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neilist wrote: Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:49 pm

TMDaines wrote: Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:58 pm Strangely it seems that all Eureka! and Masters of Cinema titles are no longer stocked by HMV or Fopp in Manchester. Their dedicated section is gone and the titles are not even found in the general assorted sections. They are not on HMV's webstore either. Anyone know what is going on?

I don't think any of their stores have stocked their titles for quite a few months now. I did ask in one of their stores last autumn why they'd lost their stock and was just told it was probably a supplier contractual issue. I assumed they'd be back before long, but presumably it's still ongoing.

Yeah, it happened towards the end of last year. Like you, I just presumed they were moving stuff around, but there's not been a single title on the shelves for months now. Shame, as I wish they'd have regular Masters of Cinema sales in store, as other labels do.

I think it's been almost a year now, but yeah they no longer stock Eureka titles in HMV or Fopp stores. I think there were even reports of them reducing titles to clear (IIRC someone mentioned getting one of the Jackie Chan LE sets for a tenner). They renegotiated deals with all the independent labels and Eureka weren't happy with the terms of their deal so decided to remove their stock from HMV stores and have since started doing 2 for £25/2 for £20 offers on their own webstore (presumably to compensate).

I seem to remember even Arrow had a bit of trouble last year and there was about a month or so where new titles weren't showing up in HMV stores, and then when they were they were seldom appearing in the long-standing 2 for £25 offer (which has since gone, surely a sign that things aren't exactly great at HMV's end) only for HMV to do a number of Arrow-related promotions later in the year (Buy-One-get-One-Free, 2 for £15 etc). 88 Films and BFI seemed to come to an agreement fairly swiftly, albeit with tough terms from what I've heard, and Indicator have too but the prices of their titles seem to fluctuate wildly - sometimes new released being £14.99 or £15.99 each, other times being £17.99 or £19.99 or even more (i.e. with no consistency).

It's frustrating as I would love to support HMV but if they keep putting prices up I'm just going to order either direct from the label, or through an online competitor (though I personally try to avoid Amazon as much as possible). Criterion titles are starting to inflate as well; the Chris Marker double-bill is £21.99 instore, or you can get it for £17.99 from Zoom or Amazon, and I saw On the Waterfront for £29.99. I guess if you don't mind paying £4 for the convenience every time, that's fine...

Fopp (and by extension, HMV) definitely don’t deal with Eureka any longer. They told me directly when I was looking for Der Golem last year.

Amazon dispatched the new Keaton set, which is sweet. Expected them to be postponed.

Eureka really want people to participate in the upcoming list project with a Billy Wilder sale: https://eurekavideo.co.uk/promotions/billy-wilder-sale/

Manina, The Lighthouse-Keeper's Daughter for £4.90.

Is Kwaidan [Limited Edition Box Set] (Blu-ray) sold out? After Amazon/DHL screwed up my first order, I wanted to buy it again. It seems like its not available anymore anywhere!

Fraid so - but a non-limited edition has been confirmed (details tba).

Eureka has reactivated their Billy Wilder sale for the new announcement, as well as a silent sale featuring most of their single releases available at 2 for £20 as well. Wildly it includes the Lubitsch in Berlin set, so if for whatever reason you don't have that one yet that seems a great deal if there's absolutely anything to pair it with you need.

Thanks for the heads-up, Ribs! You can also combine items across the Wilder and Silent sales: for example One, Two, Three and Diary of a Lost Girl for £10 each, and two Wilder pre-orders, A Foreign Affair and the exciting just-announced Five Graves to Cairo, for £12.50 each.

Now that is a lifesaver, with that I picked up Irma la Douce and Lubitsch in Berlin.

Apperson wrote: Thu Jun 04, 2020 9:29 pm Now that is a lifesaver, with that I picked up Irma la Douce and Lubitsch in Berlin.

By golly that’s the jackpot purchase!

I finally bought a region free player and have gotten really deep into the MoC releases I have received as gifts that I could never watch. I can't seem to find this anywhere but does MoC ship to the United States? I don't mind buying from third party sellers but I wanted to know if I could preorder all three of these titles!

