HMV Bargains

[Jamie]

Just been in store in the Hull branch and they are selling off a lot of their premium audio equipment for stupid prices. Just came home with a pair of wireless sennheiser RS 160 headphones, £140 down to £49.99, and a pair of Sennheiser PX 360s, £120 down to £39.99. They had some wireless sound systems for less then half price. I believe they had a Bose one for £99, down from £299. They apparently had some monster headphones in the other day for £70, down from £250 but they were all gone. It might be well worth checking your local branches to see if they have some decent stock left.

[Alex]

The store in Colchester stopped having decent stock in store about a month ago. It seems, they aren't supplied much anymore.

[Jamie]

Ah right. I thought the sale must have been pretty new considering the stock they had left.

[Andrew W]

The main shop on Oxford St in London has about a third of the stock it once did, it's like a ghost town. They've taken out a lot of the racks and those that are left are only half full. It's really depressing, Amazon is clearly going to win this one.

The independent stores around central London still seem to be doing well, which is great, but they are very specialist and focussed on new indie music. I used to like the great range of Ace Records releases that HMV stocked for example and now I can only get that online.

[Jamie]

The main shop on Oxford St in London has about a third of the stock it once did, it's like a ghost town. They've taken out a lot of the racks and those that are left are only half full. It's really depressing, Amazon is clearly going to win this one.

The one in Hull seems pretty well stocked still, although it was a bit strange seeing tons of cds dumped to the side in cardboard boxes so customers can raid through them.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

What a shame, this all stinks. Though I do buy most of my gear online, I love going to stores. If only they'd price competitively especially their used stuff, I'd still buy in stores for sure. Just that when you look online and you see something half the price of the item at a store, why buy in-store? I think a question some places should consider, would you rather sell 3 things for $30 each or 12 things for $10 each?

[Jamie]

What a shame, this all stinks. Though I do buy most of my gear online, I love going to stores. If only they'd price competitively especially their used stuff, I'd still buy in stores for sure. Just that when you look online and you see something half the price of the item at a store, why buy in-store? I think a question some places should consider, would you rather sell 3 things for $30 each or 12 things for $10 each?

I suppose it would all depend on the profit margin. I too would much prefer to buy instore, however like you said why would you when you can usually get it much cheaper online? Plus it is usually more covenient for some to shop online. Not sure where I would really go to now to flick through cds instore...

[juansolo]

There are two problems that are killing the high street. Online prices that obviously don't have the staff/premises overheads and that the customers have to pay to park. There is no reason to pay to browse records/CDs as I can do it for free without leaving the house. They're doomed sadly.