I probably won't be buying anything until near the end of the sale, so I'll be able to monitor price changes the whole time. I'm mainly doing this in the hopes that the Live.com cashback rate will go up from the current 4%. If it does go up, I'll probably jump in and get what I want.

Overall, since just prior to the start of the sale, my wish-list has changed in value by an increase of 6%.

Summary of all price changes so far in my want-list:

Equilibrium (2008/11/06: up $1.34, 16%)
!Forever Knight Trilogy Season 1 (2008/11/06: up $12.90, 42%)
!Forever Knight Trilogy Season 2 (2008/11/06: up $12.90, 42%)
!Forever Knight Trilogy Season 3 (2008/11/06: up $12.90, 42%)
I Spy (2008/11/06: up $.39, 4%)
Knight Rider Complete Series (2008/11/06: down $2.85, 3%)
!Lone Ranger Boxed Set (2008/11/07: up $7.58, 23%)
!Saint Mega-set (2008/11/06: up $29.59, 32%) (this was not part of the B1G1 British sale)
Samurai Trilogy (2008/11/06: down $3.90, -7%)
!Seinfeld Season 8 (2008/11/06: up $.98, 4%)
!Seinfeld Season 8 (2008/11/07: up another $10.14, 41% since the beginning)
!Seinfeld Season 9 (2008/11/06: up $.98, 4%)
!Seinfeld Season 9 (2008/11/07: up another $10.14, 41% since the beginning)
Speed Racer Complete Series (2008/11/06: up $1.91, 5%)
Speed Racer Complete Series (2008/11/07: up another $3.70, 16% since the beginning)


Update 2008/11/07:
I'm not on the same side of the dateline as DD, so it's already 11/07 for me, but the sale hasn't started yet...
For the summer sale, there were virtually no price changes in my want-list, and most of the changes there were were actually in my favor.
Not this time, though.
A few more shocking price changes this time around. Biggest changes for me this time were Seinfeld Seasons 8 and 9 (up 38% each), and the Lone Ranger box set (up 23%). [Note about Lone Ranger: This is not the new set, and I don't plan on buying this anymore, but it's still on my list for now.]
Depending on how many price changes there are that people list, I might start compiling the data into the first post. But, I'm not sure how much time I want to spend on that.
I have already decided against getting the Forever Knight box sets, as they went up 42%, and they were borderline to begin with. The next to go off my buylist is probably Speed Racer, as it is now up 16%, and I expect to be able to find it at a significanly lower price sometime during the holiday shopping season.



Original Post follows...
-----------------------------------------
To go along with the 25%-off sale, I started tracking the prices in my wishlist. I only have about 80 things there at the moment, but they are a pretty wide range in prices, and from various studios.

I thought a thread to list and discuss price changes (up and down) that people have observed would be useful--both for seeing DD's behavior when it comes to pricing and their sale (or "sale") prices, and for spotting things available at better prices during the sale than they were at the start (as buyers may have passed on an item initially, but then at a lower price might jump on it).

As has been well documented and discussed, some price changes are a result of a sale ending prior to a new sale. I'd appreciate it if anyone could point out the reason for an apparent price increase. I'll mark particularly large price changes with exclamation points).


I know some of you get emotional about your prices, and feel that you are entitled to the lowest prices imaginable, but I don't care about that. I'm trying to approach this from a neutral standpoint. I'm not condemning DD for its behavior (in this thread), and I'm not defending them, either. I certainly appreciate their semi-annual sales, and I look forward to quite a few bargains this year with their decision to go to a 25%-off, instead of their traditional 20%-off.


[price change list moved to the top of the post]


As a side-note, some of the series that were part of the recent "British" B1G1 sale, such as the Prisoner and UFO megasets, returned to their pre-"sale" prices. Before the B1G1, they increased by about 20%, then after the B1G1 was over, they dropped back down (for example: the Prisoner megaset was around $50 [not sure exactly], then went to $60.77 during the B1G1, and has just dropped back to $51.89).


It would be nice if when people contribute to this thread, that they not just post "I think it was cheaper before," but post true and accurate data about observed price changes. What you "think" about a possible price change is useless, but the data you provide about an actual price change can be useful. Thank you.

I took a screen shot of my wish list yesterday. once the sale is live I will compare those prices to the prices on my screen shot and report back.

I know the new Mystery Science Theater 3000 tin jumped from $40.26 to $49.89 a week or so ago.
I'm pretty sure the new "Sports Night" box set jumped up from $40 to $50 recently, though it just dropped to $47.33.
The "Absolutely Fabulous" Absolutely Everything set jumped from $90.86 to $99.65.

Some prices have gone down a bit over the past few days too, though.

Good idea!

Wrote it down yesterday. Price was $50.73, down to $47.33 today.

Planet of the Apes BD set is down $13 (out of stock).
Batman TAS has held steady.
Firefly BD preorder is down $3.
Keeping Up Appearances box is steady.
Queer as Folk box is steady.
Individua Apes BD's are steady.

The bugger part for us Canadians is trying to make a list as close to $150.00 as we can (for postage reasons). Then something drops $2.00 and something else jumps $4.00 and now your list is $151.03. Dang it. LOL!

James

Taken (the miniseries) WAS 35.90, price jacked up to 42.84 NOW.

And NO, it was not part of any previous sale!

They must be gearing up for the sale. Everything in my wish list increased in price (25 items)!! Most by at least $2-$3.

