Oh my fun morning with HMV

[aygie]

Ok just a quick one, check before you buy,,,,,check before you buy!!

In a nutshell, bought Pirates (the first one) yesterday in HMV (UK) and the prestige. I never really pay attention to prices and stuff cause if i've decided to buy something i just get it!

But as i got home i noticed this thing on the cover of the Pirates cover...2...7...£27?!?!?! (thats $53.50 at todays rate) I though wow thats bloody expensive, so i checked their website......£17....£17! ($33)

Safe to say i went back this morning (made sure i had a stinking hang over for extra fun) and got my money back.

Moral of the story, don't get so excited about buying Blu that you don't check the price tag. and always,always do things with a hang over cause you don't give a s**t what you say when your still a little drunk in the morning!!

[scott87]

yeah i went in there the other day! There prices are disgusting! I was considering complaining!Im surprised why people may be put off when they see them prices its the same in virgin aswell. Blockbuster are very good price wise though i have found game (not a lot of choice though) and gamestation are quite good as well on for high street stuff! Its best to just go on the internet and buy them in my opinion you have to wait for delivery but your saving yourself a bit of cash!

[ryoohki]

It happen here too at Futureshop. Employee stick the MSRP on the box , but DONT stick the low retail price (generally 30% off the MSRP). So you browse, and movies are 40$CAD while in fact they may right 29.99 or lower

But they do that with DVD too.. so everybodies is equal LOL

[DTMoney84]

Yea no matter where you are buying ENG, CAN, or US the internet is just the best way to go. I have pretty much completely stopped buying from B&M stores. The only time I will is when one of my favorite movies is released and I cannot wait for the shipping delay. Other than that it is all internet purchasing for me.

[aygie]

the funniest thing is that i ended up ordering from play.com, i get a 10% discount and i had £10.50 in my play trade account so the movie only cost me £5 in the end!! haha i will never be impatient again!

[KenThompson]

Both Pirate movies at Best Buy in Langley B.C. (Can.) came to $60. plus tax. Bought them without regard to price on release day. I would buy more from amazon if they would deliver them to my home. Instead I have to go to Bellingham and pick them . We know some one there and have sent to her and then drive them across the border. Only 2 at a time otherwise will get dragged into customs and pay duties. Some titles are just outragously priced at Future Shop and Best Buy here,so only way to not get ripped off is amazon.com.

[KenThompson]

One more thing, I have never bought anything from HMV as they are the worst for price gouging.

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by Aygie

Ok just a quick one, check before you buy,,,,,check before you buy!!

In a nutshell, bought Pirates (the first one) yesterday in HMV (UK) and the prestige. I never really pay attention to prices and stuff cause if i've decided to buy something i just get it!

But as i got home i noticed this thing on the cover of the Pirates cover...2...7...£27?!?!?! (thats $53.50 at todays rate) I though wow thats bloody expensive, so i checked their website......£17....£17! ($33)

Safe to say i went back this morning (made sure i had a stinking hang over for extra fun) and got my money back.

Moral of the story, don't get so excited about buying Blu that you don't check the price tag. and always,always do things with a hang over cause you don't give a s**t what you say when your still a little drunk in the morning!!

That price is with VAT right? In that case £17 is super cheap. If you subtract the 17.5% VAT, the pre-VAT price would be £14.02 or 27.78 USD.

But you really should not be comparing prices with American stores since you live in the UK. The US prices have no VAT applied to them and the UK minimum wage is £5.35 per hour for workers aged 22 years and older.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/nmw/#b

The average US minimum wage is 5.15 USD which translates to about £2.60 per hour.

Doing a direct comparison of prices with exchange rates is pointless given the different standard of living in the UK vs the US.

You should be happy that your currency is so strong because your purchasing power while travelling is so much better than an American with a similar job to yours.

In a nutshell, the prices in the US are lower because most of them are living in poverty.

[aygie]

yeah but i live in Jersey! (not new Jersey).

Its a VAT free Island! and it's more expensive over here in store than online in the mainland UK with VAT!! That's just stupid. (not you the price )

[scott87]

yeah its still like that over in the uk aswell if you live in jersey

[WickyWoo]

People need to start understanding the differences in scale between a retail store, even a chain and online

Amazon.com has what, 10 warehouses? From there they service 3-5 states each. Not only that, but they don't have to replicate stock everywhere, so you can centralize lower selling categories. It's very efficient and they operate on volume. They're not paying rent in a high-profile area, just a warehouse in an industrial park somewhere. They don't have to pay floor people and cashiers. They don't need display models, they don't need anything but a bunch of shelves and people to pull things.

So yes, they can afford to only pull a 5% profit on each item.

