Shops on the high street are a bit of a mixed bag and I'm sure that a fair number of them provide a bit of a contribution to the nation as a whole but there's such a mix of shops that it's difficult to really investigate them. More to the point, I can't do it very well without going outside and I'd rather not do that, thank you.
So for now I'm going to have a quick look at DVD purchasing. In the light of the recent 'Amazon are rotten shits' revelations I started looking for other companies that might sell DVDs online and to see if there are viable alternatives, or even expensive but moral alternatives. Let's see.
First off, we can think of DVD sellers off the top of our head:
- Amazon
- Play.com
- HMV
- Fopp
- WHSmith
- Zavvi
Amazon, obvious shitbags. Play.com, doing the offshore scam (Jersey, etc). HMV, they're at least a proper shop, but their online shop does the offshore scam. Fopp, no online stuff and now part of HMV. Zavvi, offshore scam. WHSmith, don't appear to sell DVDs online.
We'd better cast the net a little wider. SUPERMARKETS!
- Sainsburys
- Tesco
- ASDA
- Morrisons
Sainsburys - offshore thing powered by another company. Tesco (Tesco Direct), not very clear but it's probably a safe bet that the company are doing something dodgy. ASDA, *Walmart*, bound to have an insane corporate structure. Morrisons, no online DVD sales.
Department stores?
- John Lewis
- Debenhams
- Selfridges
None do online DVD sales.
Last resort, let's put a random DVD into Google Shopping Thing and see who else comes up.
http://www.wholesaledvdsales.co.uk - seems to sell Region Free dvds. Curious, sounds dodgy.
base.com - not too clear but apparently they have some sort of arrangement via Switzerland.
hive.co.uk - does free delivery to local independent bookshop. Bears closer investigation.
A post to follow!
http://www.hive.co.uk/faq/
