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

[dib2]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

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

Yeah Inception did suck. I wish I didn't get that movie either. Everything with Leonardo seems to be a bad choice to buy before at least watching it/renting it one time. Even Shutter Island was just a renter. But still I do pretty good most of the time.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by dib2

Yeah Inception did suck. I wish I didn't get that movie either. Everything with Leonardo seems to be a bad choice to buy before at least watching it/renting it one time. Even Shutter Island was just a renter. But still I do pretty good most of the time.

Huh? Shutter Island is one of Scorcese's best and Inception I felt was one of the best sci-fi films in the last few years.

[P@t_Mtl]

Can't comment on Shutter Island, yet to see it. Everytime I try to DVR the darn thing, there is always something else going on another channel preventing me from doing it

Inception is clever and seem so deep but it suffer from the typical Nolan little tricks. I know I will be flamed and cooked for what I am about to say because Nolan as a god like status on this forum but I am not one of his worshiper. He is not a bad director but he is not either the GREAT director everyone make's him out to be. I have not been that crazy about The Dark Knight, kept going after it should have ended, trying to be to clever and leaving major plot holes all over, trying to ground Batman in reality when there is no point in doing something like that. Inception really slowly put me to sleep, there just was nothing there at all no matter how hard they tried to make it seem like there was. I am very glad I never followed all the hype for that movie and went for a blind buy. I kept my cool and followed my own rules and lived to be happy about it

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Can't comment on Shutter Island, yet to see it. Everytime I try to DVR the darn thing, there is always something else going on another channel preventing me from doing it

Inception is clever and seem so deep but it suffer from the typical Nolan little tricks. I know I will be flamed and cooked for what I am about to say because Nolan as a god like status on this forum but I am not one of his worshiper. He is not a bad director but he is not either the GREAT director everyone make's him out to be. I have not been that crazy about The Dark Knight, kept going after it should have ended, trying to be to clever and leaving major plot holes all over, trying to ground Batman in reality when there is no point in doing something like that. Inception really slowly put me to sleep, there just was nothing there at all no matter how hard they tried to make it seem like there was. I am very glad I never followed all the hype for that movie and went for a blind buy. I kept my cool and followed my own rules and lived to be happy about it

I totally agree with you. Overall I felt that Inception was a better made film, but the action sequences in The Dark Knight were slightly better. You're certainly right about The Dark Knight being too long as well. It definitely should have ended at around the 2 hour mark and instead just keeps going making it feel like the last hour of The Return of the King.

[danman227460]

It all depends on the movie. Some catalog titles tend to drop faster than new releases so I hold off on those as much as I can. Disney titles I have to get day one or within a week because after that window, they go up in price and are generally impossible to find at a better deal. I also tend to avoid major purchases around holiday season as the sales are yet to come and there could always be better prices.

So it all depends on the situation I am presented with and making a choice. It doesn't have to be a waste of money if you plan smart.

[Cinemave]

I pretty much learned not to blind-buy from the DVD collecting years, unless it's a movie I missed in the theatre, that had good ratings. For instance, I bought Thor as a blind buy.

I missed Cowboys and Aliens at the theatre (which seems like a good thing) and had it got decent ratings I would have bought it. Given its reception, it's now firmly in the rental category for me.

[SoundNexx]

Pre-ordering has value for those that don't care about prices and prefer having new releases immediately.

I think it actually comes down to how much patience and money a person has. Some people could careless about waiting for blu-ray deals to save a few bucks. They want it now and paying full price for it is not an issue for them. Eventually, everything goes on sale, and if you are willing to wait for that day there are benefits for doing so...

[GueroX4]

depends really. walmart and target usually have movies cheaper on the release date and go up right after for awhile. and being a sucker for slip covers and combos i usually dont mind buying and know i dont have to worry about an increase or finding that edition later if its a title i really want

[raygendreau]

I have had good luck preordering through Amazon. Many of my purchases have hit a low point between the preorder and ship date that I probably would have missed without the preorder. If a better price can be found elsewhere prior to the ship date, it is easy to cancel.

[boxterduke]

I made the decision somewhat a few months ago to not buy anything on release day.
They do sales on most things a few months or even weeks after release and it is a significant drop in price.
One of the reasons I was buying on release day is because of slipcovers and steelbooks however I'm gonna start valuing my money more.

We'll see how long this will last lol

[MacEachaidh]

There's a bit of a tug of war for me.

