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Why are Used DVDs getting cheaper and cheaper?

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Why are Used DVDs getting cheaper and cheaper?

Old 11-21-07, 05:52 PM
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Why are Used DVDs getting cheaper and cheaper?

Anyone else notice how used DVDs have been gradually getting cheaper and cheaper? I remember in the early days of DVD stores that even non-anamorphic used DVDs were selling for 15 to 20 bucks, then typical generic Hollywood films on used DVDs for 10 bucks, and now I see all kinds of films - great films, indie films, foreign films, box sets - all selling between 5 and 10 bucks in used DVD bins of video stores or on Amazon.com. Are they becoming cheaper because this format has been around long enough or there is just too many getting made, or maybe because of the existance of HD/Blu Ray DVDs that Standard DVDs will get cheaper? Used DVDs are so cheap now that I have trouble not buying them because of the good deal - I end up buying DVDs I don't really want but I can't resist the deal. Anyone else do this or notice the massive DVD bargains now?

I don't think that i'm making the same mistake as I did with VHS, such that I don't think Standard DVD will become obsolete due to HD/Blu Ray as to VHS became obsolete due to Standard DVD. I remember towards "the end" of VHS and the start of DVDs that new and used Widescreen VHS tapes were still pretty expensive (over 20 bucks).
Old 11-21-07, 05:57 PM
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Originally Posted by toddly6666
Are they becoming cheaper because this format has been around long enough or there is just too many getting made, or maybe because of the existance of HD/Blu Ray DVDs that Standard DVDs will get cheaper?
New copies of older titles are really cheap now, so used DVDs have to keep up. I can get a new copy of the original Die Hard off of Amazon.com for $8. A used copy has to be a lot cheaper to be worth it.
Old 11-21-07, 05:58 PM
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Well, it could have something to do with NEW DVD's being so cheap. It might also have to do with more people have bought into DVD than ever did VHS. Many VHS tapes sold high because they were not sold in normal retail outlets. The only copies available for many films were rental copies, which cost $100.

Personally, I don't think they're cheap enough. There have been countless times I can go to an FYE and see prices for used DVD's that are more than what I paid for them new.
Old 11-21-07, 06:09 PM
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Used DVDs are getting cheaper because new DVDs are getting cheaper. New DVDs are getting cheaper for a lot of reasons, probably not all of which I understand. But it is generally natural for any technology-based product to get cheaper as time passes.

I am one who believes you will not be able to find new DVDs on store shelves in 5 years-an HD format will have taken over. But it can't be compared to cassettes or any other format that TRULY became obsolete, because (1) DVDs last a long time and (2) HD players can play your DVDs and (3) while HD can offer some impressive improvements in picture and sound quality, the quality of standard DVDs is still pretty good. So an HD format will become the format in which all new discs are sold, eventually, but DVDs will still be usuable and not obsolete for the above reasons.
Old 11-21-07, 07:31 PM
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Originally Posted by MrDs10e
I am one who believes you will not be able to find new DVDs on store shelves in 5 years; an HD format will have taken over.
Would you care to make a wager? Saaaayyy...oh, $10,000? DVD will be here for another 15 years easily. Bank on it.
Old 11-21-07, 07:44 PM
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Considering there's regularly sale bins filled with A-list titles for $3.99-5.99, why would you even need to buy used?
Old 11-21-07, 07:59 PM
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Anything over $6 is not really a "deal"...
Old 11-21-07, 10:29 PM
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Originally Posted by MrDs10e
New DVDs are getting cheaper for a lot of reasons, probably not all of which I understand.
Depends on where you look. Though if we're speaking in general terms, I have a feeling it simply relates directly to sales, or the slowing down of. Just do a google on "DVD Sales" for any speculative reasoning.

Frankly, I believe it boils down to 2 primary reasons. Second, the HD market looming. And firstly, the simple fact that the majority of those that will actually buy large collections of films on DVD have essentially completed their collection. Most catalog (or "most needed") titles have already been collected. What's left? New releases and incentives to buy lesser considerable films.

I mean take a look at the linked online catalogs of DVD collections of people on this site for example. It's quite common for a large number of people have 1000+ films on DVD. This wasn't the case 3-5 years ago or at least I don't think it was as prevalent. I could be mistaken.

To me it would actually be an interesting statistic to see how many DVDs people (that consider themselves collectors, enthusiasts or whatever) owned
and when. I track my purchases in Excel so it wouldn't be difficult. But obviously not everyone does this.

To continue, thankfully, big market vendors like Best Buy lower the cost during release week, but after that ... and after the inventory sits on the shelves for so long ... well, what else can one do to move inventory? ... trim your margins by lowering your cost.

