Pricing strategy for BR movies(2007 to Present)

[Blu Holer]

Having just been shocked to see FF4 Silver Surfer going for $35 at Bestbuy, I'm wondering: Is there some logic behind the way BR movies are priced? Why are some priced in the $20-24.00 range and others in the $35.00 range?

Is it because of the type of BR disk or is it by Studio or is it completely arbitrary?

[rjg]

I never go to bestbuy anymore, or circuitcity, frys always as the lowest prices, that or amazon. I hate bestbuy cause they dont even have the movies sometimes.

[SS316SRV]

Originally Posted by rjg

I never go to bestbuy anymore, or circuitcity, frys always as the lowest prices, that or amazon. I hate bestbuy cause they dont even have the movies sometimes.

I love Best Buy, I get a discount there... I never over pay.

[WickyWoo]

New releases more often than not are $39.99

catalog titles are typically $5 less

BB typically cuts $5 off of the SRP

Prices will come down as sales volumes go up, but the average title needs to be doing at least twice what it's doing now to even begin that process

[GregBlu5]

Being a newbee to Blu-ray, it initially seemed to me that older (ie vintage) films could be had on amazon consistently for $19.99, or less. But new films (such as FF2) seem to commandeer the $27.95 price range consistently.

(Wasn't 300 the first to come in at $23.95, and now we're seeing Ratatouille and Cars at the same price [which, I believe] will boost sales tremendously? However, you've got Close Encounters really going well over the $30 limit on amazon, and even a relatively "older" film such as Day After Tomorrow at $27.95.)

So, I really think the movie companies (and amazon) try for what they believe they can get as a sort of gamble. When a title doesn't sell, it drops in price after a time. But then I've also seen titles such as Casino Royale drop to $21.95 and then go back up to $24.95 on amazon. In fact, I've seen movies on amazon really go up and down in price without my being able to discern any kind of pattern. (2001 is now $18.95, and even Smallville dropped to $52.95 after I bought at $55.95--it's like the stock market.)

I would not be surprised if nobody in the industry *really knows* what sort of pricing they can get (or get away with) regarding Hi-Def movies, so they're still seeing what the market will bear, for now.

-Greg

[sj001]

I've always felt Best Buy was overpriced... you pay $8 more for Fox titles, $5 more for Warner Brothers or Sony, and I couldn't believe Planet Earth is actually selling for $100 there.

[Blu Holer]

Wow. Thanks for all the info. What I see generally is that stuff like Apocalypto, a fairly new title will go for $19.00 but something like 'League of Extraordinary Gentleman' or 'Speed' will go for $35.00, even though they are the older titles. It seems to be the exact opposite of regular SD titles, where they seem to cost more when they first come out and then drop in price fairly quickly.

As far as best deals, so far, I find Fry's to be the best retail outlet. They have these occasional $13.99 sales that come out of nowhere and are completely arbitrary from store to store. Ebay seems to be very good also.

Anyway, thanks again for the info. This is a very informative forum!

[jw]

Ok before you kill me for necro bumping a long dead thread, I wanted to point out to alot of the newer members to the format that complain about the current $25.00 price point, should relish in the new price friendly promotions Amazon and Wal-mart are running with sub 20.00 titles. Even Catalog titles are getting 9-12.00 new release pricing.

It shows, as the format grows the price decreases. We are now getting blu-rays, especially from Wal-Mart dead equal to its 2 Disc counterpart on DVD. Its even better when the BD has a DVD and its cheaper(Snow White)

Only 2 years and its grown drastically as far as pricing and selection, lets hop in another 2 years we can have that $5.00 Blu-ray Dump Bin that Dr Blu Neo keeps fantasizing about

[Jeff Kleist]

Good idea about the bump jwbdud, I will say though that the days of the $5 dump bin are over. They devalued DVD way too much, and are unlikely to reappear even when the economy picks up again.

[jw]

My wal-mart no longer has a dump bin, they took and built a nice bookcase type shelf with 4 sides....Looks pretty snazzy and the ladies in electronics have them in order. Its very easy to glance over

I hate to see a dump bin for BD but unsold titles drive the price down and they have to go somewhere.(Look what that mishap at Big Lots did to the WB TV on DVD library pricing)

[Blu Titan]

I remember paying close to $30 for new releases for a long time. During late 2006 / 2007 the Fox catalog titles were selling in Amazon for $27.99. Yes, the current prices are great...I am not complaining, but finding great deal is always . I am not interested in those dump bins. I much rather pay a reasonable price for a quality release. Cramping two movies in one disc and selling them for cheap is not my idea of what Blu-ray should be.