HMV falls into administration but will still accept gift cards

[HEXUS]

Entertainment retailer appointed KPMG as administrators late on Friday.

Read more.

[FRISH]

I've always hated gift cards. I find it silly to use widely accepted currency and exchange it for store limited currency that expires where even if there is stuff that you want, it's still a gamble whether you can just get it cheaper elsewhere and you're essentially throwing away money.

[Ttaskmaster]

I've always hated gift cards. I find it silly to use widely accepted currency and exchange it for store limited currency that expires where even if there is stuff that you want, it's still a gamble whether you can just get it cheaper elsewhere and you're essentially throwing away money.

It's a hang-over from days when you couldn't send cash in cards due to theft, and before the days when Amazon had become the most awesomest retailer ever.
Not so relevant now that nobody but a fool would use an actual real B&M shop, but HMV are rather old-fashioned that way. They probably still sell CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays....!!

[Output]

I always thought it was only a matter of time before it fell back into administration when it got bought out of it, but I have to admit that it did last longer than I expected.

I still expect GAME to fall back into administration at some point too.

[spacein_vader]

I always thought it was only a matter of time before it fell back into administration when it got bought out of it, but I have to admit that it did last longer than I expected.

I still expect GAME to fall back into administration at some point too.

What amazes me is that HMV sell Spotify/Apple music vouchers, Waterstones will sell you a Kindle and Game will sell you Sony, MS, Steam or EA vouchers. Why make your competitors life easier by actively pushing custom to them?!?!

There is a reason Sainsbury's don't sell Tesco vouchers after all.

[shaithis]

What amazes me is that HMV sell Spotify/Apple music vouchers, Waterstones will sell you a Kindle and Game will sell you Sony, MS, Steam or EA vouchers. Why make your competitors life easier by actively pushing custom to them?!?!

There is a reason Sainsbury's don't sell Tesco vouchers after all.

A small slice of someone else's pie is still better than no pie at all.
This is what companies are reduced to when they didn't get a proper online/digital/streaming product together when others did.

[Ttaskmaster]

What amazes me is that HMV sell Spotify/Apple music vouchers

Tesco also sells them, along with vouchers for cinemas, coffee shops, Facebook, Game, WHSmith, Halfrauds, Currys and Waterstones...

Waterstones will sell you a Kindle

So will Currys, Argos and John Lewis...

Game will sell you Sony, MS, Steam or EA vouchers.

Presumably to download digital stuff that cannot be physically sold by a physical B&M?

[delta5361]

I always thought it was only a matter of time before it fell back into administration when it got bought out of it, but I have to admit that it did last longer than I expected.

I still expect GAME to fall back into administration at some point too.

Wouldn't be surprised if Game went like Gamestation did a few years ago, to me the big problem is all the pre-owned / refurbished stock that will depreciate and go unsold e.g. old consoles.

[spacein_vader]

Tesco also sells them, along with vouchers for cinemas, coffee shops, Facebook, Game, WHSmith, Halfrauds, Currys and Waterstones...


So will Currys, Argos and John Lewis...


Presumably to download digital stuff that cannot be physically sold by a physical B&M?

GAME I can accept as most games are online now, but the difference between Waterstones selling you a kindle and Currys/Argos/JL is that 2 of those 3 don't sell books at all and JL only sell a tiny amount. Waterstones selling you a Kindle means they get the retail markup of one £100ish purhcase in exchange for you never having to buy a single one of their products ever again.

The same is true of Tesco. They don't make the vast bulk of their money from music/movies/books/games.

[Output]

Wouldn't be surprised if Game went like Gamestation did a few years ago

GAME actually bought Gamestation at one point (2007 according to Wikipedia), as far as I know they were never in trouble before that.

I can't remember if they actually kept any Gamestation stores open or whether it was simply getting rid of the competition though.

[Ttaskmaster]

Waterstones selling you a Kindle means they get the retail markup of one £100ish purhcase in exchange for you never having to buy a single one of their products ever again.

And yet people are still buying their products, even those with e-readers and ebook apps...

https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...ent-books-sale

[delta5361]

Game actually bought Gamestation at one point (2007 according to Wikipedia), as far as I know they were never in trouble before that.

Oh thanks, never knew that. The only gamestation shops near me had closing down sales, can't remember what year that would be though.

[OilSheikh]

This time, it better be for good!

[Saracen999]

This time, it better be for good!

Why?

If someone thinks they can run them, and some people still want to buy there, what's the problem?

[mrmr123]

I'm surprised HMV lasted this long!

[DanceswithUnix]

Waterstones selling you a Kindle means they get the retail markup of one £100ish purhcase in exchange for you never having to buy a single one of their products ever again.

Different market. My wife has now bought me 2 e-readers as I wore out the Nook. She reads more than I do, but only paper books. Then there are people who only use e-books for travel or browsing, or buy books they want to read again in paper form.

If Waterstones forced customers to go elsewhere for any book related purchasing then there is a danger they will be pushed away and never come back. I did that with Tesco once, I kept finding things that I needed weren't in store. The final straw was when I couldn't find corned beef. I figured if I was going to have to go to Sainsburys to get a few basic items like that on top of my weekly Tesco shop, I might as well just do the entire shop at Sainsburys and save one trip.