Wow. Could Circuit City be any more clueless?

[Liberal Veteran]

In this week's advertisement, they are selling HDDVD players for the low low price of $199.


Wow....20 dollars off a player AND format that has been discontinued (meaning that no more movies in HD DVD format will be released).


And they wonder why they can't seem to make a decent profit?

[Deja Q]

1. !

Aren't they selling for $150 everywhere else?

Worse, who'll feel proud after buying one for that low low price of $199?

:scared:

[LeftyMom]

2. Full-color glossy ads go to print weeks in advance.

Which is why sometimes there are albums on sale that are delayed, or why Target's christmas toy ad had those AquaDot things that were recalled because they broke down into GHB if swallowed in it.

Which, interestingly enough, is why Circuit City only ran a two color newsprint ad for a long time (that was the case when I worked for them years ago,) but competitive pressures pushed them to go to the more expensive but glitzier full color ad, mainly because BestBuy has one.

Edit: Yep, they've got them marked down way below that, and are selling them primarily as upconverting DVD players. http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HD-DVD-Blu-ray-Disc-players/sem/rpsm/catOid/-16221/N/20012866+20012872+20016221/rpem/ccd/categorylist.do Essentially the same thing they did with the Divx players (hey, it's really cheap, it plays DVDs, and it's got a built in RF adapter! Did we mention really cheap?!) back when I worked for them, when that format died and they had to unload those. I grabbed one of those for almost nothing myself, it worked fine, I'd probably still have it if not for a break-in. For the right deal, I might do the same with an HD-DVD player to use as an upconverter, and maybe grab some fire sale HD-DVDs while I was at it.

Edit: For another example of full color delay, back in December Parade magazine ran an interview with Benazir Bhutto shortly after her death, which, because of the delays, implied that she was alive, well and leading the opposition. Printing last minute is expensive, so nobody does it for advertisements, lifestyle magazines, and other things that aren't normally time sensitive.

[SKKY]

3. If they were, they'd be called "Best Buy"...