Amazon.com is having a pretty big 40 – 44% off sale of many Criterion titles (mostly popular ones, not some of the more obscure selections) and they offer free shipping for orders over $25. As many have already said, there are many places to find bargains if one is serious about building a personal DVD library. I do think that Criterion should consider re-pricing some of their older titles though. There are a number of MSRP $40 discs (e.g. Great Expectations) that have no special features, commentaries and pretty meager packaging compared to what they put out nowadays.
Hastings is a video store in my state (but not in many states I understand). They sell a bunch of their used rentals for pretty good deals. Now and again they sell their older selections that haven’t been rented in over a year or something like that. So if I keep an eye out, I can nab some great deals on Criterions (but usually no booklet). I bought Last Temptation of Christ for $6, Secret Honor for $7, Stray Dog for $7, Ikiru for $7 and a bunch more. All because I don’t think the store realizes they could be charging more for Criterions.
As said earlier, sign up for Borders Rewards and only shop there when you get a good coupon (I’d say about every 4 months or so I get a 40% coupon good on DVDs…and the coupons aren’t uniquely coded so just buy one DVD, print another coupon, and go back and buy another from a different cashier). Barnes & Noble blows…their membership cost money and their deals aren’t as good (and their DVDs are too overpriced to begin with)
www.deepdiscount.com usually has good prices…and every now and again they do a sale specifically on Criterion DVDs (and Kino Video DVDs too).
Amazon used and eBay are always good places to look. But keep an eye on Amazon’s regular prices. I have a wishlist on Amazon and sometimes I’ll notice the price go down significantly for a couple days and then go back up (with no warning whatsoever). I happened to catch it one day and grabbed Breathless, Night on Earth, Stranger Than Paradise, and The Third Man (2 Disc) all for less than $20 each!
Last, but certainly not least…keep and eye out at all stores for mislabels. Probably the best find I ever got was Noah Baumbach’s Kicking & Screaming at Borders marked as $9.99 because they mislabeled it as the Will Ferrell Kick & Screaming. I’ve also seen a copy of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas mislabeled as the single disc, non-Criterion version of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (except I already own the film).
Someone mentioned it but the lowest prices are on DVDplanet. As low as 19 dollars on some to 35 dollars on others and the box sets depending on how many the set brings go from 55 to 95 dollars. Still with all those supplements their worth every dollar!
They should have a just moved into the new warehouse sale.
It depends on which film I’m buying. But I do think many of those films are worth the price.
Why did I have to fucking miss it? What did you purchase and at what prices?
I work at BN and I also have a member card. I wait until I get a 25 percent off coupon, add that with my member card and they usually aren’t that badly priced. I also netflix ’em. Ebay, too.
Thanks for the recommendation of DVD Planet. Just bought Kieslowski’s Decalogue box for $54.96 — a good $25 less than the Amazon price.
I just wish I was buying it for me!
@Keagan: Yup, the library is the way to go! I’ve seen tons of classic and foreign movies — many of them Criterion releases — for free, because my local library has a fantastic DVD and VHS selection.
They are expensive but worth it. I buy too many DVDs and whenever there is a sale I will buy Criterions. I have purchased many through Amazon, where a ton are around 40% off. When Kim’s Video (in NYC) was discounting their entire dvd selection I purchased a handful of Criterions. They are great discs, and now with the bookcase worthy packaging, I don’t put them in a binder because they are a beautiful addition to my library.
I think it’s important to spend my money on companies I support (Criterion) and if I can buy them from a local, non-corporate, store, then that is even better.
Yes and no. To be honest, there are few purchases I can think of that are more worth the price than a Criterion DVD. To a normal, non-film-obsessed person who just wants to buy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or The Rock, Criterion is too much money for something they’re going to watch once or twice and let rot in their DVD collection. That’s not to say I make constant and efficient use of my Criterions, but whenever I feel like learning something new about a film I really love, Criterion’s there for me, and I never regret spending the extra money on buying them.
That said, I do usually hunt for bargains. If I can’t find them, I buy them full-priced. I recently bought Hoop Dreams for my mother, and I was so glad to find it available in an actual video store that I just bought it without fishing for a bargain first. Usually, though, I wait until Criterion’s having a sale and make a couple of useful purchases. That or some other DVD selling place; DeepDiscount.com is an absolute godsend. Not too long ago, they had a buy one get one free sale for all Criterion DVDs. I about died. It was amazing; I bought six Criterions for the price of three. Which is still a reasonable amount of money, but comparatively, it’s well worth it. I sometimes feel bad about doing that. I know Criterion survives mostly on us paying high prices for high quality, which makes me feel guilty for basically getting free ones. But if they really were that hard on cash, they wouldn’t be so liberal with their prices, so I take advantage of any and all sales they have. I’m willing to pay full price, but only if there’s no real or readily available alternative.
