My local HMV isn't too bad in Stirling. It has a fair selection of 2 CDs for £10 old and new. Always enjoy a little search when I'm in town.
Other sections of the shop though are too overpriced. The DVD boxsets are ridiculous. First season of Scrubs was about £25 and you can get that online for £10! How are they going to compete with that?
I find the Stirling store to be one of the better ones - usually has a lot of good deals. The Perth store on the other hand is ridiculous.
they are still trying to flog "Lost [Season 1-6]" on DVD for £170. It's £49.97 on Amazon, or £100 for the Blu-ray set. Another example is "Misfits" - £35 for the 2 season box set. It's £10 in Morrisons down the road...
Their Dr. Dre beats headphones are also far too expensive - often £80-£100 dearer than online.
I find the Stirling store to be one of the better ones - usually has a lot of good deals. The Perth store on the other hand is ridiculous.
they are still trying to flog "Lost [Season 1-6]" on DVD for £170. It's £49.97 on Amazon, or £100 for the Blu-ray set. Another example is "Misfits" - £35 for the 2 season box set. It's £10 in Morrisons down the road...
Their Dr. Dre beats headphones are also far too expensive - often £80-£100 dearer than online.
Also some of the pricing for items I looked at but decided against:
Simpsons boxsets - £40 each, some of which came out on DVD 10 years ago.
Peep Show - £20 per series - one disc,six 25 minute episodes, and £5 anywhere else.
Beatles Anthology CDs - £25 per volume, around £3 on Amazon.
They have no one but themselves to blame with that kind of overpricing. People aren't idiots, no one would pay that and all of those are big sellers generally.
If anything is to blame, it's their prices. Chart album prices are fine. Everything else is ridiculously over priced in HMV imo.
They even sell old albums and dvd's for well over £10.
I completely agree, they thought with MVC, Virgin/Zaavi and Woolworths going they would dominate the high street. Although, supermarkets are conglomerates in most apheres of high street businesses such as butchers, bakers, green grocers, electrical and now family entertainment in which they can massively undercut the individual high street stores.
Also some of the pricing for items I looked at but decided against:
Simpsons boxsets - £40 each, some of which came out on DVD 10 years ago.
Peep Show - £20 per series - one disc,six 25 minute episodes, and £5 anywhere else.
Beatles Anthology CDs - £25 per volume, around £3 on Amazon.
They have no one but themselves to blame with that kind of overpricing. People aren't idiots, no one would pay that and all of those are big sellers generally.
What?! I got Series 1-6 for £14.99 on Amazon brand new.
HMV is too geedy and always has been. Unless it starts to be realistic with its prices then it will never recover.
I mean I saw a Lost Boxset listed for £170 WTF You can buy it for half that price anywhere else.
Its just those sort of things which explain why its in the mess it is.
Agreed, the prices are madness. I got the Lost boxset for £50 from Tesco. And the Friends boxset which was retailing for about £140 in HMV and once again £20 in Tesco.
I can only echo previous comments but HMV are incredibly overpriced. Amazon, Play.com, Tesco, ASDA and far easier and better value.
Our HMV has almost given up the pretence of being a music
Shop.
All the CD's are shunted into a corner and the rest if the store is DVD's and headphones.
As a result I have to buy my CDs online since anything that's not chart or a greatest hits isn't stocked.
It's not just pricing, stores like HMV can't stock anything like the range of titles that online sellers like Amazon can. The last few times I've been in to HMV to look for something they've not had what I was after so I've ended up buying it online anyway.
I agree with all of the above, especially the last point. Online retailers can stock more items, cheaper.
I can get things instantly from itunes, or wait a few days and go to Amazon and get the physical, or go to a decent independant store and get proper service and really knowledgeable passionat staff.
Alternatively I can go to HMV, most likely not find what i'm looking for or pay over the odds. If HMV dies, its because other people are doing the job of selling music better.
The very fact that the boss is blaming supermarkets clearly shows he still doesn't have a clue ..
^^ Too right.
Its all to do with their prices. I went in their the other day for a few CD's. I expected them to be quite expensive because they are not well sought after and a couple are recent releases. Anyways I couldn't find one of them that has been out for years so I asked and the bloke there said that it wasn't in stock but they could get it fo rme but it would cost £19.99 - :eek: WTF???
Granted it wasn't a CD that is welll sought after so I imagined it would be more expensive than this chart rubbish but £20 for a CD thats been out for years is crazy! I told him I'd get it online where it would be cheaper.
Another thing that annoys me as well is they have moved all the music that isn't in the charts right to the back of my local store and the prices of these CD's are just crazy. You can get a newer one for cheaper than something that has been out for about 15 years. Not good imo. No wonder they are going under.