As others have said, I too learnt from the DVD era that blind buys almost always end in disappointment and wasted money (yeah, maybe I just have really bad gut instincts - heck knows I'll never get rich gambling! - but it still adds up to a futile exercise for me). So I don't blind buy.

But early in the release? I've also learnt there are usually sigificant price drops if you wait a bit ... but the problem with that is that if you wait too long, the limited-release swanky packaging usually sells out and is replaced with nasty blue plastic. (Yep, I like cardboard much more than plastic!)

So I figure: if you want to have your choice, you have to by early(ish) ... and it costs.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by Uncharted

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.

You're right. Saving $10 bucks? Who cares.

Multiply that times 100, or 500, or 1000. Since many of us will inevitably and ultimately have collections that large anyway (and might already have experienced this with DVD/CD/VHS etc collections)... it makes sense to be a little frugal and at the very least pay attention to prices we are paying for the films we want.

I don't blame anyone that buys certain titles on day 1. I've certainly done that a few times myself, usually I can wait. However the way I read this thread the implied question was whether it was a "waste of money" to ALWAYS pre-order new releases. I don't think it can be disputed, that yes if you pre-order constantly then you are wasting money. Now some people might not care that they are wasting money, and that is up to them, but the financial fact is that they are leaving money on the table by not paying attention to their finances. It's just a matter of whether they can get away with that or not, or whether they care. For me I'd rather put in a little extra effort to track prices, and end up with more disposable income left over at the end. Seems pretty hard to fault that logic when there are websites that basically do the price tracking for you!

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by s2mikey

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.

If people adopted early to blu-ray, they could easily have 600 or 700 or even over 1000 and have watched them all. I have a feeling you are at least partially right, that SOME people with massive collections don't even watch them. However you can't apply these things universally - certainly for those early adopters they could have "paced themselves" and gotten to 1000 fairly easily while watching every single film in their collection.

I probably had close to 1000 DVD's when my "collection" reached it's peak. Probably took me 6 or 7 years to get there and I watched them all, many of them I watched a number of times on DVD. I could see myself maybe getting close to that number on blu-rays without really even having any particular intention to do so, just at a reasonable pace of buying over a number of years. Of course having learned my lesson from DVD's, I'm probably more likely to occasionally pare back my blu-ray collection and recoup some cash where i can - but I can already see some blu-ray's have such limited resale value that it's hardly worth the time to resell even if I made an effort to.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

You're right. Saving $10 bucks? Who cares.

Multiply that times 100, or 500, or 1000. Since many of us will inevitably and ultimately have collections that large anyway (and might already have experienced this with DVD/CD/VHS etc collections)... it makes sense to be a little frugal and at the very least pay attention to prices we are paying for the films we want.

I don't blame anyone that buys certain titles on day 1. I've certainly done that a few times myself, usually I can wait. However the way I read this thread the implied question was whether it was a "waste of money" to ALWAYS pre-order new releases. I don't think it can be disputed, that yes if you pre-order constantly then you are wasting money. Now some people might not care that they are wasting money, and that is up to them, but the financial fact is that they are leaving money on the table by not paying attention to their finances. It's just a matter of whether they can get away with that or not, or whether they care. For me I'd rather put in a little extra effort to track prices, and end up with more disposable income left over at the end. Seems pretty hard to fault that logic when there are websites that basically do the price tracking for you!

There's always the chance that those titles won't go lower and/or will go up from the pre-order. I think what I, and some of the other posters are getting at, is that not everyone can get films down to the 10-15 dollar range, due to geographical limitations, and there's such a thing as being too obsessive about price, that you lose sight of why you want the film in the first place. A lot of people have a difference concept of value as well.

I take umbrage at the comments people make on here that paying more than their personal limits means that the person who pays more is an idiot, wastes their money, and obviously doesn't care about the price. I think a lot of people do care about price, and if they're anything like me, will put aside the money to buy something, including pre-orders (if it's a movie I really like and find out about it before the window closes on the cheap price), rather than just buy stuff on a whim. If I don't have the money to buy something, I simply don't buy it, no matter how much I want it. I may pay more for it later, or I may pay less once I get the money to buy it.

[dib2]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Huh? Shutter Island is one of Scorcese's best and Inception I felt was one of the best sci-fi films in the last few years.

Shutter Island was a renter. Once you know the end it ruins the movie. Not saying it's bad just saying it was a renter.

[Caesu]

I usually purchase on release because I budget for it. Aside that, you can get decent discounts and promotions (limited steelbooks, collectables) on release which may not be available later on.

If you have seen the movie already in the theater, then waiting if you dont care for collectables or limited edition promotions might be an option.

