Studios: Sales vs Non-Sales

[Gold Ranger]

I'm kind of curious.
When Titles go on sale why not just leave them at the price indefinitely?

People usually wait for sales before they purchase some Titles.
So, once a Movie hits a certain price, people will buy it.
If they don't get the chance, for whatever reason to get it at that price, those people, more likely than not, will wait for it to drop back down to that price.

The Studio will never see that money unless it's at that sale. And I'm sure that retailers would much rather have the items not on the shelf than also not making a sale.

Studios would also sell more of those Titles year round at the lower price point, than they would at the higher price.

To me, it seems that everyone would benefit.

[Andrew-Kenneth]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

I'm kind of curious.
When Titles go on sale why not just leave them at the price indefinitely?
(...)

My guess is that people need an incentive to buy something.

The fact that a sale will end at a certain date will prompt people to buy an item before the sale ends.

If sales never would end people would postpone some purchases indefinitely. (resulting in fewer items sold)

Issuing a limited edition is another way of raising interest in an item and of prompting people to buy now rather than later. (or never...)

[Midnight Rambler]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

I'm kind of curious.
When Titles go on sale why not just leave them at the price indefinitely?

People usually wait for sales before they purchase some Titles.
So, once a Movie hits a certain price, people will buy it.
If they don't get the chance, for whatever reason to get it at that price, those people, more likely than not, will wait for it to drop back down to that price.

The Studio will never see that money unless it's at that sale. And I'm sure that retailers would much rather have the items not on the shelf than also not making a sale.

Studios would also sell more of those Titles year round at the lower price point, than they would at the higher price.

To me, it seems that everyone would benefit.

The studios have nothing to do with retail sales, and there is no impact on them whether a title sells for MSRP or a "sale price".

Because the studios "sell" their movies directly to middlemen such as distributors, etc., who in turn supply the movies to Amazon, BB, etc. By the time a title appears at retail the studio has long ago already been "paid" for it.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Midnight Rambler

The studios have nothing to do with retail sales, and there is no impact on them whether a title sells for MSRP or a "sale price".

Because the studios "sell" their movies directly to middlemen such as distributors, etc., who in turn supply the movies to Amazon, BB, etc. By the time a title appears at retail the studio has long ago already been "paid" for it.

Most Black Friday deals on movies and TV shows are simply disguised studio clearance sales. And when the almost routine price drop occurs, it is because the studio lowered there own sale price to the distributors, or, gave them a price break in lieu of having unsold stock returned to them.

It's a myth that the retailers completely control street pricing. The MSRP is there to give the illusion of a good deal, and when it goes down, it's often not even corrected in the retailer price page. But after the first few months, there's little to no correlation between MSRP and actual street prices. There is however a strong correlation between what the street price is and what the studios are charging the retailers.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

I'm kind of curious.
When Titles go on sale why not just leave them at the price indefinitely?

People usually wait for sales before they purchase some Titles.
So, once a Movie hits a certain price, people will buy it.
If they don't get the chance, for whatever reason to get it at that price, those people, more likely than not, will wait for it to drop back down to that price.

The Studio will never see that money unless it's at that sale. And I'm sure that retailers would much rather have the items not on the shelf than also not making a sale.

Studios would also sell more of those Titles year round at the lower price point, than they would at the higher price.

To me, it seems that everyone would benefit.

It doesn't work that way. New Releases sell well during their first week. After that, everyone moves on to the next batch of New Releases.

Indeed, Target is now in the habit of having better Week Two prices for some titles. That way, they make money during Release Week and pick up a few stragglers during Week Two.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=248888