Are DVDs getting cheaper to buy? (1 Viewer)

[Eric Huffstutler]

When DVD's first hit the market a mere 7 years ago, most titles from studios who were lagging behind ranged in the $30-$39 range. Over time they dropped to the $20's and then to the $15-$17 range. Within the past year or so I have seen a LOT of titles going for $5-$10 which is about a 500% decrease in price!

I know some titles still go for the $20 range new Connie and Carla being one of them but a majority that are coming out are in the teens and reduced to the single digits through cost wars online.

Has anyone stepped back to think about this phenoninom?

Eric

 

[RyanAn]

With new formats coming and other alteratives like bootlegs, etc, it was only a matter of time before prices would be acceptable for everyone.

Ryan

 

[Chris Rein]

Um, dude, they were never $30, not even at the specialty stores. Warner (pretty much the leader) and MGM's discs were never expensive. They were cheaper than the VHS tapes I was buying at the time. **Edit** Okay, maybe $30 RETAIL, but who pays retail? (see online purchasing in the good ole days below)

Hell, to me, they were cheaper in 1997-1999! Reel.com ring a bell to anyone? They were either like $5.00 or free. Always a special going on. Add in Warner's Buy a couple get one free (which you could do over and over again) and your library skyrocketed.

So, right now, without the competitve online pricing like in the good ole days, Best Buy prices NOW are high to me.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Prices are SO much lower now then when I jumped on board. I remember many Universal SEs being $34.95 retail. I think I paid that much for AMERICAN G. and THE THING. Last year I bought the AG double feature for $12.50. The upcoming, anamorphic THE THING is only going to be around $15. Paramount has gone from $29.95 to $14.95 and Warner has dropped the retail by $5. As a classic film lover, Fox is delivering the goods for $10. Smaller companies like Anchor Bay, Blue Underground and Synapse are keeping the prices between $15 and $20.

The only studio left out of these cheaper prices is Criterion but it appears a few now retail for $30.

I bought 6 Abbott and Costello discs for $170 (4 from Image, 2 from Universal) yet I got 24 movies this year alone for $55.

 

[Herb Kane]

And add Columbia too... their prices are still out of line.

I just picked up the Deanna Durbin Collection - 6 titles for $21 bucks Canadian (about $15 bucks US)... Prices have never been this low...

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

Thanks Michael for bringing that up about Universal as they were one of the studios I was thinking about. I think they were the last high end hold-out?

When I was talking about price ranges they are SRP. A lot of MGM and now Fox are coming out as $9.99 retail but mainly older catalog items, not current release movies. But even those are coming down considerably if you compare from 7 years ago!

Yes, I remember Reel.com but never got a movie for $5 unless you cheated them out of it. They had 30-50% off titles and occasionally 2 for 1 but the $5 titles were given if they made a shipping mistake or you re-used a online coupon which they finally got wise to all too late.

Eric

 

[Michael Elliott]

Oh yes, I forgot about Columbia. Probably because I've bought one of their releases the past 2 years.

I think the greatest thing about DVD is that the prices allow fans to do blind buys since we can get the titles for $10. That's why I buy so many titles from Paramount, Warner and Fox. With Columbia, they have a lot of titles I'm interested in but not at $20. MGM's Midnite Movie series gives us two films for $10. Again, allows me to do a lot of blind buys. The same with Fox.

I mean, look at the brilliant releases from Fox's Studio Classics Line. I'm sure their Noir line will be just as impressive. Warner has released a Noir, Tarzan, Grant, Scorsese, Elvis, Marx. Brothers and soon a Hitchcock box set. All of these (except Hitch) were under $50, which is just one great deal plus we got great DVDs.

I never owned a LD player but I bought many videos at $20-$25. The Universal Classic Monsters, bought on video for $25, the original DVDs were $30 but now the box sets can be had for $20. I remember paying (actually my parents) $80 for TARGETS but bought the DVD for $7.95 and it featured an interview, a commentary plus a wonderful picture quality.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

I got in around 98 and 99 and loved Reel.com. New releases were always in the $12-$15 range. Infact, after they went, I felt that DVD prices have gone up. New releases have been in the $15.99-$20 range. Sometimes you will get a $14.99 movie but not that often anymore. Sure old titles are dropping into the under $10 range, but for new releases they are still at what it was 5 years ago if not a bit more. I still remember the CompUSA deals of $5 for new releases in 99. This was when they first started carrying movies.

