Does anyone else feel like preordering or release day purchases are a waste of money?

[Shallow_]

If no one bought movies at retail prices, movie studios would just stop releasing films..

And if the retail price for Blurays was $8-10, the same ppl would just wait until they dropped to $4..

[s2mikey]

Its a waste. I used to preorder to make sure I got a copy or whatever but then I noticed that even with supposedly critical releases like Star Wars or LOTR that there were trillions of copies just sitting on store shelves and at Amazon. Whats the big hurry?

Now, if there is special release-day pricing then thats one thing. But, otherwise... absolutely pointless. Plus, like anything else the prices always come down. Im still waiting out LOTR Extended editions and they are like $50 bucks now. Better than what they cost on release day!

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by Shallow_

If no one bought movies at retail prices, movie studios would just stop releasing films..

And if the retail price for Blurays was $8-10, the same ppl would just wait until they dropped to $4..

Demanding a 10% coupon and crying that studios are so cheap for not offering one

[InMyTree]

In certain circumstances its not a waste at all.

Criterion titles typically are very cheap the first day or so they are posted on amazon...usually a couple of days after they are anounced.

examples:

Amazon.ca

Pre-ordered Traffic & Godzilla on Oct 19th for $28.49 each. Currently listed at $41.24 each.

Pre-ordered 12 Angry Men & Rushmore on Aug 20th for $27.49 each. Currently listed at $41.24 each.

Amazon.com

Pre-ordered Anatomy of a Murder on Nov 16th for $16.99. Currently listed at $27.99.

[Ronin48]

Originally Posted by InMyTree

In certain circumstances its not a waste at all.

Criterion titles typically are very cheap the first day or so they are posted on amazon...usually a couple of days after they are anounced.

examples:

Amazon.ca

Pre-ordered Traffic & Godzilla on Oct 19th for $28.49 each. Currently listed at $41.24 each.

Pre-ordered 12 Angry Men & Rushmore on Aug 20th for $27.49 each. Currently listed at $41.24 each.

Amazon.com

Pre-ordered Anatomy of a Murder on Nov 16th for $16.99. Currently listed at $27.99.

.... and in about 5 more months you'll be able to get those titles for about $10 at the B&N 50% off sale (with the various coupons and member card).

With all the screaming deals posted in this forum on an almost daily basis, I have saved literally thousands of dollars by not buying on release day. To answer the OPs question, of course it is a waste of money! The old saying is "patience is a virtue", and in this case patience saves you money.

On the other hand if you have that much disposable income (and I certainly don't) that you don't care (and you have no patience), then for you the cost probably doesn't matter. But it's still a waste in terms of pure dollars......

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by Ronin48

.... and in about 5 more months you'll be able to get those titles for about $10 at the B&N 50% off sale (with the various coupons and member card).

With all the screaming deals posted in this forum on an almost daily basis, I have saved literally thousands of dollars by not buying on release day. To answer the OPs question, of course it is a waste of money! The old saying is "patience is a virtue", and in this case patience saves you money.

On the other hand if you have that much disposable income (and I certainly don't) that you don't care (and you have no patience), then for you the cost probably doesn't matter. But it's still a waste in terms of pure dollars......

Right, it's cheaper to buy a B&N membership to get the coupons, and take a trip to the States, where you may or maynot be able to get Criterions for 10 dollars, rather than preorder something for 16 to 28 bucks, before it jumps up over 40. Makes perfect sense.

Not everyone has the option of buying stuff "cheap." It's so nice of you to call people who pay more for things frivolous and wasteful with their cash. I think it's a rather ignorant statement to make.

Sometimes I wonder if people on this forum buy films because they enjoy them, or are only buying them because they can get them cheap or because of the "special" packaging they come in. Everyone has different values though.

