Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
07-29-09 | 11:17 PM
#1
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
Many people's complaints with Blu-ray is the price of discs compared to their DVD counterparts without offering anything more than a slightly better picture & sound.
Now the studios have introduced a price structure to make Blu-ray look like fair value compared to the DVD. They achieve this not by improving Blu-ray quality or price but by simply giving DVD buyers less.
Fast & Furious prices @ Best Buy.
Blu-ray 2 disc with all the extras: $27.95
DVD 2 disc with all the extras $26.95
DVD single disc, no extras: $18.99
The studios can now justify their premium price for the 2 disc, high profit-margin Blu-ray while still offering the stripped-down, bare-bones DVD for $9 less.
Now the studios have introduced a price structure to make Blu-ray look like fair value compared to the DVD. They achieve this not by improving Blu-ray quality or price but by simply giving DVD buyers less.
Fast & Furious prices @ Best Buy.
Blu-ray 2 disc with all the extras: $27.95
DVD 2 disc with all the extras $26.95
DVD single disc, no extras: $18.99
The studios can now justify their premium price for the 2 disc, high profit-margin Blu-ray while still offering the stripped-down, bare-bones DVD for $9 less.
07-29-09 | 11:38 PM
#2
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
that is one poor example
all three of those versions are grossly overpriced
BD prices in general have come down .... if you are not a need to have on release day person good deals can be found by showing a bit of patience
all three of those versions are grossly overpriced
BD prices in general have come down .... if you are not a need to have on release day person good deals can be found by showing a bit of patience
07-30-09 | 01:12 AM
#3
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Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
BDs are getting cheaper, but so are regular DVDs; in fact, most stores seem like theyre just giving away DVDs. And while both seem to have price drops, I dont really see BD closing the gap, as a whole, on the price difference between the two formats.
I think any price reductions in BD is more so in response to the economy and the masses of people that are generally not being interested in spending money on the format, especially since BD players are not really reasonably priced for most to convert.. yet.
In a year, I think we'll see the start of the general public's DVD exodus to Blu-ray. Until then, it will be more of the same things we see.. lower-priced BDs that still seem high priced in comparison to really low priced DVDs.
I think any price reductions in BD is more so in response to the economy and the masses of people that are generally not being interested in spending money on the format, especially since BD players are not really reasonably priced for most to convert.. yet.
In a year, I think we'll see the start of the general public's DVD exodus to Blu-ray. Until then, it will be more of the same things we see.. lower-priced BDs that still seem high priced in comparison to really low priced DVDs.
07-30-09 | 04:46 AM
#4
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
I just avoid buying new releases, so far I have gotten a few used blu-rays at ten dollars each and with the DeepDiscount sale I will get Blu-Rays five for an average of $12.39 each, I am perfectly fine with those prices.
07-30-09 | 06:30 AM
#5
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
BDs are getting cheaper, but so are regular DVDs; in fact, most stores seem like theyre just giving away DVDs. And while both seem to have price drops, I dont really see BD closing the gap, as a whole, on the price difference between the two formats.
I think any price reductions in BD is more so in response to the economy and the masses of people that are generally not being interested in spending money on the format, especially since BD players are not really reasonably priced for most to convert.. yet.
In a year, I think we'll see the start of the general public's DVD exodus to Blu-ray. Until then, it will be more of the same things we see.. lower-priced BDs that still seem high priced in comparison to really low priced DVDs.
I think any price reductions in BD is more so in response to the economy and the masses of people that are generally not being interested in spending money on the format, especially since BD players are not really reasonably priced for most to convert.. yet.
In a year, I think we'll see the start of the general public's DVD exodus to Blu-ray. Until then, it will be more of the same things we see.. lower-priced BDs that still seem high priced in comparison to really low priced DVDs.
New release Blu-Rays are still the same basic price they've always been. It's just that sometimes retailers have a specific sale going on.
07-30-09 | 09:06 AM
#7
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Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
I do the same thing. There are great deals at times on ebay where there is a blu ray lot that have some good movies that average out 10 dollars or less for each movie. Surprisingly Best Buy lately has had good deals but i just wait till amazon price matches so it gives me a little more savings on gas and taxes. Yea i know i am a cheap ass
07-30-09 | 09:19 AM
#8
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
Now the studios have introduced a price structure to make Blu-ray look like fair value compared to the DVD. They achieve this not by improving Blu-ray quality or price but by simply giving DVD buyers less.
