Weekly Roundup 10/15 (1 Viewer)

[Craig S]

...Weekly Roundup for the week of November 12, which I predict will be THE BIGGEST, MOST WIDELY VIEWED AND REPLIED-TO WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF ALL TIME!!!

I dunno, Matt, I'm thinking we'll all be too busy watching our AotC & FotR EE sets to be spending too much time posting here!!

 

[David Lambert]

I haven't frankly been able to decide which week will be bigger, Roundup-wise: 11/5 or 11/12.
Both will be outrageous, I can guarantee you that! I think I'll start writing both of those on Halloween day or something.
I was blown away by last week's Roundup breaking the 5000 views mark...it was a big week, though, release-wise!

 

[Alex Spindler]

Insomnia must be mine. Thanks Dave for the heads up on the BB price increase. I wonder if they're just getting the casual consumer in the habit of going there and then hitting the price increase throttle to "Warp Speed" levels. The casual consumer will continue to go without comparison shopping (which you rightly suggested) and they'll get a free ride.

Of course, now they're in competition with Borders for the most expensive DVDs.

 

[Matt Birchall]

I figured that you'd be pretty pumped about 11/5, Dave, with all of the TV stuff coming out that day. And probably, in terms of big releases, there's more on 11/5 than 11/12. But Star Wars is going to be huge (although not as huge as Spidey)--and two of the other 11/12 releases (Rings and South Park) are warmed-over product that have been on DVD before (I know that the new Rings is going to be huge in the online community, but I'm curious to see how well it does with casual fans and casual DVD buyers who might already have the August release). And really, unless I'm forgetting something, the only big "new" release besides Star Wars is Bad Company, which didn't do all that hot at the box office, IIRC.
So, 11/5 might be bigger. But don't underestimate the power of The Force. . . (OK, and the Rings.) :b
Also, you planning on doing any kind of a Roundup for Black Friday, Dave?

 

[ShanonS]

Thanks again for another round-up. Speaking of shopping around, I've found myself going to Circuit City a lot more lately. I gave up on doing the price match thing, the three times I've done it, it's taken about 45 minutes at Best Buy, so CC's just getting a lot more of my business. Luckily they're right down the street from each other, so I can hit both in about 20-30 minutes. This is a light week, but looks like I'll be hitting CC for Insomnia and then hopping down to BB for Windtalkers.

 

[David Lambert]

Also, you planning on doing any kind of a Roundup for Black Friday, Dave?

No.

In fact, ANY sort of Roundup for that weekend might be in jeopardy, guys. My workplace is moving their operations that weekend from 4 separate buildings to 1 consolidated mega-building.

I'm my dept's co-ordinator for the move...my boss "volunteered" me. I have been told to expect to sacrifice Thu-Sun of that weekend. The good news is, they pay me double-time for the holiday and for Sun, and overtime for Sat. So I can afford a lot of DVDs after this.


I expect I'll eek out a Roundup somehow. But if it's kind of limp and listless, you'll know why! In the meantime, someone FedEx me some turkey and yams... :wink:

 

[David Lambert]

I see there will be an overlong pause in posting in this thread, whilst everyone digests that nugget...

 

[Brian E]

I don't know where he read it, but I know that I posted it on page two of Dave's Weekly Roundup for last week

Yup, that's where I read it.

 

[Brian E]

Boone, is Gen-Y Cops dub-only and edited to complete the screwing of the pooch?

I was just wondering this myself.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Between the Roundup, Odyssey and Price Hike threads now dominating the bargains section about the recent BestBuy price hikes...I thought I'd just throw in that I was in my local Wal-Mart tonight and saw a slew of titles for $14.44. (Along with the $9.44 "discount titles) And these were relatively current titles--such as Army of Darkness. I wish I could remember more. But it seems like I might have to reconsider things and add Wal-Mart to a place I price-check more often.
Hope I don't get flamed for this! :rolleyes

 

[Malcolm R]

Yeah, Wal-Mart just re-organized their budget inventory and got in a bunch of new titles, notably a number of horror titles such as "The Evil Dead," "The Fog," and "Army of Darkness" all for $14.44, and "Last House on the Left" for $9.44.

 

[David Lambert]

Actually, I thought I saw The Fog at Wal-Mart for $12.95...in a special Halloween display near the Electornic Dept's registers.

But Target has the same one for $12.50 right now, as I mention in the Roundup post, so I didn't bother about mentionign WM's price. I should have, in retrospect...there's not a Target on every street corner.

