Ohio: Five Below. Beware.

[OrlandoEastwood]

Ok, a retail chain called Five Below opened in my town and they advertised in their flyer that they had Blu-rays for $5. I managed to get the giant gift set of Coraline, Planet Terror, and Speed Racer for $15. Well, Coraline was all right, but the other two had slashes through the barcodes. I was infuriated. I called them up and told them that these products were damaged. I was told; "They are like that because we get them in a buyout." I was like; "What the hell!" Sorry that the image is blurry, my cell is crap.

[King Troll]

Why is that a problem?

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

Ok, a retail chain called Five Below opened in my town and they advertised in their flyer that they had Blu-rays for $5. I managed to get the giant gift set of Coraline, Planet Terror, and Speed Racer for $15. Well, Coraline was all right, but the other two had slashes through the barcodes. I was infuriated. I called them up and told them that these products were damaged. I was told; "They are like that because we get them in a buyout." I was like; "What the hell!" Sorry that the image is blurry, my cell is crap.

that's standard for discount stores like five below, big lots etc. they buy them at clearance prices and the upc's are marred so that someone can't return them at a big box retailer.

[Chloenator]

Originally Posted by wormraper

that's standard for discount stores like five below, big lots etc. they buy them at clearance prices and the upc's are marred so that someone can't return them at a big box retailer.

Exactly. All of the Blu-rays at my local Five Below are like that as well. It is probably like that at all Five Below stores. Not uncommon.

[Red's got the Blu's]

I remember buying cd's that got this treatment back in the late 80's/ early 90's.

[Evil]

Originally Posted by Sad Beautiful Tragic

Exactly. All of the Blu-rays at my local Five Below are like that as well. It is probably like that at all Five Below stores. Not uncommon.

Some of the blus I got from Five Below are slashed (Last Airbender) while others aren't (Spiderwick Chronicles, Charlie St. Cloud). So, I guess you can get lucky.

Still, personally, I don't really care about a slash if I'm only paying $5 and the disc isn't damaged.

[CaptainYoda]

This practice goes all the way back to vinyl record albums in the 70s. They used to clip off the corner of the record cover. They were called "cut-outs". But yeah, nothing new here.

[OrlandoEastwood]

I've never seen this before. Not even at Big Lots.

[Clark Kent]

Five Below generally sells very cheap novelty merchandise and an assortment of bargain clearance items bought from wholesalers. The slashes indicate these discs were cut-outs from the manufacturer. They are slashed so normal retail stores can't return the merchandise for credit.

[ricky1814]

Did you not notice this when u bought them?

[mar3o]

I saw close to 3 dozen copies of the 3-disc Speed Racer yesterday in my local Five Below for $5. I had never seen it before but I've wanted to, and at $5 I figured it was a great buy. When I got home and opened it I noticed there was a deep cut vertically on the back across the UPC - it cut right through the cover art and even through the case itself, and there was a broken piece of plastic inside that held the swinging additional hub for 2 of the discs, and so it wouldn't stay in the groove any longer - it just fell out loose. The discs themselves do stay attached though.

Today I went back hoping to get an exchange for another set without all the damage - but every single copy had the same exact slash across the UPC on the back cutting into the plastic. Close to 3 dozen copies all with the same exact slash - and there's a sticker on the outside wrapper that covers most of it up so you won't notice until you get home with it.

Does anybody know how this would happen? Are these rejects or something? Are the discs themselves okay or should I worry?

[Scottie]

They usually slash the UPC when they're practically giving them away.

Just buy a replacement case and tape the ripped paper and everything should be good. I find them from time to time at Walmart and other stores.

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by mar3o

I saw close to 3 dozen copies of the 3-disc Speed Racer yesterday in my local Five Below for $5. I had never seen it before but I've wanted to, and at $5 I figured it was a great buy. When I got home and opened it I noticed there was a deep cut vertically on the back across the UPC - it cut right through the cover art and even through the case itself, and there was a broken piece of plastic inside that held the swinging additional hub for 2 of the discs, and so it wouldn't stay in the groove any longer - it just fell out loose. The discs themselves do stay attached though.

Today I went back hoping to get an exchange for another set without all the damage - but every single copy had the same exact slash across the UPC on the back cutting into the plastic. Close to 3 dozen copies all with the same exact slash - and there's a sticker on the outside wrapper that covers most of it up so you won't notice until you get home with it.

Does anybody know how this would happen? Are these rejects or something? Are the discs themselves okay or should I worry?

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=220608

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by iScottie

They usually slash the UPC when they're practically giving them away.

Just buy a replacement case and tape the ripped paper and everything should be good. I find them from time to time at Walmart and other stores.

Big Lots does this with their BDs or they arrive like that. Doesn't really bother me because all of their BDs are between $5-7.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Big Lots does this with their BDs or they arrive like that. Doesn't really bother me because all of their BDs are between $5-7.

I think Best Buy, BJs, and sometimes Amazon does it too with certain films. I don't really mind as I always swap the cases out.

[mar3o]

That's weird - I never came across this until yesterday. It's bad enough the case is slashed but on top of that the plastic inside hinge is broken.

Why do they do this? so because we get it cheap they wreck the case on us? What's the point?

[Scottie]

http://www.discmakers.com/shop/Paren...LURAYCASES.asp

[mar3o]

I just bought Speed Racer yesterday from Five Below and didn't notice this slash until I got home. You don't really notice unless you're looking for it because with Speed Racer, they put a sticker over the slash on the outside of the shrink wrapping, so you can't really see it unless you're looking for it. This is the first time I came across this.

It's one thing to scratch the UPC or something - but every one had deep cuts that went all the way through the actual plastic case itself. Not cool. I will likely not buy any more discs from Five Below for that reason. I've bought plenty of cheap discs before but never came across this before.

[Optimus-Prime-Rox]

Originally Posted by mar3o

That's weird - I never came across this until yesterday. It's bad enough the case is slashed but on top of that the plastic inside hinge is broken.

Why do they do this? so because we get it cheap they wreck the case on us? What's the point?

My brand new copy of Speed Racer came with a broken hinge when it was first released years ago but I didn't complain to Amazon.com about it.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by blu-ray_girl_fan

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=220608

Thanks for the link. This is the first time I encountered this. It's one thing if they make some kind of identifying mark to label it as a closeout - but they literally slash the case itself so deep it goes right through the plastic case. This could potentially even damage the discs inside I would imagine.