Why won't you Play.com with me (Play.com)

Member Name: bailey_kipper_uk

Product:	Play.com
Date:	01/07/08 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing selection, good prices

Disadvantages: Very busy screens.

Play.com has been around for a while now, and I've been a fan since I first found out about it. The prices are great and there's a brilliant range of products which is expanding all the time. Play sell generally CD's, DVD's, Games and Books. They also now sell a range of electronic products (TV's, MP3 players etc), computer hardware and software, gadgets, mobiles and accessories and clothing. You can also now sell your own items on there using Play Trade.

Play.com are based in Jersey which is exempt from VAT, thus the goods can be offered so much cheaper than in traditional UK based stores.

Music
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When you first access the music section you are presented with the editors choice, which could be something popular but equally something less well known. You are also presented with New Releases, some recommendations from Play.com, CD's that are about to be released and also the most popular CD's on Play.com. There is also some special offers at the bottom of the page. There is also often a sale banner at the top of this page and the other main that takes you to some bargains.

I find all this really useful as I don't always keep up with what CD's are popular so it's good to know what others are buying. Also I find the Coming Soon section really good as you can use it to pre-order items that you really want but aren't out yet. I'll come onto it later but in case I forget, you don't pay for an item until it is released, so in the case of the Manhunt 2 game your order will be held until the item is released and then you will be sent an email advising you have been charged, however at any time you can cancel your order, until it has been dispatched.

As I said earlier the prices are really good generally between £7.99 and £8.95 for new releases, though many other sites like HMV, BangCD and CD-wow do compete very closely.

DVD
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This has the same layout as the Music section, but I forgot to mention that there is a countdown section that counts down (obviously) to a release due in the next couple of weeks, there is also a like to other soon be released items. This along with the top sellers and coming soon list is displayed on each page you view. There are also numerous little ads for different sections of the site all down either side. Sometimes this is annoying but other times it can remind you of something you wanted to look for.

Search
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This can all get a bit overwhelming so the search function is displayed at the top of the screen and can be used to search for any item on the site or a specific section. Unless you get lucky you will be presented with a list of choices, which I think is in order of popularity but this isn't clear. When you find the item you want you are taken into the detail where you can see the useful info about the product, a synopis, customer reviews, technical details and related items. There is also a section showing you similar items that other people purchased (who purchased this item) and also related items for the main players who are part of the current item you are looking at. Eg. for a film you can see other items by the same director, starring the same actors etc.

Games
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Ok, back to the categories. This is slightly different as the middle has highlights for each console, though this is probably the most popular items of the day.

If you decide to browse by console you can then also browse by genre or alphabetically. All of which makes this one of the most useful sites in terms of never leaving you without a clue of where to look next for something. Also if you forget something you can go back and look at your recently viewed items using navigation on the left hand side (This is broken down by product type).

Others
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The remaining sections have tons of products in them, massive selection of goods from all sorts of electronics related areas, and also from the clothing department. I could write another 1000 words just on this section alone but it's best if you have a browse.

Buying stuff
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So once you've found what you want you can click the buy link within the product description which adds it to your cart. You can continue shopping until you're finished and your shopping basket is shown in the top right corner, just the total, but you can click on it to see the details. Once you've decided you can click checkout.

You are then required to set up an account with the usual details such as name, delivery address, billing address, and card details.
This all makes it easier for your further purchases as once your account is set up it is easy to then make future purchases.

Delivery
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Generally items will arrive within a week of when they were requested. If something says it will be despatched within 24 hours then it will be, of course if the item is out of stock then your guess can sometimes be as good as anyones. I've ordered about 30 items and the only times it has been more than a day is at christmas, late in the January sales, and that's about it.

Playtrade
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I've not used this much, and I've not actually managed to sell anything. But it is free to list items so there's no harm in trying. It's easy to set up an account if you're already a Play.com customer. It's also easy to list items, as generally you're selling a CD, DVD etc so the details are all online already. There's a massive help section on this so any questions you have will probably be answered.

Overall
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As I said, I've ordered about 30 items and "touch wood" have never had any problems. My parents now also use this site and they had never bought anything online before. I like it, and I think it's definitely a company on the up.

Summary: Great online site for a wide variety of products.