The Bus

OK, I figured since we're only a few months away from another one of DDD's sales, and I was sick and tired of hearing people complain that DDD raised prices across the board for their last sale, AND since I am naturally inquisitive, I thought it would be a good idea for all of us to sort of pre-track any DDD prices to help us "audit" whether or not the 20% off sale really does get you 20% off.

So, if everyone wouldn't mind keeping track of titles that you (or someone else) might be buying at sale time, we can start. I'm not sure if this works best in the bargains forum or in the store forum, but here we are.

To make this easy for everyone, I want to keep a master list which will be on the second post of this thread. To make that easy for me, please do the following:

Rules
1. Put your results in a format like this:

MOVIE - Price - date price checked
MOVIE - Price - date price checked
MOVIE - Price - date price checked

This will make it much easier for me to organize everything.

2. If you have any new entries, don't edit your old posts. I will only be looking at new posts.
3. Please be very clear in your entry if there's any question whether it might be a barebones, LE, CE, gift box, etc.
4. I will allow multiple entries if the prices have changed. I will keep both the old prices and the new prices.

The Bus

Master List of Prices, Sorted by Title

Price List 1: March 2006 to June 2006 - 912 entries

Current total: 18 non-unique entries... please help us by adding more

24 Hour Party People - $9.42 - 6/22/2006
Alfred Hitchcock: Masterpiece Collection - $87.84 - 6/25/2006
Black Hawk Down (Extended Cut) - $15.41 - 6/25/2006
Boondock Saints UR/SE - $17.11 - 6/25/2006
Good Night & Good Luck - $12.49 - 6/25/2006
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire (SE) - $24.55 - 6/25/2006
King Kong: 2005 2D/SE - $20.09 - 6/22/2006
King Kong: Peter Jackson's Production Diaries - $29.86 - 6/22/2006
Lost: Season 2 - $45.74 - 6/22/06 (Pre-Order)
Sex & the City: Complete Series - $188.88 - 6/22/2006
Syriana (WS) - $15.14 - 6/22/2006
The Birds - $14.11 - 6/25/2006
The Hills Have Eyes - $18.77 - 6/25/2006
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada - $18.71 - 6/22/2006
Sopranos: 1st to 5th Seasons - $278.78 - 6/22/2006
Syriana - $15.14 - 6/25/2006
Syriana / Running on Empty - $24.47 - 6/25/2006
Tristan & Isolde - $19.68 - 6/25/2006

alfonsosoriano

Hmm, good topic idea.

tonyc3742

Here's the stuff I ordered from the last sale, and their current prices.

ANATOMY - 6.00 - 3/30/06
FIREFLY-COMPLETE SERIES - 29.89 - 3/30/06
THE HAROLD LLOYD COMEDY COLLECTION - 62.77- 3/30/06
UNDECLARED-COMPLETE SERIES - 31.49- 3/30/06
SIMPSONS-6TH SEASON 33.59- 3/30/06
MUPPET SHOW-1ST SEASON (SE) - 31.89- 3/30/06
LOST-1ST SEASON - 38.95- 3/30/06
MITCH HEDBERG-MITCH ALL TOGETHER - 10.19- 3/30/06

FWIW, Firefly's current price is lower than the pre-20% price; Undeclared is a little more; Harold Lloyd is a little more; Muppet Show is a little more; as is Lost. Anatomy is exactly the same. Haven't checked the others. So most of those prices have increased since the sale.

lordwow

Star Trek: The Next Generation-1st-7th Seasons - $ 314.59 - 3/30/06
Truman Show (special Collectors Ed - $ 9.44 - 3/30/06
Chinatown - $ 7.78 - 3/30/06
Court Tv-best Of Forensic Files - $ 11.99 - 3/30/06
Unsolved Mysteries-ultimate Collection - $ 77.99 - 3/30/06
Star Trek-insurrection - $9.44 - 3/30/06
Cheers-8th Season - $ 29.04 - 3/30/06
Cheers-7th Season - $ 28.80 - 3/30/06
Cheers-6th Season - $ 28.69 - 3/30/06
Cheers-5th Season - $ 28.80 - 3/30/06
Cheers-4th Season - $ 28.80 - 3/30/06

Current Total (for my reference): $ 575.36 (pre-sale)

