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Play.com - 9/1/2013 11:46:03 AM

UTB

Posts: 9049
Joined: 30/9/2005

Turns into a market place...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-20953357

quote:

Online retailer Play.com is to shut down its retail business becoming a marketplace only from March 2013.

The Jersey based company blamed the move on the ending of Low Value Consignment Relief allowing items less than �15 to be sold to the UK VAT free.

The company is making 147 staff redundant in Jersey as well as 67 in its Cambridge and Bristol offices.

Play.com will be more like a shopping centre with the move, no longer selling directly to the customers themselves.

The Low Value Consignment Relief (LVCR) loophole was shut by the UK government in April 2012.

In a statement Play.com said: "Moving forward we are intending to focus exclusively on our successful marketplace, which is our main business area, and to phase out the direct retail part of our business."

In September the States of Jersey said about 400 people had lost their jobs elsewhere in the island because of the end of LVCR.

Post #: 1

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 12:37:19 PM

elab49

Posts: 52033
Joined: 1/10/2005

LCVR wasn't a loophole, it was a practical limit. I'm surprised the reduction of �3 has hit them so hard though.

Also, and I know this isn't really funny, but isn't 147 an odd number given they started out as play147?

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Post #: 2

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 12:39:42 PM

paulyboy

Posts: 2288
Joined: 30/9/2005

Been using them for years (back from when they were primarily a Region 1 dealer) so a shame to see them go this way really, sucks for the staff so soon after Christmas as well. I've never really used any of the sellers on the marketplace there so can't comment on that a great deal, works pretty well for Amazon though.

Still, a shame, another step closer to Amazon, Apple, Microsoft & Tesco ruling the world.

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Post #: 3

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 12:39:42 PM

MonsterCat

Posts: 6424
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Fuck, 147 job losses. : (

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Post #: 4

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 12:45:34 PM

paulyboy

Posts: 2288
Joined: 30/9/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: elab49

Also, and I know this isn't really funny, but isn't 147 an odd number given they started out as play147?

It was 247, the website that is.

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Post #: 5

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 12:48:35 PM

Harry Tuttle

Posts: 7620
Joined: 12/11/2005
From: Sometime in the future.

quote:

ORIGINAL: MonsterCat

Fuck, 147 job losses. : (

Yeah that's pretty grim.

I haven't used Play for ages myself though. I've preferred Amazon, or occasionally HMV.com, for months now. More choice, better pricing and quicker delivery in my experience.

< Message edited by Harry Tuttle -- 9/1/2013 12:54:59 PM >

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Post #: 6

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 12:56:25 PM

elab49

Posts: 52033
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quote:

ORIGINAL: paulyboy

quote:

ORIGINAL: elab49

Also, and I know this isn't really funny, but isn't 147 an odd number given they started out as play147?

It was 247, the website that is.

Bugger - I knew it was close though

I buy the odd special offer from them and still check prices against Amazon and HMV. They take as long as HMV normally, given they're being sent from about the same place. So I go to both for price, not speed.

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Post #: 7

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 1:06:29 PM

Harry Tuttle

Posts: 7620
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From: Sometime in the future.

I think the last 2 or 3 things I ordered from Play took over a week from order to delivery (and the items were in stock). Amazon and HMV tend to take about 3 days on average. I actually think the last time I ordered anything from Play was December 2011. The final straw being that it took them 3 weeks to deliver something that I ordered a fortnight before Christmas (and well before their Xmas delivery cut off date). Obviously the order was a gift so when it didn't turn up I had to buy the item off the High Street and then send the thing back to Play when it arrived.

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Post #: 8

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 1:09:05 PM

chris kilby

Posts: 1189
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quote:

ORIGINAL: paulyboy

Been using them for years (back from when they were primarily a Region 1 dealer) so a shame to see them go this way really, sucks for the staff so soon after Christmas as well. I've never really used any of the sellers on the marketplace there so can't comment on that a great deal, works pretty well for Amazon though.

Still, a shame, another step closer to Amazon, Apple, Microsoft & Tesco ruling the world.

Surely just a matter of time before they merge and change their name to SPECTRE - Supreme Prevailing Evil Cartel Retailing Everything. MWA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAA...! Etc.