They do! And for free, at that.

MoC are the one company I exclusively buy from direct. Like soundchaser says, their lack of shipping (or taxes) is wonderful, but they also don’t boost the exchange rate as I’ve felt other sites have done in the past. To add even more incentive, while other boutique companies usually go through Amazon.uk to give reduced prices, MoC doesn’t, and is almost exclusively through third party sellers (except sometimes the new releases).

On the flip side, unlike Amazon, they don't remove VAT or discount pre-orders that aren't part of a specific sale. They also don't (unless I'm mistaken) offer any sort of member rewards program (unlike Arrow, 88, or Criterion). Of course, unlike Amazon, you can actually place pre-orders with them.

Edit: And I forgot, Eureka's only payment option is WorldPay, which my bank has flagged before.

Regarding the VAT discount that was my positive point, because Amazon usually excludes MoC from that so it’s not like it’s the better option, except for new releases (I’ll admit I buy through amazon for some preorders). My bank has flagged those purchases before too, which is a good point and can be irritating but just takes a phone call. In my experience Worldpay flags it for you so you know to call your bank, and hasn’t been a problem for a few years, at least on my end. Overall when I look at how much I paid after a purchase, regardless of no rewards, I wind up feeling like I paid what I expected, or I’m pleasantly surprised, while other UK labels usually raise eyebrows and sometimes cause me to cancel my order over the unexpected additions to the total. Also, am I the only one who thinks the rewards systems outside of Criterion are so meager they aren’t incentivizing? I have to admit I stopped checking them.

Arrow’s rewards system used to be great - functionally immediately 20% back if you ordered anything during a sale, especially when they used to have free worldwide shipping as well. Used to be able to just pre-order everything during sales and get immediate rewards credit for the next set of pre-orders. Now I can’t imagine any circumstance where I’d pre-order something from Arrow because the return is so small and the shipping has gotten so expensive.

Indicator’s rewards seem alright but you need to accumulate a lot of points to use it. Shipping, again, kind of kills ordering direct most of the time. I buy basically every Eureka release direct, I can’t fathom a better option for international shipping, esp. considering all the standard releases are 2 for £25.

Yeah exactly, I should have clarified that I meant currently- Arrow used to be amazing. Also, stopping rewards points from being used during sales crushed their purpose for me, what with the shipping changes, etc.

Indicator is a company I desperately want to support through direct purchase outside of a sale, and I often do fill a cart and at checkout close out because the difference between my amazon cart and my indicator one with the same purchases across each is just direly skewed where I can’t ignore it (even with these 10% or bundle Indicator sales, though they help). This is obviously in ‘normal’ times, because right now there’s no incentive to purchase most overseas boutiques via amazon with those shipping prices.

Well, after holding out for the better part of a year I finally broke down last week and bought The White Reindeer at full price. This morning it was just (re-)added to the 2 for £25 offer. You're welcome.
Other new additions to the offer include No Way Out, Human Desire, Bird Man of Alcatraz, Picnic, The Defiant Ones, Old Dark House and King of Hearts. Some good stuff there.

Cash Flagg wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2020 1:09 pmEdit: And I forgot, Eureka's only payment option is WorldPay, which my bank has flagged before.

This is happening to me as I'm trying to pre-order the Edgar Allen Poe Adaptations blu-ray. And at amazon.co.uk, it's not deliverable to Canada. Anyone know how I can get this?

RV, when it’s happened to me in the past I’ve called my bank, explained that it’s me, and it’s been resolved. I may have had to place another order later, but I’ve been able to order from their site since.

Thanks twbb, I'll try that then.

My bank flagged WorldPay before and I had to confirm it was me who made the order to let it pass. I tried to order again last month and the order couldn't go through so it seems I would have to contact my bank every time now.

I contacted the bank through the phone number that appears when the order fails, which was the fraud department. They told me to try one hour later, it might just be the website, and if the problem reoccurred to call the bank again, but through the number on the back of the credit card instead. So I tried an hour later and this time it worked! So I don't know if the bank did anything to enable it to go through. In any event, thanks TW.