Personally, I haven't seen much out of Hollywood to collect from the last decade or so (with a few exceptions) and my money has been going elsewhere or to smaller labels ... but I don't speak for the majority I'm certain.
Old 11-21-07, 10:32 PM
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They're giving less for trade-ins, so I'd assume they're charging less for used... I don't think I'll ever buy used HD discs though. They just seem....tainted. I must have virgin discs!
Old 11-21-07, 11:56 PM
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Originally Posted by zombiezilla
Would you care to make a wager? Saaaayyy...oh, $10,000? DVD will be here for another 15 years easily. Bank on it.
If I knew you in real life, I'd take that bet. But since this is the internet, all we can do it wait and see.
Old 11-22-07, 12:08 AM
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This was happening before HD had any penetration. It is competition with new dvd's that is the death blow.
Old 11-22-07, 04:55 AM
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Originally Posted by TheKing
Personally, I don't think they're cheap enough. There have been countless times I can go to an FYE and see prices for used DVD's that are more than what I paid for them new.
Probably just where you're shopping. On more than one ocassion (two, to be exact) I've purchased dvds (no strings attached) for fifty cents. The titles weren't bad either, the most notable being an uncut Ichi the Killer. More frequently, though, I pay about $3 plus tax. Only when I'm impatient and want a special title do I ever bother paying more.
Old 11-22-07, 05:09 AM
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The more DVDs stores have, the less they can charge and/or give for them. If a store has 10 DVDs they can afford to take 10 more for $5 apiece but if they have 100 and nobody's buying them then they have to make them cheaper and give less for more of them coming in the door.
Old 11-22-07, 07:39 AM
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I tried trading in some dvd's @ game stop the other day. Titles included were 300, troy dc, departed, goodfellas and more i was offered $2 a piece store credit. He said "we're phasing out of dvd's" lol
Old 11-22-07, 11:23 AM
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Most catalogue titles can be gotten for around $10 retail at BB, CC, or Wal-mart after a few months, and they run specials on them for as low as $3. So, used DVD's have to be pretty low priced or else someone will just buy them new.

The same titles that are big sellers new wind up being dumped after a viewing or two and used stores wind up with tons of them than no one is buying. Die Hard 4 just came out and you can get it for $15-20 new now. Used you will probably pay $10-15. Six months from now it's going to be selling for under $15, with occasional specials in the $10 range, new and there will be hundreds of them at used stores for as low as $5.

Some of these titles are going out of print and others are already out of print and prices for those DVD's will go up a lot, although probably not at pawn shops and used video stores who aren't as keenly aware of what is and is not out of print.

As for high def, even if and when they settle on one format, it will be years before some titles come out on high def, and if an older film isn't selling well on regular DVD, they will probably never release it in high def.

Last edited by Silverscreenvid; 11-22-07 at 11:26 AM.
Old 11-22-07, 02:34 PM
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Originally Posted by MrDs10e
while HD can offer some impressive improvements in picture and sound quality, the quality of standard DVDs is still pretty good.
This is actually one reason why I don't see it being replaced anytime soon. There's still a great deal of people who regard DVD in the same manner they did VHS. It's basically just a means to watch a movie they like, and in many cases they're doing so with a fairly cheap television setup. And so we continue to have Fullscreen and single-disc versions that lack all the bells and whistles. Until Joe Public is simply forced to upgrade (as happened with the change from VHS to DVD), there's really not much incentive for him to make the leap to hi-def.
Old 11-22-07, 03:40 PM
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I saw Knocked Up on sale for $6 tomorrow. Ridiculous. I feel ripped off when I purchase a DVD for $15-$20 on release day and then its $10 3 months later. It's pretty much why the only DVDs I buy are Criterions and DVDs from other countries.

I'd like to think that stores would hopefully start to phase away DVDs and make room for both HD formats. When they can't give away titles for $5 a pop it's time to move on.
Old 11-22-07, 04:16 PM
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Cheap to make. Studios making quadruple versions of the same damn movie.
Old 11-22-07, 05:09 PM
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On the subject of "quadruple versions of the same damn movie," which I totally agree with, I'm starting to believe that each dvd re-release "supposed remastered" is not a better version of the previous, but just more like a different video/audio interpretation. I don't know how it works with one movie constantly getting remastered on DVD over a period of time, but it's almost like the movie production company puts up a movie for auction every 2 years, and the highest bidder gets to "remaster" the dvd in their artistic interpretation of what they think the audio/video should be, such that Special Edition's got a green tint, Collector's Edition's got a red tint, Deluxe Edition's got a blue tint, Ultimate Edition is brightened, 10th Anniversary Edition is darker, etc, etc....

