rising costs of us dvd's? (1 Viewer)

[IanKG]

i notice that the cost of some dvd's are rising by a large percentage. Deadwood season 2 for instance is $99 srp or $78 from a well known online store. I just got mine delivered for £25 or $40 in the uk for the r2 set. Is this the shape of things to come for the us dvd market? Some things are quite cheap but prices are def rising.

 

[Christian Preischl]

It's not the shape of things to come, it's HBO! Deadwood is an HBO release and those have always been ridiculously overpriced in the US (see also Sex and the City, The Sopranos). Their R2 counterparts have always been a lot cheaper. IMO those are exceptions, many UK TV sets are ridiculously overpriced compared to their US counterpart (e.g. Smallville as a US SRP of $60, but a UK SRP of £55!) Usually, it's cheaper for me to import from the US than it is to buy from the UK (even with play.com's free shipping)

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I have to agree with Christian. There are certain studio TV DVD sets that have always remained priced higher. Usuaully, if the show is high profile, Deadwood, Star Trek, Sex in the City, shows that have a limited broadcasting appeal always seem to have a higher price tag attached to the sets.

What do I mean bgy broadcasting appeal? Generally shows that run on only premium cable channels (HBO and Cinemax)and shows that have high name recognition like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers.

The problem is that while a vast majority of studios price their sets around a national average of $45 while some studios look at the title of their series thinking that they can get more money because of name recognition in an attempt to make money on the name of the series. Generally it works but it also limits the studios on obtaining new fans for their shows.

While name recognition for their potential series snares those who have watched their show while it was televised it generally eliminates the potential need of additional profits from getting new entertainment fans from buying their product. (don't panic, I'm not going that way again on the priciing thing).

For most fans, who are likely on a budget, they must choose between a series that is priced around $60-70 a set to a series that is priced around $45. Most fans will unlikely take into account not only the price but the episode content. I think when TNG first came out I bought the first three seasons but as I started getting more into the TV on DVD shows I started getting a little more choosy about the shows I buy. I'll drop $30 automatically with no thought to such shows as All in the Family, MASH, Dukes of Hazzard and around $35 for shows like Magnum PI, Knight Rider, A-Team. The thing is that studios attach a price to their series based on what they think they can price them at and can play the waiting game because they believe the fans will pay the price.

In this current time, you would think that studios would be a little more cautious about pricing structures since the current state of our economy and most fans who have budgets are forced to choose between buying one series for $80 or buying two for $80, that consumer is going to buy two of these sets instead of one.

 

[RoryR]

I think one note for the HBO DVD's - they are distributed by Warner Bros. in the UK I think - so I guess they will follow WB pricing structure more than HBO US.

As for UK release being more expensive, thats just our lovely government and tax most of the time.

 

[andyEckles]

I know a lot of those HBO DVD's are very expensive. IN general, I think other TV on DVD titles are very fairly priced. I don't mind spending $30 for 24 episodes on 4 discs or whatever. I think that's a great price.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I hear you, andy. I think anything priced from $29.99 to $49.99 is a pretty average price for a set. Even after buying Gilmore Girls Seasons 1-4 for $20 a piece I ended up paying $40 for Season 5. Normally, I wouldn't have thought about picking up GG at the $40-50 price but I love this series as well as the Smallville series. That average DVD per set price at under $50 is well done.

I have about 50 TV on DVD sets that I have purchased over the past few years, and none of them were purchased on online auction sites.

I believe that Mash Season 1 was the very first TV on DVD set I purchased, though.