Playitagainsam

...for China only!


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ner_home_video

Relevant quote:

"As for how Warner would justify charging U.S. consumers far more for DVDs, "I don't that's an issue," Caldwell said. "I think that historically, prices of entertainment around the world have always been different country to country.""

Nice... so the rest of the world can afford to pay more, it's not like Warner is losing any money over this? What a great business model! Poor, poor studios...

SFranke

Per capita income of a person living in China is $1000. $2.65 / $1000 = .265% of income

Per capita income of a person living in the US is $31,600. $20 / $31,600 = .063% of income.

.265 / .063 = 4 times as many DVDs in the can be bought by a US citizen versus a China citizen using the same percentage of income. If that weren't good enough, you don't have to live life as a slave!

Edit: I forgot a dollar sign.

Third Baseman

Nice!

Oh, damn.

PixyJunket

Plus consider them having to compete with rampart piracy. In China, piracy exists on the streets.. in the USA it exists by little children on the internet.

Playitagainsam

Don't give me this GDP comparison... a few years ago, I had this EXACT argument with the IFPI in Eastern Europe... you think that convinced them to institute lower prices for CDs in countries where the average monthly salary was $80? Think again. This is a clear case of "some animals are more equal than others"

ShagMan

I believe this comes down to competing with piracy...

You'd think they'd lower prices here, that'd help with piracy here...

oh, wait, there isn't much/any piracy here for R1 released DVD's.

There went that arguement.

SFranke

If you are so upset with the price difference, why not import the Chinese DVDs when they arrive? I'm sure they'll be worth every cent of that $2.65 [plus you'll get free censors and edits, courtesy of the Chinese government]. Or you could just download films off the internet, which must be okay because Warners is greedy and charges more than you are willing to spend [which cannot be a lot, considering Warners produces the highest quality discs and offers them at the lowest prices].

Playitagainsam

thank for the advice, evitagen.

Oh, wait, maybe you'll get banned now, since you're inviting someone to be a pirate, tssk, tssk...

Class316

"oh we're being unfair to some consumers" is the FIRST thing movie studios will be thinking

It exists on the streets too. Just not as much.

island007

I don't really see the problem with this. Most corporations use discriminatory pricing since it is more profitable than uniform pricing.

ENDContra

So whats to stop people outside of China from importing these DVDs that are released shortly after theatrical release? (Assuming of course that the Chinese theatrical release is similar to the US release).

danyanez

Do you ever went to a chinatown near you? They also sell pirated dvds on the street.

Easy

So now we know that a dvd can be sold for $2.65 and the studio and (I assume) a retailer will both still make a profit. Where does that put production cost? Pennies per disc? I always knew they were making HUGE profits but that is preposterous. What I find really amusing is that some studios actually have the balls to raise the price of 2 disc sets by $10 to an all time high $40 MSRP, gouging the American consumer even more. Wasn't the monsterous profit they're already making enough? What the hell, they'll keep pushing up the price as long people keep buying them. Capitolism. Ya gotta love it.

darmok

dvds should be considered as luxury items, and in most countries where discretionary income is high, prices are fixed as such. don't feel too bad about the price difference; at least you don't have to deal with rampant bootlegging and the low-quality junk associated with that.

orangecrush

If you were only buying little plastic disks then you would have a point, but you are buying a film stored on little plastic disks, so you don't. You also are not taking into account all of the other costs that go into the production and sale of a film.

ENDContra

^ I think his point was that if you assume that they are making a profit at $2.65/disc, then for the prices they are selling them at in the US they are making HUGE profits. All of the other costs one would assume were considered when Warner set the $2.65 price (although I believe the majority of the costs of the film are supposed to be recouped at the box office, not necessarily through DVD sales).

NatrlBornThrllr

I don't care that China is getting it for less than us. It's the fact that they're getting it for 1/10 what we pay. If Warner is capable of making a profit at $2.65, it's unjustifiable for them to charge $20 per title. I look at it the same way that I looked at Nike Shoes when their prices jumped to $150 a pair, even though they cost $10 max to manufacture, ship, stock, and so forth. It's partly my fault that I'm getting ass-raped by these companies, because I'll continue to buy their products. Conversely, you've got to admit that a 5000% mark-up is a touch ridiculous.

And don't give me the shit about them lowering prices to combat piracy. That's pretty much the equivalent of Warner rewarding these fucks for illegally copying their material. "Oh, you guys are stealing our copyrighted material? Well I know what to do about that...MEGA SALE!!!" Fuck that. If that's the way things work, everybody go out right now and buy yourself a DVD burner (Shhhh, don't get your feathers all ruffled...I was only kidding. Kinda).

-JP

Easy

Exactly. Both the studio and retailer making a profit at $2.65 per disc while in the US a single disc has a MSRP of $30. I assume anyone not scandalized by that works for a studio.

namlook

This is a good thing for everyone because Chinese sellers will ebay these legit releases at great prices.

island007

Then you would assume incorrectly. I've no connections with any studio.

A few things to consider the retailer in China is "the state-owned company China Audio Video" and it will START at $2.65 for a basic version.

It is doubtful that the state owned company (China Audio Video) will sell the DVDs for less the $2.65; however, most retailers in the US will sell the Warner DVDs for less than the $30 MSRP.


The studio is able to accomplish this because:
1) Product differentiation- It may be the same movie, but the product is different. This is similar to a manufacture that makes both generic and name brand cereal.
2) Difference in consumer valuation.
3) Transaction costs are reduced by using a state owned company

A corporation that uses discriminatory pricing is attempting to capture the consumer surplus that results from a uniform-price model.

NatrlBornThrllr

Okay. So we all still agree that they're capable of turning a profit at $2.65 MSRP per disc. And we're all aware that they're charging us upwards of $20 a disc?

...and this doesn't send up what-the-fuck flags for every single person on this site? What in the hell kind of alternate DVD-collector's reality have I slipped into?

-JP

tonyc3742

I have thought some dvd's have been too expensive.
I haven't bought them.
End of story.

Obviously enough people think they're worth 20, 30, 40+ bucks to keep them in business. Or they'd drop the price--wait, they do on most titles.

Companies charge what the market will bear, I got no problem with that. I think 120k is way too friggin' much for a car, but someone's keeping Hummer in business.

And, yes, while we have piracy here, it's nowhere near as much of a 'business' and a threat as it is in the East.

Squirrel God

So $2.65 for the barebones DVD and $3.38 for a Special Edition.

Great!

Time for us multi-region folk to start checking out some reliable retailers in mainland China to order from

DVD Polizei

You sound like the Bush Administration claiming the economy is getting better and better by the day, and having stats to back it up. While the stats are probably correct, they are nonapplicable.

The only reason they are selling cheap DVDs over there is because China is a haven for bootlegs, and they want a piece of the profits--even if it means selling DVDs for cheap.

This should tell you something about our prices over here.

Eventually, we MIGHT see music labels and movie labels selling DVDs for $2 a piece if bootlegging in the US gets popular enough.

So you see everyone, bootlegging is a good thing. It drives down prices.

DavidH

Yes, it's true the economy is getting better. More news today reinforces that. You need to put away your "Bush" hating emotions and look at facts -- hard to do for liberals though.