Got this today while at work:

Mosaic will be in all stores before open on March 26 to pull and send back all HD-DVD titles. The representative will fill out the sendback paperwork and create a manifest for each individual tote. They'll also flex all Blu-ray inventory across the space where HD-DVD was featured. It's possible that stores may not have enough product to flex over all the old HD-DVD sections. In these cases, stores should put recent releases or titles that appeal to their customers in these areas. The Movies Team is working to increase the Blu-ray assortment to resolve this problem.

Stores with upcoming PI
If you have a PI close to the sendback timeframe, let Mosaic box up the HD-DVD product and remerchandise the area. They should stage the full sendback totes in the warehouse. Stores may want to verify the contents of each tote with the tote manifest that will be created and either create prescan sheets or count each tote on the night of inventory. A special sendback will post on the April 16 for these stores to ship their product back to the warehouse.

Signage
Mosaic will remove any header signs that list both Blu-ray and HD-DVD, as they are no longer valid signs in the store. Stores will be responsible to order additional Blu-ray sign rails to fill in the space left by the removed HD-DVD signs. Here are the signs that can be ordered:

811-0140636 - High Definition Movies for the ultimate...
811-0140829 - Play exclusively on Blu-ray Disc Players...
811-0140832 - High Definition Resolution...
811-0140833 - More titles available online...
Click below for a copy of Mosaic's instructions. Contact Ask the Bus with any questions.

Related Content

Mosaic HD-DVD Sendback Instructions - PDF

Well, crap.

So much for using my $50 rebate cards on HD-DVDs.

Does this mean any unsold stock will ultimately be destroyed?

Great, so this looks like No Appleseed Ex Machina on HD DVD at bestbuy...looks like if i want this im going to have to order it and have to have it shipped :(

Does this mean any unsold stock will ultimately be destroyed?

No returned to the distributor for credit and resold to amazon or big lots.

...and resold to amazon or big lots.

That hasn't been confirmed,the labor and shipping costs might not be worth it.

There's about 50 more titles I'd like, some of which Best Buy carry in stores. But even with their 30% sale, it's still more than Amazon and the like. I am debating whether to hit the stores for the very recent titles, which aren't cheap on Amazon (Into the Wild, Atonement, Things We Lost In The Fire, etc). If they have them, of course.

Oh well couldnt last forever. I've bought every single HD DVD I wanted during the fire sales. No regrets.

Can this be confirmed as applicable to all stores nationwide, or those not selling well?

I talked to a couple of peons, one at CS, and they were under the impression that they would continue clearancing the discs until they were gone.

Just a thought. I realize the memo does say "all stores".

Oh well couldnt last forever. I've bought every single HD DVD I wanted during the fire sales. No regrets.

Where are the fire sales....$10 or more isn't a fire sale. 90% off...that's a fire sale. Heck, even 80% off (~$5) would be a fire sale.

I've only bought one HD DVD since January...that was old school...the SD DVD and HD DVD were the same price ($10) and I really wanted the movie, so I went with the HD.

Just left BB, a very good selection of movies, only 30% off of course. Talked to some people on the floor and they believe the disks will be around until sometime in April. We'll see in a couple days what the story is.

I did pick up a couple of the 3-packs for $35 each, breaks down to about $12.50 per title after tax, not bad movies either - Shooter, Four Brothers and Italian Job in one pack. Might be able to PM them if they hang around and the price gets even better.

I was told today that titles will be sent back to the distributor on Wednesday. I asked if they were to be pulled Wednesday, or the day prior (Tuesday) and wasn't given a concrete answer. Like said, there's quite a few titles I want, but 30% off Warner titles is still $17.50+tax and that's more expensive than any of the popular online stores. Went looking for the titles mentioned an hour or two ago, and only found Atonement. I didn't purchase it. I'll check tomorrow at a third BestBuy store I didn't have time to get to before closing after work, hopefully they'll have the others I was looking for. If not, I guess I'll just be getting Atonement.

Since this is a specific BB thread I hope this link with my BB experience at about 2:30 p.m. today may help someone out before everything gets shipped back at some point. You may be able to corner a BB General Manager and have your own success.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13459768#post13459768

That hasn't been confirmed,the labor and shipping costs might not be worth it.

I don't think they're going into a landfill anytime soon, as they're really not trying very hard to sell these at the prices they're at. As someone else mentioned if they were REALLY serious about dumping them they'd be $10 or less....and they aren't.

When video games "crashed" and nearly died back in the mid '80s you could find games at 99 cents. My mom bought me a brand new Intellivision for $9. (This was all pre-Nintendo). Just going by a point of comparison, these prices are hardly "rock bottom" for a format that's basically being liquidated. Makes you think they'll be heading somewhere else for larger sales.

Well, crap.

So much for using my $50 rebate cards on HD-DVDs.


...exactly what I was going to do. I just got an email today from BB saying my rebate will be shipping soon, lol! :p

Where are the fire sales....$10 or more isn't a fire sale. 90% off...that's a fire sale. Heck, even 80% off (~$5) would be a fire sale.

I've only bought one HD DVD since January...that was old school...the SD DVD and HD DVD were the same price ($10) and I really wanted the movie, so I went with the HD.

Right after Toshiba gave up there where lots of movies available for $10 or less. People were dumping movies left and right. Sorry you didnt find any deals. :(

I don't think they're going into a landfill anytime soon, as they're really not trying very hard to sell these at the prices they're at. As someone else mentioned if they were REALLY serious about dumping them they'd be $10 or less....and they aren't.

