Great article and documentary about the shady Columbia House operation - how the FTC allowed this to go on for decades is beyond me. I'm guessing the owner of XPics must have been a Columbia House customer - same tactics.
People weren't even getting the real product, Columbia House had their own manufacturing factories. And musical artists got paid shit, Columbia House had licensing deals with the music labels, when Columbia House sold a million CD's of an album it wasn't like selling a million CD's through brick and mortar stores.
Four Columbia House insiders explain the shady math behind ?8 CDs for a penny? · Expert Witness · The A.V. Club