Updated 5/12 with Blu-Ray Information at bottom of first post
Several weeks ago I was debating joining the Disney Movie Club. I searched the DIS forums assuming there would be a thread dedicated to it, but there was not. To quote one thread starter: “sure there's a DISer who's done a cost breakdown on the Disney Movie Club”. But it doesn’t seem anyone has. My hope is that this thread can become the go-to place for info on the DMC. Consider it my thank you for all of the info I have gleaned from the DIS to date.
What is the Disney Movie Club?
The DMC is a purchasing club similar to others, perhaps most notably Columbia House. The basic idea of these programs is to offer customers a “too-good-to-be-true” initial offer and then charge higher than normal prices for additional DVD’s that contractually must be purchased. –In college I remember joining Columbia House to get 4 DVD’s for $5 each but was then charge $30-$40 for my commitment DVD’s that normally cost $15-$20. In the end I got ripped off.- The DMC is not exactly such a program, although it has the potential to be. The DMC can either be a fantastic program that works very well for people if they do their homework or it can be a financial burden to the uninformed. Over the next week I will address the key components of the DMC in more detail to help people leverage the program to their advantage. Hopefully I will cover:
The Initial Offer:
One fact must be stated at the beginning of this analysis: The regular prices of DMC DVD’s are more expensive than you will find elsewhere (usually not by much). Additionally, there are shipping and handling charges that all but guarantee a “commitment” DVD purchase will be more expensive through DMC than it would be at Walmart or Amazon (my two cost comparisons throughout). For example, Pinocchio will cost you 25.90 at DMC, 21.49 at Amazon, and 21.32 at Walmart.
To make the DMC work, it is necessary to do two things:
1. Look for bonus discounts whenever possible, and
2. More importantly- find the best initial offer possible. Find the offer with the most DVD’s at the cheapest price, with the fewest number of commitment DVD’s.
Here are two common offers to compare:
“The Basic”- 4 DVD’s for 7.96, a 5th for 14.95, a 6th for 9.95, free S&H, and 4 more to purchase.
Summary: 6 DVD’s for 32.86 and 4 commitment DVD’s to buy
“The Better Deal”- 5 DVD’s for $1.00 total, a 6th for 11.95, a 7th for 8.95, free S&H, and only 3 more to purchase. Per RetailMeNot, try promo codes: 11302 or 10827
Summary: 7 DVD’s for 21.90 and 3 commitment DVD’s to buy
I have also seen other offers, but they usually fall somewhere between these two offers. If you find one, let me know, I will do the math and add it to the examples above.
To make the most out of the DMC, using the Better Deal describe above is in my opinion key.
NOTE: There is also a BluRay version of the DMC which I will talk about once I have analyzed the standard DMC.
Fulfilling Your Commitment:
To fulfill your commitment to the DMC, you are required to purchase a set number of DVD’s at the “Club Price” (usually 19.95 or 21.95) along with the 3.95 S&H fee. You also can not use any discounts on that specific DVD. The “Club Price” is usually the price in gray on the website, not the discounted price in red. It should be noted that the majority of DVD’s available to DMC members will qualify as a commitment purchase, though a number of them do not (ones that are regularly less than 19.95 or are being offered at a discount already). Also, whenever you purchase a Club Priced DVD, the rest of that order will be discounted (more on that below), because of this you are not able to purchase more than 1 commitment DVD per order. Additionally, you have 24 months from submitting you initial purchase to fulfill all of your requirements, otherwise there is a huge penalty.
Monthly Features:
Understanding this aspect of the DMC is extremely important for anyone considering joining. Every 4 weeks, the DMC will have a featured product for its members to consider purchasing. As a member you will receive a mailing, an email, and the website will also prominently highlight this featured item. If you do not tell the DMC otherwise, they will assume you want this item and will automatically mail it to you at the end of the four weeks. If you do not want the featured product, you must tell the DMC that. It is very easy to tell the DMC on their website- they do not hid it or anything, but it is also easy to let it slip you mind and receive a DVD you do not want or already have (they can be returned, but it is a headache).
Current Feature:
Toy Story 1 & 2 on DVD for 34.95 plus S&H (40.?? total)
Or
Toy Story 1 & 2 DVD/BluRay Combo pack, with 2 tickets to Toy Store 3, and free S&H (49.95)
My suggestion: If you have either Toy Store 1 or 2, pass on this deal. If you do not have either & are already planning on seeing Toy Store 3, definitely get the DVD/BluRay combo pack. The free tickets and S&H already make it a better deal that the DVD only option, even if you do not have a BluRay player. Also, this purchase counts as 1 commitment DVD.
