dx23

Here is a coupon that has all the sales that Borders is having this Wednesday:

http://www.borders.com/online/store/...A_20081125_REW

theflicker

50% off There Will Be Blood bluray!
Borders . . . 40.99 MSRP . . .

Maybe Sweeney Todd dvd for 8.99 is good. Unlike others on the list, it does not specify "single disc". That's a fair price.

Not seeing much else though.

dx23

I put the wrong date by mistake. The sale is on 11/26. Mods, please correct the title of the thread.

NiCK Crush

yea, I'm all over that Blood Blu-ray.

FangsFirst

Not that it really makes a difference, but the instore MSRP (the ones on the site are mostly based on the vendors the titles are shipped directly from, making some higher and some lower) is 39.99

FangsFirst

oh, and more titles are added friday than the above.

asianxcore

Looks like it's time for me to pick up...

Lust, Caution
Curse Of The Golden Flower
WarGames

ctyankee

Mad Men Season 1 at $19.99 is not a bad price, even with tax

dx23

Circuit city is having it on BF for $12.99.

melih69

Blu-ray prices are brutal. $ $36 for Departed ??? even with the %50 off it is still $18+tax.

DVD Polizei

I think I'm holding out for Amazon surprises and Barnes & Noble. Borders just loves to dry-fuck the consumer and then tell you it was a mutually loving experience.

EDIT: For example, Iron Man Blu-ray will be $15 on November 28th at Amazon.

dx23

Exactly. And the way the economy is going, I don't see them lasting very long.

dx23

Do you have a list of the additional titles? It seems that the idiots running the corporation forgot to list them in the email they sent, making it seem that there is no difference between yesterday's and this weekend deals.

http://www.borders.com/online/store/...L_20081127_REW

When Borders goes out of business, they only have to look at themselves to blame for the debacle. Missing the boat on the biggest day for shopping takes the cake.

FangsFirst

sigh.
No, I thought it would be posted. The one title that stood out enough for me to want to grab one was the new DE of Beetlejuice.

moviewizguy

I bought War Games and When Harry Met Sally for $5 each. The most recent releases.

Stay Tuned

I bought 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days for $8.99. Not bad.

ctyankee

I think Borders has done a bunch of bonehead moves over the years. But creating a big impressive Black Friday is not one of them.

That strategy only makes sense for stores trying to get customers in stores with loss leaders so that they can sell them higher price and higher margin goods.

Borders niche in life is the mega-bookstore while trying to appeal to those that miss the local bookstore. If they try to compete head-to-head with Best Buy on loss-leader DVDs they will LOSE big-time. Their sales need to come from the book buyer who sees a DVD and gets it for someone they know and doing it at a decent price margin. Problem is that they attempt to rip the consumer off with this full retail (or near full retail) pricing model.

Actually, a Black Wednesday makes more sense than a Black Friday. Get dollars from that customer before someone else does because few people are going to make Borders an agenda destination on Friday no matter what they do.

What IS stupid is their pricing model. Price catalog DVDs at an everyday price that doesn't make the customer feel ripped off. Instead those clowns, do these 20, 30 and 40 percent e-mails so often and so consistently that precious few Border buyers don't understand the pattern and make their purchases accordingly. So, it just becomes a game with consumers understanding the game and (importantly) feeling manipulated by Borders. In my view this puts them in stupidville, not able to sell high margin items nor complete with high volume sellers AND still alienating consumers.

I'll be sad to lose them as then Barnes and Nobles won't have the same B&M competition for business. And I like being able to sit down and read some stuff.

But with the economy in the toilet and their own stupidity, I think they are doomed.

Sweet Baby James

I've been monitoring the Borders situation because I have many gift cards and don't want to be left holding the bag if they go under. From all of the info that I have seen, I wouldn't be surprised if they went under at the start of the new year.

FangsFirst

This seems contradictory. You recognize why they can't be sold at low prices (margin is not so high as people seem to think--selling at 19.99 is ~7% margin on a 29.99 list item, or about $2--I mean, to the best of my knowledge anyway, but based at the cost most vendors give retailers in the media industry) yet suggest this is an attempt to "rip people off." I'm not saying anyone should happily and blindly pay 29.99 for a single disc release that can be gotten for less elsewhere, but I think it's a mischaracterization to call it an attempt to "rip [people] off." A "rip off" perhaps, but there's a difference between intention and end result.

Well, the thing is you're thinking of it more as a DVD store because that's your focus, when the great majority of sales are books. And the coupon e-mails are attempts to get people into the store, and hopefully buy other items without the coupon (basically equivalent to loss leaders)--or to at least drive sales #s, if not profit. I'm not sure how "consistent" and "often" released coupons are hard for people to understand (going from your own characterization here). By and large most people do not feel manipulated and an awful lot of them play this game, which makes it backfire in the face of the faceless gits who don't realize it.
and so...
That's no different from my view in the end anyway. The plan isn't as insidious or manipulative as you think--it's actually just incredibly stupid. That's what frustrates me about posts like yours--it's not that you're wrong at all in the end, but attributing these strange ideas of deliberately trying to rip people off when it's more likely general incompetence and inconsistency...well there you are.

I mean, I'm not trying to get on your case or be offensive or what have you. I just always get bothered when people attribute such malicious intent. It's never malicious--that's like the lunatic Judas Priest lawsuit. Who WANTS their fans to commit suicide--or WANTS to annoy their customers?
It's silly. It's usually far simpler than that--stupidity.