…and no that’s not Magic beans either. (this is a top tip by the way, NOT and advertisement – I’m just sharing the love xxx)
[So a “bob” (as in my title tag), assuming you don’t know, is an old English colloquial term for the old English Shilling. In the seventies we “went decimal”, which means we now have 100 “new pennies” to one pound sterling £££, but in the old days there were twelve pence to a shilling, and twenty shillings to a pound. One BOB = one Shilling. Thank goodness we changed that! 240 pence to a pound seems absurd nowadays but the point is: a “bob” is still often used (though the phrase is probably fast disappearing) to mean, “not very much”. I believe American’s sometimes use the term DIME this way (albeit a dime is still current currency, but you get the idea?]
So, those cheap DVD’s. What if I told you I was recently able to purchase the following thirty titles for just ten English pennies (that’s $0.17 at today’s rate – yes really, seventeen cents)? : –
Fight Club – The usual Suspects – Memento – Road to Perdition – Miller’s Crossing – The Funeral – Dances with Wolves – Master and Commander – Braveheart – Funny People – Forgetting Sarah Marshall – Superbad – Ocean’s Eleven – Training Day – We Were Soldiers – Kalifornia – The Boston Strangler – Summer of Sam – The Last Samurai – Troy – Alexander – Minority Report – Solaris – Planet of the Apes – V for Vendetta – Constantine – Superman Returns – Tropic Thunder – The Heartbreak Kid – Zoolander.
And no, that’s not 10p each; it’s 10p for all thirty films. Think how much that would cost you on LoveFilm or to stream them directly! Well you can own them this way instead, you just have to house them.
Maybe they aren’t all to your liking and no they aren’t the newest of titles, but a classic film is always a classic film. And come on, be honest, some of those can be called classics, and there are plenty of others in the list that are more than watchable a second time around. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t all like movies so even if some of you may have sussed the following trick, or something similar – I would expect it might be a pleasant surprise to at least some of you, if not most of you.
Well at around 500 titles in my own collection, 75% or more purchased as described below, I’ve almost given up this practice now so I’m going to let the cat out of the bag and share my secret. Now this might not appeal to many of you but they are (allegedly) second hand titles, but bare with, it’s better than it first sounds, I promise. I buy from Amazon (UK in my case but no doubt it works just the same elsewhere). I generally only buy films in triple packs; and ones listed as being in “Very good” condition” or “Like new”. For example: ‘Fight Club’; ‘Memento’; and ‘The Usual Suspects’, incredibly, all came in one pack. And for that pack I paid just 1p (£0.01 GBP – less than $0.02). Ah, hang on, there was postage to pay too. Here that’s £1.26 per pack (£12.60 for the ten packs listed above, but that’s still only £12.70 or $21.59 for all thirty titles). And you are going to get the odd film you don’t really want but at that price, do you really care? Besides, you must know someone you can give it to as a Birthday/Christmas present – and with their own custom label too!!! I purchase clear Amaray cases for just under £15.00 for 50, which is a little over £0.30 per case (or around $0.50 each piece); print my own labels and the deed is done!
Nothing dishonest or underhand, just a genuine, honest purchase
Some of the packs have clearly never even been opened, although on the other hand, some may have the odd mark. But don’t worry! The suppliers are so desperate to have good feed back that you are purchasing pretty much risk free. If you get a scratched disc – complain! Personally, if I get a disc that’s not absolutely perfect, I watch it first and only complain if it doesn’t play fully, but it makes little difference. If you’ve paid for “very good” and you don’t think you’ve got “very good” then you quickly e-mail them through Amazon; they offer their apologies, send you out another and tell you to dispose of the original as you see fit. They don’t even want it back as the return postage is more than their profit! And bonus time; if you only have one scratched movie of the three, they will send the whole pack again and you’ll be getting two double ups – more free Birthday and Christmas presents for your friends and relatives. I am such a tight ar5e, am I not? Never mind, I personalise their new labels and they are happy (or pretend to be at least, but isn’t that always the way with gifts).
So now you’re thinking, that all sounds too simple and I’ve checked out Amazon and the movie I liked in that list isn’t there for that price at all! No, you are probably right, you will need to be patient. So here’s my play: –
Have a mosey round the site and when you find a movie you like, either in a pack or on it’s own, pop it in your basket. Then, when you’re bored of searching, nip over to your basket and “save for later”. When you check back a few days (or hours) later, it will usually have changed price. And if you wait patiently, it will probably come down to 1p ($0.01).
Really? I hear you cry. Yes really, so here’s the thing:
Some of the sellers on Amazon have the old-fashined model of “stack ’em high, sell ’em cheap”. I read somewhere that ‘zOverstocks’ (for example) had a 2012 turnover of £30million and a profit of £4million. The seller’s postage price is set by Amazon but it often only costs about 1/3 the price they are compelled to charge you, to actually ship it out. They probably buy unwanted discs from Amazon users, who are off loading because they are that desperate for cash they trade-in for next to nothing; or they buy bankrupt stock (who cares because some haven’t even been unwrapped – and that’s new enough in my book). The whole point is: even apparently selling at just one penny they are generally still making a small profit. So some of these guys automatically track the price of other sellers by computer and reduce their item to make sure their’s is cheapest. And if two of them are at it for the same title – BINGO! The price will probably crash! I can’t guarantee this, it’s pot luck, but if you are patient enough you’ll be picking up a whole bunch of cheap DVD’s for next to nothing in no time. It won’t work for every title but it will work for music CD’s too quite often; I can vouch for that.
So there you have it. Another bullet of useful information from your friendly neighbourhood ICHY! Give it a go and see how you get on.
Here’s some right now (at time of posting this at least) that are rock bottom (used – very good condition)…
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001DTK…=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000AYQ…=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0094G0…=UTF8&psc=1
Good luck!
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