SkullOrchard

Excellent idea for a thread, but this probably belongs in the store forum.

paulringodaman

Three's Company Season 6 - $17.99 - 3-30-06

Gigantopithecus

Werner Herzog Collection (6d) - $42.64 - 3/30/06

Geofferson

Essential Steve McQueen Collection - $48.96 - 3/30/06
7 Men From Now - $9.36 - 3/30/06
Wages of Fear (Criterion) - $28.76 - 3/30/06
The Fly SE - $13.79 - 3/30/06
The Fly II SE - $14.64 - 3/30/06
Bird With the Crystal Plummage (2D) - $19.92 - 3/30/06

arod1171

The Godfather Collection – 44.86 – 3/30/06
Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection – 43.92 – 3/30/06
Star Trek-motion Pictures Collection - $83.97 - 3/30/06
The Thin Man Collection (7pk) - $43.52 - 3/30/06
Warner Gangsters Collection (6pk) - $48.96 – 3/30/06

mifuneral

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere - 23.97 - 3/30/06
The Decalogue- 47.98 - 3/30/06
Stargate SG-1 season 2 - 32.89 - 3/30/06
Stargate SG-1 season 3 - 32.89 - 3/30/06
NewsRadio season 1/2 - 29.87 - 3/30/06
Kids in the Hall season 3 - 35.97 - 3/30/06
Kids in the Hall season 4 - 35.97 - 3/30/06

hermes10

There is no doubt in my mind that I'm getting 20% off on these sales. The best way to compare is to compare to other sellers, like DVD Planet and Amazon, at the time of the DDD sale. What matters is the price during the sale, and whether or not with 20% off DDD is the best available deal.

I buy mostly Criterion's during these sales and during every sale Criterion's have been significantly less than their normal price on DDD and the normal price on DVD Planet --which is generally the lowest for new Criterions.

In any case, when the sale comes, what difference does it make what a certain DVD cost three months past? The only thing that matters is whether or not the sale makes it cheaper than the competition at the time of sale.

NoirFan

Speaking of DDD's Criterion prices, has anyone noticed that they have raised the price on many of their 28 dollar titles to 32?

nonametofame

All standard one disc editions:
GHOST IN THE SHELL-SAC SEASON 2 V.1 $12.47 3/30/06
GHOST IN THE SHELL-SAC SEASON 2 V.2 $12.47 3/30/06
GHOST IN THE SHELL-2ND SEASON V.03 $15.18 3/30/06
GHOST IN THE SHELL-2ND SEASON V.04 $14.99 3/30/06
GHOST IN THE SHELL-2ND SEASON V.05 $11.99 3/30/06

Volume 5 is a preorder so I doubt it'll stay at that price. 20% off makes these titles almost dirt cheap.

arod1171

I must courteously disagree. I use DDD’s everyday price as my guideline for many of my purchases. I’m sure many members do also. For example, if a particular DVD I want is $50.00 at DDD, I figure that it will be $40 during the sale. $40 becomes my target price for that item. So, if someone has it on sale for $42, I won’t buy it. However, if DDD raises the price to $60.00 right before the sale, the discounted price is $48 and I should have picked it up at $42. It may still be cheaper than the competition at that point, but I should have picked it up when it was on sale for $42. Thus, I would have lost out on the best price. I’m not saying that they do that. I’ve heard some people say that DDD raises their prices and others who say they don’t. This may be based on particular genres of interest, or perhaps DDD raises prices on particular studios, or box-sets or TV items et cetera. However, instead of opinions or people’s personal experience, this thread can give us empirical data using actual DVDs that a cross-section of members are interested in. Hopefully, the results will show that DDD maintains steady prices during these two months, but if not, I'd certainly like to know so I can plan my purchases accordingly.

