Barnes & Noble 50% off Sale - Criterions

RPupkin · 10-11-2009, 4:30 PM

Hi guys,

Just a heads up, the B&N sale has started today on Criterion Blurays. Its running for about two weeks.

Criterion Collection Fifty Percent Off Sale - Barnes*&*Noble

dannydj · 10-11-2009, 5:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPupkin

Hi guys,

Just a heads up, the B&N sale has started today on Criterion Blurays. Its running for about two weeks.

Criterion Collection Fifty Percent Off Sale - Barnes*&*Noble

discount has yet to be applied to blu rays - although they do have the third man in stock.

*thearrowmaker* · 10-11-2009, 5:55 PM

Thanks for the heads-up. People should be aware however that if ordering any of the $19.99 titles, the saving isn't as much as it first appears. Once you have added postage they work out around $28.50, which is currently just over £17. All of the $19.99 titles I looked at can be ordered through Amazon Uk's Marketplace for around £17-£18 anyway. So not really much of a saving for me. Others may fare better.

Remember that if you do order from B&N to order titles individually, as anything over £18 will almost certainly require adding VAT and £8.00 handling fee.

jrp023 · 10-11-2009, 6:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thearrowmaker

anything over £18 will almost certainly require adding VAT and £8.00 handling fee.

Important to remember the VAT, didn't the amount increase to around £23 though?

either way, you wont get two below the limit.

death valley · 10-11-2009, 6:25 PM

anything known about vouchers ?

RPupkin · 10-11-2009, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thearrowmaker

Thanks for the heads-up. People should be aware however that if ordering any of the $19.99 titles, the saving isn't as much as it first appears. Once you have added postage they work out around $28.50, which is currently just over £17. All of the $19.99 titles I looked at can be ordered through Amazon Uk's Marketplace for around £17-£18 anyway. So not really much of a saving for me. Others may fare better.

Remember that if you do order from B&N to order titles individually, as anything over £18 will almost certainly require adding VAT and £8.00 handling fee.

Good point mate. Would it not be better to order in bulk (if you wanted to of course) and possibly take the customs hit rather than paying individual shipping charges? I must admit my knowledge in this area is quite murky.

John Hodson · 10-11-2009, 11:29 PM

Just an observation, but as far as my orders over the past couple of years with B&N have been concerned, they've been particularly customs friendly. It may, of course, not be the same for everyone. Either way, postage doesn't come into the customs equation unless the goods themselves add up to over £18.

As for vouchers, I'm not sure if we can mention other forums, but a quick Google should bring results.

*thearrowmaker* · 11-11-2009, 9:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPupkin

Good point mate. Would it not be better to order in bulk (if you wanted to of course) and possibly take the customs hit rather than paying individual shipping charges? I must admit my knowledge in this area is quite murky.

I think it simply comes down to doing the math and actually working out the costs. Just look at the titles you want, work out how much they would cost you from B&N as a bulk buy, then look at how much they would cost individually, both from B&N and Amazons Marketplace. Remember that postage through Amazon costs £1.24 per title.

Another point to consider if bulk buying from B&N is how they get shipped. If you order 10 titles and they all get shipped together in a single package then it might be worth taking the hit. However if they send them out in two's and three's, and value mark the packages accordingly you could ending up paying the £8.00 handling fee on each parcel. Ouch!

RPupkin · 11-11-2009, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thearrowmaker

I think it simply comes down to doing the math and actually working out the costs. Just look at the titles you want, work out how much they would cost you from B&N as a bulk buy, then look at how much they would cost individually, both from B&N and Amazons Marketplace. Remember that postage through Amazon costs £1.24 per title.

Another point to consider if bulk buying from B&N is how they get shipped. If you order 10 titles and they all get shipped together in a single package then it might be worth taking the hit. However if they send them out in two's and three's, and value mark the packages accordingly you could ending up paying the £8.00 handling fee on each parcel. Ouch!

I was looking to order a few box sets so will definitely do the math. Cheers for the heads up.

dannydj · 18-11-2009, 3:12 PM

just ordered :

repulsion - blu ray
for all mankind - blu ray
solaris - dvd
videodrome - dvd

for £12.40 each

getting them shipped to family in NY and getting the forwarded here.

*thearrowmaker* · 18-11-2009, 3:58 PM

I've only ordered one so far. Seventh Seal on blu-ray. It's just shown up on my statement at just over £15. Not bad at all.

dannydj · 18-11-2009, 4:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thearrowmaker

I've only ordered one so far. Seventh Seal on blu-ray. It's just shown up on my statement at just over £15. Not bad at all.

that will be in my next criterion order ( one day )

Karlin · 18-11-2009, 5:18 PM

Amazon.com are doing several Criterions at £16.50 each delivered. That's $19.99 each + shipping. Best keep things under £18 for UK customs so only add stuff at $10 or a bit less (they have loads at those prices). I just order 1 item at a time usually.

Their own currency exchange system ain't working for me the now though. They give better rates than my CC.

John Hodson · 12-07-2010, 9:54 PM

The B&N 50% off Criterions is on again; runs until August 2 I believe.

peterjcat · 13-07-2010, 7:41 AM

On my calculations, given B&N's international shipping rate of $7.49 per order plus $0.99 per disc, and UK 17.5% VAT (on price + shipping) + £8 service fee on orders over £18 (ex shipping), $19.99 per movie and an exchange rate of $1 = £0.65, it's cheaper to buy these one at a time (£18.50 shipped) unless you buy more than 5 (£18.31 each for 6, £17.98 each for 7, etc).

