I've got dem etailer blues :( (may be long)

[roger thornhill]

First of all a little background on how I buy dvds. I don't preorder and don't personally give a damn about getting things on street date. What I want are low prices and quality service. I have historically bought dvds both at web stores and brick & mortar. The brick & mortar I use (when cheapest) are Best Buy, Circuit City and Wal-Mart.

When it comes to the etailers in addition to low prices and good service, I also want to be able to order by phone. I realize that most of you order on-line, but I refuse to do so. The safety of doing so is a debate for another thread, let's just say I don't feel comfortable doing so and leave it at that.

So, there have traditionally been 3 sites that meet my three criteria: dvdplanet (used to be ken crane's), express.com (used to be dvd express), and 800.com.

Now it looks like all 3 of these are causing me grief.

One other piece of information about me. I typically buy 4 dvds at a pop, about every other week. This has historically been cheaper than buying 2 every week, because shipping at many of the sites (at least used to be) per shipment. There was a time when 800.com had free shipping and it was almost always cheapest. Then for a long time dvdplanet was cheapest and every time I'd order, either 3 or 4 of the dvds would be ordered from them.

Now dvdplanet has raised both their prices and their shipping (now charging per item, not per shipment). Either they did this because of good marketing research showing that their declining market share would be offset by their increased profit margin, or they are in such bad shape that they threw a hail mary pass and are hoping against hope that this will work.

I can only speak for myself, and don't know how typical I am. I've just placed my first order after their rate increases and it was cheapest for me not to buy 3 or 4 of my dvds from them, not even 1 or 2, but zero. It makes me think very much that they've thrown a hail mary pass and it's been intercepted.

What about my other sites? Well express.com seems to have liquidated their entire stock and I can only think that they are about to go out of business. All 4 of my dvds were out of stock there and I randomly typed in about 10 more titles of all types and every single one was out of stock. So I don't think they're an option any more.

And 800.com? Well they had all 4 in stock and had a good (for these days) price so I tried to order there. After being on hold for 20 minutes I get an answering machine telling me to leave my order info. It appears that they won't take phone orders anymore. For me that's the kiss of death.

So what am I supposed to do? Well I still have the brick & mortar stores, but the selection leaves something to be desired. I did add one new online site to my options, the laser's edge. They had all 4 in stock (although their web site doesn't tell you if it's in stock or not ) and the prices were (while not cheap) cheaper than dvdplanet or the b&ms. And they take phone orders and charge $3.50 per shipment, not per item . I've heard good things about their service and hopefully they won't raise prices or drop the ball on selection any time soon.

Sorry for the rant, I feel better now.


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dds #070

[tomdkat]

I, too, feel your pain. I purchase MOST of my DVDs online and from one of TWO etailers: DVD Empire or DVD Express, mainly for the convenience. I'm sure I could find better prices elsewhere but I'm tired of opening accounts at every new etailer that has the best price for a given DVD.

Maybe if more people bought DVDs online, the price increases would not occur since the volume of sales would help keep prices down.

I guess I deal with this whole situation by not trying to think about it much.

Peace.....

[tomdkat]

I just had a GREAT idea! If you want the best deals on DVDs, simply send ME the money and I'll HOOK YOU UP!!!!!!

What do you think????

Peace....

[roger thornhill]

Apparently my fears about express.com are valid. They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 2 days ago although there's been little coverage of it. http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/010309/l09319421_2.html

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dds #070

[Poidog]

My response is more suitable for this thread instead of 1138's thread. Security has been all right for me (knock on wood) but I have stopped shopping at e-tailers for the most part.

If you pay off your credit card bills in full, then it should not be a problem. However, before I got married, I had a problem (which my wife says I still have) of buying every DVD I wanted to see, whether I saw the movie or not. Most of the major e-tailers saw my business. Now, I still buy, but at a lesser frequency.

However, with interest racking up my credit card and a new car (and a family?), I have to be selective. Also, both my wife and I might go on strike with our jobs. How's that for a bummer???

Anyway, the only time I go with e-tailers if it's for a title I can't find locally at a decent price (e.g. Point of View; ever heard of it?).

With my credit card interest, I'll end up paying more than retail in the long run. DVD has gotten so big for itself (whatever happened to the "Exclusitivity Club" like LD had? ), that e-tailers are raising prices, lowering service, or going out of business altogether.

I haven't ordered anything from Express since November 2000 and just canceled Point of View in lieu of their bankruptcy announcement. Sorry, Express.

Even at a retail store where someone I know works, their employee discount has decreased. Pretty soon, there will be no discounts and everyone will have to pay full price and break their bank accounts!

Even renting DVDs online can get expensive as the interest will pile up so are they really a bargain for me???

Aloha,
Poidog

[This message has been edited by Poidog (edited 03-10-2001).]

[Dr. Evil]

I've been getting my DVDs from Buy.com for most of the last year; so far, there's only one title they haven't been able to get me, and have put on long-term backorder.

RD