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Post #: 9

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 1:12:00 PM

paulyboy

Posts: 2288
Joined: 30/9/2005

HMV will tank this year if all the signs are to be believed, faily sure I read somewhere that they had to secure funding just to make it through Christmas. Whether or not their demise will spell the end of the website though I'm not sure, I don't know where it sits in the overall business, someone may swoop in and save it like The Hut did with Zavvi, or they may keep it going themselves, god knows.

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Post #: 10

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 1:14:41 PM

paulyboy

Posts: 2288
Joined: 30/9/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: Harry Tuttle

I think the last 2 or 3 things I ordered from Play took over a week from order to delivery (and the items were in stock). Amazon and HMV tend to take about 3 days on average. I actually think the last time I ordered anything from Play was December 2011. The final straw being that it took them 3 weeks to deliver something that I ordered a fortnight before Christmas (and well before their Xmas delivery cut off date). Obviously the order was a gift so when it didn't turn up I had to buy the item off the High Street and then send the thing back to Play when it arrived.

They're all about the same for me, 3-4 days usually, never really noticed a difference if I'm honest. Although Amazon do tend to drag their heels with dispatching whenever I choose Super Saver Delivery, bastards!

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Post #: 11

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 1:16:17 PM

Harry Tuttle

Posts: 7620
Joined: 12/11/2005
From: Sometime in the future.

I'd best make sure I take full advantage of their 5 for �30 offer before then

.

To be honest I can see HMV closing down the retail side of things and just concentrating on the website. A few years from now the High Street will be a pretty desolate place for anything other than coffee shops, sandwich bars and maybe clothes stores I imagine.

quote:

ORIGINAL: paulyboy

Although Amazon do tend to drag their heels with dispatching whenever I choose Super Saver Delivery, bastards!

I always choose Super Saver delivery and tend to get my stuff within 3-4 days. If anything it's Amazon Prime that's fucking awful in my experience. Granted my only experience with it is as a free trial but then why would I pay for it after the trial was such an unmitigated disaster anyway. I regularly had to wait 2-3 days for stuff that was promised for me the next day. On one occassion I took a day off work to ensure I was in for the delivery and the damn thing didn't turn up till a couple of days later which cause me quite a bit of bother because the Royal Mail sorting office round here has some pretty damn inconvenient opening hours for anyone with a 9-5 job.

< Message edited by Harry Tuttle -- 9/1/2013 1:25:19 PM >

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Post #: 12

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 1:17:54 PM

elab49

Posts: 52033
Joined: 1/10/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: Harry Tuttle

I think the last 2 or 3 things I ordered from Play took over a week from order to delivery (and the items were in stock). Amazon and HMV tend to take about 3 days on average. I actually think the last time I ordered anything from Play was December 2011. The final straw being that it took them 3 weeks to deliver something that I ordered a fortnight before Christmas (and well before their Xmas delivery cut off date). Obviously the order was a gift so when it didn't turn up I had to buy the item off the High Street and then send the thing back to Play when it arrived.

I think you've been quite lucky with HMV?. I stopped pre-ordering from HMV as they stopped getting them here by Sat. Most were arriving the next Wed. And they are sent from the same place, so same length of time didn't surprise. I've had shipments from Australia that got here faster than HMV and Play (3 days - I was stunned!

)

Amazon ship from UK so they should always be fastest. Amazon fr and de are quicker as well so that must be a smoother line.

So it's only really price that takes me too them. And an attempt to spread the spend after Amazon's tax thing!

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Post #: 13

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 1:24:22 PM

elab49

Posts: 52033
Joined: 1/10/2005

O/T That said, if HMV do get my Dredd pre-order to me by the weekend I'll withdraw any reservations

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Post #: 14

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 1:39:05 PM

paulyboy

Posts: 2288
Joined: 30/9/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: Harry Tuttle

To be honest I can see HMV closing down the retail side of things and just concentrating on the website. A few years from now the High Street will be a pretty desolate place for anything other than coffee shops, sandwich bars and maybe clothes stores I imagine.

You forgot hairdressers and estate agents!

It's all a bit shit really, I'll sound like an old bastard but I weep for the future I really do, large swathes of several industries in this country seem to be going south whilst the likes of Amazon prosper.

Oh well, at least they're pumping money into the economy from all that corporation tax they're paying!

Now I can feel a rant about the EU coming on!

