Topic: DVD Shopping in Hong Kong

[trekker]

Hi, guys

Just thought I'd let you know about this super DVD store I found in Hong Kong: HMV Store located at Peking Road, Hong Kong (two blocks from the Holiday Inn).

I just thought I'd died and gone to DVD heaven. The four-storey store was totally devoted to CDs, VCDs, and DVDs. The entire third storey was allocated for DVDs alone.

First of all, the categories were complete as you could find them. Beyond the standard
-action, romance, adventure, comedy, classic, science-fiction - there were categories like Asian, TV series
(Farscape, X-Files, Avengers, Inspector Morse, Twilight Zone, etc.), and even adult. Then all DVDs of all categories were lined up alphabetically.

And you really had to scrutinize every single DVD on the shelf, so as not to miss out on a long-lost title. Sure, there were the standard new releases (Planet of the Apes, Phantom Menace), but there were a lot of titles that I
couldn't find in Manila like Citizen Kane, Lion in Winter, Les Miserables 10th anniversary concert, Chariots of Fire---even really old TV movies like Boy in the Plastic Bubble (remember
pre-Saturday-Night-Fever John Travolta in a space suit?) and the First Power. Whatever title I could think of, I could find.

My budget only allowed me to buy four actually: Fiddler on the Roof Special Edition, Star Trek: TMP Director's Edition, and a couple of DVDs of the original series.

But if I were to suddenly win the lotto, I'm sure my selections would take half of the library.

The cost is a little reasonable. It's what you would pay if you were to order from Amazon. Standard cost is HK $158 or P1,300.00. The in-demand titles like Planet of the Apes and Star Trek: TMP shoot up to 1,800.00. They also have a few items on sale, like buy 3 for HK 250.

In case you drop by in Hong Kong one of these days, pass by HMV. It's worth the visit! You can spend hours in it!

[Paltik]

Hi trekker,

i know what you mean. i was just there last june and they have so much DVDs there, to the point na nahilo ata ako cos i didnt know where to start.  anyway i hope you found some nice ones there. only problem the last time i was there was that they mixed the R1 DVDs with the R3s , so its really difficult for guys like me or a lot of guys here that i know who only collect R1s. you should've tried one of those smaller shops in the bangketa along peking rd or canton rd , which had DVD's cos i saw some really nice R1s there. just be sure to make them "barat" since they raise the prices of those hard to find DVD's

BTW, do you own that trekker shop in Alabang Town Center? i just remember a shop there tagging that name.

[halo]

I know exactly what you mean trekker, I've been there before too. I always leave HMV 5-10 pounds heavier than when I came in

[ßartmaniac]

I know exactly what you mean trekker, I've been there before too. I always leave HMV 5-10 pounds heavier than when I came in

while the wallet, a pound lighter as you go out

By the way, is it legal in HK to sell R1s?  Why not here?  

[trekker]

Hi trekker,

you should've tried one of those smaller shops in the bangketa along peking rd or canton rd , which had DVD's cos i saw some really nice R1s there. just be sure to make them "barat" since they raise the prices of those hard to find DVD's

BTW, do you own that trekker shop in Alabang Town Center? i just remember a shop there tagging that name.

My guide did advise me to try those corner shops, but most of the DVDs in them had Hong Kong characters, and truth to tell, I wasn't that sure about the security concerning credit cards.

No, I don't. How I wish.

[trekker]

By the way, is it legal in HK to sell R1s?  Why not here?

Yes, I think so. HMV had a lot of R1 DVDs.

Stupid question: IT'S ILLEGAL TO SELL R1 DVDs here? How come I was able to buy my Jesus Christ Superstar 2000 in Electronic Depot, Libis, and it was in R1? :-/

[clockwork chico]

Yes, I think so. HMV had a lot of R1 DVDs.

Stupid question: IT'S ILLEGAL TO SELL R1 DVDs here? How come I was able to buy my Jesus Christ Superstar 2000 in Electronic Depot, Libis, and it was in R1? :-/

ever wondered why the hide those r1 dvds under the counter?...same with pirated vcds, playstation games and the like..

its like the old saying goes "walang bawal sa pilipinas unless mahuli ka"

[espace]

DVD Heaven Indeed!!!