When one movie gets remastered over and over on DVD, who is actually remastering the DVD? Is it the same group that does it each time working for the movie company or is it a totally new outsourced client that's remastering the DVD for the movie company?
Old 11-22-07, 05:37 PM
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I think Dvd's are on the way out. It was cool once..... Like, 1998-2004. Now it just seems kind of redundant.

As for used for used Dvd price going lower.... Well, Its used.

Old 11-22-07, 07:53 PM
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Originally Posted by MrDs10e
I am one who believes you will not be able to find new DVDs on store shelves in 5 years-an HD format will have taken over.
At this point, no one really knows and it's a crap shoot. Once another year or two go by, we'll have a better idea if this is the case. When DVD first came out, I and others were asking the same questions. It took about three years after the initial launch in stores before there was a clear picture of DVD taking over.

The problem we have with predicting the HD takeover, is DVDs have tremendous backward compatability support, more so than other formats. The simple reason is the disc size. They are the same.

Another factor is the movie studios' willingness to convert their entire catalog to HD and their willingness to convert one HD format to the other. This is where it gets crazy, because depending on how this format war ends, we might have class action lawsuits which will be forcing certain companies to release titles on a particular HD format. This could take years. As far the catalog factor, it'll probably take more than just 5 years for them to catch up, assuming they want to. Hek, we still have titles which are not on DVD or have such an inferior transfer, HD wouldn't be worth it in the first place.

And of course, a major factor is price. We are just now seeing absolutely crazy low prices for DVD releases. It's been 10 years since DVD was launched. So, for HD to penetrate this market completely, we'd need similar pricing, which is just impossible. And I doubt 5 years from now, we'll see those kinds of prices, either. Massive losses are being sustained by supporting companies so they will need time to make a profit.

Many, many factors. And they all have to work together to make it a viable takeover as you say in 5 years. All are anyone's guess at this point.

Last edited by DVD Polizei; 11-22-07 at 07:56 PM.
Old 11-22-07, 10:41 PM
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Originally Posted by DVD Polizei
At this point, no one really knows and it's a crap shoot. Once another year or two go by, we'll have a better idea if this is the case. When DVD first came out, I and others were asking the same questions. It took about three years after the initial launch in stores before there was a clear picture of DVD taking over.

The problem we have with predicting the HD takeover, is DVDs have tremendous backward compatability support, more so than other formats. The simple reason is the disc size. They are the same.

Another factor is the movie studios' willingness to convert their entire catalog to HD and their willingness to convert one HD format to the other. This is where it gets crazy, because depending on how this format war ends, we might have class action lawsuits which will be forcing certain companies to release titles on a particular HD format. This could take years. As far the catalog factor, it'll probably take more than just 5 years for them to catch up, assuming they want to. Hek, we still have titles which are not on DVD or have such an inferior transfer, HD wouldn't be worth it in the first place.

And of course, a major factor is price. We are just now seeing absolutely crazy low prices for DVD releases. It's been 10 years since DVD was launched. So, for HD to penetrate this market completely, we'd need similar pricing, which is just impossible. And I doubt 5 years from now, we'll see those kinds of prices, either. Massive losses are being sustained by supporting companies so they will need time to make a profit.

Many, many factors. And they all have to work together to make it a viable takeover as you say in 5 years. All are anyone's guess at this point.
That's an excellant way to put things. I couldn't have said it better myself. I personally hope that dvds remain the primary format, and HD discs become like laserdiscs, which are basically for the upper enthusiasts that want to go more indepth with their films. Though, I think everybody can see that HDs already will have a better life than laserdiscs. But i believe that setup would be good for everyone.
Old 11-22-07, 11:52 PM
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Originally Posted by DVD Polizei
Another factor is the movie studios' willingness to convert their entire catalog to HD and their willingness to convert one HD format to the other. ...This could take years. As far the catalog factor, it'll probably take more than just 5 years for them to catch up, assuming they want to.
The vast majority of DVD sales for any title take place in the first month or so it is out on DVD. After that, with the exception of a handful of "big" titles, few people buy it, even at lower prices.

So even if one Hi-Def format were to win out today, there is no reason to believe that the studios would be in any rush to release their catalogue titles on Hi-Def if they can't sell those same titles now in a less expensive format. If a catalogue title can't break Amazon's top 10,000 as a standard DVD, what makes anyone think it will do better on a more expensive disk on a more expensive machine.
Old 11-23-07, 10:10 AM
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I saw a Lethal Weapon 4-pack at Wal Mart the other day, brand new, for something like $8. If movies on DVD are selling for $2 each, used ones have to come down in price as well.

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