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Originally Posted by TripleHBK
I understand what you're saying but that is essentially what Kwyjibo has done. The problem with officially saying things are going out of print is that unless it's a licensing issue where after 11:59pm on XX/XX/XX they will no longer be allowed to sell said title (like what happened to Scorpion Releasing a few years back) by announcing that a title is going out of print all it does is speed up the sell out thanks scalpers.
Think of it this way... If Shout Factory has been sitting on 800 units of a title for the last 6 months, and has already decided that they are not going to re-press said title, then technically that title has been out of print since the last pressing. Announcing it is out of print will cause a panic, orders will spike, and then the title will sell out that much sooner thanks to folks not wanting to miss out and scalpers looking to buy up stock so that they can charge a premium shortly thereafter. In this example announcing a title is out of print actually hurts the regular consumer thanks to the influx of folks buying when they likely wouldn't have.
Now if it's a licensing issue and old stock will have to be destroyed after a certain date then announcing early may actually have the benefit of helping Shout as it will allow them to move product that they otherwise will have to destroy. Since most of the issues we're facing now have to do with a bit of both column a and column b, it means that anytime anything is said regarding a title going out of print, it's going to cause a panic and titles are going to sell quick.
In my mind the best case scenario for folks not looking to scalp is for nothing to be said at all, but for Shout to work out a deal with Hamilton books or another retailer in advance to sell off all their remaining stock on the final day of the license for these titles at a discounted price so that Shout makes the most money they can without leaving money on the table and having to destroy their own product, while we as fans get the chance to purchase titles at a slightly discounted rate until whatever remained is all gone (like how Don't Answer the phone from Scorpion is still available from hamilton books despite the license having expired years ago). In this fashion, the mere inclusion of titles at Hamilton or other retailers would signal that something is likely up for said title and provide strong evidence that something is being discontinued without the need to actually say so.
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Most licensing deals have a period for the Bluray/DVD company to sell of the left over stock if there is any. I dont have any of the contracts for my films handy, so I forgot the name for this. The end of a deal generally doesnt mean that it's the last day a company can sell off old stock. They get a bit of leeway, so they aren't stuck with a huge pile of discs.