Extra Savings
In addition to the huge savings you receive via the initial offer, there are other additional savings you can take advantage of. The more you do this, the more likely you are to benefit financially from the DMC.
1. The biggest savings opportunity available to DMC members is a 25% discount off all additional DVD’s purchased in an order than contains a Club Priced DVD. For my money this works best with DVD’s that are already below the 19.95 level, or that you do not plan on purchasing as a commitment DVD. This can really save a DVD collector a significant amount of money (25%). For those looking to purchase only a limited number of DVD’s, I would resist the urge to purchase more than one expensive DVD at a time and instead purchase each DVD individually, helping you fulfill your commitment as early as possible.
2. Another area where significant savings can be found is on already discounted items. Just like any other store, the DMC has sales and clearance specials. These are usually very good deals, better than the 25% discount above. One note however, because they are already on sale, these type of purchases do not count towards your commitment.
3. One final area where additional savings can be found in on random items. Occasionally the DMC offers free S&H, other times free movie tickets, and other times other bonuses.
Perks:
The biggest perk to joining the DMC, in addition to the potential savings, is the exclusive DVD’s. The DMC has a large selection of movies that cannot be purchased elsewhere, generally older live-action film. Additionally, the DMC also has special editions of more common DVD’s that cannot be purchased elsewhere. For true DVD/Disney collectors, this perk can well be worth the cost of the DMC alone. For the frugal, this perk is only helpful if there is a particular DVD you cannot find elsewhere but really want.
Another perk of the DMC, though not exclusive to the DMC, is the Disney Movie Rewards program. As the Rewards program can get you some pretty nice stuff for free, any true cost/benefit analysis of the DMC should include some consideration of the DMR.
A third perk of the DMC involves becoming a VIP. Once you have completed your commitment to the DMC and purchased your required number of DVD’s, you become a VIP. As a VIP you receive additional savings (as I am not a VIP yet, I do not know how much) and also receive a Disney Pin with each order that contains a regularly priced DVD. Because of the promised additional savings of a VIP, I would again encourage people to only order one commitment DVD at a time, without any discount DVD’s.
Cost Breakdown
As I mentioned above, the heart of the making the DMC a good deal is the initial offer. Let me run both offers above to demonstrate.
Basic Deal: 6 DVD’s for 32.86 and 4 commitment DVD’s to buy
4 Commitment DVD’s at 25.90 (minimum)= 103.60
103.60 + 32.86= 136.46
136.46 divided by 10 DVD’s total equals 13.65 per DVD.
Better Deal: 7 DVD’s for 21.90 and 3 commitment DVD’s to buy
3 Commitment DVD’s at 25.90 (minimum)= 77.70
77.70 + 21.90= 99.60
99.60 divided by 10 DVD’s total equals 9.96 per DVD
**That is a savings of 36.86 over the basic deal**
To the basic question of cost savings, the answer is obvious to me. 10 Disney DVD’s from 99.60, or even 136.46, is much better than you could do elsewhere. At Amazon or Walmart 10 Disney DVD’s could easily cost between $180-250. The DMC should save you between $45-150 depending on how savvy you are.
For a real world example, here is my current savings:
DMC Amazon
MM Clubhouse DVD 0.20 15.99
Monster's Inc 0.20 21.49
Muppets Treasure Island 0.20 17.49
Winnie the Poh 0.20 21.49
Ratatouee 11.95 21.49
Little Einstein DVD 0.20 16.49
Sword and the Stone 8.95 21.49
TS 1 w/BluRay and Tickets 49.95 16.99 No BluRay
TS 2 w/BluRay and Tickets 18.49 No BluRay
16.00 Movie Tickets
Robin Hood 23.90 21.49
Actual Total So Far 95.75 209.90
Price per DVD: 9.58 19.29
1 More DVD's Needed
Is the DMC for you?
Good question, but one that is tough to answer. Like all good questions, the real answer is “it depends”.
-Do you already have a significant Disney DVD collection and don’t plan on buying many more DVD’s, if that’s you, then no the DMC is not worth it.
