A Brief History of the Deep Discount Fall Sale... - Page 2

I think this new sale sucks a bit, too, but we need to remember something: in the last few years, DD have been known to 'jack up' their prices of certain titles (especially new and/or hot releases) in the week(s) leading up to the sale, effectively making the discounts smaller.

So, this 40% off retail may end up being about the same discount on new releases anyway as the old 20% sales, even though most of us probably won't believe it.

I never really had seeked out a title where they jacked up the prices. I recall during every sale, reading the thread here with complaints (along with other complaints) but I never had a problem with them.

This sale might not be as good as the previous ones, but it's not personal maybe they will go back to their old formula. Who knows are stable things are with them in this unprecedented economic time.

 We're also going to have to be careful about what dd uses for "List Price".  For example, they list "Three Stooges Collection 7" as having a list price of $29.95.  All other stores list it as $24.96.  I just emailed them about this.

In the past, I've seen complaints about dd's prices rising before a sale.  This time, I wonder if we'll be hearing about LIST prices rising. 

And most older releases are 10% off MSRP at Amazon, so for old stuff it is still way cheaper than most Amazon (barring sales of their own).

Well, whatever they're using for MSRP, the actual sale prices certainly don't look particularly enticing unless you just happened to miss whatever other previous sales (both online and in certain major B&M stores) for certain titles you want.  If you're looking for a great deal, you're likely to do better looking/waiting for some other sales or the upcoming BF/CM extravaganzas at this point.

Sure, there might be exceptions as usual, but they are probably just exceptions.  So for a big semi-annual sale (vs the periodic sales that come and go at any given point), this is rather disappointing.

_Man_

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Wow!  I go off on vacation to Tennessee again and once more come back to some bizarre dvd news.  Last time I came back to the first FUGITIVE debacle, and now I come back to this new Deep Discount fiasco.  I just can't afford to go on vacation any more if this is what's going to happen while I'm gone. 

In all seriousness, give Larry the prize for ringing the bell on the first shot.  The key is looking at the MSRP at DD and comparing it with Amazon, because DD does indeed use higher MSRP's on some titles.  I know a friend or two of mine here on the boards have found some bargains, but for the most part this is a terrible deal in comparison to the previous 25% and even 20% Off sales.  It's not even close.  At best this is little more than a 10% OFF sale cleverly marketed as something specatcular. 

In years past the summer and fall sales from DD would cost me hundreds.  Not this year.  They aren't getting one red cent from me unless something pops up in the next week or so where a MSRP happens to be automatically lowered.  I'm positive I'll get better deals for the few things I've been waiting for at an upcoming Amazon sale.  No, I don't know anything for sure, but you can bet Amazon will have some good sales between now and Christmas.  And my rule of thumb for this entire year has been to wait until I could get a dvd at 50% off or better.  That obviously isn't happening with this sale (except in a few isolated cases, none of which interest me).  Nope, this one is a bummer and DD just lost a couple hundred from me.  Amazon, get ready.

Gary "wow, I really am disappointed about this news" O.

Yeah, I got too optimistic the other day when I was doing a quick check of some TV/DVD sets.  They are lower than Amazon's at present but there's no doubt that this sale's not up to the past ones at DD.

Gary, better check with the 'net sites before that next vacation   That's several times that I've had to bring the bad news before you got home.

LOL, Jeff.  Glad you are around to break the bad news. 

There are two aspects to this "Sale" that one has to watch for (and both have been mentioned already):

1) Deep Discount does have higher MSRP starting points on certain studio titles than Amazon and other sites.  For instance, I've noticed that they often start about $5.00 higher on TV titles that come from companies like Shout and CBS/Paramount.  As an example look at their starting MSRP for "Mister Ed: Season 1."  It's $44.95, but at Amazon.com the MSRP is only $39.95.  Take a look at "Petticoat Junction: Season 2."  Again, DD has the MSRP at $44.95 while Amazon has it at $39.95.  Now, it is true that right now DD does have that particular title at a good price, but it doesn't always work that way and there are many times that they are higher on items simply because they have a higher starting MSRP.  So buyers should check that out on a regular basis, IMHO.

