For Canadians who love their Blu Rays...

I have no idea if any of this applies in the U.S., so this is geared particularly at my fellow Canadians, though U.S. residents may want to check it out on their own site.

OK, so more than once around here I've mentioned Columbia House as the best place to get your Blu Rays, and been dismissed. People have all of these pre-conceived ideas about CH based on how the system USED to work. I am in total agreement that CH used to suck. I signed up many years ago to get my intro offer, and then maybe bought 5 items over 5 years, because when you added the tax and shipping, and the dreaded regular-priced item, it turned out to be about the same price as in the store. In the last couple of years, though, it has been getting better and better, and now is, without a doubt, the best place for Canadians to get their Blu Ray fix. I am telling you this because, until Jan. 2, all Blus are 60% off, with free shipping! Not only that, but the REGULAR PRICE for Blus at CH is usually $28.95, which is already lower that any store, so even if you only bought regular price items, you'd still save. Here's why you should join (and join online, because the free shipping is only on online orders):

1) Even the reg. price is good.
2) Once you buy one at reg., you get UNLIMITED at 60% off (though the online form maxes out at 20), and free shipping if your order is over $39.
3) The sale includes pre-orders. (Dark Knight, anyone?)
4) A $28.95 disc is $11.58 with the discount. Some are as low as $9. The highest is about $13.50.
5) Other than Disney and it's affiliates, CH carries most major new releases, as well as some lower profile ones.
6) You don't necessarily have to buy a reg. price item ever - sets are always dicounted 30 - 50%, and count as your reg. price item, if they are over $19.95.

Drawbacks:
1) Selection - there are only maybe 400 to choose from. New catalogue releases are hit or miss. They have Interview with the Vampire and Poltergeist, for example, but not Outbreak or Thunderball (though they do have some of the other Bonds).
2) Commitment - I don't know what it is, since I fulfilled mine long ago, but at these prices, it wouldn't take long to buy the 3 or 5 movies you commit to buying, and as I said, reg. prices are still good.

So, DO IT. Before it's too late. Oh, and BTW, this is just one great sale. A few months back they had everything at 70% off, but you had to pay shipping (1.99 a disc). It worked out to be slightly cheaper than the current sale. I pre-ordered all my discs for the last few months on that sale, and now I'm pre-ordering everything into Feb. on this one.

If Columbia House wants me to sign up, then they really need to update the site for picking titles for joining. There is a terrible selection, and while it might be worth it to buy movies cheaper in the long run, it's not worth it for me to be forced to get movies I'm not interested in just to get my foot in the door.

Well, I gave it some consideration and I guess I can't really complain about getting five for $1 each... so I signed up and have 7 coming for $46 and some change. It's like I bought 2 at the store and got 5 for free. Not too shabby.

1 300
1 Alvin and the Chipmunks
1 Imax: Blue Planet
1 Twister
1 Casino Royale
1 Independence Day
1 Unforgiven

Hopefully the selection is better once inside the club.

---

[Post edited by hoodaguy on Nov 30, 2008 - CST 10:27 AM]

Interplanetaryspy, I could never deal with Columbia House solely for the reason of the way they used to be. I remember so many people being scammed by them and they would force people to buy their products at ridiculously high prices and would not let them out of the deal.

Solely based on that I will never have any dealings with them, I don't care how good their "deal" is.

Besides you can get blurays used for $10-$15 now if you wait a week or two.

Falcon, I used to be in your boat. I originally joined their CD club many moons ago and it was a huge hassle that's for sure. But then when DVDs were just coming out, I gave them another try and I actually ended up with free movies plus some cash after selling only some of them on eBay. Those were the days where people were paying $25 a pop for movies like "Citizen Kane."

To each his own, but it seems stubborn and kind of stupid to insist on paying more because you used to hate the company. And you may be able to get SOME Blus for $15 used 2 weeks later, but not most, and not the big ones. I watch ebay and other sites with used discs regularly, as well as the stores, and 2 weeks later, they still usually go for $25 unless they are movies no one really wants. Personally, I'll continue to get new movies like X-Files, Shawshank and Wanted (just the ones I have coming next week) for 11 bucks a piece, thank you very much. Hood, the selection is much better when you get in. If I were you and just joining, I would also just sell the intro discs, most of which I already have, to have some cash to take advantage of the real deals inside. BTW, I forgot to mention that the default deal is unlimited discs at 50% off, so when the sale's over, the everyday sale is nearly as good.

Spy, I get my blurays brand new and sealed for $20, NO TAX, on the week of release. Usually the weekend after it has been released (in other words 4 days later) you can get them used for $15-$20.

Check places like craigslist instead of Ebay.

---

[Post edited by Falcon01 on Nov 30, 2008 - CST 9:13 PM]

$13 for almost any new release Blu is still better. No need to waste time on Craig's list.

---

[Post edited by interplanetaryspy on Dec 1, 2008 - CST 8:31 PM]

I used to buy lots of CDs from Columbia House and it was a great deal, so I'd join to buy Blu-rays in a heartbeat, except that they only have 35 Blu-ray titles to choose from off the website when you join. I have the ones I want except for a couple of the 35, so I can't join until they add more titles. I contacted their member service, and was told "those are the only ones you can choose from". Oh well...maybe one day once there's a reasonable selection for new members.

Edit: I somehow missed the point made about selling the ones I don't want, so that's a thought - it's still weird they only 35 titles on the website!

---

[Post edited by sbmess on Dec 2, 2008 - CST 12:06 AM]

..i'm moving to canada. i like hockey, trees, and healthcare. i just like the overall vibe of your country. you canucks do it right. now...where shall i move too? where are the jobs? (labor)