They are free to offer this sale, just as you are free to shop around. I'm less interested in discussing whether or not DDD is really raising prices or not, I just want to find out if they do or do not. Only time will tell, assuming we get a cadre of contributors.

My intent is not to start "riots" (even figurative ones), but just to find information out, and to be honest, I have 0 interest in tracking 500 titles over the course of several months. But if we all track ten titles, then it makes the data more meaningful. Either this thread will die out on its own or it will work. Time will tell.

I really REALLY wonder how many people would complain about prices, if they ran NO "sales" prior to their 20% off sales (maybe 2-3 weeks before), and people clearly understand that new releases from the prior week will go up the following tuesday once the new weeks releases are out ..I really really do wonder..

I am not a stat major, but while your data set would certainly be the most complete and thorough, DVD prices (at least with DDD) are not like temperature. They don't vary day to day and some remain the same for a long time. Also, we're simply looking at prices before and prices during the sale. A whole year's data (or more) is needed to answer the question, "When is it cheapest to buy?" My question is more along the lines of "Does the DDD sale really give us 20% off?" That is more limited, and slightly easier to do.

Agreed.

But it becomes less complicated the more people are included in the samples. I'm sure once we have, say, twenty contributors, we'll get pretty representative. After all, we're the buyers and this "study" is more for us (DVDTalk) than for everyone in general.

Again, my hope is that enough people participate to make this worthwhile.

Neither am I. I don't think MovieExchange is, either. You don't need a spreadsheet or a degree to see it. MovieExchange pointed out that the price for The Man Show was raised right before the sale, and decreased right after the sale. That's proof. I provided a link to the thread with numerous examples, with exact prices before and during the sale. That's proof.
This isn't about prices anymore, it's about accepting reality. As I said before, if you can't find proof, you're not reading my post. The proof you asked for was served up on a silver platter, even a post from pilot saying they raise prices, and you're still talking about gathering stats to see if they raise prices.

Ummm.. ok.

That thread also posts some examples of people saying prices dropped on some DVDs. The people who think they were somehow screwed by DDD will always be the loudest, the purpose of a thread like this would be to objectively analyze the prices on a wide selection of DVDs to see if this is a widespread issue or just limited to price fluctuations on isolated DVDs, which may or may not be related to the sale.

You sure about that?

It is $17.07 today. One day later.

I have no idea how fluid DDD's prices are, but Amazon's DO indeed change nearly everyday. Not every title, of course. My shopping cart at amazon is full of many titles (about a hundred) and every day, I get the notification that prices in my cart have changed.

they're having a criterion sale right now..that's why it's lower..

But this was the same "problem" that existed last year. Let's say the 20% off sale starts 4/11/06. This criterion sale ends 4/10/06. People will cause an uproar when the prices are raised (to normal) the day before the sale.

I know ... That's what I keep saying in all these threads..look at my post 27 in this thread..

We don't sweep stuff under the rug.. Geoff has a very good relationship with DDD and them with him...This isn't other forums where people point out mistakes and show how to take advantage of mistakes..We delete threads that do so..With that said..

Anything I say here is my own personal opinion. As I said in another thread, I have no more information than you or anybody else on this forum. You are correct that both DDD and myself can't be correct, but you really have to default to what they say, or form your own opinion ...but again, as I've said before (and others have said), as my post 27 in this thread states... sales prior to the sale, and releases from the previous week, are (in my opinion) 90% of the complaints people have about stuff "being raised"

I guess if someone is a hawk in here and really tracks things, they may prove me or even DDD's rep wrong, but still, as people have stated in this thread, it's their sale, their site, they're entitled to do as they want, and nobody is being forced to purchase from them .. It may not "be fair" for them to raise certain things before a sale, but remember they just don't decide to sell stuff at a loss, they work out deals with the studios..Like the last sale, ADV didn't want to play nice, so no ADV stuff on sale.. There's probably quotas, and things like that, but agian, I really do not know.. I guess since this is such a "big issue" people will keep closer tabs on stuff, but ..I guess we'll have to see what happens when (if) the next sale happens...

Maybe DDD can make (another?) "official" post if they're able to, not that they have to, ask they can just not post here at all if they decided not to, kind of use another e-tailer as an exmaple, Amazon has done shit before (in a sort of similar manner) and nobody seems to bitch as much (they've had plenty of sales where stuff is discounted quite a bit and 24 hours later the sale is over.. with no explanation or reason, and people get over it quickly...)

Everybody seems to dwell on what DDD does.. I guess I'm just ranting on here as a volunteer admin here, it just makes me angry when they have like 90% of almost any DVD you could want cheaper than anybody else is, and people just ...are never happy ..and bitch and moan..

again, everything I say here is my opinion, and does not represent dvdtalk..

Hi, pilot. I've only been a member for a short while and I love DVDtalk to death. One of the things I love is the threadcrap policy. However, this thread has turned into one giant threadcrap and nothing has been done about it. The thread is not about people's opinions on whether or not DDD raises its prices. It is a thread to monitor those prices. That's all. Shouldn't the debate go on elsewhere? Can't we simply have a thread that follows the intent of the OP? Anyone is then allowed to ignore it.