-Do you obsess over finding the “rock-bottom” lowest price on every single DVD you purchase, then probably not (even though the DMC works out in the long run, it can be frustrating to pay $25.90 for a DVD you can find locally for 21.47).
-Are there only a few Disney DVD’s you want? Then no- buy them individually.
-Is money tight and you can only buy a few DVD’s? Then no- the cost per DVD of the DMC is great, but you need to spend a lot to get a lot.
-This plan works best in bulk. Basically, the DMC is good for someone who is looking to purchase a lot of Disney DVD’s and who is willing to crunch some numbers to see if each deal is really a deal. Personally, I have 40+ old Disney VHS tapes that are at the end of their life. As I now have a 2 year old and want him to experience the magic, I want to create an entire library of Disney DVD’s. For me this DMC is awesome, but for others it might not be.
Blu-ray Analysis
Here is a quick summary of the DMC Blu-Ray program.
1. Initial Offer: 3 Blu-Rays for 29.85 with 2 Commitment disks to purchase later (minimum 29.95 each plus S&H)
2. If you purchased 29.95 disks to meet your commitment, the total would be 97.65 or 19.53 per disk
3. Weaknesses of the program:
-Disney only has about 100 Blu-rays to choose from, selection is limited.
-Most Blu-rays are actually 31.95 or 34.95, not 29.95 brining the likely total to over $100 and the per disk cost over $20.
-Blu-ray prices vary dramatically depending where you shop. On Amazon many Disney Blu-rays are less then $20!!! But can be $30 or more if you buy retail.
-There are no DMC exclusive movies
Blu-ray Summary:
The true value of the regular DMC is all in the intial offer, unfortunately the Blu-ray offer is not all that great ($10 per disk compared to $3). Additionally, while most DMC DVD's are slightly more expensive than Amazon, the Blu-ray difference can be striking (upwards of $18 per disk in some extreme cases: Up, Snow White, and others). In my opinion, the majority of people should be able to "break even" with the Blu-ray DMC, but only very few people will see any significant savings.
A Final Note:
One additional perk of the DMC is that if you refer a friend and that friend joins the DMC, you get a free DVD. While that perk is not the reason I started this thread, if you have appreciated my information and are going to join the DMC because of it, send me a PM and I will refer you. Thanks
Several weeks ago I was debating joining the Disney Movie Club. I searched the DIS forums assuming there would be a thread dedicated to it, but there was not. To quote one thread starter: “sure there's a DISer who's done a cost breakdown on the Disney Movie Club”. But it doesn’t seem anyone has. My hope is that this thread can become the go-to place for info on the DMC. Consider it my thank you for all of the info I have gleaned from the DIS to date.
What is the Disney Movie Club?
The DMC is a purchasing club similar to others, perhaps most notably Columbia House. The basic idea of these programs is to offer customers a “too-good-to-be-true” initial offer and then charge higher than normal prices for additional DVD’s that contractually must be purchased. –In college I remember joining Columbia House to get 4 DVD’s for $5 each but was then charge $30-$40 for my commitment DVD’s that normally cost $15-$20. In the end I got ripped off.- The DMC is not exactly such a program, although it has the potential to be. The DMC can either be a fantastic program that works very well for people if they do their homework or it can be a financial burden to the uninformed. Over the next week I will address the key components of the DMC in more detail to help people leverage the program to their advantage. Hopefully I will cover:
The Initial Offer:
One fact must be stated at the beginning of this analysis: The regular prices of DMC DVD’s are more expensive than you will find elsewhere (usually not by much). Additionally, there are shipping and handling charges that all but guarantee a “commitment” DVD purchase will be more expensive through DMC than it would be at Walmart or Amazon (my two cost comparisons throughout). For example, Pinocchio will cost you 25.90 at DMC, 21.49 at Amazon, and 21.32 at Walmart.
To make the DMC work, it is necessary to do two things:
1. Look for bonus discounts whenever possible, and
2. More importantly- find the best initial offer possible. Find the offer with the most DVD’s at the cheapest price, with the fewest number of commitment DVD’s.
Here are two common offers to compare:
“The Basic”- 4 DVD’s for 7.96, a 5th for 14.95, a 6th for 9.95, free S&H, and 4 more to purchase.