Most movies I dont catch in theater anyways, so Day 1 is actually a cost saving compared to a movie goer (compare the cost of a ticket for 2 here, I dont go alone lol to a blu ray release).

For those who wait, you can make huge savings, at least 50% off but months and months later really. Do I want to wait another 6 months to watch a movie to save 10-15 dollars? Is that 2-2.5 a month (over a 6 month period) savings really worth it?

You make the call. I made it for myself, for movies I want. It's Day 1.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

There's always the chance that those titles won't go lower and/or will go up from the pre-order. I think what I, and some of the other posters are getting at, is that not everyone can get films down to the 10-15 dollar range, due to geographical limitations, and there's such a thing as being too obsessive about price, that you lose sight of why you want the film in the first place. A lot of people have a difference concept of value as well.

I take umbrage at the comments people make on here that paying more than their personal limits means that the person who pays more is an idiot, wastes their money, and obviously doesn't care about the price. I think a lot of people do care about price, and if they're anything like me, will put aside the money to buy something, including pre-orders (if it's a movie I really like and find out about it before the window closes on the cheap price), rather than just buy stuff on a whim. If I don't have the money to buy something, I simply don't buy it, no matter how much I want it. I may pay more for it later, or I may pay less once I get the money to buy it.

Seems like the vast, vast majority of prices go down. Sometimes amazingly quickly. I wouldn't say i obsess over price, although I don't mind discovering a fun film that I might not have picked up if not cheaply.

God bless the USA. Although UK prices are pretty cheap too. Don't know what's wrong with Canada, sorry.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

Seems like the vast, vast majority of prices go down. Sometimes amazingly quickly. I wouldn't say i obsess over price, although I don't mind discovering a fun film that I might not have picked up if not cheaply.

God bless the USA. Although UK prices are pretty cheap too. Don't know what's wrong with Canada, sorry.

I do 90% of my shopping online from Amazon.com and B&N anyways, and the prices there seem to go up and down like a yo-yo. A lot of the films I'm interested in do not drop in price that often, because they're Criterions or Disney. I'm not against trying to get a deal on a film (I buy a lot of my Criterions during the sale, but some are more interesting to me than others and thus get pre-ordered or ordered at full price), but seriously, if you spend your whole time watching prices and waiting for a deal, you could miss out on getting the film altogether, and don't get much enjoyment out of it.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

You're right. Saving $10 bucks? Who cares.

Multiply that times 100, or 500, or 1000. Since many of us will inevitably and ultimately have collections that large anyway (and might already have experienced this with DVD/CD/VHS etc collections)... it makes sense to be a little frugal and at the very least pay attention to prices we are paying for the films we want.

I don't blame anyone that buys certain titles on day 1. I've certainly done that a few times myself, usually I can wait. However the way I read this thread the implied question was whether it was a "waste of money" to ALWAYS pre-order new releases. I don't think it can be disputed, that yes if you pre-order constantly then you are wasting money. Now some people might not care that they are wasting money, and that is up to them, but the financial fact is that they are leaving money on the table by not paying attention to their finances. It's just a matter of whether they can get away with that or not, or whether they care. For me I'd rather put in a little extra effort to track prices, and end up with more disposable income left over at the end. Seems pretty hard to fault that logic when there are websites that basically do the price tracking for you!

Problem is, EVERYTHING gets cheaper if you wait long enough. Except things like cars, computers etc just become outdated, and the prices drip when a new version is released. So really, why buy anything at all? Everything, in effect, is a waste of money. People just choose to waste it on different things.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by retablo

Problem is, EVERYTHING gets cheaper if you wait long enough. Except things like cars, computers etc just become outdated, and the prices drip when a new version is released. So really, why buy anything at all? Everything, in effect, is a waste of money. People just choose to waste it on different things.

This might be shocking, but I shop for best deals on those other things as well. Why wouldn't I?

That doesn't mean I have to avoid buying anything, and actually thanks to savings I'm probably buying MORE. Or at least probably buying more for the same amount than I would subconsciously budget to myself for entertainment otherwise.

The way i see it the internet, and it's price trackers/deal forums have made it so easy that there is no excuse to not look for deals before impulse buying. I'm sure thanks to certain forums, including the one on here, I've saved $hundreds (if not $thousands) on blu-rays and DVD's alone, and probably $10,000's of thousands overall (not just on blu-rays) vs. if I had just ignorantly strolled into a Best Buy and greedily scooped up everything I "wanted" - while paying full MSRP along the way.