Last time I was there, DVD's were just coming in and racks on the 4th floor had LD's. It was still heaven, but KPS at that time was the preferred store - better prices, but HMV was closely competing with their promos (KPS closed a few years back ).


My father in law was there earlier this year and brought back a few DVD's one of them was an R1 "Central Station".


I would surmise that they ignore the "Region" policies and just source stock where practical. After all, HK is a place where almost everything is available. Plus their VRB equivalent just rates the movies, unlike here where they go one step further and protect distributors.


Like clockwork chico states in his post, in this country it's only illegal if you get caught.

[halo]

By the way, is it legal in HK to sell R1s?  Why not here?  

I don't know the specifics concerning the legality of selling r1 dvds but I found something out:

Though they sell r1 dvds openly in their store, I went to their website and no r1 dvds are even remotely mentioned!

I don't know what this means but it's kind of "funny".

[Centurion Obama]

I dunno if I've posted this before.

But so far I haven't literally seen any law that bans us from selling R1 DVD's in this country.  Is there such a law written in print.

And if there is one, we should advocate for the removing of this law.  I want my R1 DVD's!

hehehe

[halo]

I dunno if I've posted this before.

But so far I haven't literally seen any law that bans us from selling R1 DVD's in this country.  Is there such a law written in print.

And if there is one, we should advocate for the removing of this law.  I want my R1 DVD's!

hehehe

I agree with you wholeheartedly joeypogi, but there's gotta be a reason why everyone selling r1s are "patago".

[dzone23]

i don't think there is a law banning sale of R1, the reason why patago the sale of R1 is because it doesn't have the VRB seal, which u would get by paying TAXES on the R1s.

i doubt that with tax, anybody would buy the R1s, they would be twice as expensive for sure.

[wcvmorasa]

ahh.. hongkong. wish I can go back again... hehehe

[Jude]

Am going to Hong Kong next week. Where should I go shopping for DVDs? Are there any stores aside from the big ones like HMV, etc. that I should check out? Last time I was there was in 1999.

[Paltik]

i was just at hongkong a week ago. and as usual, i was able to purchase around 50 R1 DVDs , most of them from HMV. thay had a 3 for $400 promo, as well as a card where if you purchase around $2000 worth, you get a $150 rebate. i was able to claim it twice   . there is also a store about 100 meters from holiday inn which sold region 1 DVDs too, they sold titles for about $170 each which HMV sold for $200++ . their normal price was $198 but i was able to bring it down to $170 since, yup you guessed it, i purchased several from him. there is also a great DVD store in the huge mall at admiralty, i was able to see a lot of OOP titles there but alas, i had little money left   . next time i go, i will really be bringing a list  

[The Stig]

HMV. thay had a 3 for $400 promo, as well as a card where if you purchase around $2000 worth, you get a $150 rebate. i was able to claim it twice  

there is also a great DVD store in the huge mall at admiralty, i was able to see a lot of OOP titles there but alas, i had little money left   . next time i go, i will really be bringing a list  

hello paltik

would you happen to know till when the HMV promo will last? my sister is headed for hong kong at the start of june eh also are the dvds there clearly marked as to what region they come from? or are the reg1s and reg3s mixed up together? she's not that familiar with dvds so she might get confused

with regards to that other store, would you happen to remember what the name of the mall and store is? also what kind of oop titles did you find there? any criterions?

i'd appreciate any help... thanks

[Paltik]

hi hajime, it says on the card that its valid for 6 months, so i guess its til november  

regarding hmv, they mixed R1s with R3s so its pretty confusing and time consuming to find the R1s. although i found a way of knowing which are R1s. just have her look at the top of the DVD, most of the R1 DVDs have a sticker with the title on top, then she can check the R1 logo from the back (just to double check) . there are lots of OOP titles there. i was even able to get firestarter and some limited edition disney titles. i didnt see any OOP criterions though, but there a few CC titles anyway. there was Salo (not criterion) but i believe its in Region 2  

about the other store, i dont exactly know the address and the name of the sho ???p, i only know how to get there . when you're inside holiday inn, dont pass the entrance going to nathan, instead pass the back where the buses are. then just turn left, and then right at the fork, then she'll already see it on the left side na madaming display ng DVDs. the guy there sells everything from about $198-$238 but tell her to make him barat. i was able to get R1s there for as low as $150.  hope this helps  

[The Stig]

thanks for the tips paltik

saw your post sa recently bought dvds, didn't you have trouble bringing in all those from HK?

