Christmas shopping not looking so much 'Blu' as dismal

[admin]

It's the first holiday season since Blu-Ray put a stake in the heart of the rival HD-DVD format, but if Sony and friends thought that would mean a clear field of fire on shoppers' wallets...sorry, wrong year.

-- snip --

But Hollywood optimism and Amazon moxie pale in the light of Monday's announcement that Circuit City is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and Wednesday's declaration from Best Buy that "in 42 years of retailing, we've never seen such difficult times for the consumer." Credit crunches are particularly murderous on high-ticket, big-box-bought items such as HDTV sets and high-end players.

-- snip --

... if we were in the Blu-Ray market, the least expensive player available would set us back $230 (no sign of the $199 promo unit Best Buy was recently touting), after which we'd have 1,171 discs from which to choose.
In contrast, we could hook up with a $30 DVD player (if the ones in our various computers didn't suit us), and the selection of titles available numbers a staggering 77,682...not counting all those we already own.

http://www.betanews.com/article/Christmas_shopping_not_looking_so_much_Blu_as_dismal/1226539529

[doctorhardware]

Circuit city is closing most if not all, stores in the greater Chicago area. In light of the economy the stores are dead no one is spending the money. I was in a Kohl's department store the other day, it was empty.

[blutach]

Gee, I thought with the economy in such a mess, consumers would go down market to the likes of CC. Guess, they were just over stretched.

Regards

[admin]

CC have filled for chapter 11:

http://www.betanews.com/article/Circuit_City_files_for_Chapter_11_bankruptcy/1226328278

[drfsupercenter]

Maybe if Circuit City and Best Buy weren't such ripoffs, people would actually shop there.

Amazon.com totally owns both of them, so who cares if it's more convenient to go to a real store? Plus, no sales tax is a benefit

[jamoskeag3]

Gee, I thought with the economy in such a mess, consumers would go down market to the likes of CC. Guess, they were just over stretched.

Regards

CC had previously made serios management errors, so were in no financial shape to weather this slowdown. For example, they previously did not lower their prices on HD TVs to match others prices, such as Blockbuster. Also, a few years ago, they fired all their experienced sales staff and replaced them with inexperienced lesser paid staff. That did wonders for service! Also did wonders for morale, by sending the message that if your good and work hard and remain with us, we will reward you bt firing you!

[drfsupercenter]

Here's another example:

Best Buy has DVD burners starting at $50 (there is one on sale, but even then it's a lot):

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&id=abcat0504007&type=category&usc=abcat0500000&cp=1&sp=%2Bcurrentprice+skuid&nrp=15&qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1%7E%7Eq70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031%7E%7Ecabcat0500000%23%230%23%2311a%7E%7Ecabcat0504000%23%230%23%233y%7E%7Ecabcat0504005%23%230%23%23p%7E%7Encabcat0504007%23%230%23%23f&pagetype=listing

But look at Micro Center:

http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?search_within=&web_group=byopc_intdrives&category=HF5&subcategory=&manufacturer_title=&sortby=pricelow

They have them starting at $23. Basically, NewEgg prices at a brick-and-mortar store.
So good riddance, Best Buy, you may rip off 90% of the public but not me.

[gonwk]

What do you guys think about the LG Burners ... they seem pretty shotty!

G!

[gonwk]

... Amazon.com totally owns both of them, so who cares if it's more convenient to go to a real store? Plus, no sales tax is a benefit

Hi DrF ... I haven't shopped with Amazon ... but is it ture that they have "No Sales Tax"!?!?

Thanks,

G!

[PurpleDemon]

I love Amazon. The only way I have had to pay sales tax is if the sponsered store is in my state. Otherwise tax free.

Have Fun. They seem to have just about everything and free shipping on orders over $25 with what they stock.

[doctorhardware]

There are some instances that I have bought item from the internet and I was charged a small tax charge.

[dazuk1972]

http://www.betanews.com/article/Chri...mal/1226539529

I'd never go to HD after the bad news I kept hearing and reading. Sony also turned their backs on a deal on it.

[drfsupercenter]

Well, if you buy from Amazon.com itself there's no tax. If you buy from Amazon Marketplace or one of the retailers who sells through Amazon you might, depending on the state.

But so far, none of the retailers are located in Michigan so for me it doesn't matter.

[doctorhardware]

In IL it all depends what state the part was ordered from. If I order from IN I am charged tax. IL is weird about that. But if I order from WI I am not charged any taxes. But IL is wanting to charge taxes on all out of state orders.