Costco selection getting pretty bad (1 Viewer)

[Jon Hertzberg]

Mine's not bad, either. Just picked up a bunch of new Fox and MGM catalog titles (Kazan, Woody, and Ford) + Mann's LAST OF THE MOHICANS and Davies' DEEP BLUE SEA. The latter is a Music Box title...my Costco had several MB titles, all for $11.99. They are around twice that amount on Amazon.

 

[Citizen87645]

Mine had 19.99 Criterions of The Game, Rosemary's Baby and Following. Other notables: How Green Was My Valley for 8.99, Tree of Life for 9.99, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for 9.99.

 

[Citizen87645]

Seeing this has become a Costco deals thread, would the original poster be agreeable to a thread title change?

 

[TonyD]

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/327152/costco-blu-ray-and-dvd-deals

 

[Citizen87645]

Well, there's always that.
Thanks!

 

[Reed Grele]

At my local Costco in Waterbury, CT they still have Rebecca and Notorious on Blu for less than $9. Also, I just picked up Blu-Rays of Laura, Gentleman's Agreement, and Monsters Inc. (3D). Their selection has shrunk a bit from what it was a few years back, but they usually always have the latest blockbuster releases (especially in 3D) some of the classics, and box sets as well. All at very good prices.

 

[Garysb]

Orlando had the Criterion of The Man Who Knew Too Much 1934 for $19.99.

 

[Charles Smith]

He's dead, Jim.

 

[Osato]

He's dead, Jim.

End of an era.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

No chance of me buying a membership there then. If I have to pay to shop at your store, you at least have to have stuff that I want to buy.

 

[dpippel]

Costco has always been hit-or-miss on disc media. Always. Personally, I wouldn't base my decision on whether or not to buy a membership on that criteria alone. There are plenty of good reasons to shop at Costco, and plenty not to.

 

[Malcolm R]

Yeah, I've thought briefly of ending my membership based on dwindling media, but I find every time I go I still end up with a cart full of non-media selections, including fruit, vegetables, wine, clothing, books, etc. So while I'm disappointed in the lack of a media section, I guess there are enough other things to keep me coming back.

 

[John Dirk]

I've noticed over the course of about a year now - maybe a little more - the selection of Blu-ray titles at my local Costco (Greenville, SC) is getting worse and worse. I went today, and other than the nature documentaries, they only had 10 titles on Blu-ray. Anyone else experiencing this? Am I right in thinking this is more of a regional thing, meaning that people in my area are simply not buying them?

Why would you ever buy DVD's or Blu Rays at Costco anyway? They aren't stocking them because they know they can no longer compete with Amazon and eBay. Sam's Club is doing the same.

 

[smithbrad]

Why would you ever buy DVD's or Blu Rays at Costco anyway? They aren't stocking them because they know they can no longer compete with Amazon and eBay. Sam's Club is doing the same.

Actually, they had some items that were really good deals, like the $20 Criterion's and many boxed sets from WB and others. And my understanding is that the reason both Sam's and Costco stopped had nothing to do with not being able to compete, but was because of theft. They just weren't setup as a warehouse environment to stop the shoplifting.

 

[WillG]

Actually, they had some items that were really good deals, like the $20 Criterion's and many boxed sets from WB and others.

Plus there was the "thrill" of never quite knowing what they might have at any given time. It is sad that it is the end of an era in some sense. I guess I can't blame Costco if there were shoplifting problems (and in retrospect, it probably wasn't hard to do in most cases) or people just weren't buying discs much anymore.

 

[Richard V]

Actually, they had some items that were really good deals, like the $20 Criterion's and many boxed sets from WB and others. And my understanding is that the reason both Sam's and Costco stopped had nothing to do with not being able to compete, but was because of theft. They just weren't setup as a warehouse environment to stop the shoplifting.

When my Sam's (which was shut down forever a few days ago) quit stocking the DVD/BR media, I asked why. The manager told me the same thing, theft.

 

[Mark-P]

It dismays me that Costco or Sam’s Club members would shoplift. You would think that anyone who would pay the membership fees to get into the store wouldn’t be the type to steal from it, but I just have to accept that human nature can really suck sometimes.

 

[Malcolm R]

Yeah, I think it's just a BS reason. If the theft was that bad, they wouldn't have sold media for 20 plus years. They would have pulled it all at once, years ago. There wouldn't have been this steady shrink of the media selection over an extended period.

 

[smithbrad]

Yeah, I think it's just a BS reason. If the theft was that bad, they wouldn't have sold media for 20 plus years. They would have pulled it all at once, years ago. There wouldn't have been this steady shrink of the media selection over an extended period.

We all have our opinions, but it seems quite plausible to me. Especially, when the same reason is given more than once. I recall a point in time at my Costco where I noticed certain workers casually lurking around the media section, as if to pay extra attention to the possibility (not something I noticed in other sections). I always recall the media section attracting attention by buyers so I don't think lack of sales being an issue.

Shoplifting is always an issue. There are plenty of items packaged in ways to discourage shoplifting, as well as others that require pickup at a window after purchase. For example, at the Costco near me external hard drives are in extra large thick flat cardboard (not easy to get into) packaging and located by the phone vendors. At the Sam's close by you have to pick up external hard drives at a special service desk. It could have just been one of those cases where they accepted and lived with the issue of higher than average shoplifting for media for years because it was a worthwhile attraction to buyers, but finally enough was enough and they slowly shrunk down the section as they got rid of leftover inventory.

I have had a Costco membership for decades, but also joined Sam's 10 years or so back because of the media section. They had certain TV titles Costco didn't have at a price lower than anyone else justifying the membership over a year. Even with the media sections now gone, I have kept both memberships because there are differences that I continue to value from each. I think the media sections were always an attraction to shoppers, providing a good reason to have kept it around for so long even if shoplifting was an issue.

 

[TravisR]

Yeah, I think it's just a BS reason. If the theft was that bad, they wouldn't have sold media for 20 plus years. They would have pulled it all at once, years ago. There wouldn't have been this steady shrink of the media selection over an extended period.

I wouldn't have really thought theft was that big of a problem either but I suppose that with the diminishing sales & relatively small profit margin on Blu-rays/DVDs and then add in discs getting stolen could make it so that they're not turning enough of a profit to continue to stock them.