Is it useless to pre-order or even buy Blu-rays etc on Amazon.com? (2 Viewers)

[Doug Abbott]

I am a collector of Warner Brothers Archive DVDs & Blu-ray discs and have purchased about 80% of the discs Warner Archives has released over the last 15+ years.
However, in the last year, purchasing any Warner Archive Blu-ray releases has become almost impossible. Buying through Amazon has become a nightmare, I have had to wait as much as 5 months after the release date to receive a Blu-ray I have ordered.
On August 11, 2023, I pre-ordered the new release of Wichita starring Joel McCrea on Blu-ray for (19.99) from Amazon. It's now 12 days past the release date and Amazon is up to its old tricks. They are telling me they have no idea when the Blu-ray will be shipped to me. I'm a Prime Customer and when I ordered the Blu-ray disc, they said I would receive it within 2 shipping days of the release. Amazon is the distributor for your product but says they have no idea when & if they will receive any stock. However, a friend ordered the identical Blu-ray on August 27, 2023, for (25.58) and received it from Amazon 3 days later.
This is all part of Amazon's Scam of offering new releases for discount prices, but not filling the discounted orders until the newer orders with higher prices have been filled.
In July I pre-ordered the 4K release of Warner Rio Bravo with John Wayne. It's been 3 months, and I am still waiting to receive it.
This is terrible service from Amazon and from Warner Bros who choose to distribute their Archive releases through Amazon.

 

[JC Riesenbeck]

After reading your message, I decided to check Deep Discount where the product is also $19.99. But it is listed as being on backorder there as well. On the other hand,, they have Rio Bravo for just about a dollar more, so there's that. I had no trouble getting Rio Bravo but I feel like kicking myself for not waiting on a sale or something. For a premium priced 4k, Warners was awfully chintzy with the packaging and the extras on it. At least $10 too much for such a release.

 

[John Dirk]

This is all part of Amazon's Scam of offering new releases for discount prices, but not filling the discounted orders until the newer orders with higher prices have been filled.

I can understand your frustration but I think you're jumping to conclusions, perhaps prematurely. Have you contacted Amazon for their side of the story?

 

[JohnRice]

Besides, this is one specific situation which in no way means it is “useless to pre-order or even buy Blu-Rays etc. on Amazon.”

 

[Robert Crawford]

In July I pre-ordered the 4K release of Warner Rio Bravo with John Wayne. It's been 3 months, and I am still waiting to receive it.

I had a similar experience with another title. Guess what? Amazon was showing it in-stock, so I simply cancelled my old order and re-ordered it again. Two days later, I had the Blu-ray.

I just checked Rio Bravo 4K/UHD on Amazon. It's showing in-stock. If I was you, I would cancel my old order and then re-order it again. I'm willing to bet you will have it in 2-3 days.

 

[B-ROLL]

TBH I usually don't order WA titles before release date. I wait until a few weeks/months before ordering when the items are at lower prices that are closer to but not the same as the the 4 for $44.00 WA sales (I try not to go above $15.00 each. As a Prime Member, I usually get them within 1-2 days from when I ordered.

I use this link to give HTF a few ha-pennies as well ...

Today's Blu-Ray Movie Price Drops

Amazon Daily Blu-Ray Deals 08/27/23 Jackie Chan: Emergence of a Superstar (DigiPack) $94.19 (was: $124.95) Cujo 4K (40th Anniversary Edition) $24.49 (was: $39.95) The Last of Us: The Complete First Season 4K $30.79 (was: $32.25) The Walking Dead: The Complete Collection $149.99 (was...

www.hometheaterforum.com

 

[battlebeast]

It's not all video discs from Amazon. In Canada here I get mine very quickly. Warner Archive discs are the exception. I nver order them from Amazon, I usually use MovieZyng or Unobstructed view for archive titles.. Whatever one is cheaper. A difference of $1-$2 dollars can mean a savings of $4-$5 for me (with conversion), and when youre buying multiple titles, it adds up quickly.

I've found that Amazon doesn't sell Archive titles directly, they are always from a third party. thus the longer wait.

 

[BobO'Link]

It's not all video discs from Amazon. In Canada here I get mine very quickly. Warner Archive discs are the exception. I nver order them from Amazon, I usually use MovieZyng or Unobstructed view for archive titles.. Whatever one is cheaper. A difference of $1-$2 dollars can mean a savings of $4-$5 for me (with conversion), and when youre buying multiple titles, it adds up quickly.

I've found that Amazon doesn't sell Archive titles directly, they are always from a third party. thus the longer wait.

Amazon US does... Every archive title I purchase there is sold and shipped by Amazon.

I've never worried about getting a title on release day as I have such a huge backlog it's rare I open and watch a title within days, much less hours, of it arriving. Even a week or two "late" isn't a big deal for me, but it *does* seem to be the norm for the few pre-release orders I've placed with Amazon. Most other vendors have them in my mailbox the day of release, as promised, if not a day or three early. The flip side of that is if that order *is* delayed by Amazon and the post release price drops below any pre-release date price, as it seems to do quite often, Amazon charges that lower price on the order.

