Possibly dumb question: are Columbia House DVD's the same as regular versions? (1 Viewer)

[Eric T]

I remember way back when I used to get audio cassettes (!) from Columbia House, many times the packaging material and the cassettes were different, cheap-o versions. They usually didn't put in the liner notes or use the clear plastic tapes.

Does anyone know if the CH DVD's are the same as the ones I can buy in the store?

 

[Peter Kline]

Yes!

 

[Jeff_A]

Ditto. Yes!!!

 

[LukeB]

Yep, and best of all you can get any one they offer for an average of under $10 if you play the game right!

 

[Eric T]

OK cool deal! I think I'll pre-order LOTR then

 

[LukeB]

Only thing to note is that if there is some kind of promotion (like Jurassic Park III last year), a DVD from CH might not have that form inside. Universal's promotion excluded "DVDs purchased from clubs" which was stupid, since a lot of people bought it at full price or close to it as a fulfillment, and then noticed, no form inside.

However, I don't think there is any such promotion with LOTR and even if there were, New Line probably wouldn't have pulled a Universal on the matter.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

I remember a local record store that wouldn't buy back used CDs from the BMG club. They had a label on the back saying BMG Record Club or something. Not sure if CH does this or not...

 

[Justin Lane]

I remember a local record store that wouldn't buy back used CDs from the BMG club. They had a label on the back saying BMG Record Club or something. Not sure if CH does this or not...

Nope, CH sells the same DVDs as you would buy in any store without any special markings of any kind.

What BMG does is buy the rights to the actual music and then press the discs themselves. DVD is a different beast, and I would have to imagine not as easy at this time for CH to do all of their own duplication for the wide variety of titles they offer.

J

 

[Matt Pelham]

I don't know, my Animal House I just bought from them doesn't have the security label on it and the shrink wrap is that cheap looking kind (with slightly brown burt edges to it). Is this worth getting mad over?

 

[Eric T]

Well I just ordered:
- LOTR
- Die Hard Five-Star Collection
- Tommy Boy (Chris Farley, RIP)
- The Fast and the Furious
Total with S/H: $89. Not a bad deal

 

[LukeB]

- LOTR
- Die Hard Five-Star Collection
- Tommy Boy (Chris Farley, RIP)
- The Fast and the Furious
Total with S/H: $89. Not a bad deal

Except that you could have gotten Tommy Boy, The Fast and the Furious, Die Hard and six other DVDs at that total price of $89.

 

[Eric T]

Really? How?

I had to pay full price for Die Hard, since I still need to meet the minimum commitment. And full price for LOTR, plus two more for $12.95. If you're talking about the $8.95 DVD's, I wasn't really interested in any of those.

But if there's something I missed, please let me in on it!

 

[Adam_S]

you made your first mistake in signing up with an offer requiring four fulfillments (I'm guessing that's what you did if you ordered four dvds) The second mistake was in buying more expensive fulfillment titles, save those for another cheapo enrollment title (does it make more sense to get a forty dollar dvd such as Lawrence of Arabia for 3$ as an enrollemnt or pay 43$ as a fulfillment) I suggest you try the link below to dvd talk's dvd club forum and check out the faq link which will give you the best offer and suggestions at how to get the best value from clumbiahouse.
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/forumdi...php?forumid=13
Adam

 

[LukeB]

Yeah, what Adam_S has said is basically correct. You never want to purchase any more than the minimum requirement of fulfillment purchases (which should be 2 or 3 with the best code). And save anything greater than $19.95 for an enrollment, using only $19.95 titles for fulfillments. Doing that gets you an average of under $10 per disc.
And don't do their deals for like Buy 1, Get Up to 2 @ 10$ Off. They seem good, but unless you're getting non-enrollment titles, it makes no sense. And even then, you can just wait for the 2 months or less for such title to be made an enrollment selection.
Just sticking to the plan, every DVD you get will be under $10 average. When they ocassionally run the 10% off or Free Shipping on 3 or more Items deals, you can change your plan accordingly...but you should be paying what you paid for an entire membership. If you want to get Lord of the Rings as a fullfilment purchase, then you might consider getting that at $29.95 and a second $29.95 title at $19.95, if there is a $10 Off deal going. But that's only if there is a non-enrollment title you really would like to get. It's still about the same as getting it elsewhere and it counts towards your membership, without raising the average too much.
What I said probably makes no sense though, and going through all the info at DVD Talk will help you make the best of CH!
Cheers!

 

[Eric T]

Hmmm, I read some of the info at DVDTalk. So it seems that you are able to sign up, fulfill your commitment, then quit and rejoin again, getting the enrollment deals each time? Is this how some of you guys are amassing so many DVDs?

 

[Dave H]

I am on my third membership. Columbia House limits to memberships to each customer, to my understanding. Some of those guys at DVD talk have had hundreds. The thing is, I can't find much of anything else I want.

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

Just started my 2nd Columbia House DVD membership. I got:
12 Monkeys DTS
Apollo 13 DTS
Se7en 2disc set
Dogma SE
Dead Poets Society
All for ~$27. Talk about a good deal. I'm gonna fulfill my requirement of 3 more dvds then sign up again!

 

[DavidEC]

My wife and I trade off memberships... this way no family membership is running at the same time along with the fact that six to seven months between one of us resigning up...

--David