Summary: 6 DVD’s for 32.86 and 4 commitment DVD’s to buy
“The Better Deal”- 5 DVD’s for $1.00 total, a 6th for 11.95, a 7th for 8.95, free S&H, and only 3 more to purchase. Per RetailMeNot, try promo codes: 11302 or 10827
Summary: 7 DVD’s for 21.90 and 3 commitment DVD’s to buy
I have also seen other offers, but they usually fall somewhere between these two offers. If you find one, let me know, I will do the math and add it to the examples above.
To make the most out of the DMC, using the Better Deal describe above is in my opinion key.
NOTE: There is also a BluRay version of the DMC which I will talk about once I have analyzed the standard DMC.
Fulfilling Your Commitment:
To fulfill your commitment to the DMC, you are required to purchase a set number of DVD’s at the “Club Price” (usually 19.95 or 21.95) along with the 3.95 S&H fee. You also can not use any discounts on that specific DVD. The “Club Price” is usually the price in gray on the website, not the discounted price in red. It should be noted that the majority of DVD’s available to DMC members will qualify as a commitment purchase, though a number of them do not (ones that are regularly less than 19.95 or are being offered at a discount already). Also, whenever you purchase a Club Priced DVD, the rest of that order will be discounted (more on that below), because of this you are not able to purchase more than 1 commitment DVD per order. Additionally, you have 24 months from submitting you initial purchase to fulfill all of your requirements, otherwise there is a huge penalty.
Monthly Features:
Understanding this aspect of the DMC is extremely important for anyone considering joining. Every 4 weeks, the DMC will have a featured product for its members to consider purchasing. As a member you will receive a mailing, an email, and the website will also prominently highlight this featured item. If you do not tell the DMC otherwise, they will assume you want this item and will automatically mail it to you at the end of the four weeks. If you do not want the featured product, you must tell the DMC that. It is very easy to tell the DMC on their website- they do not hid it or anything, but it is also easy to let it slip you mind and receive a DVD you do not want or already have (they can be returned, but it is a headache).
Current Feature:
Toy Story 1 & 2 on DVD for 34.95 plus S&H (40.?? total)
Or
Toy Story 1 & 2 DVD/BluRay Combo pack, with 2 tickets to Toy Store 3, and free S&H (49.95)
My suggestion: If you have either Toy Store 1 or 2, pass on this deal. If you do not have either & are already planning on seeing Toy Store 3, definitely get the DVD/BluRay combo pack. The free tickets and S&H already make it a better deal that the DVD only option, even if you do not have a BluRay player. Also, this purchase counts as 1 commitment DVD.
Extra Savings
In addition to the huge savings you receive via the initial offer, there are other additional savings you can take advantage of. The more you do this, the more likely you are to benefit financially from the DMC.
1. The biggest savings opportunity available to DMC members is a 25% discount off all additional DVD’s purchased in an order than contains a Club Priced DVD. For my money this works best with DVD’s that are already below the 19.95 level, or that you do not plan on purchasing as a commitment DVD. This can really save a DVD collector a significant amount of money (25%). For those looking to purchase only a limited number of DVD’s, I would resist the urge to purchase more than one expensive DVD at a time and instead purchase each DVD individually, helping you fulfill your commitment as early as possible.
2. Another area where significant savings can be found is on already discounted items. Just like any other store, the DMC has sales and clearance specials. These are usually very good deals, better than the 25% discount above. One note however, because they are already on sale, these type of purchases do not count towards your commitment.
3. One final area where additional savings can be found in on random items. Occasionally the DMC offers free S&H, other times free movie tickets, and other times other bonuses.
Perks:
The biggest perk to joining the DMC, in addition to the potential savings, is the exclusive DVD’s. The DMC has a large selection of movies that cannot be purchased elsewhere, generally older live-action film. Additionally, the DMC also has special editions of more common DVD’s that cannot be purchased elsewhere. For true DVD/Disney collectors, this perk can well be worth the cost of the DMC alone. For the frugal, this perk is only helpful if there is a particular DVD you cannot find elsewhere but really want.
Another perk of the DMC, though not exclusive to the DMC, is the Disney Movie Rewards program. As the Rewards program can get you some pretty nice stuff for free, any true cost/benefit analysis of the DMC should include some consideration of the DMR.
A third perk of the DMC involves becoming a VIP. Once you have completed your commitment to the DMC and purchased your required number of DVD’s, you become a VIP. As a VIP you receive additional savings (as I am not a VIP yet, I do not know how much) and also receive a Disney Pin with each order that contains a regularly priced DVD. Because of the promised additional savings of a VIP, I would again encourage people to only order one commitment DVD at a time, without any discount DVD’s.
