'm a member so that part shouldn't be an issue.

 

[David Norman]

Yes let me try this link.BN Special Offer People are also reporting success with non Criterion eligible items (once per account) going through theMobile site for some reason -- tablet/phone/or PCm.barnesandnoble.com

 

[DavidJ]

Danke.

 

[DavidJ]

Sure enough, the code worked on the mobile site.

 

[Malcolm R]

B&N seems to be pulling out all the stops this year. Lots of sales, coupons, and I've never seen them advertise on TV before, but their Jack McBrayer ad is played about every 20 minutes every night in prime time.

If they have a disappointing sales season, I wonder if we'll be hearing announcements of store closings in the new year? Their promotional efforts this year seem to have a whiff of desperation.