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That Jersey tax loophole that the government shut last year was essentially the life-blood of many a cheap DVD shop. Now Play.com’s bitten the dust, as it can no longer sustain direct sales to the UK. It’ll be reborn from the ashes to be a market place, just like Ebay or Amazon Market Place.
From March, the Play we used to know and love will cease to be, and I can’t help but feel a slight tinge. Still, it’s not like the price of DVDs and Blu-rays has actually gone up much since the VAT loophole got shut. And anyway, who actually buys discs anymore, what with Netflix, LoveFilm and Now TV instantly streaming everything? [MCV]
Image credit: Going out of business from Shutterstock
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Play sell’s pretty much everything, not just DVD’s, I didn’t even realise that DVD’s/Blu Rays where Play.com’s main thing.
Dam, been using Play for a while now
Yeah i like Play, beats Amazon for me sometimes
It’s a bit sad I have to agree.
Very sad news. Ive bought everything from hardware to clothing from play. Dont think ever bought a DVD there though!
I’ve always bought from Play or DVD.co.uk before Amazon as find things generally slightly cheaper and a generally simpler, easier checkout than Amazon which these days has become a big cluttered mess.
As for buying discs, I’m sure most people still do unless you are one of the lucky folk with both high speed and unlimited broadband.
Amazon has one click checkout. This is cluttered how?
From a UI point of view I always considered Amazon’s checkout process a cluttered one. Compare to ASOS for example. May be one click, but visually very cluttered, especially when they are trying to offer you their credit card in order to get super saver delivery or some such. Personal preference, but nevertheless, not the holy grail of checkout systems so many people seem to proclaim it.
Play.com have been crap for ages now, their prices are middling, postage takes an edge and their customer support is just rubbish.
That’s exactly what I was going to say. Their customer service in particular has nothing on Amazon’s; it took a long time to get a rude and unhelpful response.
Thirded. Play are terrible, and their pre-orders arrive sometimes over a week after the official release.
I must be an exception, I’ve had no trouble with Play and have been using them for years, the last thing I preordered from them (in the summer) arrived on the day of release. Just ordered a tablet case from their sale for half of the price from Amazon.
Jessops and Play in one day. Who’s next, Argos?!
What happened to Jessops??
They just got placed into administration.
Wow! Another one bites the dust!
Isnt it funny that all these retails that keep going bust are the type of shop thats looked the same/had the same format for the last 20 years… That and that photography is a hobby and when times are hard hobbies get put to one side!
Havent used play for ages! I use to use it all the time! I kinda stopped when it got flooded with other sellers! The lack of ability to filter the sellers killed it for me!
RIP
Life-bloody?
damn, beaten by 3 minutes
life-bloody?
sure you don’t mean life-blood?
Aww, I’ve been using that site since it was play247.com, it will be missed.
In all honesty, since the whole tax thing I’ve stopped buying Starbucks and go to Costa for just coffee, or Pret A Manger for food (as they give leftovers to homeless). I’ve also tried, where possible, to stop buying from Amazon.
If Play, or someone else, was to setup as the “Based in the UK (not Ireland/Netherlands/Luxemburg/Jersey) and pay our tax” online Blu-Ray retailer they’d get my custom. I’m especially annoyed with Amazon as they already get my money for Lovefilm, so when I’m buying a disc it’s because of Lovefilm not having it!
I think your stop buying attitude is wrong, the tax laws and loop holes exist, if it was your business would you say, oh lets do it the moral way and pay millions in tax or would you say lets use the loop hole and save lots of cash???
I think it would be the latter!
I think a better protest would be stop paying your council tax and personal tax until the government changes these loop holes! This could involve a prison sentence though as I doubt they will change them very quickly if at all, as those in government have their fingers in far too many pies which benefit from these loop holes…
So I take it that any ‘cash-in-hand’ work you’ve ever undertaken, you’ve declared to the tax man?
Have you ever parked on a double yellow line and not got caught? Did you go “result!” Or did you write to the council and say “Accept my apologies, it would appear I broke the law and parked on a double yellow line. I never received a parking ticket for the violation. Nonetheless I broke the law and should be punished. Enclosed is the £80 for the fixed penalty I should have received.”
You’re not breaking the law by parking on a double yellow. A motoring offence doesn’t always mean a criminal offence.
play.com was a great idea and worked well originally. When it spread its product range too widely that was where its problems started. Newcos: find something great like play did – CDs, DVDs; stick to the knitting, which would include downloads. Try not to get diverted, by other products or suitors (e.g. Rakuten). Really a shame.
Play.com might be shutting up shop as we know it- but seeing as they’re owned by Rakuten they are hardly in financial difficulty!