DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

I've noticed at many retailers that the DVD prices for new releases are slowly rising in the last month or so.

Around Christmas time when they were really pushing Blu-Ray, I noticed a lot of new release titles on DVD were selling between $19.99-$22.99. It appears now those prices have gone to $21.99-$26.99.

With the recent announcement that Fox is releasing a bare-bones only DVD version for rental and a sell-through DVD version with the extra features, I suspect they are trying to formulate a stragedy to increase Blu-Ray sales.

The studios are probably finding that since the extras really only appeal to the die-hard movie fans, there is a good chance of getting these people to switch to Blu-Ray if the price is only $4-$5 more than the DVD with the same extras.

Will this model encourage people switch to Blu-Ray for purchasing titles or will people continue to buy fewer movies on DVD or Blu-Ray and just rent them (or download them) as they did in the VHS era?

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

I think it has more to do with them wanting you to buy either the DVD or Blu-Ray, not just to get people to switch to Blu-Ray. If they really wanted to switch people to BR they would put the special features on the Blu-Ray releases and make all DVDs virtually bare bones.

I think the reason DVD prices are higher then during the holiday season is just that, it was the holiday season. They want to entice you to buy DVDs as gifts for people so they lower the prices.

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Regardless of the starting price of DVDs, I think we'll continue to see prices drop in a short amount of time. I never buy a title on release day, instead waiting for the inevitable drop in price.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

problem is, if you`re into slipsleeves you usually have to buy immediately,
because once the titles drop in price, sleeves are usually long gone.

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I almost always wait to buy something used these days anyway... usually I can pick them up within a week or two for half the price.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

I have a feeling the sales of Blu-Ray were well below expectations over the holidays. A lot of money has been spent on trying to push this product so it wouldn't surprise me that they would push the price up on DVD just below the Blu-Ray prices.

Why buy the DVD for $26.99 when the Blu-Ray is only $29.99? They wouldn't want to completely cut out any DVD sales by only releasing a bare-bones version on DVD.

It gives consumers a choice but at the same time making the Blu-Ray a "better buy" in comparison.

Many Joe Six-Packs know how to pirate DVDs or download them from the internet but Blu-Ray has better copy protection and files cannot be shared across the internet very easily because of their size.

I am not into Blu-Ray but I have a feeling they want to find a way to really penetrate the market before it's too late.

This is true but the prices are higher now on new releases than they have been in many years, at least at the retail store level.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

The prices certainly seem to be going up, but I'm not convinced it's due to some conspiracy to push Blu. My personal opinion is that revenues are down and the studios are simply trying to recoup some of those dollars. They probably had some bean counters figure out that folks who were willing to pay price X will also be willing to pay price X+3, or whatever. I've also noticed that price cuts are occuring much sooner than in the past. What used to take months can now be measured in weeks.

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I honestly don't see how the companies or retailers sell anything at those prices. How many people (besides from this board) can afford to go and shell out $20-$30 for 1 DVD/BR. It seems as if though these retailers and movie companies are living in their own world where a recession is non existent, yet, in the real world, not too many people really have jobs that afford them $20-$30 extra per week to spend on a movie when they could go rent it. I think overall sales are dropping on both. I, for one, have really stopped buying dvds and watch how I spend my money nowadays (even though I'm not really struggling.) Although, I have noticed that DD sales/prices were better 2-3 yrs ago than they are today, which makes NO sense at all.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

The studios need to make more money, as DVD sales wind down. This is a mature medium, after all, and its go-go days are over. (There were some good articles about this recently in the Financial Times.) In the meantime, much of the DVD buying public is not crazy about buying into Blu Ray disc costs, player costs, & HD TV costs when they're perfectly happy with their DVDs and CRTs (guilty as charged!). So the studios are taking a chance that boosting DVD prices will boost their bottom lines. I don't blame them for trying. The risk they're taking, of course, is that they'll end up making even less as value shoppers like me and ordinary recession-shocked movie fans hang onto our dollars more tightly than we used to. My DVD dollars spent have gone way down since the holidays and I see very few deals anymore that motivate me.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

This is simply a seasonal phenomenon. DVD prices are always lower during the holidays. Lowering prices during the holidays increases demand substantially whereas the increase in sales is not as pronounced during the rest of the year. I remember everything I bought during Nov-Dec was ridiculously cheap, there were online sales left and right and I doubt prices will be that low until the next holiday season. The prices are now are just the normal prices.

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I blame Circuit City going out of business. Seriously.