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Post #: 15

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 1:48:28 PM

DONOVAN KURTWOOD

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From: PLANET G

Bad news overall but good news for my wallet, those steelbooks were just too tempting for me, they had a lot of exclusives.

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Post #: 16

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 2:13:03 PM

steelydan3

Posts: 501
Joined: 28/6/2006

Basically it seems to have became a bit of a marketplace anyway, in the style of the one on Amazon, or ebay. There is still play.com offering things, but I saw the confusion myself when it wasn't clear sometimes whether a product is offered by Play, or a 3rd party seller. Last thing I bought was some Regatta gloves and a hat in December. Hadn't ordered anything for ages before that though. I use Amazon now almost exclusively for CDs, games, and books. Sad to see them go though, as probably pre 2007, it was half them and half Amazon and a bit HMV.

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Post #: 17

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 2:19:42 PM

Gimli The Dwarf

Posts: 73574
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Central Park Zoo

quote:

ORIGINAL: Harry Tuttle

To be honest I can see HMV closing down the retail side of things and just concentrating on the website.

I might just cry if it does. Unless you're lucky to live near a non-chain store, Fopp or a trade-in shop, HMVs pretty much the only place you can go in and browse for films. And I'd much rather spend a few hours searching the shelves of a store and finding new stuff than doing similar on a website.

< Message edited by Gimli The Dwarf -- 9/1/2013 2:25:17 PM >

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Post #: 18

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 3:17:01 PM

Harry Tuttle

Posts: 7620
Joined: 12/11/2005
From: Sometime in the future.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Gimli The Dwarf

quote:

ORIGINAL: Harry Tuttle

To be honest I can see HMV closing down the retail side of things and just concentrating on the website.

I might just cry if it does. Unless you're lucky to live near a non-chain store, Fopp or a trade-in shop, HMVs pretty much the only place you can go in and browse for films. And I'd much rather spend a few hours searching the shelves of a store and finding new stuff than doing similar on a website.

Yeah it would be a shame. I only tend to go to HMV once a year myself and that's the day after Boxing Day with my inevitable HMV voucher off my mother in law but it is still nice to mooch around a store in my own time uhmming and ahhing about what to buy.

The depressing thing is that in about a decade I reckon media in a physical format will be a very niche market anyway. Catering pretty exclusively for relics and dinosaurs like us and for whatever hipsters will be called in a decade

. I reckon the next upgrade after Blu-Ray will probably be digital only. Computer games and Music are already well on their way to embracing streaming and downloading advancements so pretty soon there'll be hardly any need for the likes of HMV and it's ever decreasing ilk.

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Post #: 19

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 5:25:46 PM

theoriginalcynic

Posts: 6517
Joined: 10/4/2007

But that would be awful as streaming can never be as good as a physical product, in terms of picture quality.

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Post #: 20

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 5:49:06 PM

Harry Tuttle

Posts: 7620
Joined: 12/11/2005
From: Sometime in the future.

quote:

ORIGINAL: theoriginalcynic

But that would be awful as streaming can never be as good as a physical product, in terms of picture quality.

Never is a long time. Lovefilm's HD streaming is (obviously) better than standard def DVD's. Bearing in mind you can still buy DVD's that means we already have a streaming service that has a better picture quality than a physical product now. Granted that's not a like for like comparison but who knows what things will be like in a few years, bearing in mind that the web infrastructure in this country is improving all the time.

Personally I hope we never lose the physical product but I can certainly see that there's a possibility it will become niche if not obsolete in the future.

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Post #: 21

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 5:54:54 PM

Harry Tuttle

Posts: 7620
Joined: 12/11/2005
From: Sometime in the future.

Also, as an addition to the above. With Sky On Demand you only have to let a film download for about a minute or two before it has enough of a buffer for you to be able to start watching it. That's pretty much flawless HD (well 720p) streaming that the infrastructure is already able to cope with.

< Message edited by Harry Tuttle -- 9/1/2013 5:55:51 PM >

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Post #: 22

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 6:11:48 PM

chris kilby

Posts: 1189
Joined: 31/3/2010

quote:

ORIGINAL: paulyboy

quote:

ORIGINAL: Harry Tuttle

To be honest I can see HMV closing down the retail side of things and just concentrating on the website. A few years from now the High Street will be a pretty desolate place for anything other than coffee shops, sandwich bars and maybe clothes stores I imagine.