It's very sad, but HMV is just too expensive. I know they have no choice but to charge high prices but it's still unreasonable to pay £9.99 per album most of the time. And DVDs are even worse, pretty much all boxsets cost £40. Most people will recognise you can get stuff for cheaper than that.
I'd say the bigger problem for HMV is Amazon. Literally everything on Amazon is cheaper than HMV, and I use it far more often than HMV these days.
I don't rely on HMV anymore there CD and DVD prices are way too expensive I get my music and DVD'S from Amazon now. I will not pay £10 or £16 on a CD and £18 on a DVD. And even the box set prices are ridiculous. My local HMV in Ilford closed down months ago.
I was in HMV Newcastle the other week, and was shocked at just how little space they have now allocated to CDs.
The first floor was use to be pretty much 70% CDs with the rest given to a DVDs, books and about 15% technology.
However now they have pushed the CDs right to to very back with about half of the floorspace now given to laptops, iPods and speakers. It was more like Currys or Dixons then HMV. :eek:
A few people try to defend their prices saying it's overheads, rent etc etc, That is fair enough, I think we would all expect slightly higher prices in a shop then online. However their prices are just ludicrous, and at times over 3 times what online sell at.
We still have Fopp in London. Always nip in there for an impulse purchase.
Yes, there's a good Fopp store down the road from my office on Gower Street within the Waterstones book store. Often go in there at lunchtime for some DVD bargains!
My nearest HMV (Romford) was always busy when they did CD's. But as soon as the CD's started getting reduced in quantity, they quickly lost custom.
I paid a visit to HMV (Norwich - Castle Meadow Store) when I lived up there and found that they were litted with CD's. Some I got cheaper than off Amazon/Play/etc. This is the kind of store we want.
The fact of the matter is, HMV don't make as much money from CDs anymore, the biggest thing that they sell is technology, followed by Games and DVDs.
The other thing is, if you're going in and they have stuff which has a white sticker on, and isn't as cheap as other places - ask if they have it on offer. They can only order in 'full price' things from the supplier, which is often a ridiculous amount from the 'actual' or 'sale' price, and they always have to keep one copy at that price. For example, the LOST boxset in my local HMV is £49 I think with a 'sale' sticker on, but there's a full price one which is around £170. It just depends if they sell out of the pink stickered stuff or not.
Most of the time it's the supplier that makes up the cost too, I remember going in and Disney were charging something ridiculous like £35 for Wall-E when it wasn't in the BOGOF - when it went down to £15.
The fact of the matter is, HMV don't make as much money from CDs anymore, the biggest thing that they sell is technology, followed by Games and DVDs.
The other thing is, if you're going in and they have stuff which has a white sticker on, and isn't as cheap as other places - ask if they have it on offer. They can only order in 'full price' things from the supplier, which is often a ridiculous amount from the 'actual' or 'sale' price, and they always have to keep one copy at that price. For example, the LOST boxset in my local HMV is £49 I think with a 'sale' sticker on, but there's a full price one which is around £170. It just depends if they sell out of the pink stickered stuff or not.
Most of the time it's the supplier that makes up the cost too, I remember going in and Disney were charging something ridiculous like £35 for Wall-E when it wasn't in the BOGOF - when it went down to £15.
Spot on! It annoys me that people do not realise how on retailers work. Amazon & supermarkets aren't selling CD's or DVD'S cheaper out of the goodness of their hearts, its because they can dictate to labels & suppliers how much they pay for stock whilst HMV & independent stores do not have that option.
Overpriced and people just don't buy things physically anymore.
the only things I buy on physical copy now are TV series box sets and films of things that I really enjoy and want to keep (such as the Complete Box Set Of Lost, the re-worked Bluray Back To The Future's etc) and even them these purchases usually come from Amazon.
everything else is either downloaded or I just wait til they are shown on TV.
I went into Sainsburys today and the music and DVD aisle looked like someone robbed it last year, left all the bad CDs and DVDs, and then Sainsburys decided to just reorganise them and try and sell them off. I was really disappointed! I don't live in Northern Ireland so Sainsburys was kind of a big deal to go to, I was expecting some cool bargain, but nothing!
I love HMV personally (I don't know if theres a big difference in price between the UK and Ireland stores) and I've always found bargains and great prices! There are some cool DVDs for like €2.99 and €3.99 and a really big choice!
Taking my two points into consideration, I'm a bit stumped as to how they're losing business to Supermarket chains! :O
Comments
they are still trying to flog "Lost [Season 1-6]" on DVD for £170. It's £49.97 on Amazon, or £100 for the Blu-ray set. Another example is "Misfits" - £35 for the 2 season box set. It's £10 in Morrisons down the road...
Their Dr. Dre beats headphones are also far too expensive - often £80-£100 dearer than online.
Here, here!
