May 25, 2008

Buying DVDs on ColumbiaHouse vs Amazon

If you are not a member of ColumbiaHouse and buy any amount of DVDs then I'd strongly recommend joining them. You get 5 DVDs for 49 cents each plus shipping and handling. Thats a pretty great deal even if S/H does run $2-3 a disc.

But once you've joined and already gotten the sweet deal on the first 5 DVDS, then is it worth it to stay in the club or should you just buy off a discount site like Amazon??

I'm a current member of ColumbiaHouse right now. I haven't bought any DVDs there for a while but I have bought many in the past. They routinely run deals like 'buy 1 get 1 free' or the offer they have right now 'buy 1 and get 60% off'.

As a quick test, I'll compare the cost of 3 DVDs: Transformers Special Edition, The Golden Compass and I Am Legend and then just The Golden Compass and I Am Legend:

all 3 movies
Columbia House cost = $43.31 + $6.97 s/h = $50.28
Amazon cost = $57.97 + sh
Advantage = Columbia House, $7.69 savings

only The Golden Compass and I Am Legend
Columbia House cost = $32.13 + $4.98 s/h = $37.11
Amazon cost = $32.98 + sh
Advantage = Amazon, $4.13 savings

If you bought the DVD's individually it would be cheaper on Amazon for The Golden Compass or I Am Legend and about equal for Transformers.

Amazon has free shipping on orders over $25 usually. Columbia shipping will run you $2-3 in shipping per DVD.

Conclusion: If you buy a lot of DVDs and buy can multiple ones at a time then you can save with Columbia House. But if you only buy a few DVDs or buy 1-2 at a time at most then Amazon will probably be better prices overall.

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