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I gotta agree with you on this. Since it was announced that they were completely going out, Best Buy has not had any form of great deals regarding DVDs.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

I'm about to curtail my DVD Purchases, but it's not because I'm short on funds. (Who Isn't?) No, it's because by the end of the year I'll have over TEN THOUSAND HOURS of TV Programming, Movies and Serials. Needless to say it's going to take some time to watch all of them! I'll keep my eyes on the bargains, and continue to purchase Season Sets for Programs I have, but havn't completed because they havn't released all the episodes yet. (Examples include JAG, Walker:Texas Ranger & Hawaii Five-O) I've been preparing for this Recession for quite some time, and needless to say if there is nothing to do but watch TV I'll be sitting back and doing exactly that. And, I'll be watching THE PROGRAM ONLY, there will be NO Commercials, Pop-Up, Scrolls and Banners to "Butt In" and ruin my evenings. At 7:00 Each evening I will leave the Real World behind and immerse myself in Entertainment.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

Meh I think the prices around where i'm at have stayed the same new releases being around 15.99 to 19.99 depending with two disc's special edition's being 22.99

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

Have to agree with this as well. There are those of us who are lucky enough to have local chains/Mom & Pop DVD/CD stores around other than the big retailers.

With the loss of Circuit City most areas only have either Target, Best Buy and Wally World to choose from on weekly deals.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

Then don't buy from Best Buy, either. I haven't bought anything from them for several months. Restraining your wallet tends to bring out the sales.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

Don't forget in the past the 2 disc dvd was standard but since 2007 that changed and you get lousy artwork on the 2 disc dvds compared to the single disc editions.


I wonder what the price for Watchmen will be when the single disc gets released probably in July?


$16.99?

I got $12 left in my xmas gift card and that won't cover a new release anymore.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

Same here. If they want to raise their prices on new, I know I'll be able to buy the disc used for half the price within a month.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

This. Simply the economic times we live in, and inflation.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

The solution is very simple, really.

Don't buy any movies until they reach what you consider to be the proper price point.

In the meantime, rent or sign them out from your local library. If every consumer did this, the Studio's sales would plummet, and they will bring their prices down.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

I have been noticing this trend lately as well. I decided to wait it out if I was going to shop at BB because they always have a title for less the week after it's released, rather than in it's first week. Recently, I discovered that BB will price match Amazon, so BB's higher pricing is no longer an issue for me. I price match it from my iPhone right at the counter and I'm out the door.

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I still find some okay deals on Amazon. :shrug:

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I don;t know about the rest of you but they are going to have to a gell of lot more then that to get people to swith over to BR. No one I know has BR. There are a few people I ave talked to at my local used DVD/CD stores and only 1 person I can think of bought one and even he is wondering why he did it. He says he cannot see any difference.

The theory: SACD, DVD-A, etc, etc - look how they have gone. CDs are ging on 30 years now as a primay format and it is not going anywhere.

DVD is enough for the average joe, heck I see dozens of people digging thru bins at the store to get to the .45 used VHS.

So is BR going to be the new cash cow for the studios? perhaps, but I think it will always be a niche market and NEVER be as widely accepted as DVDs.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

I agree and disagree with parts of this post. I see that there are fewer adopters of Blue Ray than there were at a comparable time in the dvd release period. I for one, already had a dvd player and about 20 dvds by about this time after dvd was introduced, and havent yet gotten a blue ray player. I do know some people with them, but not many. The consensus I have found, is that there is a difference int eh picture quality between blue ray and dvd, but not enough to spend 300 on a new machine when the current one works fine. and can be replaced for less than $50. The big drawback I see for blue ray, is the fact that in order to get the full benefit out of it, you have to have an hdtv. For many people this is a cost that they build into the cost of going to blue ray. When it seems like it costs $1500 to upgrade to blue ray, it is off putting for alot of people. Eventually, as tvs die, that wont be a factor. But dvd had no such obstacle. Do I think that Blue Ray will be around for the long haul? I dont know, but I think some disc format will.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

with the way the economy is going, do you think studios 5 years down the road will keep pumping money into the BR machine? NO ONE I know has a blu-ray player...

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I know a couple of people who have one and they really seem to like it. Of course, compare that to the fact that every last person I know has at least one DVD player, and it's a drop in the bucket.

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Actually, the way things are going (this would include declining revenue and unit sales for DVD), I don't think that the majors will keep pumping money into DVD (the recent string of independent DVD-only labels going belly up should explain why); it will be phased, starting with the 2DVD SE sets, in favor of a higher-margin product.

Pro-B

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

First off, don't stop buying anything. We survive by being consumers. Does that fact make any sense? Yes, in the sense that we must consume food. New electronics every two years? Not so much. Plus, my tongue is in cheek. But - my local Mom 'n' Pop x 10 video joint just expanded their BR shelving by a factor of 3, so there you have it. It may take a while, but it looks like things are goin' Blu. (Don't fret, everybody, vinyl is still around ;).)

