Hollywood Mega Store is a location on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, aimed at the typical tourist hoping for souvenirs to commemorate their Hollywood experience. The store provides visitors the opportunity to personalize imitation Academy Awards and purchase other affordable knick knacks. Hollywood Mega Store opened in 1970, and they also provide party favors and decorations for any movie or celebrity-themed event.
Hollywood Mega Store Discounts
While surfing the Internet, several websites can be found that claim to offer free coupons and discounts on merchandise. However, most of the links simply take you to the website. A method of encouraging sales and increasing visitors? Sure. A true way to save for potential customers? Not necessarily. Or is it? A coupon at 58coupons.com offers a $10 discount for purchases and provides a code for use at checkout; spooky-10D.
An offer for 30 percent off at couponcabin.com, however, redirects to cheapuncle.com, reportedly the partner site for Coupon Cabin and also the search engine “aimed at giving you the cheapest price.” However, no search results are found for Hollywood Mega Store.
That means the jury is still out on true savings.
Hollywood Mega Store Website
Hollywood Mega Store’s accompanying website is aimed at anyone looking for movie star memorabilia, whether it be from classic cinema or today’s most popular celebrities. But is it safe to shop there, or is it just another scam to skim your bank account?
Hollywoodmegastore.com was started in 2000. According to safeshoppingnetwork.com, the site gets a top score of 100 in safety and performance. However, the site receives slightly less satisfactory scores of 95 and 98 in usability and overall respectively.
With a base of six million people visiting the site monthly to determine quality, Safe Shopping Network seems to count as one positive vote for a legitimate business. Hollywoodmegastore.com does focus on sales in the United States, but customers outside the U.S. can purchase items and have them shipped by paying with a money order.
User Reviews for the Hollywood Mega Store Website
When questioning the validity of a website, it’s best to go straight to the source: fellow consumers who’ve tried the site and documented their experience. Suzanne, a writer for Associated Content, reviewed the site following the purchase of an item that she couldn’t find anywhere else. Her review was less than favorable, as she experienced high shipping rates and a fee for not meeting the minimum order value. She wasn’t satisfied with the surfing experience, either, as each click on the website provided limited choices for the items she was looking for.
Bizrate.com shares similar customer experiences. Overall, Hollywood Mega Store has a rating of 9 of 10 for customers who would shop at the site again and an 8.9 rating on overall experience, based on reviews by 1,000 customers. Some issues listed on the review included the expensive shipping rates and lack of communication, such as not informing the buyer an item was out of stock at the time of purchase. However, customers were satisfied with the speed of delivery, the quality of the product and also the unique merchandise.
Average star ratings for the site at Givemeareview.com are 3 of four stars. One area that seemed slightly deficient was customer service, with only two-and-one-half stars. That area’s commentary notes an online form is available for customer use, a phone number is supplied for normal business hours, and a fax number is also provided. These seem to be typical methods of communication and therefore can be seen as average, which somewhat explains the rating. Other positives noted by Givemeareview.com include a 30-day return policy and also the strength of the Stronghold web server, used by the site and featuring the most current encryption available to protect credit card information.
Tips to Remember
- You get what you pay for. Obviously, an actual Academy Award would be significantly more expensive than the imitation available for sale at this store or site.
- When shopping online, shipping options are limited and higher-priced. If this is a must-have item you are ordering, it will be worth it. Otherwise, consider shopping around.
- This store and website are very theme specific. If you aren’t a Hollywood devotee, this may not help you much.
- If you’re a coupon-savvy customer hoping these discounts will mean much cheaper prices, look into this with a grain of salt and remember that not all advertisements online are legitimate.
Final Thoughts
With four decades under their belt in Los Angeles and one decade since the creation of their website, Hollywood Mega Store and its dot.com affiliate seem to be legitimate–if rather predictable and cheap ways–to get those items from Hollywood you might not be able to live without. While the coupon and discount links seem like more gimmicks to draw in an unwary Internet surfer, the store and site both provide all they advertise.
The site reviews from customers seem to be a balance of satisfied and slightly unhappy, with common Internet-sale related concerns, including shipping rates. One point of concern would be the lack of accuracy in original purchases and the fact that the item may be out of stock.
As a result, I wouldn’t rely on the site for time-sensitive purchases such as birthday presents. However, early Christmas shopping or other purchasing “just because” would be a perfect fit for this site. Of course, the best way to buy from the Hollywood Mega Store would be to travel to the location, thereby receiving the “Hollywood” experience yourself, rather than through the mail. If that option is out, however, purchasing online is a viable alternative.
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