2) The 40% Off MSRP is, without question, going to yield less saving in general than their previous sales.  Once in a while someone can find a bargain but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the difference in previous sales to this one.  Normally, DD automatically takes off somewhere between 30-35% of the MSRP on dvds.  Sometimes it's a tad more and sometimes a tad less.  But the percentage I listed is pretty typical.  When the company was having 20% or 25% Sales that was equating to just about a 50% discount most of the time.  Not always right at 50% but generally pretty close to, and sometimes a tad over, half off.  Now, of course, we are basically losing 10% of what we used to save because instead of 50% off we are only getting 40% off.  So it's not too hard to see this deal isn't really all that great.


Gary "not buying one thing in this sale unless something on my wishlist drops in the next 2 weeks" O.

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I completely agree, Mike.  I'm definitely not holding my breath.

Gary "it's very unlikely that DD will get one penny from me this time around" O.

They've got some good prices on music CDs with this sale. Many discs that I've seen sell for $10 their first week of release, and then go up to $12, are back down to $10 now. A dollar better than Amazon in many cases. I got Mike Doughty's new one, and almost got a few others but I figure sales will be ever-present from now until Christmas anyway.

Let us know if you get a response. I checked with Sony, and the MSRP is indeed $24.96.

Actually, I got a reply the next day:

"All MSRP prices are provided to us by the manufacturer and unfortunately we are not authorized to make any changes that they have not formally requested.  We apologize for the inconvenience."

So unless we can get Sony to send them a correction, we're out of luck.

    
      I have several hundred DVD sets and I've never bought one anywhere but on line. Aside from the obvious such as avoiding sales tax (which no longer applies to Amazon and that's why I don't buy from them anymore), why would I want to spend time driving to a store, fighting the crowds and then standing in line to check out. The benefits are of this are lost on me.

Same here.  I think I might have bought 1 DVD at a local store in the last 2-3 years.  it's just my take on it, but I think that some still prefer buying at local stores for the quick purchase time and the fast "return for exchange" time in the event of a defective disc.  Those are the only reasons I can think of for buying locally, with a couple of execeptions: Wal-Mart or Big Lots close-out bin sales.  You can find deals there better than almost any online sale,  But of course, you have to spend the time and driving to the store[s].

Speaking of Amazon and taxes, I need to look at that closer.  The last order, I didn't pay taxes but maybe that's due to my state residence? (Texas).  I'd hate to drop Amazon as a store since I think their return/exchange setup is one of the best for online stores.

 Jeff, only NY residents have to pay sales tax at Amazon...so far.

I do much of my movie purchases (and occasional rental subscription) online as well.  However, I still do some of it locally because of the faster overall arrival/pickup time plus it's good for the local economy and quality of life in general to give some business to local businesses (even if it's just a superchain store).  I'll typically give business to the locals when they get competitive enough w/ online shops -- and "competitive enough" can vary depending on *both* price and service/support.

That's more or less how I approach shopping in general anyway.

Yeah, time (and effort) to go shopping locally can be an issue, but I could probably use the little bit of fresh air and exercise (and some friendly faces outside my home and office) anyway among other things.  I'd add though that some of my local movie shopping involves just walking down the street (from my office building) to J&R or this nearby street vendor -- rather than beating the masses at Walmart or Target -- and I don't see that being a hassle at all.  It's good to say "good morning" and shoot the breeze just a little when I drop by the street vendor for instance -- and also exchange some additional pleasantries w/ a different friendly security guy as I come-and-go from the office building whether on my way picking up a movie or lunch or something else during the work day.

BTW, BB (and now, Barnes & Noble too) also offers painless in-store pickup for online orders, so that's what I do when I want to buy something from BB -- I honestly don't like browsing there much otherwise.  Going to BB does involve making an extra (free) trip on the bus (generally via an after-work detour on my way home), but I find that occasional bit of diversion to be pleasant enough and only take me out of my way for maybe ~1/2 hour all told.  It's good to vary things a bit now and then me thinks.  And I hope more of the big chain-type locals will offer in-store pickup for online orders too, eg. Target, Old Navy, et al.  Even if I'd like to do a little browsing (like I occasional do at BB), I'd still prefer to make the trip knowing that I'll find and buy what I want/expect, not just make the trip to do nothing but browsing, especially since many of those big chain stores aren't really that pleasant to browse thru.  The local mom-and-pops stores would be different of course, but that's a different story...

_Man_

I buy my movies and music online as well, but that doesn't mean I don't see them in stores when I'm there buying other things.  :)


Working in the eCommerce industry, I can tell you that things are very much headed in this direction.  I do my BB shopping online as well.