Really wish Criterion had worldwide rights and international distribution but this is still a bit of a saving over the usual.

lommelun · 13-07-2010, 8:22 AM

Thanks for posting this here. Read about the deal over at highdefdigest but thought that B&N didn't do international orders.

There are some B&N Coupon Codes arround which worked for me:
W3P3V9Y (found on dealigg.com), 15% off one item
P7F4N3P (found on dealigg.com), 10% off one item
R3F8L4T (found on retailmenot.com), 10% off one item

I placed three orders and used one coupon for each.

peterjcat · 13-07-2010, 8:29 AM

Good find on the coupons.

It's a shame The Thin Red Line doesn't seem to be included in the sale, will have to check back and see if they add it. It's not out for a while.

John Hodson · 13-07-2010, 9:54 AM

Go in via the Library link ( Barnes & Noble - Business to Business online bookstore for Corporate, Government, Libraries, Institutions, and Strategic Partnerships ) and it will take 10% off your whole order - not all the coupons out there work with that link, but some do - as I said above, not sure that I can link to another forum for the list, but a quick Google should do the trick.

If - if - you can avoid customs, there are some real bargains to be had. Bit of a lottery.

Jim Morrison · 13-07-2010, 10:50 AM

I've ordered Gimme Shelter using a 20% off voucher code - came to $24.95 delivered.

pRot3us · 13-07-2010, 6:37 PM

Just order Stagecoach on Blu for £16.27

Bargain, cheers all

I suspect this won't be the only one getting bought either.

*thearrowmaker* · 16-07-2010, 4:50 AM

No discount codes are working for me.

Every Criterion BD has the following tag:

This item does not qualify for coupons or promotional discounts unless expressly stated.

Ger · 16-07-2010, 7:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thearrowmaker

No discount codes are working for me.

Every Criterion BD has the following tag:

This item does not qualify for coupons or promotional discounts unless expressly stated.

They don't work with the library link John posted above, but worked fine on the normal B&N site for me.

Has anyone seen Bigger Than Life? It looks interesting, but might be a bit too melodramatic for me (judging by the trailer on youtube). Anyone have any opinions?

John Hodson · 16-07-2010, 9:24 AM

Bigger Than Life is indeed melodramatic (not that that's a bad thing, and it is, after all, Nicholas Ray), but James Mason is simply fantastic - well worth a watch.

They did change the terms of the sale a day or so in (I suspect due to some folks misusing coupons), and no coupons work with the on-sale Criterions now (but we're only talking $2-$3 dollars off one average item anyway). As stated, the Library link with 10% off your whole order still works; best value, as I said above, is a big order which reduces to cost of postage per item considerably (and far cheaper than Amazon). The only problem may then be customs involvement.

Jim Morrison · 16-07-2010, 10:29 AM

I decided to do a larger order and chance customs. I went for...

Bottle Rocket
Che
For All Mankind
Gimme Shelter
Gomorrah
M
Paris, Texas

...total cost came to $144.85 including 10% Library discount + shipping. My Mastercard has been charged £94.63, making it about £13.51 per film. Just hope I don't get well & truly hammered by customs.

pRot3us · 16-07-2010, 5:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hodson

Bigger Than Life is indeed melodramatic (not that that's a bad thing, and it is, after all, Nicholas Ray), but James Mason is simply fantastic - well worth a watch.

I'll echo that, and the Criterion BD looks truly stunning.

John Hodson · 16-07-2010, 6:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thearrowmaker

No discount codes are working for me.

Every Criterion BD has the following tag:

This item does not qualify for coupons or promotional discounts unless expressly stated.

A thought does occur; the 20% off new member voucher won't work with the Criterion sale, but if you pick a non-Criterion item and chuck it in your basket of Criterion goodies it will work. For example, the Warner Film Noir Collection 5 is already attractively priced at 40% off...

Karlin · 18-07-2010, 7:34 AM

First time customer coupon for those wondering what it is: U8K3U4A That won't work on these Criterions but does work on other stuff.

Not bought from B&N for years but when I did never once paid a penny in customs or tax as everything was listed as books (no VAT) and/or came shipped via Belgium. Not sure what the position is now. ANyone had a big order very lately?

I see 3-4 Blu-rays I fance and acouple of DVDs.

TheDot · 18-07-2010, 9:22 AM

I ordered from this sale last time, about 4/5 blu-rays, and I got hit by customs

And on that one you could use discount links AND coupons, so the prices were pretty great. Now, including the probable customs hit, the prices arent so great.

John Hodson · 18-07-2010, 3:54 PM

My haul is coming is at £12.50 per title (I managed to include a 15% coupon before the block came in which saved me $3-$4), including shipping (averaging under $2 per title), but not counting any customs hit (which is a chance at any time; I get hit, I get hit...). Personally, I think those are great prices - I don't remember them being better last time around?

You can order in small blocks, or individually, but shipping is a killer. I'll take my chances with HMC&E, and whinge later...

Karlin · 18-07-2010, 5:04 PM

I think ASDA own HMC&E now so expect their monkeys at Mount [un]Pleasant to do their job.

In all the years (11+) I've been buying from the USA I've only been hit once or twice. I managed to even get a T2 skull and King Kong Deluxe through with a wave of the hand -I assume that's how the staff work :D

I reckon they can only stop so much. What's termed now as "USPS media mail" (small DVD packs etc) from the US does get hit because of the name and the fact they can work there way through it very very quickly and there's a no rush mentality.

Fingers crossed for those taking the chance!