 

[cineMANIAC]

The issue of stock not being available on Amazon is not limited to Warner Archive titles - Kino titles are almost never available on street date. I was given a delivery window of September 19-October 21st for 3 Days of the Condor 4K so I cancelled and ordered it from Best Buy. They've also had trouble stocking titles from various boutique labels. "Contacting Amazon" will always result in "Sorry, we don't know what's going on" from someone in India. Does anyone have a direct email for Jeff Bezos?

 

[Robert Crawford]

The issue of stock not being available on Amazon is not limited to Warner Archive titles - Kino titles are almost never available on street date. I was given a delivery window of September 19-October 21st for 3 Days of the Condor 4K so I cancelled and ordered it from Best Buy. They've also had trouble stocking titles from various boutique labels. "Contacting Amazon" will always result in "Sorry, we don't know what's going on" from someone in India. Does anyone have a direct email for Jeff Bezos?

My Target order of 3 Days of the Condor that I placed during the first week of July still hasn't been delivered. The release date was August 29th. Target by the way has sold out this title so I'm glad my order at least has shipped.

 

[Malcolm R]

It seems like sometimes Amazon posts a very early pre-order page, then later once the studio has finalized the release info Amazon creates a different order page, and perhaps not all of the pre-orders are moved over to be included. Not sure if there's some behind-the-scenes process that's getting mucked up or what.

I recall pre-ordering a disc one time from an early pre-order page, then that pre-order page was deleted and my order was eventually cancelled even though a search would bring up another page where they were selling the same title and it was marked "in stock".

Consequently, I never pre-order anything from Amazon unless it's just a week or two before the actual release date. I don't fall for their 6-months early pages any more.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I am at the point where I almost never pre-order any titles, period. The days of getting a better price when pre-ordering are almost completely over. I usually wait a few months after a title is released before purchasing, as the price will inevitably drop. By that time, the title will usually ship and arrive in a day or two. For example, I just bought the Warner Archive title Strawberry Blonde last week -- the price had dropped to around $12.50 on Amazon, and I had the disc in a day.

Getting a title when it's first released is no longer a priority for me -- getting a better price has become more important. I have quite a backlog of digital and physical disc titles to watch, so I rarely watch something right away anyway.

 

[Vegas 1]

I pre-ordered Picard Season 3 on Amazon and the shipping date was Oct. 26 and it was just released last Tuesday.
So I stopped at Best Buy on picked up a copy and cancelled my Amazon order.

 

[Garysb]

I think these delays are related to, at least in part to the reduced demand for media. Amazon, Target, Best Buy etc. are not going to purchased large stock of vintage titles only to have them sit in a warehouse. They are stocking more based on an On Demand model with a small intial order and that leads to long waits. That doesn't explain why Amazon fills newer orders ahead of older orders. That may be a case where Amazon has decided to fill some orders on time instead of delaying all orders. Its not fair but may be good business practice to have fewer people upset with you. Hence cancelling an old order and placing a new order gets you your movie quicker.

 

[John Dirk]

"Contacting Amazon" will always result in "Sorry, we don't know what's going on" from someone in India.

That hasn't been my experience. I realize AI is a potentially polarizing subject but Amazon has the best I've encountered. I only want to speak to humans as a last resort.

 

[BobO'Link]

I think these delays are related to, at least in part to the reduced demand for media. Amazon, Target, Best Buy etc. are not going to purchased large stock of vintage titles only to have them sit in a warehouse. They are stocking more based on an On Demand model with a small intial order and that leads to long waits. That doesn't explain why Amazon fills newer orders ahead of older orders. That may be a case where Amazon has decided to fill some orders on time instead of delaying all orders. Its not fair but may be good business practice to have fewer people upset with you. Hence cancelling an old order and placing a new order gets you your movie quicker.

Amazon also tends to ship from the warehouse closest to your address. Should all those new titles show up in a distribution center in Tennessee and *you* are in California then they'll likely ship to the customers in the TN region first and, if any are left, move stock to CA and ship from there. If they run out it's order more, rinse/repeat, until they have enough left over to distribute to other distribution centers.

I tend to get most things very quickly because I'm ~65 miles from their Memphis distribution center and Memphis is a major warehousing center for the nation.

 

[Tino]

Can a Mod perhaps change the inflammatory title of this thread. Especially since this site is tied in with Amazon. It just screams hyperbole Imo.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Can a Mod perhaps change the inflammatory title of this thread. Especially since this site is tied in with Amazon. It just screams hyperbole Imo.

A slight change.

 

[Tino]

A slight change.

Much better.

 

[cineescape]

Didn't Warner Archives issue this favorite of mine on BD? https://www.blu-ray.com/The-Sorcerers/359958/

If yes, but if there's no chance of finding one for sale even used and at a sane price, any chance that Amazon or another reputable vendor (Kino, Timeless, ShoutFactory, et al) would offer it as a MOD BD-R disc?

Also, assuming Tino is correct about this forum being "tied" to Amazon, might the latter be persuaded by some number of members here to approach Disney for access to the Fox classics library, such as
https://livius1.com/2022/06/06/from-hell-to-texas/
https://www.blu-ray.com/5-Fingers/339098/
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Womans-World-Blu-ray/168313/

for release on MOD BD-R?