DVDPlanet.com, Amazon’s used section, and the used section of Rasputin Music are all great places to buy, though I haven’t bought many lately as a: I’m really poor, and b: I’m trying not to buy DVD’s anymore, since they’re becoming obsolete. I also try to get at least one for every Christmas and birthday. I’m getting Chungking Express on Blu-Ray this year.
I process materials at a public library that carries most of the collection, so I borrow more than I have time to watch and appreciate.
40.00 out of my price range. I have been lucky on E-bay. And my Library system in Milwaukee has allot of them. So i have been able to see many and burn some.
Expensive, but most of the time, worth every penny. Of course, I never buy SRP.
They are expensive, so I pick carefully and buy on eBay and wherever I see them reasonably priced. You just build your collection slowly.
If they were cheaper they’d probably not be designed and produced as carefully and in-depth as they are. I feel they’re worth the higher price tag.
I have the complete collection. The Hitchcock set and the original Salo were the 2 that really stung. Everything else I justify paying because it “completes the collection.”
I’m stuck now. Even if I wanted to stop buying CC I wouldn’t be able to. How do you destroy something perfect and complete?
I buy mainly on Amazon and DVDPlanet and I keep my eye on Ebay and B&N, Borders just to make the best decision possible. Hi.
fye, Amazon, Barnes and Noble are the best bets to find good deals and ofcourse ebay.
I don’t think criterion releases are too expensive at all, with the quality you get with a criterion release, not a chance it’s too expensive.
I just ordered 4 dvds, coming up to a total of 95 and I just did the 10 dollar shipping, I live in Ontario. Today I wasnt home but I had a note from Canada Post telling me to pick up the package tommorow and that I owe them 45 dollars! If I had done the 35 dollar express shipping it only costs 13…so whats the deal? anyone had this problem?
I often buy them off Amazon which has weird fluctuations in price sometimes but is generally pretty reasonable. If a movie is a little too high, I save it in my ‘shopping cart’ then whenever you go back to your amazon ‘cart’ it tells you what prices have increased or decreased therein. When a movie drops to a good price (which may be only for a few days, strangely enough) I’ll go ahead and order it. For instance, I think I recall Criterion’s ‘Jules and Jim’ suddenly dropping by at least 12 dollars to a reasonable $22 range and then going back up shortly after I bought it. I do agree they’re a bit high but they’re so well put together it just feels like you’re buying something more collectible and lasting when you get a Criterion dvd.
Hell, yeah, but they are like children to me.
Top notch!
I’ve been buying Criterion since 1999, and now have amassed 350 of the collection, in a variety of forms. Amazon.co.uk, via UK or U.S sellers, on trips to the U.S, at second hand stores in Pasadena and sometimes in Manhattan. Ebay does have good deals. The prices can fluctuate wildly, but it pays to be patient and wait.
The whole thing is about building the collection slowly or more quickly depending on disposable cash, luck of finding something decent second-hand. Whilst the Collection is somewhat too focused on French and Japanese cinema, Criteron takes the upmost care on their releases. While they are expensive, they more than hold their own, usually as the definitive, last-word in presentation, supplements and the actual films they release. Their collectability and resell value will hold for a long time to come, with or without Blu-Ray.
I do hunt for the deals and either way certainly find them worth it. I have to admit I absorbed the majority of the collection through the library system. The couch change I was living on only went so far. Now that I have a bit more, I plan to go broke on their Blu-ray releases and continue to use the couch change for food.
Blockbuster Online and Netflix..buy it when you can, but there are too many to buy..
Ryan, thanks for your tip, I rushed to B&N got a membership, but still need to start building my collection, all I have now are actually my brothers’.
I buy my criterion from DVD Planet. They’re all 30% off there, all year round I believe, or at least whenever I go in. If any of you are in the Inland Empire, Orange County area, they have two stores: one in Rancho Cucamonga, and the other in Huntington Beach. Go check out their website, dvdplanet.com.
But I agree, Criterion is a bit pricey. But hey, 30% off is 30% off.
Considering the quality of the films and presentation, the prices are well suited. I have 4 Criterion’s and out the four one was mis priced at $45 (it’s regular price is $59.99). Considering the great films and packaging, the expensive pricing is a little cost to pay.
Ryan
They had a 40% off sale a few weeks ago, so I bought Ran.