But yeah, if DVD prices are indeed going up, it's probably a small conflation of post-holiday sales disappearing and studios just trying to stay afloat on their current raft of bread and butter.

OK - no more drunk posting for me. Happy St. Patty's day, all!

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

WE survive by being SMART consumers. Not cattle. I don't like being steered anywhere besides where I WANT to go. Period. Companies trying to change my buying habits by increasing the prices of items that cost them pennies to produce. It's just the studios trying to bend us over and serve them another helping for our pocket books. The sad fact of the matter is that I have spent thousands on their 'new' ultimate super versions and it's getting old. So now rather then give THEM any more money I would rather give it to my local pawnshop, at least they have more morals.

Off soapbox.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

higher margin doesn't equal more profits...

if you only sell 1/100th the amount you would with the lower margin alternative then that's not a good plan.

studios are looking to move the most UNITS of whatever item they are selling. if you can sell 500,000 units of a product with a 2% margin, that's a lot better than 5,000 units at a 5% margin.

imo, bd and ALL disc formats will eventually be eroded by digitally distributed versions of content, be it music, movies or whatever.

discs will still be around but mostly for backup purposes.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

I did not argue that it does.

You theory would be fine if the lower margin product sustained its current performance levels, as did its higher-margin competitor - a quick look at the yearly sales data via HMM indicates that sales and revenue from DVD continue to slide while sales and revenue from BD continue to increase.

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. Studios are looking to generate more revenue. Moving more units has absolutely nothing to do with their planning. Hence, the reason why you would see that very soon 2DVD SE will start disappearing and and a larger catalog of BDs will start appearing.

On this one I am also going to disagree with you. Physical media will always be around, certainly as far as my and your lifetime is concerned.

Pro-B

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

So do I. Hence the reason why I feel very strongly about HD physical media and what it is capable of offering us over DVD.

Pro-B

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

Just because you go out and buy these doesn't mean you can afford them! Take it from me. After years of doing just that I realized that I had invested thousands of dollars into my DVD collection. A collection that in reality I would NEVER be able to fully enjoy completely as I had way to many movies.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

Wow. When you think the local pawn shop has more morals than the studios, you know things are bad! I'm with you brother. I pretty much only buy used DVDs now - for no more than $5 or so tops. Last year I purchased maybe six new DVDs.

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Ahh, I see someone posted something negative about Blu-ray, no wonder why Pro-B posted in a thread in the DVDTalk forum. Color me shocked!

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Except you didn't care about the HD physical format that came in Red cases - only Blue. So you actually only really care(d) about Blu-ray media.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

Meh, the color of the case hardly matters...just ask the recording industry what the hell happened to their disc-based sales. To believe that video will somehow escape this fate is, ummm, wishful thinking at best.

Besides horrific timing for HD media, how many folks do you think are out there that got drunk on DVDs and now have amassed huge (by their standards) collections? Now, does anybody really believe they'll go through this all over again? HD may eventually become the default disc-based media, but it will never be able to equal SD at it's height because the appetite for this delivery system is declining. Cripes, people are trying to figure out how to watch movies on their phone!

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

The discussion in this thread revolves around DVD vs. Blu-ray - present vs. future. Therefore, it should be fairly clear that when I refer to physical HD media I mean Blu-ray. I don't see where HDDVD come into play, given that it is no longer in existence.

This being said, yes, I did not care about Toshiba's product.

No.

But, I don't think interest in cinema and owning films ends with the generation you mention above.

Pro-B

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

Yes, we all know anytime something negative about BD is posted you swoop in to defend it.

Re: DVD Prices Creeping Up?
 

* Less competition in retailers.
* Less room to "lose money" via loss-leaders.
* Less chance of people impulsively buying other stuff when picking up that loss leader.
* Off-season (no holiday, relatively few big name releases)
* People are slowing down their purchases of "luxury" items.

I think there is a bit of the thinking "Let's not work too hard on the DVD release, let's put that energy toward the BD that costs 8-12$ more and brings in more profit".

If things are "going Blue" over the next few years, it's an interesting question - is it because people are voluntarily and willingly upgrading, or because that's predominately what the retailers and producers are pushing? Can you get a 4:3 non-portable TV anymore?

I do think BD sales will never be, in terms of dollars or units, what DVD sales were at their peak. By the time enough of the consumer base is interested in BD, there will be other methods of delivery like DD or on-demand via set top boxes or PCs, etc.. I personally like disk formats, I don't like moving toward all-digital delivery, but I do see it moving that way.