When video games "crashed" and nearly died back in the mid '80s you could find games at 99 cents. My mom bought me a brand new Intellivision for $9. (This was all pre-Nintendo). Just going by a point of comparison, these prices are hardly "rock bottom" for a format that's basically being liquidated. Makes you think they'll be heading somewhere else for larger sales.


Nobody knows for sure what's going to happen to these discs,it's possible they will be sold to the public and it's possible the studios want them landfilled.
I would prefer they were sold to the public for <$10.

Wow, that sucks. Oh well, it looks like it's Amazon.com for me.

Well, went today and didn't see any deals, looks like I need to go back and talk to the manager and see what I can pull off.

Who exactly is Mosaic?

Mosaic is a third party company that sends a rep to a store with various assignments. Most of the movie reps need to make sure certain race track displays have signage, are set proper to the current planogram, pricing is up, etc.

I don't think they're going into a landfill anytime soon, as they're really not trying very hard to sell these at the prices they're at. As someone else mentioned if they were REALLY serious about dumping them they'd be $10 or less....and they aren't.

When video games "crashed" and nearly died back in the mid '80s you could find games at 99 cents. My mom bought me a brand new Intellivision for $9. (This was all pre-Nintendo). Just going by a point of comparison, these prices are hardly "rock bottom" for a format that's basically being liquidated. Makes you think they'll be heading somewhere else for larger sales.

Agree about the fate of the discs....to a point.

Back during the video game "crash" you mention, didn't Atari landfill millions of unsold 2600 cartridges (mostly that craptastic E.T. game, I'd bet).

I would think--and could be wrong--that Mosaic would sell off the returned HD DVDs to some other wholesaler/Overstock.com-type business.

Or, would DVD replicators be interested, as the lack of a BD-style scratch coating means HD DVDs could be chewed up and reused to make DVDs.

Still think BB should have done a "bargain bin" with all HD DVDs & blow 'em out the door. I'd bet they would sell most of whats on hand quickly, esp if they were in the $10 range across the board.

Of course, they may figure that some of us with our new $50 gift cards might actually use 'em to get those $10 discs. Ends up in a situation where BB is then just giving HD DVDs away for free (not what any business wants to do) to those who bought players there.

Hopes of some cheap discs was what I planned to use my GC for initially. Now? Probably a Wii title.

Since this is a specific BB thread I hope this link with my BB experience at about 2:30 p.m. today may help someone out before everything gets shipped back at some point. You may be able to corner a BB General Manager and have your own success.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13459768#post13459768That's pretty awesome but you are right about it being a "huge YMMV" type thing. A few years back I got a similar lucky deal on a plasma at BB....it was a stormy night when not many shoppers ventured out...near closing time and at the end of the month. Well, long story short...the GM happened to be working the tv section where I was browsing and after shooting the breeze for a while I walked having not only paid for the pack of CD-R's that I originally came for...but also got a $2500 plasma for $1800 with free delivery and free Tivo Series2.:cool:

Still think BB should have done a "bargain bin" with all HD DVDs & blow 'em out the door. I'd bet they would sell most of whats on hand quickly, esp if they were in the $10 range across the board.

Of course, they may figure that some of us with our new $50 gift cards might actually use 'em to get those $10 discs. Ends up in a situation where BB is then just giving HD DVDs away for free (not what any business wants to do) to those who bought players there.



Why sell something below cost when you can return it to the manufacturer for credit equal to what you have invested?

If it made economic sense for Best Buy to bargain bin the HD-DVDs, that's exactly what they would have done. Obviously, the economic impact to the company is less if they simply return them.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks the studios and B&M stores are conspiring to keep prices of HDM titles (even the dead HD-DVD one's) artificially high. By not blowing HD-DVD at super-cheap prices ($5-10 on any title) or returning them in bulk to warehouse distributors the HDM buying crowd (which remains extremely small) hasn't been spoiled into expecting equal-or-better-than-Blu-ray movies for a few bucks at a retail environment. It is in the best interest of studios and B&M stores not to condition their walk-in customers to expect to pay anything less than an artificially-high price for average HDM movies. Their potential Blu-ray profits to be made by these corporations could be compromised if the people buying HD-DVD for cheap (i.e. HDM enthusiasts that are more likely to upgrade to Blu-ray than J6P) were conditioned to expect similar discounts for Blu movies, refusing to pay the MSRP stickers. There's no other logical explanation why most stores that carried HD-DVD didn't blow their stash at rock-bottom prices.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks the studios and B&M stores are conspiring to keep prices of HDM titles (even the dead HD-DVD one's) artificially high. By not blowing HD-DVD at super-cheap prices ($5-10 on any title) or returning them in bulk to warehouse distributors the HDM buying crowd (which remains extremely small) hasn't been spoiled into expecting equal-or-better-than-Blu-ray movies for a few bucks at a retail environment. It is in the best interest of studios and B&M stores not to condition their walk-in customers to expect to pay anything less than an artificially-high price for average HDM movies. Their potential Blu-ray profits to be made by these corporations could be compromised if the people buying HD-DVD (i.e. HDM enthusiasts) for cheap started to expect similar prices for Blu movies, refusing to pay the MSRP stickers.

That has been my contention since the day war ended. BR loyalists have kept advocating that once the war was over the prices would come down from competition.
Well we have neither seen that with the boxes nor with the movies.

I truly believe that the BR cartel has determine to enforce 'exclusivity' or Premium - Mercedes - pricing into the BR product. I never thought they would use the defunct HD discs also in their arsenal.
All stake holders would reap higher margin in spite of what the market desires.