DVDGamer

DDD has created so much goodwill for my purchases over the years. I thought they were raising prices during the last round of discounts, but they quickly fixed whatever issues were noted, and I was a happy camper with my purchases. I do believe there will be price increase for some items now and then, but their track record has been great. Besides, what other store give offers and prices like DDD for a great discount 2x a year? So while I understand why others would like to keep track of these, its a none issue for me. DDD gives you the best price during those discount periods, and I only hope they continue to do the same. I have my pre-orders ready, and when the discount period comes along, I'll surely spend some once more. I will only hope DDD stays the course.

pilot

I'm not sure this is really needed, but I guess it can stay.. People can just monitor their own lists in a Excel if they wanted to...

boku68

Billy Wilder Collection - $49.98 - 3/30/2006
Fresh - $9.36 - 3/30/2006
Star Trek:TNG Complete Series - $314.59 - 3/30/2006
House: Season 1 - $43.92 - 3/30/2006
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 20th Anniversary SE - $16.49 - 3/30/2006
Aeon Flux: Complete Collection - $28.80 - 3/30/2006
Alien vs Predator: Unrated Collector's Ed - $19.75 - 3/30/2006
Ran: Criterion - $28.79 - 3/30/2006
Murderball - $17.34 - 3/30/2006
Sky High - $20.88 - 3/30/2006
The Great Muppet Caper: 50th Anniversary - $14.10 - 3/30/2006
The Muppet Movie: 50th Anniversary - $14.10 - 3/30/2006
Airplane: Don't Call Me Shirley - $13.56 - 3/30/2006
Gallipoli: Special Collector's Ed. - $9.36 - 3/30/2006
Battle History of US Military - $47.97 - 3/30/2006
Into The Blue: Widescreen - $21.54 - 3/30/2006
Toy Story 2: Special Edition - $21.18 - 3/30/2006
Grizzly Man - $17.34 - 3/30/2006
Alien Nation: The Complete Series - $34.87 - 3/30/2006
Ferris Bueller's Day Off: Special Edition - $13.56 - 3/30/2006
Sam Peckinpah's Westerns - $41.97 - 3/30/2006
The Bad Sleep Well: Criterion - $21.56 - 3/30/2006
The Magnificent Seven: Collector's Edition - $19.66 - 3/30/2006
Lord of War: Special Edition - $19.19 - 3/30/2006
The Aristocrats - $17.34 - 3/30/2006
Corpse Bride: Widescreen - $18.09 - 3/30/2006
Dune: Extended Edition (DC) - $20.47 - 3/30/2006
Four Weddings and a Funeral: Deluxe Edition - $14.02 - 3/30/2006
The Best of Youth - $21.59 - 3/30/2006
The Unbearable Lightness of Being: 2-Disc SE - $20.57 - 3/30/2006
Waiting: Unrated Widescreen 2 Disc - $17.39 - 3/30/2006
Domino: Platinum Edition - $19.18 - 3/30/2006
SAW II - $17.09 - 3/30/2006
The Frisco Kid - $9.08 - 3/30/2006
Midnight Cowboy: Collector's Edition - $22.24 - 3/30/2006
Controversial Classics Vol. 2 - $41.89 - 3/30/2006
Scum: 2 Disc Limited Edition - $13.27 - 3/30/2006
Bubble - $22.13 - 3/30/2006
Sleeper Cell: Season 1 - $21.18 - 3/30/2006
Everything is Illuminated - $19.89 - 3/30/2006
Keane - $20.42 - 3/30/2006
Over There: Season 1 - $27.86 - 3/30/2006
Stalag 17: Collector's Edition - $13.56 - 3/30/2006
Tales from the Crypt: Season 3 - $29.99 - 3/30/2006
The Squid and the Whale: Special Edition - $20.09 - 3/30/2006
9 to 5: Special Edition - $14.64 - 3/30/2006
Blue Thunder: Special Edition - $14.02 - 3/30/2006
Tripping the Rift: Season 2 - $17.99 - 3/30/2006
Ushpizin - $20.99 - 3/30/2006
Deep Blue - $21.77 - 3/30/2006
Ellie Parker - $18.11 - 3/30/2006
Mission: Impossible: 10th Anniversary CE - $13.67 - 3/30/2006
Breakfast On Pluto: Collector's Edition $19.66 - 3/30/2006
Cross of Iron: Widescreen - $18.13 - 3/30/2006
Event Horizon: Special Edition - $13.56 - 3/30/2006
Moonstruck: Collector's Edition - $14.02 - 3/30/2006
Crumb: Special Edition - $15.41 3/30/2006
Shopgirl - $21.77 - 3/30/2006
The Wedding Singer: Totally Awesome Edition - $15.86 - 3/30/2006
3rd Rock From The Sun: Season 4 - $24.29 - 3/30/2006
Dinosaurs: Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons - $27.97 - 3/30/2006
I Love Lucy: Season 6 - $29.04 - 3/30/2006
Rescue Me: Season 2 - $37.39 - 3/30/2006
Tennessee Williams Collection - $58.03 - 3/30/2006
Everybody Loves Raymond: Season 6 - $33.40 - 3/30/2006
Ronin: Collectors Edition - $19.66 - 3/30/2006
Scrubs: Season 3 - $32.07 - 3/30/2006
Con Air: Unrated Edition - $13.92 - 3/30/2006
Crimson Tide: Unrated Edition - $13.78 - 3/30/2006
Napoleon Dynamite: Special Edition - $19.75 - 3/30/2006
Deadwood: Season 2 - $75.61 - 3/30/2006
Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut - $25.60 - 3/30/2006
Patton: 2 Disc Special Edition - $14.64 - 3/30/2006
The 4400: Season 2 - $29.04 - 3/30/2006
The Boondock Saints: Unrated Edition - $19.75 - 3/30/2006
The Dirty Dozen: 2 Disc Special Edition - $20.57 - 3/30/2006
The Longest Day: 2 Disc Special Edition - $14.64 - 3/30/2006
Tora! Tora! Tora!: 2 Disc Special Edition - $14.64 - 3/30/2006
Wings: 1st and 2nd Season - $29.04 - 3/30/2006
Numb3rs: Season 1 - $41.14 - 3/30/2006
Platoon: Collector's Edition - $19.66 - 3/30/2006
Smokey and the Bandit: Special Edition - $14.11 - 3/30/2006
Beavis & Butt-Head: Volume 2 - $29.04 - 3/30/2006
Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid: Ultimate Collector's Edition - $19.75 - 3/30/2006
Running Scared - $20.99 - 3/30/2006
Stagecoach: Special Edition - $20.57 - 3/30/2006
The Searchers: Collector's Edition - $29.02 - 3/30/2006
Coach: Season 1 Limited Edition - $24.20 - 3/30/2006
L.A. Story: 15th Anniversary - $12.38 - 3/30/2006
The Dead Zone: Season 4 - $21.68 - 3/30/2006
Monk: Season 4 - $39.92 - 3/30/2006
Roseanne: Season 4 - $23.99 - 3/30/2006
Underworld Evolution: Special Edition - $23.87 - 3/30/2006
A Fish Called Wanda: Deluxe Edition - $16.19 - 3/30/2006