[Paltik]

di naman hajime,

via cathay pacific. di sila mahigpit don. 44 kg per baggage. i just distributed them betwen 3 baggages, some on handcarry. then when we got here , may sumalubong na taga customs. anyway, di naman nagbubukas masyado ngayon sa customs  

[The Stig]

thanks again paltik

[Paltik]

anytime bro!  

[NY152]

(HMV) had a 3 for $400 promo, as well as a card where if you purchase around $2000 worth, you get a $150 rebate. i was able to claim it twice.

There are now two discounted price promos at HMV. Many titles are in a newer "2 For $200" promo, so it's much cheaper.

Regarding the rebate card, though, I suppose they changed the quota. To get your $150 rebate, you must purchase $3250 worth of DVDs. So I was only able to claim it once.  

HMV truly is DVD Heaven, but their prices are quite higher when compared to other shops. For example, Hey! Mr. Producer was selling there for $250; at CD Warehouse at The Gateway, the same title was being sold for only $210. Similarly, several titles in HMV's "2 For $200" sale were being sold for just $78 each at CD Warehouse.

But HMV's selection is unmatched, with rare out-of-print titles and discs from Regions 1-4 sitting next to each other on the shelves. As ridiculously high as my original budget for DVDs was, I found myself even adding to it and cutting down on my clothes/food allotment.  

[slowhand]

Just a couple of years ago, HMV had only half of one wall dedicated to DVD. It kept getting bigger every few months. On my visit last week I was not surprised to see that they now have one whole DVD floor, at least (their Tsim Sha Tsui store; the ones in Causeway Bay and Central are not as big). Not to mention their great music selection too.

HMV has always been organized well. Still, the best advice I could think of is to make sure you compile a list before you travel to HK. Otherwise you could lose a whole day inside HMV. I have a friend who never went anywhere else the whole time he was there, except to eat. Come to think of it, PinoyDVD members might consider that as normal behavior!

[NY152]

Still, the best advice I could think of is to make sure you compile a list before you travel to HK.

I actually had a list, but ended up getting NOTHING on it, since I found titles I didn't even know were already out on DVD (turns out they were already released on Region 2 or 4, but haven't even been announced on R1) that I wanted even more.

I have a friend who never went anywhere else the whole time he was there, except to eat. Come to think of it, PinoyDVD members might consider that as normal behavior!

It's not?  

[Jude]

I guess HMV was the store I visited the most times during my HK trip (2 weeks ago). Pero, I ended up not buying any DVDs from them! Other stores, like CD Warehouse in Harbour City, Hong Kong Records in Pacific Place, and the various nameless video shops scattered around turned out to be much cheaper kasi. HMV's prices were around 10-60 HK$ higher, and converted to pesos, malaki-laki na rin yung difference. It really paid off to compare prices before buying, naka-save yata ako ng a total of HK$300. Buti na lang I was able to control myself when I landed on HMV TST's 3rd floor (last time I was there 2 cabinet pa lang DVD). Sobrang nakakalula.

But slowhand, I kinda think that your friend missed out on a lot by just sticking to HMV. He should have looked at the other DVD stores too. HMV is big, but not THAT big (even the biggest branch), for you to need to spend all your time there. Masyado ata siyang na-hypnotize by all the shiny displays. I was able to case their entire collection in maybe a total of 4 hours (roughly spaced out over multiple visits) and still have time for other DVD stores and shopping for other stuff and sight-seeing.

Granted, HMV had a lot of titles I wanted that the other stores didn't carry, pero medyo out-of-my-league yung prices of those DVD kaya next trip na lang siguro kapag nakapag-ipon ulit.

The weird thing pala about the prices of audio CDs in HK is they're really inconsistent. Different stores, different prices. HMV is in the middle price-wise. At CD Warehouse, they have the cheapest prices for some titles, but other titles are marked-up. Pabalik-balik ako from these 2 stores to compare, buti na lang medyo magkalapit. Hong Kong Records offered the most consistently cheapest prices for audio CDs.

