Play.com closes their direct retail business...

[Dogg Thang]

They're becoming marketplace-only from March apparently. They've been doing their thing for quite some time and I'd have little interest in their ebaying thing so this is a bit of a shame - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-20953357

[Neon Ignition]

Amazon is coping under the current set up of a mixed model so I'm assuming Play as a retailer wasn't doing well enough to keep it viable as its own retail business. Not a great sign. There can be some bargains but seeing as their marketplace listings are practically identical to Amazons I doubt I'll have anh need to use them again.

[VR46]

Vowed never to use Play again fifteen months ago since they had the nerve to question and be so awkward at sending a replacement for a non-received game. Their service was shocking on the whole compared to Amazon so they've played their own part in this for sure.

Feel sorry for the staff redundancies but that's about it. Writing has been on the wall for a while.

[fuse]

Jersey isn't the tax haven it once was; this was inevitable really. I was hoping something interesting might come of them getting bought by Rakuten, but that expectation was short-lived.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Jersey isn't the tax haven it once was; this was inevitable really.

Is correct.

In one way, I'm still surprised that this has happened - weren't they the biggest online retailer in the country around the time of the Rakuten purchase?

That said, I haven't purchased anything from Play.com in years. Obvious sympathies to those about to be made redundant by this.

[sj33]

Play.com were bought by Rakuten about two years ago, and it would appear they're trying to bring Play.com in line with the core service.

http://global.rakuten.com/en/

[Dogg Thang]

It was very big at one point. Makes me wonder about the sustainability of online retail models at all really. Physical indies and even big chains died or badly suffered as a result of online retailers but we know that the likes of Amazon sell a lot of stuff very cheap and even below cost. But how long can they continue to do this? Like Play, Amazon have quite a bit of marketplace stuff going on too. While online retailers cut their own throats for business, are they just creating something unsustainable by resetting all our price expectations below actual profitability?

[teddymeow]

I used to buy from them all the time back when DVD was new but haven't made a purchase through them in about 3 years!!

[Neon Ignition]

The site has already started a clearance but other than clothes you'd be hard pressed to spot a bargain.

[teddymeow]

The site has already started a clearance but other than clothes you'd be hard pressed to spot a bargain.

I'd expect a lot of their stock to be on sale or return with suppliers.

Either that or they'll create some sort of Marketplace account for themselves and sell some that way.

[originalbadboy]

Basically it comes down to Low Value Consignment Relief or rather the lack of in Jersey ... Maybe it was a loophole, but then the govornment will quite happily let slide the 9 billion pounds that Vodaphone still owe the UK in tax, and yet things like this that bring cheaper goods into the country, which isn't a bad thing in my opinion get shafted. Its not like Play were single handidly crippling the UK economy.

Welcome to the 21st Century ...

[BaronSqwelch]

Vowed never to use Play again fifteen months ago since they had the nerve to question and be so awkward at sending a replacement for a non-received game. Their service was shocking on the whole compared to Amazon so they've played their own part in this for sure.

Feel sorry for the staff redundancies but that's about it. Writing has been on the wall for a while.

Same as, moved my business to amazon a couple of years back. Even got phone calls months later as they wanted another copy of the form I had to send THREE times in order to get a refund (I got the following may) for a joypad I ordered in the november! So good riddance. **** the staff too after the snotty calls I got...

One other observation before I go and dance on their grave, I ordered at least 1 thing, sometimes as many as ten items a week pretty solidly for 5+ years and had roughly 1 in 5 items go AWOL. Since using Amazon for 2.5 years for roughly the same amount of orders I havent had a single item not arrive!! So it wasn't the posty nicking the stuff as far as I can tell but their workers. So again **** them.

*edit* An extra **** you for the trouble I had getting an exchange when they sent me a Dallas dvd instead of the film I ordered..."but its worth more than the 3 quid you spent" was their argument. It was season 9 too, never watched an episode in the previous 8

[Soundwave]

So what does this mean for the Play Exclusive Blu-Ray Steelbooks they were doing??

I assume there won't be any now?

Shame as they were doing some good things with them.

Neil

[Pikate]

If I want someone I trust implicitly and good service I use Amazon, if I want it the cheapest comparison sites/google tell me that's "Shopto" or "Book Depository" otherwise I'll just buy it in a bricks and mortar store so this doesn't surprise me at all. Might even be a good thing, Amazon Marketplace and them selling their own stock is very muddling, if Play.com market/run this it could be a real alternative to eBay.

[kryss]

I used them starting from about 2000 when they were Play247, bought thousands worth of stuff even while in Japan (GC bargains). Shame to see them go the way they have but things rarely stay the same.