Has anyone else checked the buy back at BB just to see they offered me 250 for my XA2 and over 61 movies both my wife and I just started laughing.

I went to BB today and they confirmed the memo...today is the final HD DVD day at best buy. However they would not go lower than 30%. I then hemmed and hahhed and they still wouldnt hook me up. I then went to another BB and I know everyone from my numerous purchases and they hooked me up at $12 any copy after the consortium met. Thank you for the heads up.

miami vice
Letters from Iwo Jima
Aviator
Alexander
Pans
Unleashed
The Fountain
THe Brave One
Breach
Talk to Me
Superman Returns
40-Year old Virgin

Hope this helps

The BR cartel
is coming to a BB near you..

Coming? Who do you think has been running BB all along? :rolleyes:

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks the studios and B&M stores are conspiring to keep prices of HDM titles (even the dead HD-DVD one's) artificially high. By not blowing HD-DVD at super-cheap prices ($5-10 on any title) or returning them in bulk to warehouse distributors the HDM buying crowd (which remains extremely small) hasn't been spoiled into expecting equal-or-better-than-Blu-ray movies for a few bucks at a retail environment. It is in the best interest of studios and B&M stores not to condition their walk-in customers to expect to pay anything less than an artificially-high price for average HDM movies. Their potential Blu-ray profits to be made by these corporations could be compromised if the people buying HD-DVD for cheap (i.e. HDM enthusiasts that are more likely to upgrade to Blu-ray than J6P) were conditioned to expect similar discounts for Blu movies, refusing to pay the MSRP stickers. There's no other logical explanation why most stores that carried HD-DVD didn't blow their stash at rock-bottom prices.

:eek: I think you are on to something here. It makes a lot of sense. Don't get me wrong I'm happy that Blu-ray won but I'm mad that the prices have gone up :mad: I do think prices will eventually go down but not as fast as I was expecting :( I'm so addicted to Hi-Def movie however that I'm still buying Blu-ray movies.....anyone knows of a good lubricant.

I went to my BB today (Dublin, CA) and they had all "regular" movies at $9.99 and all box sets at 70% off. Aside from "Bourne Ultimatum" (which I already own), they had pretty much nothing. Bummer!

I can totally understand them wanting to get rid of HD DVD as soon as possible.

I mean look, I know they are in the business of making money, and they want to sell full price Blu Ray Software, and having discounted HD DVD right next to it, looks really bad, since the 2 offer the same quality.

But what I don't understand is, why they don't just mark them down so HD DVD owners can buy them up quickly.

Best Buy obviously feels some remorse for HD DVD owners, offering them $50 rebates.

So if they want to make up for selling a dead format, shouldn't they at least let the HDDVD owners buy up the software for $9.99 a piece????

I mean that would garner some good will towards Best Buy at least.

This weekend, Circuit City is going to run a 50% off sale, on all HD DVDs. They are even printing it in their ad.

I was going to take that ad to Best Buy, and have them price match.

Sadly, by that time, HD DVDs will not exist at Best Buy.

Damn you BEST BUY!!!!!!!

^wow.

I just went and took a last look at one of the BB near me. They have already put the remaining stock (or a portion thereof) out on a walkway aisle display. Adding insult to injury, the display had wheels on it ready to head out the door. :D OF note, they actually had a Toshiba XA2 hooked up to a Toshiba REGZA on an end cap - probably just to feed the panel some nice demo material.

Most were still stickered for $24.99 - $39.99 for single titles with the 30% off banner. If it is actually $24.99 less 30% I might pick up Atonement and American Gangster instead of paying two months of Netflix fees waiting for them to arrive.

Well, once Best Buy dumps all their HD-DVD inventory, the one remaining reason for me to ever shop for anything there will be gone. That's fine - Fry's always has a better selection of most things and better prices anyway. :cool:

^wow.

I just went and took a last look at one of the BB near me. They have already put the remaining stock (or a portion thereof) out on a walkway aisle display. Adding insult to injury, the display had wheels on it ready to head out the door. :D OF note, they actually had a Toshiba XA2 hooked up to a Toshiba REGZA on an end cap - probably just to feed the panel some nice demo material.

Most were still stickered for $24.99 - $39.99 for single titles with the 30% off banner. If it is actually $24.99 less 30% I might pick up Atonement and American Gangster instead of paying two months of Netflix fees waiting for them to arrive.

Well, you're not going to get the atonement HD DVD from Netflix -- the last HD DVD Netflix bought was American Gangster about six weeks ago. Blockbuster online doesn't have it yet either, but hopefully Blockbuster Online will have copies soon (at least that is what they told me in my communications with them). And it did take about four business days past the release date for Blockbuster to make Michael Clayton HD DVD available, so I am at least a little hopeful that the Atonement HD DVD will show up at Blockbuster Online at some point in the near future.

My question that no manager knows is, WHY ARE WE STILL ADVERTISING I AM LEGEND????!!!

Your're right, willyd. Even the SD Version of Atonement was a long wait for me. This way I'll probably just put my netflix on hold until there are some more titles around.

I decided pick them up. FYI it was 30% off the sticker so $20.99 for each.

In typical BB fashion, I was "advised" to "get them quick because they are all going back tomorrow.":D

Best Buy West L.A. is 30%...plus an addition 20% off today only. Picked up a few more!

Only 30% off in a store in Dallas. I did go ahead and a couple though.

Best Buy West L.A. is 30%...plus an addition 20% off today only. Picked up a few more!