mbs

The uproar last year seemed mostly about older sales ending right around the time the 20% off sale started. One in particular was the A&E sale (which Amazon started) where titles were >50% off. For whatever reason people expected that just because there was a different sale the day before the 20% off sale, they would get 20% off the sale price. Seems silly to me.

Prices will fluctuate up and down from day to day (every time I check my amazon cart there is something that changed price). That is the name of the game. Many of these prices you are collecting will likely change before the sale anyhow. But then again, maybe this will quiet the conspiracy theorists...

The Bus

This thread creates:

- empirical proof that DDD changes or does not change prices
- tracks a greater number of titles than any one member could keep track of
- is information available to everyone

It's only needed if, like me, you get tired of people saying DDD does this when you can find no proof they do.

MovieExchange

I thought it was proven that the price went up on Sopranos season 5 in the spring '05 sale (its release date was during the sale, and the price went up from the pre-order price on that Tuesday).

Oh, and I can guarantee that one price did go up with the last sale. The Man Show season 2. I had been meaning to pick the series up, and decided to wait for the 20% sale. Suddenly season 2 shot up to a price OVER the "why pay..." price also listed on the ad. I called every day, asking them when the price would be fixed so I could order it, and every day they said "check back tomorrow."

Guess when the price was fixed? The day after the sale ended.

Oh, and your master list has Star Trek: The Next Generation seasons 1-7 listed twice. Change one of them to Deep Space Nine, since it's going for the same price and no one else has submitted it yet.

As for the usefulness of this thread, I find it just as useful as the discussion thread we have when the sale finally starts. You can read other people's lists and be reminded of things you wanted to pick up.

ShallowHal

I understand you can't find proof, sometimes searching is disabled. It works for me, though. Look what I found!

This poll shows 67 DVD Talk members saw price increases
67 members! 67 isn't 1 or 2 people, do you think 67 people saw things that didn't happen?