At a restaurant, that dinner you just paid $16.95 for. You know how much the food on your plate ran? About $4.25. Multiply that by 4, and you have a decent profit, rent, electricity, gas, wages etc.

I really wish people would stop saying retail is "a rip-off", because it's simply not true.

[aygie]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

People need to start understanding the differences in scale between a retail store, even a chain and online

Amazon.com has what, 10 warehouses? From there they service 3-5 states each. Not only that, but they don't have to replicate stock everywhere, so you can centralize lower selling categories. It's very efficient and they operate on volume. They're not paying rent in a high-profile area, just a warehouse in an industrial park somewhere. They don't have to pay floor people and cashiers. They don't need display models, they don't need anything but a bunch of shelves and people to pull things.

So yes, they can afford to only pull a 5% profit on each item.

At a restaurant, that dinner you just paid $16.95 for. You know how much the food on your plate ran? About $4.25. Multiply that by 4, and you have a decent profit, rent, electricity, gas, wages etc.

I really wish people would stop saying retail is "a rip-off", because it's simply not true.

Hey Wicky!

I wasn't moaning about the store being exspensive, it was the fact that it was their website that was selling for £10 cheaper. I just found it completely odd. Like i said i bought the prestige aswel and it was £3 pound cheaper on the website but i kept cause i don't mind paying that much for the convenience of the store.

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by Aygie

Hey Wicky!

I wasn't moaning about the store being exspensive, it was the fact that it was their website that was selling for £10 cheaper. I just found it completely odd. Like i said i bought the prestige aswel and it was £3 pound cheaper on the website but i kept cause i don't mind paying that much for the convenience of the store.

I can see your point of view but many places sell things cheaper online or offer online specials. If their site was selling something cheaper you could have bought it online. Stores are under no obligation to sell things for the same price through every channel.

Sometimes you pay a bit more for the convenience of being able to go somewhere and pick it up instead of having it shipped or having to drive out to an outlet/warehouse store. I have to wonder though if driving out to a big box store is really saving any money if you end up spending money on gas to get there and back.

[aygie]

Originally Posted by aristotles

I can see your point of view but many places sell things cheaper online or offer online specials. If their site was selling something cheaper you could have bought it online. Stores are under no obligation to sell things for the same price through every channel.

Sometimes you pay a bit more for the convenience of being able to go somewhere and pick it up instead of having it shipped or having to drive out to an outlet/warehouse store. I have to wonder though if driving out to a big box store is really saving any money if you end up spending money on gas to get there and back.

True, very true but their shooting themselves in the foot really, like i said the Prestige was more expensive but it wasn't substantial so i kept it they made their profit, but charging a tenner more? Thats almost insulting. If companies want to keep their stores and not just be websites the worst thing they can do is be in direct competition with themselves! Consumers won't buy in store and we'll all become fat from ordering/watching movies/playing games from our couch!

[NutsAboutPS3]

Originally Posted by aristotles

That price is with VAT right? In that case £17 is super cheap. If you subtract the 17.5% VAT, the pre-VAT price would be £14.02 or 27.78 USD.

Most UK online retailers seem to ship from Jersey or Guernsey now, and there is no VAT if the goods are less than £18. This is why so many Blu-rays are priced at £17.99. So the B&M store would have to charge £21.14 to receive the same money from the sale as a £17.99 online retailer.

[aygie]

Originally Posted by NutsAboutPS3

Most UK online retailers seem to ship from Jersey or Guernsey now, and there is no VAT if the goods are less than £18. This is why so many Blu-rays are priced at £17.99. So the B&M store would have to charge £21.14 to receive the same money from the sale as a £17.99 online retailer.

Kinda, all the fulfillment company's have been removed from Jersey & Guernsey because of this "loop hole"in the VAT. The English government are putting pressure on Jersey to be more in line with the EU so once they saw Amazon and various other online retailers were using this loop they were effectively asked to leave the Island. Nice huh?

[yeslek]

Originally Posted by Aygie

Ok just a quick one, check before you buy,,,,,check before you buy!!

In a nutshell, bought Pirates (the first one) yesterday in HMV (UK) and the prestige. I never really pay attention to prices and stuff cause if i've decided to buy something i just get it!

But as i got home i noticed this thing on the cover of the Pirates cover...2...7...£27?!?!?! (thats $53.50 at todays rate) I though wow thats bloody expensive, so i checked their website......£17....£17! ($33)

Safe to say i went back this morning (made sure i had a stinking hang over for extra fun) and got my money back.

Moral of the story, don't get so excited about buying Blu that you don't check the price tag. and always,always do things with a hang over cause you don't give a s**t what you say when your still a little drunk in the morning!!

HMV are terrible for that

i NEVER buy instore now unless its in like the 2.99 CD album sales they have

the website is LOADS cheaper....and i can use my student discount online too