Fast & Furious prices @ Best Buy.
Blu-ray 2 disc with all the extras: $27.95
DVD 2 disc with all the extras $26.95
DVD single disc, no extras: $18.99
The studios can now justify their premium price for the 2 disc, high profit-margin Blu-ray while still offering the stripped-down, bare-bones DVD for $9 less.
Fast & Furious prices @ Best Buy.
Blu-ray 2 disc with all the extras: $27.95
DVD 2 disc with all the extras $26.95
DVD single disc, no extras: $18.99
The studios can now justify their premium price for the 2 disc, high profit-margin Blu-ray while still offering the stripped-down, bare-bones DVD for $9 less.
07-30-09 | 09:36 AM
#9
Suspended
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
Studios have actually been slowly upping the pricing on Day and Date DVDs so the gap between DVD and BD in price is smaller.
07-30-09 | 10:45 AM
#10
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
It does however set the bar for the "sale" price. Generally speaking, $29.95 MSRP = $24.95 shelf price.
Best Buy, Future Shop, Visions, Wal-Mart & HMV are the top CD/DVD/Blu-ray retailers in Western Canada with the best prices.
They are all advertising Fast & Furious at roughly the same prices, give or take a buck.
I know there's better pricing over the internet with Amazon & such but it's certainly an accurate reflection of prices at the retail level which still accounts for a large number of sales.
07-30-09 | 10:53 AM
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Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
New release DVDs aren't getting any cheaper. DVDs that have been around 5 plus years might be. Keep that in mind when evaluating the two formats. Even the oldest Blu-Rays haven't been around that long, but some of them are starting to get fairly cheap.
New release Blu-Rays are still the same basic price they've always been. It's just that sometimes retailers have a specific sale going on.
New release Blu-Rays are still the same basic price they've always been. It's just that sometimes retailers have a specific sale going on.
If the argument is that waiting a few months will get you a better price on a BD (and that is accurate, IMO), then that same logic applies to DVDs as well. In many cases, the DVD version of a film can be had for $10 or less in less than six months from release.
I think the OP is dead on here. The BD is the "collector" version of a film in many cases, with a bare bones low-end DVD the wide release version. In time, I suspect that those SE DVDs may just go away.
07-30-09 | 11:45 AM
#12
Suspended
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
All but dead by the time 2010 rolls around. They want to turn the 2 Disc collectors into Blu-ray owners.
07-30-09 | 12:01 PM
#13
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
07-30-09 | 12:03 PM
#14
DVD Talk Legend
07-30-09 | 12:06 PM
#15
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
07-30-09 | 12:22 PM
#16
DVD Talk Limited Edition
07-30-09 | 12:27 PM
#17
Suspended
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
Might. I think studios want to make the 1 Disc DVD 'it' and the Blu-ray 1/2/3 disc (Depending on the inclusion of DVD/DC) the collectors set. They may do a limited run of 2 Disc DVDs on release date, but those will quickly go OOP. Turn the collector into a Blu-ray buyer and leave the normal folks alone (with an increase in 1 Disc DVD MSRP of course).
07-30-09 | 02:25 PM
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From: Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
Watchmen to be discounted to $9.99 at Best Buy
PHYSICAL: Sale price comes a week and a half after street
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 7/29/2009
JULY 29 | PHYSICAL: Warner Home Video’s Watchmen DVD will be slashed to $9.99 at Best Buy starting this Sunday, marking yet another example of the studio discounting major titles very quickly after street.
Watchmen will be offered at this new price at Best Buy, according to the chain’s Aug. 2 circular obtained by Video Business. The date of the price cuts comes about a week and a half after the title streeted on July 21. The Blu-ray is advertised at $24.99.
Warner’s Gran Torino was cut to $10 at Target the week starting June 14, days after the title’s June 9 bow. The studio’s He’s Not Just That Into You also was rapidly cut to the $10 range at Best Buy and Target.
Warner did not comment on its title pricing.
With Gran Torino and He’s Just Not That Into You, Warner offered $5 per unit rebates to select retailers to help stores roll out the $10 sales, according to store sources. It’s not yet clear how Best Buy will be able to slash Watchmen to $9.99 starting next month.
As DVD sales have softened, studios have become more aggressive with retail incentives in order to prevent returns.