Also some of the pricing for items I looked at but decided against:
Simpsons boxsets - £40 each, some of which came out on DVD 10 years ago.
Peep Show - £20 per series - one disc,six 25 minute episodes, and £5 anywhere else.
Beatles Anthology CDs - £25 per volume, around £3 on Amazon.
They have no one but themselves to blame with that kind of overpricing. People aren't idiots, no one would pay that and all of those are big sellers generally.
I completely agree, they thought with MVC, Virgin/Zaavi and Woolworths going they would dominate the high street. Although, supermarkets are conglomerates in most apheres of high street businesses such as butchers, bakers, green grocers, electrical and now family entertainment in which they can massively undercut the individual high street stores.
Sweet FA, that's what.
Agreed, the prices are madness. I got the Lost boxset for £50 from Tesco. And the Friends boxset which was retailing for about £140 in HMV and once again £20 in Tesco.
I can only echo previous comments but HMV are incredibly overpriced. Amazon, Play.com, Tesco, ASDA and far easier and better value.
I agree with all of the above, especially the last point. Online retailers can stock more items, cheaper.
I can get things instantly from itunes, or wait a few days and go to Amazon and get the physical, or go to a decent independant store and get proper service and really knowledgeable passionat staff.
Alternatively I can go to HMV, most likely not find what i'm looking for or pay over the odds. If HMV dies, its because other people are doing the job of selling music better.
^^ Too right.
Its all to do with their prices. I went in their the other day for a few CD's. I expected them to be quite expensive because they are not well sought after and a couple are recent releases. Anyways I couldn't find one of them that has been out for years so I asked and the bloke there said that it wasn't in stock but they could get it fo rme but it would cost £19.99 - :eek: WTF???
Granted it wasn't a CD that is welll sought after so I imagined it would be more expensive than this chart rubbish but £20 for a CD thats been out for years is crazy! I told him I'd get it online where it would be cheaper.
Another thing that annoys me as well is they have moved all the music that isn't in the charts right to the back of my local store and the prices of these CD's are just crazy. You can get a newer one for cheaper than something that has been out for about 15 years. Not good imo. No wonder they are going under.
The first floor was use to be pretty much 70% CDs with the rest given to a DVDs, books and about 15% technology.
However now they have pushed the CDs right to to very back with about half of the floorspace now given to laptops, iPods and speakers. It was more like Currys or Dixons then HMV. :eek:
A few people try to defend their prices saying it's overheads, rent etc etc, That is fair enough, I think we would all expect slightly higher prices in a shop then online. However their prices are just ludicrous, and at times over 3 times what online sell at.
But I miss Fopp.
We still have Fopp in London. Always nip in there for an impulse purchase.
Yes, there's a good Fopp store down the road from my office on Gower Street within the Waterstones book store. Often go in there at lunchtime for some DVD bargains!
My local CEX take an AGE to serve, all a bunch of indie kids and a couple of times I've literally put down what I was gonna buy and walked out.
There used hardware prices are great, but I find a lot of their game prices (especially new) to be over GAME.
I paid a visit to HMV (Norwich - Castle Meadow Store) when I lived up there and found that they were litted with CD's. Some I got cheaper than off Amazon/Play/etc. This is the kind of store we want.
Ok i exagerated regarding the service but it's a good shop that is fairly priced and had decent conditions for used stuff.
The other thing is, if you're going in and they have stuff which has a white sticker on, and isn't as cheap as other places - ask if they have it on offer. They can only order in 'full price' things from the supplier, which is often a ridiculous amount from the 'actual' or 'sale' price, and they always have to keep one copy at that price. For example, the LOST boxset in my local HMV is £49 I think with a 'sale' sticker on, but there's a full price one which is around £170. It just depends if they sell out of the pink stickered stuff or not.
Most of the time it's the supplier that makes up the cost too, I remember going in and Disney were charging something ridiculous like £35 for Wall-E when it wasn't in the BOGOF - when it went down to £15.
Spot on! It annoys me that people do not realise how on retailers work. Amazon & supermarkets aren't selling CD's or DVD'S cheaper out of the goodness of their hearts, its because they can dictate to labels & suppliers how much they pay for stock whilst HMV & independent stores do not have that option.
the only things I buy on physical copy now are TV series box sets and films of things that I really enjoy and want to keep (such as the Complete Box Set Of Lost, the re-worked Bluray Back To The Future's etc) and even them these purchases usually come from Amazon.
everything else is either downloaded or I just wait til they are shown on TV.
I love HMV personally (I don't know if theres a big difference in price between the UK and Ireland stores) and I've always found bargains and great prices! There are some cool DVDs for like €2.99 and €3.99 and a really big choice!
Taking my two points into consideration, I'm a bit stumped as to how they're losing business to Supermarket chains! :O