[ozzsoad]

If I want a movie bad enough, I'll go out and buy it on release. $20-$25 doesn't seem that unreasonable to me. There are some movies I don't mind waiting for, $15 is usually a good price point for me.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

Right, it's cheaper to buy a B&N membership to get the coupons, and take a trip to the States, where you may or maynot be able to get Criterions for 10 dollars, rather than preorder something for 16 to 28 bucks, before it jumps up over 40. Makes perfect sense.

Not everyone has the option of buying stuff "cheap." It's so nice of you to call people who pay more for things frivolous and wasteful with their cash. I think it's a rather ignorant statement to make.

Sometimes I wonder if people on this forum buy films because they enjoy them, or are only buying them because they can get them cheap or because of the "special" packaging they come in. Everyone has different values though.

It's a contest, whoever as the most at the end wins! The trouble is, at the end you have a huge collection of movies that you have to replace into a new format but it's ok you can get them cheap with a 10% coupon

[MykeHavoc]

Not holding out for deals just seems foolish. But if you've got the money to burn, have at it. The only thing I pre-order or get release day are the DC animated movies. I want to support them and be sure that they make enough to continue to make more. But for the most part, I'll wait for a great sale price or an online coupon promotion to apply to it. I buy used as well, which is an easy way to save cash.
The alternate is when there's a catalog release that is being sold for a decent price off the bat. I'm happy to buy release day or pre-order under those circumstances. But new releases? Naw, that's just silly.

[dib2]

I used to get them on day 1. But now I have a pile of movies that I still have to watch yet so I wait. I won't get Rise of The Planet of Apes until it is less than $20 since i have about 15 movies I have to watch and I can always watch older movies and wait until the price goes down.

I now buy movies based on time that I have to watch them and the price. I usually have other things to do on the weekend. And a chronic illness that usually makes very difficult to enjoy a movie at times. Even listening to music is hard. So those things help me save money.

I always that it was strange how some people would not do a 'blind buy' What is the point in buying it if you already saw it. I got Incidious after renting it because it was $15 or less. Still cost me $18 so I only saved $2.

[MykeHavoc]

Originally Posted by dib2

I used to get them on day 1. But now I have a pile of movies that I still have to watch yet so I wait. I won't get Rise of The Planet of Apes until it is less than $20 since i have about 15 movies I have to watch and I can always watch older movies and wait until the price goes down.

I now buy movies based on time that I have to watch them and the price. I usually have other things to do on the weekend. And a chronic illness that usually makes very difficult to enjoy a movie at times. Even listening to music is hard. So those things help me save money.

I always that it was strange how some people would not do a 'blind buy' What is the point in buying it if you already saw it. I got Incidious after renting it because it was $15 or less. Still cost me $18 so I only saved $2.

I set my bar even lower at around 10 bucks. You'd be surprised how quickly one can find deals like that.
I got Thor a few weeks back used for that price. Also, obviously Black Friday had a myriad of steals, like X-Men: First Class and such.
You got IBS? That's what I have. Sucks the life outta you.

[InMyTree]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

Right, it's cheaper to buy a B&N membership to get the coupons, and take a trip to the States, where you may or maynot be able to get Criterions for 10 dollars, rather than preorder something for 16 to 28 bucks, before it jumps up over 40. Makes perfect sense.

Not everyone has the option of buying stuff "cheap." It's so nice of you to call people who pay more for things frivolous and wasteful with their cash. I think it's a rather ignorant statement to make.

Sometimes I wonder if people on this forum buy films because they enjoy them, or are only buying them because they can get them cheap or because of the "special" packaging they come in. Everyone has different values though.

Couldn't have said it better myself :-)

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by dib2

I always that it was strange how some people would not do a 'blind buy' What is the point in buying it if you already saw it. I got Incidious after renting it because it was $15 or less. Still cost me $18 so I only saved $2.

Why would I purchase something, even cheap at discount that there is a chance I may never wish to see again?

I would rather pay $30 for a movie I will enjoy over and over again then $5 for something I hate and is just sitting on my shelf collecting dust.