You're kidding! Did you talk to someone or was there a sign, or..? I was there this morning and no sign of any additional discounts.

ARGH!

I can totally understand them wanting to get rid of HD DVD as soon as possible.

I mean look, I know they are in the business of making money, and they want to sell full price Blu Ray Software, and having discounted HD DVD right next to it, looks really bad, since the 2 offer the same quality.

But what I don't understand is, why they don't just mark them down so HD DVD owners can buy them up quickly.

Best Buy obviously feels some remorse for HD DVD owners, offering them $50 rebates.

So if they want to make up for selling a dead format, shouldn't they at least let the HDDVD owners buy up the software for $9.99 a piece????

I mean that would garner some good will towards Best Buy at least.


The 30% sale is a joke. Even after their MSRP prices, it's still well above buying from Amazon, Deep Discount, or directly from the studio itself (ex. Warner Home Video). 30% off of $179.99 for the Star Trek box isn't going to make me bite.

Round two at another BB
brought my reciept from the previous store and they honored the deal again...$11.99 for any dvd and box set 50% off

Chuck and Larry
Atonement
HArry Potter 1,2,3,4
Alpha Dog
departed
we are marshall
oceans trilogy

hope that helps they wer very reluctant and did it because the pressure and I was real cool and nice ....always works

I was just at the Dearborn, MI Beast Buy less than 2 hours ago and they were doing the usual 30% MSRP deal.

BB is taking stock off the shelves and sending it back even though there are a million HD DVD owners who may still wish to feed the players content. And they have the audacity to claim that "the public chose Blu-ray." The hell we did!!! This whole format war was decided by the Sony and the studios and the retailers bribed by Sony to shank the complete format in the back. Farging bastages!

I was just at the Dearborn, MI Beast Buy less than 2 hours ago and they were doing the usual 30% MSRP deal.

BB is taking stock off the shelves and sending it back even though there are a million HD DVD owners who may still wish to feed the players content. And they have the audacity to claim that "the public chose Blu-ray." The hell we did!!! This whole format war was decided by the Sony and the studios and the retailers bribed by Sony to shank the complete format in the back. Farging bastages!

You really have no idea what you are talking about.

You really have no idea what you are talking about.

Let us guess you own no HD DVD.:D

Let us guess you own no HD DVD.:D
Non sequitur :D

You really have no idea what you are talking about.

I agree blu ray was chosen by the customer this is correct due to high bitrates and studio support blu ray was the obvious choice to begin with.....:cool:

I agree blu ray was chosen by the customer this is correct due to high bitrates and studio support blu ray was the obvious choice to begin with.....:cool:

Any objective viewer knows that picture quality is pretty much as wash between the two formats. The studios chose BR for a number of reasons, some of which we'll probably never know in fact. I own both and BR doesn't look any better than HD, high bitrates or not. In my opinion, it was the sheer numbers of PS3 driving sales in favor of BR, not any "superior" quality.

I agree blu ray was chosen by the customer this is correct due to high bitrates and studio support blu ray was the obvious choice to begin with.....:cool:

Blu-ray's wonderful encryption garbage has royally pissed me off. I haven't been able to play two titles I really wanted to see, 3:10 to Yuma and Across the Universe, because Sony, the consumer's best friend, decided that we should have some new keys to keep us from using the movies we just bought.

I am buying all of the HD-DVDs I can, and I probably won't be buying many BDs for a while. I picked up a few of the sub-$10 movies from J&R and I will likely pick up some upcoming Disneys... but I think I may turn to downloading my HD material from now on.

it was the sheer numbers of PS3 driving sales in favor of BR, not any "superior" quality.

I'm sure it had nothing to do with Sony putting everything on the table and going all in from day 1. Well that and Best Buy switching to selling both but encouraging blu-ray (gotta stay on topic you know)

I was tempted to check out BB one last time, but did not. Why? because the discs are going to show up somewhere else in the not to distant future. Amazon BOGO anyone, or how does $10 for HD DVD & $14 for combos work for you?

:eek: I think you are on to something here. It makes a lot of sense. Don't get me wrong I'm happy that Blu-ray won but I'm mad that the prices have gone up :mad: I do think prices will eventually go down but not as fast as I was expecting :( I'm so addicted to Hi-Def movie however that I'm still buying Blu-ray movies.....anyone knows of a good lubricant.

What are you talking about? Fox just lowered a lot of their old titles by $10.

The reason BR won was because Toshiba truly did nothing to compete. They had their format out first, and then that was it. They just sat on their asses rather than make sure their supporting studios released the big guns. Had Universal, Paramount, or WB released their big format selling titles like Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Jaws, Harry Potter (A LOT sooner), the format war could have fallen in HD-DVD's favor. Instead, they did nothing, and this was proven the moment WB went BR. Canning a panel at the year's most important electronic's convetion showed they had no contingency plan, or let alone, a plan at all.

However, this is getting off topic. I'll post again later with the outcome of the Sendback.

I agree blu ray was chosen by the customer this is correct due to high bitrates and studio support blu ray was the obvious choice to begin with.....:cool:

BLU_ALL_DAY hmmmmmm LOL

What are you talking about? Fox just lowered a lot of their old titles by $10.

They've stated that they are not changing their MSRP for catalog titles. They lowered prices on a dozen or so titles by $10. Titles which shouldn't have been at the prices they were in the first place, and probably weren't selling at that price. Only Warner, who sells movies at $19.99 each (see Warner Home Video) are the ones not trying to 'milk it'.

What Mike said.