People seem to be bent out of shape because someone has decided to do this. I have absolutely no problems with that, I just don't want to read about it here. If the thread was called "DDD raises its prices before its sale" then I would have no problem reading the debate.

If this thread is somehow against DVDTalk policy, then it should be eliminated. If not, shouldn't it be allowed to fulfill its intent and shouldn't it be subject to the same threadcrap policy that all other threads are?

almost every thread that deals with DDD and pricing turns into this..I guess I can split them out, but it will probably continue..and there's really nothing wrong with opinion mixed in ...I was one of the people who thought this was useless, but ...it really can't hurt to have it ..regardless of it's result...which will probably be debated anyways

Thanks for the courteous response, pilot. I disagree, but I guess you can't change human nature (sigh).

As I stated, I think these prices need to be monitored every week until the sale (at the least). Hopefully that will be done by all the posters. So that I contribute something to the point of this thread, I will monitor 10 titles myself:

APRIL 1:

1 - Ice Age - Super Cool Edition - $12.85
2 - HARRY POTTER-GOBLET OF FIRE (SE) - 2005 - $24.55
3 - PLANET OF THE APES-ULTIMATE COLLECTION - 1968 - $125.89
4 - CHRONICLES OF NARNIA (2D/SE) - 2005 - $23.15
5 - SOUTH PARK-7TH SEASON - 2003 - $31.89
6 - SEVEN SAMURAI (CRITERON) - 1954 - $23.19
7 - UNDERWORLD (UR/2D) - 2003 - $24.14
8 - WAR OF THE WORLDS (LE) - 2005 - $26.38
9 - PINK PANTHER CLASSIC CARTOON COLLECTION - $46.14
10 - PRIDE & PREJUDICE (WS) - 2005 - $21.59

mbs: When you post again, please have them as:

Title - Price - Date

It'll make updating and intergrating much easier.

Thanks!

No, it isn't proof that DDD is systematically raising prices before the sale. The only thing it proves is that the price of one title was increased. So what? If one title was increased and one decreased, what does that prove? If one increased and two decreased, what does that prove? Absolutely nothing.

The fact is that you do need a "spreadsheet," and at least some basic understanding of statistical analysis, to "prove" whether or not DDD is systematically increasing prices before a sale --or in simpler terms, whether or not the 20% off sale is a "gimmick."

Frankly, I don't believe it is a gimmick, since what I buy primarily, Criterion DVDs, are not only cheaper after the 20% discount than they are normally, but also cheaper than the competition during the sale. I check the price of every DVD I buy among several sellers, and any DVD that isn't cheaper after the 20% is applied I don't buy. Still, this doesn't "prove" that there is no systematic price manipulation.

I understand the curiosity factor. However, my personal opinion is that you can't "prove" systematic price manipulation of the type assumed here without knowing the sales volume of each title --unless of course, the manipulation is entirely transparent, where say, the price of nearly every title is increased.

People are making comments that suggest they believe DDD has some kind of obligation to sell them a DVD in the remote future, at a price they can count on, so their future purchases can be planned efficiently. If you know of any business that does this, please let us all know, quickly, because they won't be in business for long. Anyway, I don't see a problem here: if the DVDs you want to buy aren't cheaper at DDD, buy them somewhere else. The 20% off sale is a good deal for me. When it ceases to be a good deal, I will adjust my spending accordingly.

I for one am not saying that prices shouldn't be monitored, though I do think the objective of "proving" whether or not the 20% off sale is a gimmick is probably not obtainable.

However, this thread is not just monitoring prices for the Hell of it. The purpose is to determine whether or not DDD is raising prices before sales. It is therefore entirely legitimate to question the methodology of making such a determination. Furthermore, making such a determination is essentially accusing DDD of "fraud," so there should be some responsibility taken for ensuring that the methodology does factually support drawing such a conclusion, and is not just a willy nilly collection of price info that suggests something that really isn't true.

Hi. I must respectfully disagree with some of your statements. No one is accusing anyone of fraud, essentially or otherwise. If DDD raises or lowers prices at any time, it is their prerogative and it is not fraudulent.

Meanwhile, a random set of titles based on everyone's different tastes gives a good cross-section. It's on a par of picking every hundredth title or so or picking x amount at random. The difference is that these titles are actual titles people are interested in, so the results have meaning to them.

I'm a big fan and customer of DDD. As far as I’m concerned, they’re by far the best company out there and will remain so no matter what happens here. This isn't a scientific survey nor is it intended to be. It's a simple little survey by a few interested people. That's all. The OP introduced a methodology that some people agree with so they are participating. If people don’t agree with the methodology, they can start a thread using their own methodology or simply ignore the thread and its “conclusions.”

DDD has absolutely no obligation to sell anything at any price at any time. That is not the issue. If you know what a company's policy is, you can plan purchases accordingly. It's that simple.