[jacobsever]

Movies that I really enjoy or really want to watch, I'll pre-order/buy day 1. Doesn't matter if it's $30. There are a lot of limited theatrical release films that I extremely want to see, but my town gets none of them. So when Carnage, The Skin I Live In, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Shame, A Dangerous Method, etc come to blu ray, I will purchase day 1. Why? Because I will have been wanting to see them for months on end, and not having the option of seeing them in the theater, I get impatient.

Then if there are films like Drive, Beginners, and Harry Potter that I saw and loved, I will purchase on day 1. Why? Because I love having stuff I like in my possession. I like to re watch them, and I like knowing they are part of my collection and on my shelves.

Then if there are films like Meek's Cutoff, Contagion, The Ides of March, or something that I am generally curious about, I will wait until it drops below $20 to purchase it.

Renting is never an option.

[dib2]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Why would I purchase something, even cheap at discount that there is a chance I may never wish to see again?

I would rather pay $30 for a movie I will enjoy over and over again then $5 for something I hate and is just sitting on my shelf collecting dust.

Yeah I know. But I Know myself well enough to be able to watch previews of movies and know if it is worth it.

[dib2]

Originally Posted by MykeHavoc

I set my bar even lower at around 10 bucks. You'd be surprised how quickly one can find deals like that.
I got Thor a few weeks back used for that price. Also, obviously Black Friday had a myriad of steals, like X-Men: First Class and such.
You got IBS? That's what I have. Sucks the life outta you.

My best Black Friday deal was the Sony 7000ES blu-ray mega changer for about $710. Even the store where I got my equipment couldn't match that but I figure it helps make up for all the times I got screwed on amazon because I couldn't wait a month for a blu-ray's price to come down. I think I paild full price for Thor. Pressure from my wife. She get just as excited about movies, sometime more than I do.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by dib2

Yeah I know. But I Know myself well enough to be able to watch previews of movies and know if it is worth it.

That is good but your original post was

I always find it was strange how some people would not do a blind buy

Nothing strange at all, what work's for you does not work for other people. I know I would never, never judge a movie from the trailer. Example, Inception. If I went with the trailers, I would have bought this day one at full price. Instead I waited and saw it on The Movie Network. Good call on my part since I now call is Sleepception I find trailers over hyped the real quality of certain movies. I prefer going with my no blind buy policy

[Flex Mentallo]

I preorder based on the movie. For example, I have The Rocketeer and Drive preordered. For most others, I'm content to wait it out for the price to drop. I also have Netflix disc and streaming membership along with the nearly hundreds of Redbox's that populate my general area so it's not as though I don't have anything to watch.

I gotta admit, for those times that I preordered because I just had to have it and then the price drops a month or so later, I do feel like the biggest chump. It's one thing for the price to change several months to a year later but in many cases these things change in a matter of weeks. Didn't Harry Potter Deathly Hollows 2 come out about 2 months ago? Now it's $14.99 on Amazon. I know I'd feel like a chump if I bought that at full price.

[Uncharted]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

The only time I ever buy titles the week of release are if they have some sort of coupon bringing it down to $15 or under (like most Disney titles). Everything else will eventually sell for $10 or less on Amazon or at Best Buy, so buying them now for $20 or more is a chump move. I had to wait a year until I could get Inception for $7.99, and I'm glad.

So you waited a year to save 10 bucks? I don't think its a chump move if you really like a movie and buy it on release day. For some people that year long wait isn't worth the savings.

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

It's a contest, whoever as the most at the end wins! The trouble is, at the end you have a huge collection of movies that you have to replace into a new format but it's ok you can get them cheap with a 10% coupon

It must be a contest. No freegin way anyone likes and/or will watch 600 or 700 films. There isnt enough time in the day, even if you are unemployed and have zero responsibilities. I believe they are collectors, much like matchbox cars or baseball cards.

Thats fine...but I never understood why you would blind buy movies or buy every new release no matter what. Oh well.