Why the focus on Best Buy in getting HD DVDs? Circuit City is having 50% starting on 3/30 and it will be printed in their ad for that week as he stated. And Amazon is still cheaper than 30% off at Best Buy.

What Mike said.

Why the focus on Best Buy in getting HD DVDs? Circuit City is having 50% starting on 3/30 and it will be printed in their ad for that week as he stated. And Amazon is still cheaper than 30% off at Best Buy.

is it going to be 50% off of sticker or 50% off of MSRP?? if it's MSRP then it's still laughable.

What Mike said.

Why the focus on Best Buy in getting HD DVDs? Circuit City is having 50% starting on 3/30 and it will be printed in their ad for that week as he stated. And Amazon is still cheaper than 30% off at Best Buy.

Several of us are getting 50% and more off of Best Buy's 30% off prices. That beats Amazon and CC. I am picking up more titles today that they are holding for me. That is the reason for the focus.

I went to BB today and they confirmed the memo...today is the final HD DVD day at best buy. However they would not go lower than 30%. I then hemmed and hahhed and they still wouldnt hook me up. I then went to another BB and I know everyone from my numerous purchases and they hooked me up at $12 any copy after the consortium met. Thank you for the heads up.

miami vice
Letters from Iwo Jima
Aviator
Alexander
Pans
Unleashed
The Fountain
THe Brave One
Breach
Talk to Me
Superman Returns
40-Year old Virgin

Hope this helps

Yep. This way if today is the last day for BB to be carrying HD_DVD, then they won't have to price match Circuit City next week(3-30) when they have the 50% off sale. Guess it works for them?????

Post your receipts, so we can maybe use that with the CC ad printout!

And I wonder if corporate knows some Best Buy stores are dumping at 50% off. Something isn't kosher if ALL stores aren't doing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone know if BestBuy were sending back players as well? Most of the BestBuy's I went to in the past 3 days still had them in use on LCD displays on endcaps. If so, was this including the combo players as well (the LG and Samsung)? I'm pondering whether to recommend the LG player to a family member who already owns some HD DVDs but no BD player.

That's pretty awesome but you are right about it being a "huge YMMV" type thing. A few years back I got a similar lucky deal on a plasma at BB....it was a stormy night when not many shoppers ventured out...near closing time and at the end of the month. Well, long story short...the GM happened to be working the tv section where I was browsing and after shooting the breeze for a while I walked having not only paid for the pack of CD-R's that I originally came for...but also got a $2500 plasma for $1800 with free delivery and free Tivo Series2.:cool:

-Somewhat off topic, but BB managers get a bonus if they meet a sale quota (or at least mine did). It really sucked when our managers would be short on sales one month and just keep the store open. They would then call their friends (or the guy who noticed we were still open at 11:30 at night) and offer them really amazing deals on home theater / car audio items. I always loved being told to stay an extra 3 hrs as a highschool student on a school night after a 7 hr shift so my manager could get his bonus.

/bitterness

Does anyone know if BestBuy were sending back players as well? Most of the BestBuy's I went to in the past 3 days still had them in use on LCD displays on endcaps. If so, was this including the combo players as well (the LG and Samsung)? I'm pondering whether to recommend the LG player to a family member who already owns some HD DVDs but no BD player.

I visited several locations and they had display models boxed up with stickers on them to be sent somewhere. I didn't try asking if I could buy them since I already picked up an extra HD-DVD add-on for my 360.

Sounds like this thread has run it's course.

Will Best Buy still accept returns on unopened movies (assuming within the 30 day purchase period) even though they are no longer selling them?

Will Best Buy still accept returns on unopened movies (assuming within the 30 day purchase period) even though they are no longer selling them?

I doubt it, since these discs probably have to all be sent in at once... But you never know.

fitprod

Well they all did indeed go bye bye. Every single movie was on our list today, but there were a few I could not find anywhere in the store. So long HD-DVD, I will miss you much.

Will Best Buy still accept returns on unopened movies (assuming within the 30 day purchase period) even though they are no longer selling them?

As of 3-26-08...Best Buy still supports the HD DVD format...HD DVD discs are still being sold on their website...;)

So, just visited the South County St. Louis Best Buy, all HD-DVDs are gone, except for one endcap that used to hold new releases like Beowulf, Am. Gangster, Blades of Glory etc.

Now there are 8 copies of The Kingdom, one of Blade Runner, 7 or 8 Harry Potters, a couple of Queen:Live In Montreals, We Are Marshall, and other random titles. No signage around them saying anything about specials, and no one seemed to know anything about them other than that was all they had.

BB in Tempe, AZ (Rio Salado - Tempe Marketplace) still has their stock at 50% off... just not much left.

Went to the Best Buy in Newport News, VA and yea, ALL HD movies are gone..the area is filled with BR...

I happen to run across a random Star Trek Season 1, but im sure they still want full price for it...looks like after the Ccity deal we are SOL when it comes to actually picking up movies in stores.

Went in to my local store today and saw the guy packing containers. I saw the Heroes Season 1 box set that was given away during promotion last October when you bought the X-box add on. A lot of you guys took advantage of the promotion and the 2 free movies that you could also get box sets while they had a glitch in their system.

I asked about what they were doing with all of them and they said shipping back for credit. I explained that when I bought the add-on that they were out of movies and they issued me a rain check. They did some research and pulled up the old rain check from thier system. After speaking to customer service I walked out with the box set for FREE. They honored the rain check after all this time for a promotional item. They did say that the rain check was issued in error, but went the extra mile. It probably didn't hurt that I had Rock Band for X-box 360 in my cart at the time, which I also bought today.