[jayleno]

Which is a better place for Region 1 DVD hunting? Hong Kong or Singapore?  Ive been to Singapore last month. And as much as I liked to tour around the whole place, time wouldnt permit me to, most Pinoys would think that Singapore can easily be toured within one or two whole days since it's smaller than Metro Manila-wrong thing! The place was just so full of tourist and tourist attractions, that I actually passed up DVD shopping, there was a mall somewhere in Orchard Road that fooled me, since It had such a huge banner up front reading: DVD's and CD's up to 75% off Sale and I could easily see those DVD racks from the outside but once I got in  you could only find around 30-40 titles of DVD's and most where movie releases within 2 years ago, Im a Vintage collector. There must have been a store around Singapore similar to HMV in Hong Kong that caters to the DVD market. The problem with us Pinoy tourists in HK or Singapore is that we cant often budget our time between Sightseeing and Shopping, thus passing up a lot of opportunities. But one thing I discovered  about Singapore was that it may indeed be a expensive place, but they are very cheap with electronics not to mention a wide variety to choose from.
By the way does anyone here know of good DVD shops in Guam?

[Toots]

yup! HMV is a small DVD heaven! hehehe!

[Maxster]

  HMV is the way to go! I've been to HMVs in HK and NY, they're the best! Guess what? In Manhattan, the Virgin Mega Store sucked! HMV was the way to go! they Had most of the DVDs I wanted! Then in HK, the Tower Records I found there sucked too! HMV was the way to go! There are two HMVs in HK I think. One is near Causeway and the other one I went too is in Tsim Sha Tsui near Nathan road. Guess what, the HMV in HK is unmatched even by the Manhattan HMV! HK HMV is the best!

But it is true, HMV prices are higher! Although I found this obscure DVD store in Times Square NY called Blow Out Video! Their prices are slightly lower! and then if you're looking for sale price old releases, go look in K-Mart where DVDs can go as low 8.00 USD. But always remember, there's sales tax in the US where NY has the highest at 8.25%, SF 8%. Try Jersey...3.25% sales tax!

To top it all of, HK HMV is our little piece of heaven.

[Homer Jay]

There a lot of DVDs there all right, but they were much too expensive. A friend of mine usually buys DVDs from HMV. Last month, my friend went and bought the Toy Story 3-disc box-set, Simpsons Season 2 (r2), and Memento (2-disc Special Edition).

A week or two after that, I was able to go to HK also, checked out the HMV store and yes... it was sort of a DVD heaven. Tried to remember the prices of the DVDs my friend bought (HK$610, HK$600, and HK$280 respectively) just for price comparison... then I went DVD hunting.

Lo and behold... there were many cheaper stores out there in HK. I was able to see Toy Story box-set being sold for only HK$350, Simpsons Season 2 (r2) for only HK$400, and the Memento for about HK$180-190.

Didn't buy a single disc from HMV (but went back again to check out the awesome selection  ). My friend would've already saved about HK$550 from those three titles alone... Although my friend still prefers shopping at HMV because it's really more convenient (mayaman kasi e  ). But at HK$550?!? I can buy another Box-set with that and even have change (...well, not from HMV anyway  )!

[patupup]

There a lot of DVDs there all right, but they were much too expensive. A friend of mine usually buys DVDs from HMV. Last month, my friend went and bought the Toy Story 3-disc box-set, Simpsons Season 2 (r2), and Memento (2-disc Special Edition).

A week or two after that, I was able to go to HK also, checked out the HMV store and yes... it was sort of a DVD heaven. Tried to remember the prices of the DVDs my friend bought (HK$610, HK$600, and HK$280 respectively) just for price comparison... then I went DVD hunting.

Lo and behold... there were many cheaper stores out there in HK. I was able to see Toy Story box-set being sold for only HK$350, Simpsons Season 2 (r2) for only HK$400, and the Memento for about HK$180-190.

Didn't buy a single disc from HMV (but went back again to check out the awesome selection  ). My friend would've already saved about HK$550 from those three titles alone... Although my friend still prefers shopping at HMV because it's really more convenient (mayaman kasi e  ). But at HK$550?!? I can buy another Box-set with that and even have change (...well, not from HMV anyway  )!

Where in HK did you buy the DVDs? In Wanchai, Causeway Bay, Mongkok, etc.?
Thanks!