I grocery shop at WM every week, and walk through the DVD section almost every time, buying or not. When I post the Roundup and say, "off to grocery shop", it's WM I'm heading to.

I'll have to look later and see how many DVDs I've actually bought from WM. Certainly not as many as BB or CC, but probably quite a few!

 

[David Lambert]

Anyone who wants the 3-Disc version of E.T. for $24.99 online can click here!

 

[Jodee]

Success!

Best Buy price-matched American Idol (Circuit City's price of $11.99) so I got the bonus disc and saved $3. ALso got a PM on Insomnia which save dme $2 off their price.

So I saved $5 just by flashing CC's ad.

The cashier didn't know how to do a price match, but the manager came over and explained it to her and didn't give me a hard time.

If it wasn't for the bonus disc, I would have bought it at CC. In the future, I think I'll buy more discs from Circuit City. Their store here is a little out of the way (tucked in the back of a Mall Parking lot) but it's easy to get in and out with your stuff (no waiting) and lately they have had the better prices. Plus price matching with them is a breeze (it's a toss-up at Best Buy) and they always give you an extra percentage of the difference.

 

[SusanO]

Grrr....I'm having a heck of a time just *finding* a copy of Law & Order The First year in stock (I've only been waiting like months and months for this one so I can tell Columbia House to kiss off - $20 for two measly episodes of their random choice on VHS + $5 shipping is outrageous). I hear rumors that my Borders has it but they want $80.00. Maybe the regular Target near work has one (the Super Target near home in the Med Center area had none )
And in the Best Buy vs. Circuit City wars, since (so far) Circuit City hasn't done anything to raise prices (there have been like *two* price hikes at Best Buy in the last 3-4 months ), I've been giving them a lot of business as well as Borders.
I hate this 'buy it in the first 2 weeks it comes out or be prepared to wait eons for a discount' nonsense.
Anybody else having trouble finding what they want???

 

[Jim-M]

Grrr....I'm having a heck of a time just *finding* a copy of Law & Order The First year in stock (I've only been waiting like months and months for this one so I can tell Columbia House to kiss off - $20 for two measly episodes of their random choice on VHS + $5 shipping is outrageous). I hear rumors that my Borders has it but they want $80.00.

Order it from Amazon.ca and get it for around $40 using a $5 off coupon. See this thread at DVDTalk for details.

 

[Jodee]

I hate this 'buy it in the first 2 weeks it comes out or be prepared to wait eons for a discount' nonsense.

I actually love it! It forces me to decide every week what I definitely want to buy vs. what I can rent or put in my someday pile.
I love getting the new releases every week and finding the best deals on them. To me, it's part of the fun.

 

[Brian E]

Anyone who wants the 3-Disc version of E.T. for $24.99 online can click here!

Deal is dead

 

[JJR512]

My local Circus City had Windtalkers priced at $14.99. That's what the shelf tag said. I guess they were matching Best Buy.

Speaking of this movie, I notice it's very bare-bones. Does anyone know if there are any plans, or even rumors, for an SE later on?

 

[David Lambert]

So these are permanent price hikes and not just temporary ones for the "Preferred Appreciation Coupon" weekend? OOF.

I keep coming back to comments and questions like this one, and thinking about it. I mean, I managed a retail store for over 10 years. Is there ANY chain that would REALLY go to the trouble and expense (tickets, manhours, etc.) of reticketing all those items in every store for just a three-day period? Or any temporary period?

Especially with all the customer badwill involved?


Let's think this through. Hmmmm: When a retailer pulls the trigger on a price hike, they have to forecast the financial results with the accounting dept., plan out the increases with the purchasing dept., look for clashes with sale plans in the marketing dept., plan out for the PLU (price-look-up) table adjustments with the IT dept., arrange for new product pricetag stickers and/or shelf tags to be made up with the materials/supplies dept., and then have the operations dept. get all the info to the stores and get the personnel to get the prices switched.

Wow! I never put that much thought into it before. Doing all of this has got to be no easy task, nor is it (I hope) done lightly. We may bitch and moan, and with good reason when the changes end up changing the retailer's entire philosophy (if the words "_BEST_ Buy" can be called a philosophy).

But I certainly don't think its done for a temporary period of just a few days, not even to offset another promotion like the preferred customer weekend. And think about it: 10% is nothing on DVD margins. In my city, it's barely more than tax!