So it is really the end of HD-DVD after buying 4 players (3 for gifts) going...going....gone.

Also those that did buy HD-DVD players, make sure that you get your mail-in rebate postmarked by 3-31-08 for your freebies.

J

Will Best Buy still accept returns on unopened movies (assuming within the 30 day purchase period) even though they are no longer selling them?

To answer my own question, I just called a store and they said it should not be a problem as long as it is unopened and within 30 days of purchase.

I was at Best Buy here in Destin, Fl yesterday and they still had all of their HD DVD movies on the shelf. Went back today and they were gone! They have expanded their Blu Ray display to four shelves, taking over the two that used to have the HD DVD's.

There's about 50 more titles I'd like, some of which Best Buy carry in stores. But even with their 30% sale, it's still more than Amazon and the like. I am debating whether to hit the stores for the very recent titles, which aren't cheap on Amazon (Into the Wild, Atonement, Things We Lost In The Fire, etc). If they have them, of course.

my chicago BB never had any of those new titles Chicago stores cleaned out

what do you do if you bought hd dvds at Best Buy. Play the disc and it skips and gives the 408 error code in 2 different xa-2's and is really unplayable in hd-a3, and hd-a30 in other words with current firmware (even older firmware 2.0 in one xa-2) at of 4 players none will play all the way thru..Toshiba says disc must be bad (Miami Vice) now what..Best Buy says too bad. they were gonna swap it with bluray then after a little while changed their mind.

I'm curious about returning for a refund-- I bought Bourne Supremecy about 2 weeks ago, hadn't gotten around to watching it (still sealed), and now it's about $5 cheaper through Deep Discount.. seems like a big enough difference to be worth the hassle of the return and rebuy from DD, and I assume they have to honor their return policy.... but will they?

Did they offer you a refund, Stretch?

Why sell something below cost when you can return it to the manufacturer for credit equal to what you have invested?

If it made economic sense for Best Buy to bargain bin the HD-DVDs, that's exactly what they would have done. Obviously, the economic impact to the company is less if they simply return them.
There is a for return credit issue but also consumer perception at the retail level issue.

Why remind consumers a new HD format has failed? Real fire sale pricing also de values Blu-ray disc perceived value.

These inventory items certainly have actual value, but they are most more appropriately sold at a close out retailer like Big Lots o Odd Lots who specializes in this kind of thing.

Many consumers aren't ready to buy Blu-ray because of the price point yet,and no need to confuse them more or contaminate their minds with blow out inventory liquidation pricing for HD DVDs.

They remained on the shelf to squeeze more more juice out of HD DVD owners, but its time to focus the message on Blu-ray.

The have value so they will probably be resold to a inventory liquidator an would not be destroyed.

There is a for return credit issue but also consumer perception at the retail level issue.

Why remind consumers a new HD format has failed? Real fire sale pricing also de values Blu-ray disc perceived value.

These inventory items certainly have actual value, but they are most more appropriately sold at a close out retailer like Big Lots o Odd Lots who specializes in this kind of thing.

my consumers aren't ready to buy Blu-ray because of the price point yet,and no need to confuse them more or contaminate their minds with blow out inventory liquidation pricing for HD DVDs.

They remained on the shelf to squeeze more more juice out of HD DVD owners, but its time to focus the message on Blu-ray.

The have value so they will probably be resold to a inventory liquidator an would not be destroyed.

I agree with much of this about perceived value. I do however have a question about your customers wanting a lower price point. I don't fully understand why this is so, can you help me?

I have been able to buy a new Blu-ray player for $299 any day for the last three months. [Samsung 1400 at Frys today for example.] The prices I am seeing are a lot less than the price of a VHS, LD, or DVD at a similar point in the adoption cycle, ignoring inflation. People were paying $800 for a VHS 30 years ago and glad to get one.

Why do many here keep saying that these prices are too high?

The only explanation I can think of is that folks are comparing Blu-ray prices to the subsidized and unsustainable pricing of HD DVD. Ok, that was Toshiba's strategy. The strategy didn't work, people bought Blu-ray instead even though the prices were higher.

It seems it is time to say that now that the format war is over, the prices we are seeing are fair and reasonable for the product at this point in the adoption cycle. Yes, they will go down as adoption increases and manufacturing efficiencies and competition push them down.

Can you help me here? I really don't get it.

....I have been able to buy a new Blu-ray player for $299 any day for the last three months. [Samsung 1400 at Frys today for example.] The prices I am seeing are a lot less than the price of a VHS, LD, or DVD at a similar point in the adoption cycle, ignoring inflation. People were paying $800 for a VHS 30 years ago and glad to get one.

Why do many here keep saying that these prices are too high?

The only explanation I can think of is that folks are comparing Blu-ray prices to the subsidized and unsustainable pricing of HD DVD. Ok, that was Toshiba's strategy. The strategy didn't work, people bought Blu-ray instead even though the prices were higher....


