Dave Campbell
Grip
- Joined
- Sep 12, 1999
- Messages
- 21
There is no incentive to buy a set if there is not much savings. Plus they don't fit on all racks. I see them gathering dust on store shelves.
What's the deal?
What's the deal?
I see them gathering dust on store shelves.
Are you sure they're just not gearing up box set inventory for the holidays? Box sets sell great guns as gifts (why they're also called "gift sets" ).
In fact, the report at USA Today asked me - for an article that hasn't been published yet, to my knowledge) - as to why in my opinion box sets are so damn popular these days.
Since that reporter is also an Editor for Video Store Magazine, I think he's pretty darn sure that box sets sell well these days!
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DAVE/Memphis
MORE TV ON DVD, PLEASE!
Do you like TV on DVD? Then check THIS out!
.....http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/.....
So, what you're saying is that different programs on different discs from different producers sell for different amounts?
I think my statement was pretty clear.
An audio CD is $12-15 no matter what title or where you buy it. Audio is down to selling the media product and not the content. (With the strange exceptions like The Wall or White Album which are just grossly overpriced. If they were selling -content- they surely would not be since they are classics.)
DVDs for the most part have stabilized in price and have moved into the UNIT status as CDs. $20 or so will buy you just about any DVD.
So, when purchasing -media-, I look at that scale. If I buy a DVD box set, I don't expect to pay more than $20 x the number of discs. And I don't thin a disc of extra stuff is worth another $20. Sorry, thats me. Feel free to disagree.
An audio CD is $12-15 no matter what title or where you buy it. Audio is down to selling the media product and not the content.
If you go by suggested list prices - the only valid way, in this case, to make the comparison - this is incorrect. CDs range all over the map from as low as $3.99 (budget titles) all the way up to $19.99 (the "Harry Potter" soundtrack is a $19.99 list price). These prices have nothing to do with the amount of music on the media.
Different studios = different pricing, no matter the amount of content or discs. You have to remember that artists' rights are the single biggest studio expense - the DVD may only cost $1.50 to manufacture, but the rights payments can easily add several dollars to that raw cost. In the case of box sets, who knows how much more it costs Paramount to pay the artists for "The Godfather" films compared to what HBO pays the cast and creatives of "The Sopranos"? You can't equate a simple "number of discs or hours of content" from one title (or studio) to the next. Every contract is different - every title is different.
The Sopranos, Season 2 is going for $70. Its 4 discs. The Simpsons is 3 discs going for $30. The Twin Peaks set is going for $50 and its also 3 discs. The Godfather Collection is 5 discs and its $75. There is no rhyme or reason. I suppose they are just getting a bit extra where they can.
You can't really equate the number of discs to the price of the box set. Afterall, the Godfather Trilogy may be five discs at $75.00, but four of those discs contain three movies at roughly 540 minutes worth of running time. While the Sopranos Season 2 box set is priced at $70.00 and has four discs that contain 13 episodes with a run time of 700 minutes.
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DarrenA
The Academy Home Theater
But what I THINK Dave might've been getting at is those collections sets that don't really offer an incentive for buying all the film titles at once. The box set price is very close to what you'd pay if you bought all the titles individually.
I agree that what Dave (original poster Dave, not me-Dave) meant.
I neglected to tie in my answer to that line of thought, so here goes:
Collectors, like me, tend to keep an eye on the titles and may actually hold off on buying a separate item if they feel a box set is coming (example: how many people bought the Stargate SG-1 disc when they heard that a Season 1 box set was on-the-way?).
On the other hand, who wants to be stuck with an extra separate title when they might prefer the box set (example: I have 7th Voyage of Sinbad; I've decided I'd like to get rid of it to clear the way for the Sinbad box set).
As to what I posted about box sets as gifts earlier: When you buy these to give to someone, part of your gift is that you are giving them A SET, not 3 or 4 individual items all bundled up.
Now here's the tie-in: the sellers are aware of the mental states I describe above. They know that someone who's gonna buy a box set will buy it as long as it's roughly the same price as the individual items. If it's more, then it's a no sale (unless you're a mathmatically challenged consumer!). They realize that - at least initially - they have no need to "discount the package deal"...the fact of the inexpensive cardboard sleeve holding the items together is enough incentive for most to buy the box set.
Especially at Christmas!
Having said that, box sets come down in price far more quickly than the individual items, once the prices start to fall.
Example: Costco has the Alien Legacy box set right now for just $44.99! (That's based on an SRP of $79.98! Until about 3 months ago the SRP was $119.99!) And that's not the only box set they have at that price. I saw at least 6 box set titles among the selection. Bruce Lee, Marilyn Monroe, Omen, and others. I think PotA was in there, too.
I think I'll go repeat this last paragraph in the Bargains section of the forum...
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DAVE/Memphis
MORE TV ON DVD, PLEASE!
Do you like TV on DVD? Then check THIS out!
.....http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/.....
There is no incentive to buy a set if there is not much savings. Plus they don't fit on all racks. I see them gathering dust on store shelves.
What's the deal?
The only people who would need extra savings as an incentive to buy a boxed set over the individual movies are those who don't want all the movies in the boxed set in the first place. For example, I bought the Alien Legacy boxed set for the price of 3 movies ($55 or so, it's been a while) and it has 4 movies in it. I didn't want Aliens 3, but since I wasn't paying extra for it (I was actually paying less than I would've to get the 3 movies I wanted!) I bought the boxed set anyway.
And previous posts were right: boxed sets are great as gifts. Alien Legacy is a much cooler gift than the 4 movies separately.
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Of course, that's assuming you can quantify how much the Godfather is "worth" on a per-hour basis, which to me is as silly as pricing a smile.
Exactly. Thats why iot makes more sense to price the media. Its the reason why a CD store can charge $13.99 for Abbey Road and the same price for a Vanilla Ice CD.