Are MSRP B&M Places Hurting Blu? - Blu-ray Forum

Another_Dude · 05-03-2009, 03:45 AM

Other than us internet-savvy folks, I think there might be a good portion of the population that is getting their BD movie pricing info by what they see in Barnes & Noble, Borders, Walmart, and Best Buy.

Although I would never consider purchasing a $29-$35 disc I keep hearing about them when people are telling me why they aren't interested in going Blu, and I see these titles out in stores. For every time that I explain to someone that I get my movies for $16-$21 on average by knowing where to shop, there are two folks that have been scared off by non-sale store prices.

Clearly there's nothing any of us can do about it, but do you think the full price B&M places are holding back the format, or at least slowing it down, from mass acceptance?

Clark Kent · 05-05-2009, 04:49 PM

I would say in particular that Best Buy's standard pricing on Blu-ray has hurt the growth and perception of the format among those who do not perform any price comparisons. Their uniformly high pricing on almost all selections has definitely affected the popular perception that Blu-rays are very expensive. When many dvds can be had for under $5, the less informed see $30 as overpriced.

SleeperAgent · 05-06-2009, 02:17 AM

In short, yes, yes they are. I went to Wal-Mart today to get my mom some blu's for the player I got her for christmas. They wanted 30+tax for Twilight and Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

I asked the clerk why they were so high and he said "everyone has the same price". I told him I could get those and another blu from Amazon for the same price with free shipping. He walked away.....

thunderclap · 05-06-2009, 02:11 PM

Sony is hurting the format, not the box stores. Once the prices of the players and discs drop the prices will drop in stores. And that will only happen once Sony changes the licensing fees for manufacturing. (I think they did this already, but it won't kick in until this summer.)

dvdirv · 05-07-2009, 04:10 PM

I have noticed a price creep even with my vendor, Amazon. I am tired of paying $25-$30 for new release titles that used to be $20-$25 on street date.

My solution is to cancel my pre-order and buy from eBay or an Amazon marketplace seller with lower prices.

jw · 05-07-2009, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvdirv

I have noticed a price creep even with my vendor, Amazon. I am tired of paying $25-$30 for new release titles that used to be $20-$25 on street date.

My solution is to cancel my pre-order and buy from eBay or an Amazon marketplace seller with lower prices.

not sure what world you are living in but the prices have dropped or are the same as past pricing on Amazon on new releases. Catalog new releases are extremely fair as well vs in store.
If you are using Amazon as a "vendor" as you put it, that may be part of the issue. They are not a wholesaler, nor should their prices be compared to that

howarmat · 05-07-2009, 11:20 PM

Actually walmart and even best buy isnt that bad, but Borders and B&N charge 30-40 a movie! Walmart is close to Amazon pricing for alot of movies online atleast. In store its a little more hit and miss. Best buy isnt horrible for some. Lately their opening day prices are not any worse than Amazon.

Johnny Vinyl · 05-07-2009, 11:34 PM

I'm fortunate in that I live in a very competitive large market (Toronto, ON) and there are always deals to be had somewhere. One just has to watch the sales or make note mentally of pricing when they're out and about. I've never ever paid top dollar for any BD release.

I personally think the biggest obstacle currently is hardware pricing. Player pricing needs to come down dramatically so the average family can actually afford the additonal expenditure. Once that market opens up for studios, they can produce larger BD runs at lower cost.

John

jcs913 · 05-08-2009, 12:11 AM

My 2 cents in this conversation is that BD's may still be $25-$35 in general at stores, but compare them with their DVD counterpart at $15-25 and the value of the BD should be more clear. Cars DVD is $20 at BB, and the BD version is $30. For a disc to have 5x the capacity, can we convert that into 5x the value? Possibly. Which means that the price of BD discs is a steal compared to the price of DVD's. So the conception of BD discs being 'overpriced and holding back the format' has holes in it.

dncpunke · 05-08-2009, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcs913

My 2 cents in this conversation is that BD's may still be $25-$35 in general at stores, but compare them with their DVD counterpart at $15-25 and the value of the BD should be more clear. Cars DVD is $20 at BB, and the BD version is $30. For a disc to have 5x the capacity, can we convert that into 5x the value? Possibly. Which means that the price of BD discs is a steal compared to the price of DVD's. So the conception of BD discs being 'overpriced and holding back the format' has holes in it.

Yes but for those "on the fence" they are thinking the movie Cars is the exact same movie on DVD or BD. They don't care about the amount of space on the disc.

When the BD's are $20 at BB and player prices drop to $200 (probably this holiday season), that is when the general public will begin to adopt.

Just think of what the prices will be online when they get that low at stores!

jcs913 · 05-08-2009, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dncpunke

Yes but for those "on the fence" they are thinking the movie Cars is the exact same movie on DVD or BD. They don't care about the amount of space on the disc.