And yes, there are several stores that have very predictable sale patterns. Macy's and PC Richards are two prime examples. I've saved tens of thousands of dollars over the years simply from knowing their sale patterns and pricing conventions. They've been in business for about 150 and 100 years respectively. The other one that comes to mind is DDD! Their two 20% sales have become the standard for DVD price comparison. The more I know about their pricing patterns, the better.

I guess this is a matter of interpretation. The whole point of collecting price information is to determine whether or not the DDD sale is really a sale....isn't it? If they're raising prices before the sale so that the sale price is the same as the non-sale price then it's not really a sale. Since this fact requires people to collect data over a period of time to determine, then the typical customer would be mislead into believing that DDD was selling something for less than the regular price. Otherwise, why call it a "sale?" To me, misrepresentation that causes someone to buy something they otherwise would not have bought, is a form of fraud.

Mere predictability is not what I was getting at. I probably should have chosen my words more carefully. Yeah, I can go to a store like FYE (just to make the example pertinent to DVDs) where their merchandise is normally so outrageously over-priced it makes you wonder if they are really in business to sell DVDs, or they are operating some kind of front, and pick up something during a "sale" for a little more than the regular price at Target, or even Hastings, but I don't think of this as a "sale."

The first part of what I was trying to say is this: It's a sale when Wal-Mart is selling for $15 a DVD normally sold there, and in many other places, for $20. It's not a "sale" when some store like FYE is selling the same DVD for 25% "off" and it still costs $22. In other words, I interpret "sale" with respect to the market, not to the highest price sellers.

Given this concept of a sale, the second part of what I was trying to say is this: there is no "certainty" in making future purchases at a discount. You can be certain that the sun will continue to rise during your lifetime, but no matter how many times a business has conducted a sale in the past, you cannot be certain that there will be such a sale in the future. Waiting to buy at a better price is a risk that may or may not pay off.

I'm sorry, but once again you aren't getting the point. The point is NOT to determine whether it is or is not a sale. We all know it's a sale. The question is what it is 20% of. If something is 20.00 two months before the sale, you anticipate it will be 16.00 during the sale. If I raise that price to 22.00 right before the sale, its sale price is now 17.60. It still may be a decent price and its still better than the original $20.00 but its not the $16.00 I had anticipated. And that's fine if that occurs because DDD has a right to do that. It is not misrepresentation. All their 20% sale means is that it's 20% off the price right before the sale. But you don't seem to think its my right as a consumer to monitor that. As a consumer, I can monitor anything I please and noone has a right to tell me I can't do that.

Once again, I have to reiterate that I am a fan of DDD. I've already budgeted a lot of money for DDD's next sale. I didn't even start this thread. I am simply defending the OP's right to have this thread and to monitor prices. You seem to want to debate everything I say here. The question is whether or not the OP has a right to monitor prices in whatever form he wants (not what you feel is right, but with his methodology). I feel that anyone has that right. If you don't feel he does, then we could debate this ad infinitum and not get anywhere.

What you say is absolutely true, but who's debating that? No one says that a sale is a certainty. Nothing is certain. But as I said, I've saved thousands anticipating those sales and if they come about 90% of the time, that works for me. Just because DDD's or anyone's sale is uncertain (they could drop off the face of the earth tomorrow, or decide not to have the sale) does that mean I should just buy everything now at the best price? Of course not. There's a very high probability that the sale will occur based on their history and I'll budget accordingly. If it doesn't, I'll go to Plan B. But meanwhile, we are allowed to monitor prices.

Great idea. I usually track my own in advance of the sale anyway. Now there's an actual record, cool!

ROCKFORD FILES SEASON ONE - $30.50 - 4/6/06
Once Upon A Mattress - $14.10 - 4/6/06
THE SHIELD Season 4 - $41.86 - 4/6/06
The Flash - $38.89 - 4/6/06
TIME TUNNEL VOLUME 1 - $27.95 - 4/6/06
Moonlighting Season 3 - $23.99 - 4/6/06
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Vol. 1 - $23.89 - 4/6/06
Speed Racer edition 4 - $14.24 - 4/6/06
Flying Nun Season 1 - $27.97 - 4/6/06
Astro Boy Ultra - $70.79 - 4/6/06
DOCTOR WHO BEGINNING COLLECTION - $34.79 - 4/6/06
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER season 1- $27.85 - 4/6/06
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER season 2 - $36.30 - 4/6/06
JOEY SEASON 1 - $30.24 - 4/6/06
TIME TUNEL VOLUME 2 - $29.27 - 4/6/06 (misspelled on DDD's site)
Wild Wild West Season - $36.30 - 4/6/06
Rockford Files season 2 - $30.25 - 4/6/06
SALARYMAN KINTARO 1 - $16.60 - 4/6/06
SALARYMAN KINTARO 3 - $16.60 - 4/6/06
SALARYMAN KINTARO 4 - $16.60 - 4/6/06
SALARYMAN KINTARO 5 - $16.60 - 4/6/06
HOUSE OF ELIOTT 1 - $38.99 - 4/6/06
HOUSE OF ELIOTT 2 - $38.99 - 4/6/06

Thank you barby, for contributing info to the thread. It's been updated. To all of those who say "it won't work" why don't you contribute some info so we can prove you wrong?