Cost Breakdown
As I mentioned above, the heart of the making the DMC a good deal is the initial offer. Let me run both offers above to demonstrate.
Basic Deal: 6 DVD’s for 32.86 and 4 commitment DVD’s to buy
4 Commitment DVD’s at 25.90 (minimum)= 103.60
103.60 + 32.86= 136.46
136.46 divided by 10 DVD’s total equals 13.65 per DVD.
Better Deal: 7 DVD’s for 21.90 and 3 commitment DVD’s to buy
3 Commitment DVD’s at 25.90 (minimum)= 77.70
77.70 + 21.90= 99.60
99.60 divided by 10 DVD’s total equals 9.96 per DVD
**That is a savings of 36.86 over the basic deal**
To the basic question of cost savings, the answer is obvious to me. 10 Disney DVD’s from 99.60, or even 136.46, is much better than you could do elsewhere. At Amazon or Walmart 10 Disney DVD’s could easily cost between $180-250. The DMC should save you between $45-150 depending on how savvy you are.
For a real world example, here is my current savings:
DMC Amazon
MM Clubhouse DVD 0.20 15.99
Monster's Inc 0.20 21.49
Muppets Treasure Island 0.20 17.49
Winnie the Poh 0.20 21.49
Ratatouee 11.95 21.49
Little Einstein DVD 0.20 16.49
Sword and the Stone 8.95 21.49
TS 1 w/BluRay and Tickets 49.95 16.99 No BluRay
TS 2 w/BluRay and Tickets 18.49 No BluRay
16.00 Movie Tickets
Robin Hood 23.90 21.49
Actual Total So Far 95.75 209.90
Price per DVD: 9.58 19.29
1 More DVD's Needed
Is the DMC for you?
Good question, but one that is tough to answer. Like all good questions, the real answer is “it depends”.
-Do you already have a significant Disney DVD collection and don’t plan on buying many more DVD’s, if that’s you, then no the DMC is not worth it.
-Do you obsess over finding the “rock-bottom” lowest price on every single DVD you purchase, then probably not (even though the DMC works out in the long run, it can be frustrating to pay $25.90 for a DVD you can find locally for 21.47).
-Are there only a few Disney DVD’s you want? Then no- buy them individually.
-Is money tight and you can only buy a few DVD’s? Then no- the cost per DVD of the DMC is great, but you need to spend a lot to get a lot.
-This plan works best in bulk. Basically, the DMC is good for someone who is looking to purchase a lot of Disney DVD’s and who is willing to crunch some numbers to see if each deal is really a deal. Personally, I have 40+ old Disney VHS tapes that are at the end of their life. As I now have a 2 year old and want him to experience the magic, I want to create an entire library of Disney DVD’s. For me this DMC is awesome, but for others it might not be.
Blu-ray Analysis
Here is a quick summary of the DMC Blu-Ray program.
1. Initial Offer: 3 Blu-Rays for 29.85 with 2 Commitment disks to purchase later (minimum 29.95 each plus S&H)
2. If you purchased 29.95 disks to meet your commitment, the total would be 97.65 or 19.53 per disk
3. Weaknesses of the program:
-Disney only has about 100 Blu-rays to choose from, selection is limited.
-Most Blu-rays are actually 31.95 or 34.95, not 29.95 brining the likely total to over $100 and the per disk cost over $20.
-Blu-ray prices vary dramatically depending where you shop. On Amazon many Disney Blu-rays are less then $20!!! But can be $30 or more if you buy retail.
-There are no DMC exclusive movies
Blu-ray Summary:
The true value of the regular DMC is all in the intial offer, unfortunately the Blu-ray offer is not all that great ($10 per disk compared to $3). Additionally, while most DMC DVD's are slightly more expensive than Amazon, the Blu-ray difference can be striking (upwards of $18 per disk in some extreme cases: Up, Snow White, and others). In my opinion, the majority of people should be able to "break even" with the Blu-ray DMC, but only very few people will see any significant savings.
A Final Note:
One additional perk of the DMC is that if you refer a friend and that friend joins the DMC, you get a free DVD. While that perk is not the reason I started this thread, if you have appreciated my information and are going to join the DMC because of it, send me a PM and I will refer you. Thanks