I think that the price that the HD formats were and are being compared to is standard DVD machines which sell at many retail outlets for $30.00... which even advertises who's picture is only 5X better, the price of the machine at most should only be $150.00... not ten times the $30 price... and to compare the HD formats to VHS... for the $800.00 you got a machine which could record for later play back... I would willing pay $800.00 for a Blu (or any storage media such as flash memory) set-top recorder which I could connect via HDMI pass-through to my HD Satellite/Cable box and be able to record wide screen HD movies with 5.1 audio...

my chicago BB never had any of those new titles Chicago stores cleaned out

Pretty much the case with the Sherman Oaks (Los Angeles) Best Buy. Went there last Friday looking for Atonement and found out they were never shipped the HD DVd version of it. The salesperson also confirmed the end of the month all the unsold HD DVD's would be sent back.

what do you do if you bought hd dvds at Best Buy. Play the disc and it skips and gives the 408 error code in 2 different xa-2's and is really unplayable in hd-a3, and hd-a30 in other words with current firmware (even older firmware 2.0 in one xa-2) at of 4 players none will play all the way thru..Toshiba says disc must be bad (Miami Vice) now what..Best Buy says too bad. they were gonna swap it with bluray then after a little while changed their mind.

If it's within 30 days they should give you a refund or at least store credit. If not you may want to try a different BB. I think sometimes how stores handle things really depends on who the mgr is or the rep you are working with. I hear people complain about BB alot and as long as you stick with their guidelines I have had good luck with them.

I had both my Madden and NBA Live discs which I was convinced that either my 360 broke or were defective discs from EA after playing both in the middle of a game I heard a knock and then the games no longer worked. Both games had no scratches at all but had hairline cracks in the center of the disc. Microsoft said it was EA's issue and EA said it was Microsoft's issue. I had the games well beyone the 30 days and I spoke with someone at BB and asked if they could swap it out and they did it no problem. That's why I say try another BB. If you get someone who's anal they will likely care less but if you actually get someone who's customer friendly you may be in luck.

I think that the price that the HD formats were and are being compared to is standard DVD machines which sell at many retail outlets for $30.00... which even advertises who's picture is only 5X better, the price of the machine at most should only be $150.00... not ten times the $30 price... and to compare the HD formats to VHS... for the $800.00 you got a machine which could record for later play back... I would willing pay $800.00 for a Blu (or any storage media such as flash memory) set-top recorder which I could connect via HDMI pass-through to my HD Satellite/Cable box and be able to record wide screen HD movies with 5.1 audio...

so your saying a ce should make a bd player,that at 150.00,the parts to make the player would cost more then the finished player.toshbia already tried that.
if you had a bd player that recorded,that would be nice but you wound'nt get the pq like a bd disc.
by the way how many years did it take sd dvd players to hit the 30.00 mark?
people are being unrealtic to think bd players at this point should be 150.00 or less,it not going to happen.

I actually watched as my local Best Buy boxed up all the HD-DVD titles yesterday afternoon. Was kinda sad.

There is a for return credit issue but also consumer perception at the retail level issue.

Why remind consumers a new HD format has failed? Real fire sale pricing also de values Blu-ray disc perceived value.

These inventory items certainly have actual value, but they are most more appropriately sold at a close out retailer like Big Lots o Odd Lots who specializes in this kind of thing.

my consumers aren't ready to buy Blu-ray because of the price point yet,and no need to confuse them more or contaminate their minds with blow out inventory liquidation pricing for HD DVDs.

They remained on the shelf to squeeze more more juice out of HD DVD owners, but its time to focus the message on Blu-ray.

The have value so they will probably be resold to a inventory liquidator an would not be destroyed.

So would this be the best time to try and get an open box HD DVD player from them?

For the person wo postted earlier, when to their bonus times frame end. end of the month? endo weekly sale?

so your saying a ce should make a bd player,that at 150.00,the parts to make the player would cost more then the finished player.toshbia already tried that.
if you had a bd player that recorded,that would be nice but you wound'nt get the pq like a bd disc.
by the way how many years did it take sd dvd players to hit the 30.00 mark?
people are being unrealtic to think bd players at this point should be 150.00 or less,it not going to happen.

I agree. We are about 1 year away I think. You can get a BR drive for as low as $130 online. The hardware is gonna run you atleast 100-150 so I think$300 is what the actual cost is right now.. maybe 250 assuming you are not using bargain chips that will blow within a year.

I could see a $200 BR player by the end of the year though at Friday sales.

You need to remember that the only people that BR really benefits is HDTV owners who have traditionally already ponied up more than most consumers anyway for the TV.

There are alot of J6Ps out there with 480i/480p and HD TVs who still think that BR players can't play DVDs. My dad is one. lol :D My brother is too.

That mentality is why most people still don't realize how good of a deal these Toshibas are for what you are paying. $60 for an A3/A2? $200 for an Xa2? $150 for an A35? Non supported HD DVD media or not these are good deals and represent ludicrous losses on Toshibas part. If you read the financials, Toshiba was nearly bankrupted by this. Even Sony is in a little trouble with the money they were throwing around with payoffs. Ashame none of that went to the consumer.

what do you do if you bought hd dvds at Best Buy. Play the disc and it skips and gives the 408 error code in 2 different xa-2's and is really unplayable in hd-a3, and hd-a30 in other words with current firmware (even older firmware 2.0 in one xa-2) at of 4 players none will play all the way thru..Toshiba says disc must be bad (Miami Vice) now what..Best Buy says too bad. they were gonna swap it with bluray then after a little while changed their mind.


they actually told you that?!? i would have raised hell right in the store. isn't it in their policy to accept returns of defective merchandise?

BB has 30 day return policy. I see zero issue of returning unopened HD DVDs.

BB has 30 day return policy. I see zero issue of returning unopened HD DVDs.

OPENED and defective ones. If they don't have a replacement in stock, that shouldn't be the customer's fault that they decided to send their stock back to the distributor. Give them a gift card with the amount credited to it, or something. If they were to tell me this, I would return EVERYTHING I purchased from in the past 30 days, new, or those that are opened as defective, looking specifically for stores that don't have those items in stock to give a replacement.

