Play to close down their retail business...what does this mean for UK steelbooks?

[jonpeat]

Sorry if this is the wrong place but as it directly affects steelbooks (especially exclusives) in the UK I thought it would be a good heads up.

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

The news saddens me as Play were one of the best steelbook retailers. Their packaging and exclusives were second to none. I just hope someone picks up the baton........amazon I'm looking at you!

 

[bealay]

Genuinely gutted about about this. I've been with PLAY for as long as I have had the internet.

Ditto, back in the day they were Play247 and I could get the R1 DVDs from them, 1999 onwards when I got my first DVD player

 

[ruioptica]

Is this a 1st of April lie????

 

[here2infirmary]

Ditto, back in the day they were Play247 and I could get the R1 DVDs from them, 1999 onwards when I got my first DVD player

same here. bought most of my first lot of dvds from them.

 

[policenauts]

viva: down
Play: down
who's next ?
bets are open.

 

[ocielz]

viva: down
Play: down
who's next ?
bets are open.

Scanavo :eek:

 

[SaberTooth]

Ok so i kept re-reading thread title for like 5 minutes cause i keep thinking i'm reading it wrong.....

WAT THE F***K

play closing down??? I thought they were doing even better than ever, especially with that new Japanese parent company?

Anyway, this is obviously terrible news for everyone employed by play, but its also terrible news for us consumers in the UK.

Let me take another look at that article linked

 

[surfury]

viva: down
Play: down
who's next ?
bets are open.

Scanavo :eek:

Ouch, bit near the knuckle !!

 

[thewoe]

If its really closing down & turning into a ebay clone, why have they Iron man 3 and various other titles up on the site?

EDIT - As long as amazon stays open, ill be happy, been buying alot from them recently, terminator 3 de steel & terminator salvation steel.

 

[Shanester]

As Seinfeld would say: "That's a shame"

Thanks for the great releases in 2012 though!!!

PS Future Shop DO NOT fail me....ever!

 

[MrScarface]

sad sad news

Long live Play.com!

 

[SaberTooth]

The Jersey-based firm blamed the move on the ending of Low Value Consignment Relief, which allowed items less than £15 to be sold to the UK VAT-free.

^ I remember this. It made the news a few years back as part of Caremon's plan of increasing tax revenue from consumers (along with them putting up VAT to 20%).

"who us? ...what inflation?"

Funny how though, seemingly every few months, the conservatives announce a bright new government "initiative" which offers more and more tax breaks to businesses, whom strangely enough, always seem to be rather large, rather multinational and rather, already extremely good at avoiding British corporation taxes...

Go figure.

 

[VRob98]

The Jersey-based firm blamed the move on the ending of Low Value Consignment Relief, which allowed items less than £15 to be sold to the UK VAT-free.

There are 2 sides to every story though.

I used to work for a small independent importer and retailer of blu rays, and when Play moved into that business they took nearly all of our custom away because by exploiting the VAT loophole they could always beat us on price by 17.5% (UK VAT at the time). We simply couldn't compete. The business finally folded and jobs were lost.

As a steelbook collector I'm very disappointedl like the rest of you, but I can tell you first hand that Play have been responsible for quite a few retail casualties themselves by exploiting what many thought to be unfair tax laws that disadvantaged tax-paying British businesses.

RIP Play but what goes around comes around, as they say.

 

[SaberTooth]

^ yeah its true that play are not all angels themselves.

The fact that they are specifically based in Jersey is proof enough that something shady is going on with their operation, and not just because of that LVCR. - Jersey is like our local Luxemburg for tax evaders LOL

...but still, if Cameron is so desperate for cash, there are far, far bigger fish he could be focusing on.

 

[CaptainCoffee]

Legalise cannabis and tax it - the economy booms, play.com dont shut down, we can get all get stoned & we still get sexy exclusive steelbooks.

And yes, I will be running for priminister in the next general election.

 

[SaberTooth]

^ Sounds like a plan Mr President

Unfortunately tho, the Alcohol and Tobacco lobbyists might get worried about Ganja hitting their annual bottom line - and threaten you with less campaign money next election

 

[dvdjunkie]

Thinking about it again I am positive that play.com with continue with their exclusive steels but under the Rakuten.co.uk banner as there is a standing site 'coming soon' so in that respect maybe there will be a loop hole as they will then sell their steels though the playtrade market place and pocket the fees at the same time!

Again there still is hope. :s

 

[Frasr]

Thinking about it again I am positive that play.com with continue with their exclusive steels but under the Rakuten.co.uk banner as there is a standing site 'coming soon' so in that respect maybe there will be a loop hole as they will then sell their steels though the playtrade market place and pocket the fees at the same time!

Again there still is hope. :s

it seems that other UK retailers are listing Play exclusive steels on their sites, so they've possibly lost their exclusivity? I hope Rakuten do continue bringing us more exclusives in the future

 

[apsmith21]

it seems that other UK retailers are listing Play exclusive steels on their sites, so they've possibly lost their exclusivity?

so far it's just been the Universal wave, as that contract was up.

no others, to my knowledge, have expired yet.

 

[Apinamakina]

Dear God! This is the last chance to buy some steelbooks for a cheap price. Have to act quickly now.

 

[lgans316]

Talking about exploitating of loopholes, don't you think some of us benefit by selling OOS items but not declaring the income made in the tax returns?