Fight piracy - lower the price! (1 Viewer)

[Dennis Nicholls]

Although the studios won't do this in the US, it looks like they are doing this in Russia:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/mo...IRA.html?8hpib

"To fight piracy here, where 9 out of 10 DVD's sold are counterfeit copies, Columbia TriStar, a division of Sony, will price DVD's at no more than 299 rubles, or just over $10, less than half its current price. Warner Home Video, a division of Time Warner, has already cut its DVD prices in Russia to the equivalent of $15."

 

[Christ Reynolds]

that would make the legit copies seem actually RARE. i wonder if they end up selling for more because there are so few out there compared to the bootlegs? or are the bootleg copies so close to the original that most people dont notice...i'm sure glad this isnt happening here.

CJ

 

[Benjamin Ricci]

Umm, have you been to Best Buy lately?? You'd be very hard pressed to find catalogue titles nowadays selling for more than $15. Prices have come way down in the past few years, at least from my experience. I don't know if it's a response to piracy in the states, but it sure is a welcome change for me.

 

[Stephen Heath]

And their evil plan is working. Now not only do I buy all the things that I wanted, but I'm buying more and more bargains. Movies I wouldn't spent $20 on I instead buy 5 movies for $8 each!

 

[Kelly Grannell]

If the studios can sell their movies for about $10 per title (making-of be damned), I will buy a whole lot more than rent.

 

[Jon Martin]

And don't forget the Wal Mart $5.50 bins (which contrary to rumor are not all full screen).

Paramount has put out some great special editions (like the Bogdanovich titles) for under $10.

 

[Ali_]

I just went to Target and picked up
The whole nine yards: $9.44
Barbershop: $9.44
8 mile: $10

The whole nine yards is gonna sell well becsaue the sequel is coming out. thats why i bought it....

 

[Rob Gardiner]

According to my database, the average price I've paid for my DVDs (including a large quantity of CRITERION titles) is $12 and change.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Too bad Sony is encouraging piracy by downgrading several of their titles, reissuing them with only the Foolscreen versions. If any title I want turns out to be no longer available, I'll have no choice but to rent it and have a friend make a copy on his computer. They could price Foolscreen-only discs at 50 cents and I still wouldn't buy them.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I think prices right now here in the U.S. are fine.

However....

With the struggle over writers wanting a bigger
piece of the DVD pie, I wonder if the studios will
be able to continue to minimize DVD pricing.

 

[Mike Williams]

With a FEW exceptions, there is a really good reason why those movies in the $5.50 bin at Wal-Mart are in there . . . . . . .

 

[Robert Crawford]

I believe that Columbia has overpriced their catelogue titles which is unlike Warner, Fox and Paramount with their more reasonable pricing, thus they get most of my business.







Crawdaddy

 

[Shane Martin]

I doubt they can go lower than $9 bucks. Anyone thinking of stealing is probably already doing it to the extent that Jesse mentions and free is better to them than paying $8.

I don't see a problem with today's pricing to be totally honest.

If anything Blank dvds sold to the consumer should be $12-$15 each.

 

[Dave H]

I know some people don't like to deal with it, but Columbia House is always a good option. I usually pay $8.00 or less a movie; about half of my collection stems from them.

 

[Kain_C]

Dennis, where have you been?? Even new releases like Revolutions are just around $16. ALOT of catalogue titles are at the $10 mark and nowadays, $15 is almost considered steep for a DVD. I think it's the combination of DVD taking the place of VHS as the standard AND theft prevention that helps the price. It takes me 5 minutes to open a DVD.

 

[Chris]

*laugh* I paid $52 - $90 to Ken Cranes for DTS Laserdisc releases, and someone is saying prices at $15.44 are too high?

Hell, I remember when you couldn't buy new VHS releases, and to buy a "rental copy" was expensive.. I paid $82 for "KITH: Brain Candy" on VHS, and when it was released on LD a few months later, $49.50 on discount at Ken Cranes.

Fight piracy by lowering price? Hmm. Maybe, but I think they've done that part.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Those of us that used to pay $50-$120 for
our laserdiscs are the very first to admit
that the current prices on DVD product are
a blessing.

There was a time in the very first years of
the DVD that many of us were a little shaky
about what pricing model the studios would
take with the new format. There was actually
talk of pricing these single DVDs at a $40+
pricepoint.

 

[Zen Butler]

Yes, with the exception of Criterion, New Line Platinum and special OOP acquisitions, I'd say the current pricing is pretty fair.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I STILL consider all my purchases in terms of laserdisc pricing- anything under $30 is reasonable, and under $15 is FREE! I was only talking about making copies of titles that are no longer available for purchase at all (specifically the Columbia WS/FS titles that have had the WS versions dropped.)

 

[Benjamin Ricci]

Oh, Ron, please don't make us remember the "good old days"!! I have painful memories of shelling out $100+ for Criterion laserdiscs. I think one of the first DVDs I bought was Clerks, nearly $40!!

The new pricing structures, especially on catalogue releases, are a blessing indeed.