Is there currently a rebate or any other offer on the players?

What I went through at a B&M store when this format first came about. I could not play a disc. They said there is nothing wrong with the disc but it was my player!

Proving something is defective to some of these stores isn't easily done especailly when they don't have any players left!

I agree. We are about 1 year away I think. You can get a BR drive for as low as $130 online. The hardware is gonna run you atleast 100-150 so I think$300 is what the actual cost is right now.. maybe 250 assuming you are not using bargain chips that will blow within a year.

I could see a $200 BR player by the end of the year though at Friday sales.

You need to remember that the only people that BR really benefits is HDTV owners who have traditionally already ponied up more than most consumers anyway for the TV.

There are alot of J6Ps out there with 480i/480p and HD TVs who still think that BR players can't play DVDs. My dad is one. lol :D My brother is too.

That mentality is why most people still don't realize how good of a deal these Toshibas are for what you are paying. $60 for an A3/A2? $200 for an Xa2? $150 for an A35? Non supported HD DVD media or not these are good deals and represent ludicrous losses on Toshibas part. If you read the financials, Toshiba was nearly bankrupted by this. Even Sony is in a little trouble with the money they were throwing around with payoffs. Ashame none of that went to the consumer.

from what iv'e read sony & bestbuy are telling people bd players play and upconvert dvd's in there sales pitch.
the thing that amazes me is all you have to do is read the box on the product because it tells you what that bd player will & will not do.
people are lazy,they would rather take the word of somebody else then read it for themselves. then they ask a dumb ? like does bd players play sd dvd's.
when i go into a store and read the box ,if i don't undestand something i'll ask then.

agree with much of this about perceived value. I do however have a question about your customers wanting a lower price point. I don't fully understand why this is so, can you help me? oops typo, I meant "Many consumers" as I only advise some retailers and do not own a retail store or establishment.

Many consumers aren't ready to buy Blu-ray because of the price point yet,and no need to confuse them more or contaminate their minds with blow out inventory liquidation pricing for HD DVDs.
I meant many consumers are considering Blu-ray now but $399 for a PS3 or a set top BD players is still a bit too much for them. But a display at CC or BB is still a good idea now even if the hardware is not affordable or it does not react in an immediate sale.

If every time a consumer going in to buy a DVD glances at the Blu-ray demo display, they just might get a longing to upgrade and might keep checking out BD player prices.

It still can influence over them by exciting them about the technology and may affect a future purchase when they see an ad or sale or price point that they can react to.

I agree with much of this about perceived value. I do however have a question about your customers wanting a lower price point. I don't fully understand why this is so, can you help me?

I have been able to buy a new Blu-ray player for $299 any day for the last three months. [Samsung 1400 at Frys today for example.] The prices I am seeing are a lot less than the price of a VHS, LD, or DVD at a similar point in the adoption cycle, ignoring inflation. People were paying $800 for a VHS 30 years ago and glad to get one.

Why do many here keep saying that these prices are too high?

The only explanation I can think of is that folks are comparing Blu-ray prices to the subsidized and unsustainable pricing of HD DVD. Ok, that was Toshiba's strategy. The strategy didn't work, people bought Blu-ray instead even though the prices were higher.

It seems it is time to say that now that the format war is over, the prices we are seeing are fair and reasonable for the product at this point in the adoption cycle. Yes, they will go down as adoption increases and manufacturing efficiencies and competition push them down.

Can you help me here? I really don't get it. Very very well established data that consumers buy on impulse consumer electronics items at various threshold price points.

$299 $249 and $199 are among those threshold points where sales volume dramatically increase.

$199 in particular is a point where a lot of consumers react in a impulse manner and may buy a item on display without prior planning or they will see an advertisement and react to it. Its a physiological threshold for many consumers that they do not have to justify the purchase decision to themselves or others.

HD DVD pricing is almost absolutely irrelevant as most consumers never knew or have now already forgotten what HD DVD player pricing was. Only us geeks would remember. Even if they did now, it would not matter because HD DVD failed, lost the format war, and by that matter was inferior to the winning format Blu-ray.

HD DVDs hardware pricing has not spoiled the price point for Blu-ray. (It might for software if real fire sale pricing for HD DVD would occur next to Blu-ray discs, thats why BB is doing this)

Consumers as a whole have really short memories and have to have a media message constantly reinforced to them.

$299 is available if you search it out, but thats not the price point most consumers are seeing right now, its still $399.

$299 available in more places will get a lot more sales, $249 will bring even more and $199 (or $249 with some free stuff so people can say in their minds its really under $200).

It seems it is time to say that now that the format war is over, the prices we are seeing are fair and reasonable for the product at this point in the adoption cycle. Yes, they will go down as adoption increases and manufacturing efficiencies and competition push them down. Fair pricing has nothing to do with anything.

Its at what point will consumers buy in. More marketing and explanation of what value Blu-ray brings to someone with a HDTV raise the preserved value and might affect how much some consumers will spend, but that only goes so far.

Real strong data exists that mass market penetration and exponential sales growth for hardware only happens at price points somewhat below what Blu-ray is now at, and most hardware sales occur in the last four months of the year.

HD DVDs death occurred early in the year that CE manufacturers and retailers will adjust things this year to drop prices enough to substantially increase sales beyond the early adopter now buying Blu-ray.

...and by that matter was inferior to the winning format Blu-ray.

Whatever.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

time