^ List of items with before and after prices, please. Without actual data, it's kind of an empty claim.

From my wish list that was screen captured on 27 Oct, I have noticed a few changes

Band of Brothers [Blu-ray Disc] was 61.49, now 76.86, increased by 15.37 (pre-order)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [Blu-ray Disc] was 25.85, now 26.83 increased by 0.98

The Incredible Hulk [Blu-ray Disc] was 25.85, now 26.83 increased by 0.98

National Lampoon's Vacation was 10.87, now 13.59 increased by 2.72 (out of stock)

Snow Dogs was 8.25, now 9.59 increased by 1.34

Nothing on my wishlist has changed in the last 4 days or so, but a bunch of titles that I have on a dvdaf wishlist that come out on the 18th have ALL gone up by about a buck each. All of the Synapse releases for that day, the Mondo Macabro title, and a couple of others I can't remember. They each went up about 6% negating the extra % in this sale.

Smashing Pumpkins: If All Goes Wrong INCREASED from $12.18 to $17.36 !!!!!
Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show INCREASED from $26.89 to $37.89 !!!!
Damages The complete first season went from $28.xx to $34.55


I have never seen things increase this much . Kinda pisses me off. Espescially the Smashing Pumpkins DVD.

Also John From Cincinnati: The first season and Tell me You love Me: The first Season INCREASED over $20 EACH!!!!

Used to be that you could order during DD's sales and be assured of the lowest price. They used to pretty much always have the lowest price anyway, so the extra 20% made it a no-brainer.

Those days are long gone. Now, even with the extra 25%, you have to check amazon and price search engines to be sure.

I had several paperback books, all been out for at least a year, change from in-stock to pre-order since monday.

The Murnau/Borzage at Fox box jumped from $167.96 to $179.96 in the last 2 days.

Came here to post this one. And it's not even available until after the sale!

The more I read of this thread the more I think I'll boycott their sale again. They're up to shenanigans I say, shenanigans.

Bastards! The WWE Wrestlemania box sets went from $35.99(?) to $47.22. Basically a 25% increase.

I've had my eye on the Warner Gangsters Collection (Vol 1). The price jumped from $30 to $50 overnight. So, in reality, the "25% sale price" costs you more than it was a few days ago.

Below is a list of the price changes for the DVDs in my cart:

Title - New Price * - Old Price ** - Increase/(Decrease)

Birds of Prey: The Complete Series - 30.74 - 27.89 - 2.85
Lynch (One) - 19.75 - 20.22 - (0.47)
Robot Chicken: Season 3 - 23.97 - 22.37 - 1.60
Speed Racer: The Complete Series - 40.49 - 34.88 - 5.61
The Outer Limits: The Original Series - 45.89 - 47.43 - (1.54)
Futurama: Bender's Game - 20.87 - 19.88 - .99
A Christmas Story: Ultimate Collector's Edition - 29.18 - 29.49 - (.31)
Freaks and Geeks: Yearbook Edition - 117.14 - 144.93 - (27.79)
The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Collector's Set - 92.89 - 97.25 - (4.36)

* as of 11/5 at ~ 6:30 pm (Central)
** as of 11/4 at ~ 9 pm (Central)

Best,
David Thornton

The Wall-E 2-disc BD went from ~$25 and is now $30.14. The 3-disc BD has held steady at $27.83. So, the 2-disc is more expensive than the 3-disc.

Also, note the $15+ hike on Band of Brothers BD. DVDPlanet has it for $69.97, which has held steady.

These prices were first recorded on 10/31. New prices as of 6:30 PST today.

Title - New Price * - Old Price ** - Increase/(Decrease)

New Price = 11/5/08
Old Price = 10/25/08

Doctor Who The Mind Robber - 14.75 - 11.69 - increase 3.06
Doctor Who The Web Planet - 14.75 - 11.69 - increase 3.06
Doctor Who Dalek Invasion of Earth - 23.97 - 19.07 - increase 4.90
Doctor Who The Three Doctors - 14.75 - 11.69 - increase 3.06
Tabitha The Complete Series - 22.61 - 15.37 - increase 7.24 (yikes, a whopper!)
Friday the 13th The Series Season 1 - 36.90 - 34.86 - increase 2.04
Route 66 2nd Season - 32.16 - 34.99 - (decrease 2.83)

For the record, 21 other titles on my wishlist had no price change.

Did notice that LOTS of manga have had significant price drops that are already in effect --- look for the "Price Bite" symbol.

Of my ~80 items on my wishlist, between 10/3/08 and tonight (11/5/08) I am looking at a net decrease of $60.74.
The highest increase was Doctor Who - Season 3 with an increase of $8.87 (I'm assuming there was a sale on these sets in October.)

The largest decrease was Lost: Season 4 Blu-Ray of -$16.91, but I know everyone lowered the price of that, so the next largest decrease was -$8.93 for the Firefly Blu-Ray set.

In total, 33 titles went down in price, 17 went up, and 22 stayed the same.

I'll capture the prices tomorrow too. I know if you look at the thread last year there was nothing that pointed to any general increase of prices of titles, and I have never seen anything that points to anything other than general fluctuations, sales ending, or price matching competitors ending.

Since they bumped it to 25% this year, I will be interested to see any change in trends.

This will be first time participating in these big DD sales.

I went ahead and typed up my want list with the prices reflected (as of last night). So we'll see how they hold up when the sale goes live.

I'm excited to get half of my want list knocked out in one day though