A few more posts from that thread: 1 2 3 4

X-Files $51 to $73
The Office Collection $34.18 to $43.16, Amazon had it for $34.97
Nip/Tuck Season One $17.38 to $43.18, Amazon had it for $19.97
Sopranos Seasons 1-5 $257 to $375, buy.com had it for $268.37

This is my favorite:
The DDD rep says it has nothing to do with the sale, and pilot says it's obvious that they raised prices (before the sale) so they weren't selling at a loss. They both can't be right. If your competition's price is steady, and you change prices immediately before the sale, that's not a response.

If that's not proof, I don't know what is. I hope this discussion stays, though it wouldn't surprise me that a thread exposing a forum sponsor gets swept under the rug...

hermes10

[QUOTE=mbsPrices will fluctuate up and down from day to day (every time I check my amazon cart there is something that changed price). That is the name of the game. Many of these prices you are collecting will likely change before the sale anyhow. But then again, maybe this will quiet the conspiracy theorists...[/QUOTE]

Exactly. I sell used DVDs on Amazon, and I have to monitor my stuff every day if I want to have the lowest price. Criterion prices are relatively stable. There is a reasonably stable discount that varies by seller, from just about no discount at Amazon to about as much discount as you're going to get on DVD Planet.

I don't really disagree with Arod1171 about trying to get the best buy, but comparing prices over time like this is going to be 90% interpretation. DVD by DVD it's not going to prove anything. Especially if all you do is record prices once prior, or once a month in the months prior. To do a comparison like this right you need to know prices of all the monitored DVDs every day, or at least once a week, for an entire year, so trends can be analyzed. You also need to have a representative sample of DVDs to account for price changes due to new editions, discounts, and DVD's going out of print, sales, etc.

Drawing the correct conclusion from data like this is a lot more complicated than just recording a few prices and comparing them to the price after applying the 20% off sale discount, since what you're really trying to prove is not simply that some DVD prices go up before the sale, but that DDD is, or is not, systematically increasing prices before each sale. One way to do this is to record prices for hundreds of DVDs, and then compare the aggregate net difference in prices after the sale is applied. Some prices will be more, some will be less, but the real question is whether or not there is an aggregate net price increase after the sale prices are applied, or whether there is an aggregate net price decrease. Since changing the sample can change the results you need to have either a very large sample or a very representative one. Determining what sample is representative, before the fact, is a very complicated proposition.

Anytime you wait to buy something in the future you're taking a risk. Prices may go up or down. The item may go out of production. The best items to wait for and buy in a sale like this are those with relatively stable pricing --those items that tend not to be discounted over time, or subject to other sales.

hermes10

If you understand the math involved, you realize that polls like this are meaningless. For one thing, the poll only asks if prices increased --an opinion-- and no objective data is provided. The poll doesn't give a very important piece of information: how many DVDs this opinion is based on. The more DVDs someone is buying the more likely they will see a price increase. In fact, I'm surprised there weren't more people reporting price increases. So what? You have to be able to determine the net aggregate price change to draw any reasonable conclusion about whether or not the sale is a gimmick.

There is no way you can prove whether or not DDD is systematically increasing prices before their sales unless you know how many copies of each DVD are sold. They could very easily lower prices on the low volume sellers and raise them on the high volume sellers, expecting a net increase in revenue even though the net aggregate price after the sale was less than before. They also have sales data we don't have. For instance, they probably know just how many more, or fewer, sales they can expect at a particular price.

It's probably safe to assume that DDD sees a revenue increase from these sales, due to increased volume, or they wouldn't have them. However, you generally don't increase sales volume by increasing prices, so unless the majority of people buying DVDs during these sales are just plain dumb, it seems unlikely that the after sale prices represent a net aggregate increase. To suppose that DDD is benefiting from price trickery with the old "Oklahoma Discount" routine you have to assume that they have enough dumb or uninformed customers to make it profitable.

mbs

I agree with you 100%, hermes10. This data will be meaningless unless, at the very least, these prices for each DVD are collected every week until the sale.

Another thing I wonder is why potential price increases are such a big deal. DDD is free to charge whatever they want and free to not even offer this sale. With all the complaining, I could imagine DDD deciding to scrap the sale entirely. The verbal riots that would ensure would be hilarious to read.