DVDs: sticker shock at a brick'n'mortar store. (1 Viewer)

[Colin Dunn]

My B&M experiences:

- Best Buy usually sells for about 20% under MSRP, often the MAP (minimum advertised price) for DVDs.

- Fry's Electronics (found mostly in larger Southwest cities) is always as cheap, and sometimes cheaper, than Best Buy. The Fry's in Austin carries a lot of Criterion DVDs, but they're often sold out.

- Virgin MegaStore is a waste of time and money. They suffer from frequent stock-outs and charge at or above MSRP for most titles. Ditto for other mall chain record stores like Tower, Sam Goody, Wherehouse, Hastings, etc.

Both Fry's and Best Buy sometimes run sales on specific titles, often 30-40% below MSRP. But you have to keep an eye on the stores/ads to know if a title you want is on sale. Usually these are big, popular movies, not obscure ones.

If it's an obscure title, I'll order on-line or pay full price at Suncoast to get it.

 

[JasenP]

My girlfriend won't even go into the mall chain stores with me anymore because my sticker shock is always verbal and laced with creative profanity.

I really can't consider it a shock anymore, I just go and look to see if there is anything mispriced or REALLY hard to find.

For example, I was looking for the soundtrack to Ghost World and the local FYE had it "On Sale" for $19.00!!!

grumble..grumble...grumble..

The really sad thing is that people actually pay these prices for media. Whether it is the convenience of having a one stop mall trip or just plain ignorance, I cannot comment.

grumble...grumble..grumble..

 

[Stacie]

I'm spoiled. My husband works part-time as an in-store tech at Best Buy, so anything that Best Buy carries, we get with the fabulous BB employee discount (employee price = 5% over Best Buy's cost). Back in the glory days of internet discounts, that still wasn't worth it, but it is now.

We do order online anything that we can't get at Best Buy. That's usually obscure/arty stuff that we'd have to go to Borders or maybe Suncoast to find -- and their prices are not competitive. Also, with a lot of those things, it's just not worth traipsing across the city to four or five different stores to find what you want -- easier just to order it.

Stacie

 

[Jack Briggs]

Well, I've gone back to contributing to the coffers at DVD Empire. Ordered five titles just yesterday.

But it's nice to know I have Best Buy as a backup in case I just have to have something now.

 

[Carlo_M]

B&M stores are just like internet stores--prices vary widely. Personally, my strategy is this: buy the loss leaders at the big B&Ms. This means Fry's, BB, CC. Usually if CC or Fry's has the lowest price (new titles routinely sold at $16.99 or lower) I have BB pricematch it at 110% the difference. If you wait a while, Fry's or CC will drop popular, "almost new" titles in price later on. Like Planet of the Apes (Burton) for $11.99.

If I absolutely cannot find something on sale, I hold off until I visit my friend in Huntington beach and stop by the Ken Cranes / DVD Planet store, where everything is at least 25% off MSRP and they have nearly every title I could want.

I hardly ever shop online anymore. Not since the coupon days of old.

 

[Julie K]

Jack,

Have you ever been to Dave's Video in Studio City? They certainly have a better selection than Best Buy and usually run 20-25% off MSRP.

 

[Jack Briggs]

You know, Julie, given my obsessive involvement here at HTF you would think I am a frequent visitor at Dave's. But, get this: I've never been there. Nor have I ever gone inside Laserblazer on Pico Boulevard. Obviously, I have many things I must change in life!

 

[Peter Burtch]

Hi Jack,
I still find no substitute for the online deals I find via http://www.dvdpricesearch.com
At least in Chicago where I live, the sales aren't coming close at BB, CC, etc. ad nauseum.
cheers,
Pedro

 

[Carlo_M]

Jack,

Blazer's prices aren't that much better than Best Buys (within a dollar usually). But the cool thing is that their selection is quite a bit more varied (I won't say larger, but more titles...they don't stock 200 copies of Pearl Harbor) and they rent nearly everything they sell.

Definitely check them out if you're in the west side.

 

[Peter Yee]

I continue to patronize my local B&M video store (Videoscope of Los Altos) -- prices are routinely 20% off MSRP. Although I could do better online, I like to support the smaller vendors. Videoscope has a large selection, excellent rental collection, and they work with me to get those hard to find discs that Best Buy and Fry's wouldn't stock.

-Peter