You forgot hairdressers and estate agents!

It's all a bit shit really, I'll sound like an old bastard but I weep for the future I really do, large swathes of several industries in this country seem to be going south whilst the likes of Amazon prosper.

Oh well, at least they're pumping money into the economy from all that corporation tax they're paying!

Now I can feel a rant about the EU coming on!

In other words, we've only got ourselves to blame.

More and more of us are buying everything online cos it's cheaper. (Pile it high, sell it cheap - fewer overheads, you see.) Even our shopping. The internet is changing society before our very eyes. The high street is just the start. It's also changing us. I think we're ruder and more aggressive towards each other, especially strangers. It's the safety of anonymity and it's making people crueller. Or rather it's letting them show their true colours. And it ain't pretty. There is a lot of bitterness, resentment and anger out there. And it frightens me to death. Did I tell you about my online stalker...? Social media? Antisocial media, more like.

Speaking of which, you could have a million "friends" on Facebook and the like yet not have a friend in the world. It's all quite sad, really. More JG Ballard than William Gibson. Maybe that's why people online are so angry all the time. JG Ballard? Drokkin' Judge Dredd, more like. Mega City One, here we come!

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Post #: 23

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 8:38:58 PM

Super Hans

Posts: 2307
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In one way I think that's a bit of a shame - I think Play.com were one of, if not my actual first foray into online shopping, I used them quite a lot. Unfortunately, I think in recent years I found they started to pale a fair bit in comparison to Amazon. The only thing I really like is that their sales tend to be a bit more browsing friendly somehow.

Massive shame what's happening to the high street though, as much as I like Amazon for shopping. It's true HMV is the last chain shop that really does CDs and DVDs on the high street now - they've closed the one in Harrow where I work now. They've also closed the Waterstones in Watford - not good!

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Post #: 24

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 10:48:52 PM

doubtlesswonder

Posts: 2367
Joined: 21/10/2005
From: Yorkshire

quote:

ORIGINAL: DONOVAN KURTWOOD

Bad news overall but good news for my wallet, those steelbooks were just too tempting for me, they had a lot of exclusives.

This is the reason I'll be sad to see them go. I barely buy from them any more but they do a lovely line of steelbooks.

Incidentally, I assume they'll be honouring all pre-orders for items that will be released later than March?

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Post #: 25

RE: Play.com - 9/1/2013 11:09:59 PM

elab49

Posts: 52033
Joined: 1/10/2005

I'm not sure that's likely if they, as a selling company, won't exist then. I'd guess they'll be cancelled.

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Post #: 26

RE: Play.com - 10/1/2013 9:12:31 AM

Nexus Wookie

Posts: 2256
Joined: 24/9/2011
From: the Godcity

Like Super Hans, Play.com was my first foray into online shopping and its a damn shame to hear about all this. Especially all the workers that'll be made redundant. I haven't bought anything from Play for some time now, near a year. But i did get some stuff for really good bargain, books and films mainly. Like i said, a damn shame.

< Message edited by Nexus Wookie -- 10/1/2013 9:14:35 AM >

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Post #: 27

RE: Play.com - 10/1/2013 10:45:04 AM

Rebenectomy

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I used Play quite a bit when online shopping started to take off, but hadn't used them for years until recently. Have to say their service was appalling. I waited nearly three weeks for two DVDs, made all the more annoying by the fact that they bombarded me with sales and offer emails the whole time I was waiting. One day I received four emails in the space of as many hours. Turned me right off using them again.

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Post #: 28

RE: Play.com - 10/1/2013 10:48:20 AM

Gimli The Dwarf

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From: Central Park Zoo

I always found them one of the best online sites. Much better than Amazon and tended to use them more often than anywhere during the last few months for gifts and such.

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Post #: 29

RE: Play.com - 10/1/2013 11:08:20 AM

Kumadori

Posts: 32
Joined: 25/9/2012

My last experience with Play was buying a boxset (that was on sale) from them, they send me the wrong one, then tell me I need to pay �8 to have it collected and for me be sent the right one. (There's a reason why I didn't use them for a good few years before this.) So I'm not fussed about the change given how the standards clearly didn't improve, but I do feel for those losing their jobs.

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Post #: 30