Best Buy Stops Selling DVDs – What Does It Mean to DVD?
After Netflix ended its DVD rental service, the nation's largest electronics retailer Best Buy announced that it will stop selling DVDs and Blu-ray discs in more than 900 stores nationwide, as well as on its website in early 2024. According to the company, the decision was made due to the decline in demand for physical media.
"To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago," Best Buy said in a statement. "Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to explore, discover and enjoy."
When Best Buy stops selling DVDs, where can movie watchers buy DVD movies? Are DVD worth keeping? What can you do with old DVDs?
Table of Content
Part 1. What Do Customers Say on Best Buy's End on DVD Sales?
When Best Buy announced the plan to phase out sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs both in-store and online by early 2024, it feels like a great wrong is being perpetrated against the world of movie lovers.
- Rip, my favorite thing as a kid used to be going to Best Buy and just going up and down all the aisles of movies trying to figure out which one to spend my allowance on.
- I know most regular viewers don't care about this - they just want to watch the movie and move on - but it kind of sucks.
- Best Buy no more physical media 2024. Sad day for movie lovers like me.
- That is a sad day for Blu-ray and dvd and physical media.
- Physical media is almost completely gone. Why do I need to go there again?
- No reason to step foot into a Best Buy anymore.
- I love collecting physical disc. I love to own my stuff and not relying too much on streaming. Because not all streaming apps carries my favorite movies. If best buy continues to stop selling discs, then I have no desire to go to best buy store anymore.
Best Buy DVD users don't need to be too desperate. Even when Best Buy stops selling DVDs, there are places that still offering DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
Part 2. Where can I Buy DVD Movies?
Movie watchers have until this holiday season to grab all the DVDs and Blu-ray movies they can from Best Buy before the electronics retailer pulls physical movies from the shelves for good. However, after 2024, Best Buy customers looking to purchase DVDs or Blu-ray discs will have to find another retailer. Below are the top alternatives to Best Buy that still sell DVD and Blu-ray discs. Grab a physical DVD while you still can.
1. Walmart
Despite cutting back its floor space allocated to discs by about 20% late last year, Walmart remains the single largest retail seller of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, with an estimated market share in excess of 45%. Walmart has long been the largest retail seller of Blu-ray, DVD and 4K titles, so you can buy DVD movies from it after Best Buy’s DVD sale ends. (Walmart has been talks with DVD distributor SDS in managing physical media)
2. Amazon
Amazon stands as a major player online. With its sales making up approximately 18% of the market, Amazon and Target become serious competitors in the physical media space in the USA. It has a DVD stock that’s about 2-3 times as large as Target’s. As all its DVDs and Blu-ray titles are offered online, you can easily find the DVD movie you want easily.
3. Target
Target is another place where you can still buy DVDs and Blu-ray discs. It controls about 6% of the market for DVD. Though it hasn’t removed DVDs and Blu-ray discs from its stores completely, the retailer has dramatically reduced the space it grants for DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Some Target stores have reportedly stopped selling DVDs, Blu-rays, and CDs in their stores.
Beside the top DVD retailers, there are also DVD rental services like Redbox, GameFly, 3D Blu-ray Rental, etc. that can help you get physical media when Best Buy stops selling DVDs. Check the list of services that still provide DVD rental
Part 3. Are DVDs Worth Keeping?
Streaming platforms have increasingly become the go-to for many for viewing movies and TV in recent years. Some well-known entities include Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Max, Peacock, Apple TV and Paramount+. The rise of streaming video has caused a decline in DVD and Blu-Ray discs sales over the years. Digital Entertainment Group released its mid-year report showing that revenue from physical media in the U.S. dropped by 28% in the first half of 2023, to $754 million, compared to $1.05 billion in the same period of the previous year.
Now Best Buy no longer sells DVD and Blu-ray discs, together with other top DVD retailers cut back on their physical movies section. This seems to be natural but leave customers wondering, if it’s still worth keeping DVDs.
1. Blu-ray discs have better quality
DVDs offer high-quality video and audio playback, especially for older movies or TV shows that may not be available in HD or streaming formats. In addition, movies offered via streaming are not as good as 4K Blu-ray discs. For example, Apple TV+ offered about 25 megabits per second for 4K and Netflix stream up to 15.25 mgps. However, 4K Blu-Rays offer the highest, with anywhere from 82 to 128 mgps. So for those with high-end home theater systems, DVDs and Blu-ray physic media means better quality.
2. DVDs mean ownership
When you streaming a movie on Disney +, Netflix, or other services, you don’t actually own the movies or shows. You’re merely paying for the right to watch it. The streaming services can remove the movie you’ve bought any time they want. With DVDs, you physically own the content and can watch it anytime without relying on an internet connection or worrying about streaming rights.
3. Not all movies are available on streaming services
Not all movies and TV shows are available for streaming, especially older or more niche content. DVDs allow access to a wider range of titles. Many older movies and more obscure titles are only on DVD and won't be streaming. If Best Buy and other companies stop selling DVDs, these movies will become lost films. According to Library of Congress, about 75% of silent films are lost.
4. Some special features are available on DVD only
DVDs often come with special features such as behind-the-scenes footage, director's commentary, or deleted scenes. These extras can enhance the viewing experience.
5. Nostalgia
DVDs have been around for several decades, and some people have a nostalgic attachment to the format. They may enjoy the experience of watching movies or TV shows on a DVD player.
Part 4. Back up Your DVDs Before They Become Obsolete
As Best Buy stops selling DVDs, Netflix ceases to mail out DVD rentals, other top DVD retailers scaling back its DVD and Blu-ray Disc store footprint, as well as many manufacturers decided to remove the optical drive from computers altogether, the entire concept of physical media is killed. This is a natural, but bad progression. That said, you can always join the #Resistance.
Buy or rent the DVD when you still can, and make a digital copy for future proofing. User a program like WinX DVD Ripper. It will digitize a DVD to MP4, H.264, MOV, WMV, ISO image, Video_TS folder, MPG, and 350+ profiles. You can use it to back up DVDs from Disney, Paramount, Warner Bro., Sony, and other studios, regardless of copy protections like region codes, CSS, RCE, ArccOS, UOPs and Disney X-project DRM.
Please Do Not use this product to rip rental DVDs.
Step 1. Insert the DVD into your computer's DVD drive. Run the DVD converter and click "DVD Disc" button to load the movie DVD.
Step 2. In the pop-up output profile window, choose a format that you'd like to convert your DVD into.
Step 3. Click "Browse" to set a folder on your computer to store the digital copy of your DVD.
Step 4. Next, click "RUN" to begin converting DVD copy process. The hardware acceleration will speed up the digitizing and finish the task in minutes.
Disclaimer: Digiarty Software does not advocate ripping copy-protected DVDs for any commercial purpose. Before you copy DVD to iPhone, check DVD copyright laws in your countries.
