Blockbuster's silly "preorder a used copy" program

cranguy

cranguy

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I was in Blockbuster over the weekend (checking out the sweet local Black Friday sale). Here's an exchange I had with the employee at the checkout.

Employee: Do you buy a lot of used movies here?
Me: Yeah, I do.
Employee: Do you know about our preorder program?
Me: (Thinking he was talking about preordering new DVDs) Yeah I think so.
Employee: It's a great way to make sure you get the title you want.
Me: That's OK, I usually only buy the used stuff.
Employee: Oh, this [promotion] is for used titles... like the Dark Knight for example. You make a reservation for a new title and 30 days after it comes out, you can pick up a used copy for $9.99. It's great in case you're worried that you won't be able to find the title you want.


Uh, what? Does this guy even hear the words that are coming out of his own mouth? Guaranteeing me a used copy a month late at a slightly discounted price. Egads, do they have actually have customers signing up for this?
 
This is just an easy way for them to dump all the initial copies they have for a new release.

Like, for pretty much any huge title (like The Dark Knight) they get a ton of copies for rental for the first few weeks. After demand dies down, they have to do something with those copies so I'm guessing this preordering used DVDs program is meant to get rid of those excess copies.
 
[quote name='QiG']I don't buy DVDs, but I'm guessing $10 is pretty high now?[/quote]

New release DVDs actually go for $14.99. I think what that employee was talking about is total bullshit. A week after the Dark Knight is released? Maybe a month or so. Tropic Thunder was released 2 weeks ago at my local BBV and it's still flying off the shelves. My BBV has 360 copies of the Dark Knight on hand for rentals and I'm expecting them to constantly get rented out for atleast a month.

[quote name='Vinny']This is just an easy way for them to dump all the initial copies they have for a new release.

Like, for pretty much any huge title (like The Dark Knight) they get a ton of copies for rental for the first few weeks. After demand dies down, they have to do something with those copies so I'm guessing this preordering used DVDs program is meant to get rid of those excess copies.[/quote]

Honestly, the used DVDs do sell quite often. The BBV I work at has shitloads of used DVDs on hand, but they do sell at a decent rate. Depends on the movie of course, but the 4 for $20($9.99 DVDs) and 3 for $20($14.99 DVDs) actually has people buying them. I would never buy used DVDs of course, but some people would.
 
[quote name='phear3d']make sure gamestop isn't listening[/quote]For serious. I can see the ad copy now... "Be the FIRST to know when the newest titles are available at a discount!"
 
How is this a bad deal?
Is it bad because of the price? $10 seems like a good price for TDK.
Or bad because it's a pre-order? For a title like TDK they will get plenty of copies, so the chance of missing out is slim. For other indie titles however they probably only get a couple of copies, it would be smart to pre-order.

For example when [REC] is released on DVD, most stores might get 3 copies, max. That would be worth pre-ordering.
 
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