[Mr_Orange]

..... Online DVD prices to rise as government abolishes VAT loophole | Home Cinema Choice.

Looks like it might be time to stock up on those cheap DVDs/CDs/BRs.

[IAN P]

Well that's a depressing read, money grabbing son's of bitches.

Just in time for Christmas no doubt.

[supraking]

damn i spend a tenner on dvds everytime i go shopping too, ah well looks like ill have to get a bluray player instead

[Beetlejuice]

Time to go on a DVD spending spree.... OR spend more time in the Classifieds :D

[nwgarratt]

Not the time to do this. They are making it hard to spend money and this will only worsen the recession. The High Street needs to be cheaper not the other way round. I will not get any discs at all if they end up like the High Street prices.

They will ruin DVD and Blu Ray.

[PoochJD]

HI,

I accept the fact that brick-and-mortar shops have to sell goods (of any kind) at higher rates than online stores, but when the average high-street store sells a Top 10 new release DVD for more than £15 (and in HMV's case, they up the price by another £2 or £3), then it's not surprising people turn to purchasing DVD's and Blu-Ray discs online, where such titles can be bought for £10-£12 max!

(If you import, you can often get better versions of the same film, a month or two before the UK release, and with better extras and features. WATCHMEN springs immediately to mind! HMV Blu-Ray price, double-disc theatrical cut, about £24-99. Online US import of the Extended Director's Cut on Blu-Ray, approximately £17! )

Yes, we all love to browse in retail shops, but if I can save as much as 40% by buying online or importing from other online stores around the world, then that's not something I'm going to simply let slip by. If the government intends closing the VAT "loophole", then all that will happen, is high street shops will be forced to charge much less or the same as online companies, or they will simply go out of business, ala Zavvi, Woolworths, etc!

Why can't shops understand, that if their prices are sensible and realistic, (a £1 or two more than online is acceptable), then people will buy from them! Charging £20 plus, however, in high-street shops, is NOT the way to get people to spend their money in your establishment, no matter how fantastic the service, when the same DVD can be bought for much, much less online!

In the current economic climate, this government seems to be doing everything it can, to ruin the high street; to poison anyone who dares to spend any money on entertainment, AND ensure that even more people will detest them for it!

It's yet another case of the government not having a bloody clue about living in the real world! And these... reprobates... think they deserve to be earning £130k a year?!

Looks like our High Streets are going to become deserted by the end of the year! A great way to celebrate the Olympics in 2010, adn to shaft your citizens too! Go Gordon!


Pooch

[lostinspace]

If I'm honest, I have to say I'm surprised the VAT loophole ever existed, and that it lasted as long as it did.

But this will not change my spending. I never buy on release, and can't understand why anyone would. They always come down to what I regard as reasonable prices- all I have to do is wait.

I used to buy loads of DVD on release, only to feel sick a few weeks later when it was half what I'd paid. Sometimes they dropped in price before I'd got round to watching them.

There's hundreds of great films available very cheap which I haven't seen yet, so I get those, and by the time I've done them, the new releases I refused have dropped to what I'm prepared to pay.

And my bet for the next target of HMG is........Ebay.......at last. There's thousands on there doing it as a business and not paying their business rates, not telling their mortgage company they're using their home as a business premises, not paying their VAT etc

[Mr_Orange]

Originally Posted by lostinspace

And my bet for the next target of HMG is........Ebay.......at last. There's thousands on there doing it as a business and not paying their business rates, not telling their mortgage company they're using their home as a business premises, not paying their VAT etc

Oooo, that's controversial .

[rojgelf]

Worse is if they close this loophole then the £17.99 entry point for DVDs, boxsets and blu-rays could disappear, and only head upwards.

[Wambaugh]

I don't think the issue is as simple as the article makes out. Under EU law, nations must allow citizens to import around £18s' worth of merchandise without charge. They have minimum & maximum levels of relief, I think, but the Government sway much from that level.

What I assume they're talking about changing is how the merchants are allowed to operate in Guernsey and Jersey. I would bet you'd simply see a lot of companies going to Switzerland instead, DVD.co.uk are already there. They'd still not pay VAT, and we'd still be able to import under a certain level.

[philbam]

This 'loophole' was brought up over 4 years ago, and the Government still hasn't changed anything in all that time.
If you note the report in HCC also referred to Woolworth.co.uk, which of course stopped trading January 2009.
I rather think that HCC have recycled an old item and brought it up again as 'News'.