Typically, however, retailers score rebates if they agree to large upfront orders on a particular title, because studios rely on heavy orders to boost a title’s prominence on shelves. Due to this, studios generally offer discount pricing incentives only to large retail chains, which have the resources to make expansive title orders.
After seeing prices of Gran Torino and He’s Just Not That Into You go so low so fast, indie retailer TLA Video slimmed its orders on Watchmen, fearing a repeat of the same Warner pricing strategy. TLA was concerned it wouldn’t be able to compete with other retailers’ significant price breaks on the title.
“It seems to be a Warner thing, so now I’ll be worrying about [the studio’s next big release] 17 Again,” TLA general manager Adrian Hickman said. “With Watchmen, I was careful with the order. I was worried about its pricing.”
Warner appears to be driving the train on speedy discounting. Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment have similarly helped retailers slim pricing on Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa and Milk, respectively, but about a month after their street dates.
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 7/29/2009
JULY 29 | PHYSICAL: Warner Home Video’s Watchmen DVD will be slashed to $9.99 at Best Buy starting this Sunday, marking yet another example of the studio discounting major titles very quickly after street.
Watchmen will be offered at this new price at Best Buy, according to the chain’s Aug. 2 circular obtained by Video Business. The date of the price cuts comes about a week and a half after the title streeted on July 21. The Blu-ray is advertised at $24.99.
Warner’s Gran Torino was cut to $10 at Target the week starting June 14, days after the title’s June 9 bow. The studio’s He’s Not Just That Into You also was rapidly cut to the $10 range at Best Buy and Target.
Warner did not comment on its title pricing.
With Gran Torino and He’s Just Not That Into You, Warner offered $5 per unit rebates to select retailers to help stores roll out the $10 sales, according to store sources. It’s not yet clear how Best Buy will be able to slash Watchmen to $9.99 starting next month.
As DVD sales have softened, studios have become more aggressive with retail incentives in order to prevent returns.
Typically, however, retailers score rebates if they agree to large upfront orders on a particular title, because studios rely on heavy orders to boost a title’s prominence on shelves. Due to this, studios generally offer discount pricing incentives only to large retail chains, which have the resources to make expansive title orders.
After seeing prices of Gran Torino and He’s Just Not That Into You go so low so fast, indie retailer TLA Video slimmed its orders on Watchmen, fearing a repeat of the same Warner pricing strategy. TLA was concerned it wouldn’t be able to compete with other retailers’ significant price breaks on the title.
“It seems to be a Warner thing, so now I’ll be worrying about [the studio’s next big release] 17 Again,” TLA general manager Adrian Hickman said. “With Watchmen, I was careful with the order. I was worried about its pricing.”
Warner appears to be driving the train on speedy discounting. Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment have similarly helped retailers slim pricing on Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa and Milk, respectively, but about a month after their street dates.
07-31-09 | 11:45 AM
#19
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
Last week was the same price structure on The Watchmen as well.
It's not an extreme example used to illustrate the high prices.
As stated above, Warner Bros. is apparently slashing the price of their DVDs to $9.99 after two or three weeks after the initial release.
07-31-09 | 02:11 PM
#20
DVD Talk Hero
08-01-09 | 07:58 PM
#21
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
Hell, if you think those were poor examples, I walked into the Best Buy store today and their "Three Day Price!" sale for the Blu-ray of Fast & Furious at $27.99 is over.
The shelf price was now $29.99!
Walked into Wal-Mart - $29.88!
Are we getting royally hosed in Vancouver at the store level?
I also had to laugh at the Blu-ray/DVD comparison demo on a TV at the Wal-Mart. It was showing some annimation movie with a vertical line swiping back and forth across the screen showing one side DVD and the other Blu-ray.
This demo, on a 32" HDTV showed virtually no difference.
Didn't make for much of a compelling sales pitch.
08-02-09 | 10:24 AM
#22
DVD Talk Reviewer
Re: Blu-ray is Now "Fair Value"?
Newer Blu-ray titles may not be 'fair value', but there are a TON of Blu-ray titles you can find in the $10, $15, and $20 price range. Newer titles have to be more expensive at this point because studios still want to make around the same amount of money on DVD releases as they always have, and the people who only own DVD will pay it. Blu-ray has to be more expensive when new titles are released, at least for a little while. The Blu-ray scene overall however, as far as price goes, is much better than it used to be.
