Fight piracy - lower the price! (1 Viewer)

[dannyB]

You guys are weird. I would welcome with open arms lower prices on DVDs. Why say that you are content with paying $20 if the price could be $15?!

Is this what you all say at the car dealership...

"Ya know, whatever is on the window sticker seems fine with me. No need to lower the price. Where do I sign?"



Also, I wish people would stop with the apples & oranges analogy of LD prices. One has NOTHING to do with the other.

 

[Holadem]

Ugh... we've been down that road before Mark, haven't we?

In any case, what could possibly be wrong with cheaper DVDs? Sure I can afford them now, but someone tell me why I wouldn't want them cheaper.

Danny, it appears we posted at the same time: My point exactly. It seems some would prefer current prices to remain. I don't get it .

--
H

 

[MarkHastings]

danny, I would LOVE for lower prices on anything. I just have a tough time when people feel the need to blame other sources rather than the fact that they either can't afford it or are too cheap to pay the price.

The whole thing with the LD comparison is that videos are at the lowest they've ever been (on any format). Not only are they the lowest, but they are on the best media (to date).

Why is it wrong for me to be happy with the prices? Again, I'm not saying 'd like the prices to stay the same, I'm saying that I (as everyone else should be) am SATISFIED with the current price. A lot of people don't seem to be satisfied, and that bugs me. I mean, what more do you want???? The studios are in the business to make some sort of profit here.

 

[Ernest Rister]

Fight Piracy -- Shoot the Pirates.

 

[Andrew Priest]

While tempting to a certain extent, I fear that given the sheer number of pirates involved, and that this is the USA after all, any gunfight between the pirates and the studios would result in the studios losing.

 

[Zachary Cohen]

The prices today are reasonable* (although I would like them to be lower, of course--who wouldn't?) and the idea of porting over the idea being used in Russia is insane because of one reason: North America is not Russia. The vast majority of DVDs sold here are legal, while in Russia, it is the complete opposite.

*With a few exceptions: the awful new trend of seperate single and 2-Disc versions with the 2-Disc versions being jacked up in SRP by $10 (Red Dragon, Master & Commander, Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and other schemess...

 

[Kevin. W]

Personally I think the DVD new releases here in Canada should be $19.99CDN or less. Cheaper it is the more I'm likely to buy than rent.

Kevin

 

[dannyB]

.

Let's not forget the retailers. What happened to the days when pretty much every single-disc DVD could be found for $15 during release week? Now that never happens. BB might do $16 as a loss leader, but often its $20. 2-disc SE regularly go for $22+, or even more now that the studio's are using the $39.99 SRP pricing structure.

Maybe its because I'm part of a younger, more spoiled generation, but I don't want the studios to know that I'm "satisfied" with their current business model. The single-disc releases are a joke, with fluffy, meaningless extras, forced trailers, bad artwork, and no inserts. Two-discers are more expensive than before for no apparent reason. Like I said, price drops are ALWAYS a good thing.

 

[Sten F]

A recent study have just concluded that downloading music and movies of the Internet are NOT at fault that sales have declined dramatically. How´s that you ask? Because those who download would not otherwise buy CDs and DVDs if they couldn´t download it. They simply don´t have the money.

The industry have to find another excuse why sales have plummet the last few years. Interesting.

 

[Jon Martin]

Very true.

I see all these stories about the MPAA fighting piracy, all of their ads with Ben Affleck not being able to pay for his glasses, yet I've never encountered bootleg DVDs. How big of a problem is it really in the US?

I mean, who wants to spend hours downloading a poor copy of a movie off the internet when for $10 - $20 you can buy a perfect copy with extras?

 

[John Berggren]

Disney certainly tried with their first bare bones non anamorphic animation releases.

I think the current pricing model for DVD is great, and we've yet to see the oft rumored rental pricing model.

I do find myself being more conservative with my first week purchases these days. If a film is not on my "absolute must have" list, I weigh the likelihood of seeing it at Best Buy for 2/$20, or even an eventual $5.99 price drop.

I still miss my $20 Reel.com coupons though.

 

[MarkHastings]

That's part of it, but I also hear people blaming the studios because they can't afford a $20 DVD. :frowning:

My gripe is always when people talk about the cost of DVD's. They always seem to blame some sort of greed by the studios. I just don't see how a $20 DVD is some sort of evil/greed from the studio.

The real underlying gripe I hear is the fact that they can't afford to buy MANY discs at a "cheap" price, so they take it out by bashing the studios.

IMHO, that's so unfair. It's not the studios fault that you can't afford it. It's not the studios job to lower discs so you can build a large collection easily.

Again, sure I'd love to have a price drop in DVD's, but the animosity over DVD prices is just astounding. It's almost quite selfish.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

It's the 'new' releases of the 'B' movies that is messing this whole thing up for us.

You know, the ones that come out priced at $12.99, instead of $19.99. I just have to wonder what the studios are thinking when I see those...

Ok, they didn't need/do any restoration work. It was just a quick transfer.
Nobody's going to buy this crap, so we're going to drop the price right away.
We are not greedy. If we were, then this would be $20 too.

I could counter with, yeah, but if it was $20 too, then you could save the extra to defray the costs of a film that does need restoration work.

They do balance out the higher priced ones, though. If I am going to buy 5, I figure on spending $100, or $20 each. If it is less than $100, then I got a 'good' deal. If it is more than $100, I don't buy.

Glenn

 

[Clinton McClure]

I didn't get a chance to go to Best Buy to pick up Revolutions, so I had to grab it at Wal Mart for $22.

I still shudder when I think about the $115 I paid for the Phantom Menace import LD when it was released.I'm sooooooooooo glad price points are not nearly that high anymore.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Oh really! How come I can play both on the same player then, and why did LDs disappear after DVD became prominent? DVD is everything LD should have been.

 

[dannyB]

I meant the pricing of the two. :rolleyes

 

[MarkHastings]

danny, I think that's what he was getting at: Exactly, anyone care to guess why I own zero LD's and over 500 DVD's? I don't think I'd even own 50 DVD's if they were priced the same as LD's.

 

[Holadem]

I am a consumer. I am selfish. Sorry, but I am only looking out for me in this case. With the full knowledge that studios are only looking out for themselves.

Listen, studios (and businesses in general) will never knowingly do anything that will negatively impact their bottom line, including community service and charity.

If bitching about prices gets them to lower them, it's because they feel they will make more profits that way. They aren't stupid. And it's certainly not MY job to look out for their interests. They sure as heck aren't looking out for mine...

Anyway, not a big deal. I find current prices decent. But if expressing expressing displeasure gets them lower, I am all for it.

The LD argument is old, tired and irrelevant.

--
H

 

[MarkHastings]

I guess that's where we don't see eye-to-eye...and this is where I see the LD comparison as relevant. I see the studios putting out a high quality product for a super price. This IS what I'd consider "looking out for my (and others) interest". With LD, they weren't "catering to what the consumer wanted" because the price for such a movie was higher than what most people could afford.

Question: What if DVD's were somehow lowered to $1 and people still complained. If you had to hear people complaining about how $1 DVD's were so unfair and how greedy the studios were...how long would it take before you got sick of hearing people complain?

So then the studios lower the price to $0.50/DVD and people STILL complained. Would you not be sick of it by then?

 

[Chris]

You're right. I had it in my checkbook that way, but it was $39.99 + shipping with one of their slip-cover cases to go with it.. that's where the figure came from.

As to the VHS.. I had the VHS the day it "streeted" for rental only, I bought a rental copy the day it hit the streets, well before the LD went on sale.. just because I had to have a copy

I'm that kind of fan of a few flicks