So I gotta agree with Chris on this one.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Yes, indeed!

It's costing me around $300 to buy the rest of the 2004 DVD's I want. This includes Warner's Hitchcock collection (amazon), Rocky & Bullwinkle: Season 2 (DeepDiscountDVD), THX-1138: 2-disc SE (Overstock), Star Wars Trilogy: Widescreen (Wal-Mart in-store), Gone With The Wind: 4-disc (Amazon), Looney Tunes: Golden Collection 2 (Amazon), and Universal's W.C. Fields and Marx Bros. sets (amazon).

So, for $320, I get 24 movies, 52 episodes of a TV show, and 60 cartoons. Hell, just in the Hitchcock set, each movie only costs around $8.

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

Lord yes, I remember when VHS "new release" titles went for $80 and then dropped to $20 afterwards. I also never owned a LD but remember seeing them in stores and the prices were $30-$50 then dropped to $10-$20 towards the end to get rid of them.

I guess the prices you paid post Reel.com depends on who you dealt business with. I know I started to buy a lot from DVDEmpire then until DeepDiscountDVD came online. I've stayed with them ever since except for a few titles which are cheaper in Canada and they can't match. Even HTF's sponsor LasersEdge new release specials can't always match DeepDiscountDVD's pricing. I've been buying from them for the last 5 or 6 years now.

When Warner did their select cities release of 40 DVD titles in 1997, they were in the current price ranges but also the exception as I am sure their pricing had to stick to be successful. Other studios didn't want to jump on the bandwagon or had contracts with Divx so charges much higher prices I guess hoping people wouldn't buy with so few titles released? Boy were they fooled and eventually went with the flow.

Eric

 

[Dan Rudolph]

New release prices have held pretty steady, but catalog titles have become much cheaper.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I think I'm saying no!

First of all, any VHS prices in this discussion shouldn't even be here. We're just talking about DVD prices.

I know that a few studios used to have prices (MSRP) around $30 - $35 - they were not that uncommon, but a lot of us didn't buy, and they got the hint.

As for the cheaper ones, I knew that they'd come around sooner or later, but they are usually without any extras and they probably didn't have any work done to them in the way of quality. They just didn't come out with the 'B' movies at first. They wanted to get their 'A' titles out.

...and the price is partially decided upon by how it did on the big screen. The older titles are all pure profit. A new title is all ready to go too, and yet they sell for much more. Are they making up for low box-office sales, or just pricing them around $20 because they know that we'll buy them?

Glenn

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Most studios still do have SRp around $30 on new releases. For instance, Return of the King, The Last Samurai and Miracle are all from different studios and all came out in May and SRP is $30 each.

 

[Steve_E]

In the UK they are extremely low in price. Lots of supermarkets seem to knock off 3 or 4 pounds to compete with music/dvd shops and in turn these shops do other offers. Like 3 DVD's for £20. They'r not rubbish DVD's either. The other day I got Taxi Driver, 2001 A Space Oddysey and erm...practical magic (for g/f )
Which makes me even more angry and generally perplexed when I go to work and see two grannies who should know better exchanging copied DVD's. Why not buy them because they are cheap! idiots.

 

[Amy Mormino]

Boxed sets seem to have gotten cheaper. You can buy sets like the Film Noir collection or the Friday the 13th set for an average of $10 or less per movie. Sets like the latest Universal Monsters releases go for even less. And they've just announced an Oliver Stone collection with 14 of his movies that you can likely find for under $100.

TV on DVD is also much cheaper than it used to be in recent years. So, if you want good prices for DVDs, go for the sets and avoid the individual discs.

 

[Sean A]

If you look around in NYC, you can find some amazing bargains . The Scorsese box cost me $48- less than $10 a disc . HMV often has MGM catalog titles for 2 for $15.

I do think Columbia's prices are still too high, especially when their competitors have catalog titles at much lower costs