When the BD's are $20 at BB and player prices drop to $200 (probably this holiday season), that is when the general public will begin to adopt.

Just think of what the prices will be online when they get that low at stores!

dnc, if they are 'on the fence' and at BB, then they should understand what a BD can give them, if they have an appropriate display to reap the benefits of BD. BB has enough displays and information about what blu-ray is in their stores to feed the customers knowledege base. Even my local WM and blockbuster has a blu-ray display. Ironically, as I have seen the comment about Sony earlier, their displays are Sony driven with a Sony display and blu-ray player. It looks to me that Sony is really the only company stepping on the B&M gaspedal. IMO it is the non-BB shopper that is hurting the blu-ray adoption. They do not have enough information, and or examples, of what BD looks like and how it can increase their movie watching experience, hence not buying into it yet.

Dr.Zoidberg · 05-12-2009, 03:22 AM

Yea, I agree, when I tell people I have a blu-ray player, they are like "I don't know if I would spend $25-$30 for a dvd" and I try to tell them that I spend about half that but all the b&m prices are the ones they see. Only reason I got a blu player was because it hit the $200 pricemark and that's what I was waiting on. I am so picky (read into that "cheap") about what dvd's I buy. I only have about 40 dvd's and 10 of them are tv shows. Only blu that I have double dipped from dvd is The Matrix, all the rest of mine I didn't own anyways.

05-03-2009, 03:45 AM	#1
Another_Dude Blu-ray Guru Member since:Dec 2008 Blu-ray collection:191 Blu-ray reviews:8 Timezone GMT: -6	Are MSRP B&M Places Hurting Blu? Other than us internet-savvy folks, I think there might be a good portion of the population that is getting their BD movie pricing info by what they see in Barnes & Noble, Borders, Walmart, and Best Buy. Although I would never consider purchasing a $29-$35 disc I keep hearing about them when people are telling me why they aren't interested in going Blu, and I see these titles out in stores. For every time that I explain to someone that I get my movies for $16-$21 on average by knowing where to shop, there are two folks that have been scared off by non-sale store prices. Clearly there's nothing any of us can do about it, but do you think the full price B&M places are holding back the format, or at least slowing it down, from mass acceptance?

05-07-2009, 04:10 PM	#5
dvdirv Expert Member Member since:Dec 2006 Location:Atlanta, GA Timezone GMT: -5	B&M Not Only Ones With High BD Prices I have noticed a price creep even with my vendor, Amazon. I am tired of paying $25-$30 for new release titles that used to be $20-$25 on street date. My solution is to cancel my pre-order and buy from eBay or an Amazon marketplace seller with lower prices.

Similar Threads
thread	Forum	Thread Starter	Replies	Last Post
Poor releases hurting Blu-ray	General Chat	CwlHez	6	02-10-2009 10:27 PM
Reviews hurting Blu-ray sales?	Blu-ray Technology and Future Technology	Chaka	6	02-07-2008 06:13 PM
What brand Blu-ray will have a MSRP under 499.99 first	Blu-ray Technology and Future Technology	bmr76	36	09-14-2007 12:17 PM

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

05-05-2009, 04:49 PM	#2
Clark Kent Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:Oct 2007 Location:Metropolis Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:184 Timezone GMT: -5	I would say in particular that Best Buy's standard pricing on Blu-ray has hurt the growth and perception of the format among those who do not perform any price comparisons. Their uniformly high pricing on almost all selections has definitely affected the popular perception that Blu-rays are very expensive. When many dvds can be had for under $5, the less informed see $30 as overpriced.

05-06-2009, 02:17 AM	#3
SleeperAgent Banned Member since:Nov 2008 Location:Plateau of Leng 4K collection:19 Blu-ray collection:22 Trading Score:289 Timezone GMT: -7	In short, yes, yes they are. I went to Wal-Mart today to get my mom some blu's for the player I got her for christmas. They wanted 30+tax for Twilight and Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I asked the clerk why they were so high and he said "everyone has the same price". I told him I could get those and another blu from Amazon for the same price with free shipping. He walked away.....

05-06-2009, 02:11 PM	#4
thunderclap Member Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Chicago, IL Timezone GMT: -6	Sony is hurting the format, not the box stores. Once the prices of the players and discs drop the prices will drop in stores. And that will only happen once Sony changes the licensing fees for manufacturing. (I think they did this already, but it won't kick in until this summer.)

05-07-2009, 11:20 PM	#7
howarmat Power Member Top contributor Member since:Mar 2007 Location:Noblesville, IN 4K collection:635 Blu-ray collection:4607 DVD collection:115 Digital collection:35 Trading Score:43 Timezone GMT: -5	Actually walmart and even best buy isnt that bad, but Borders and B&N charge 30-40 a movie! Walmart is close to Amazon pricing for alot of movies online atleast. In store its a little more hit and miss. Best buy isnt horrible for some. Lately their opening day prices are not any worse than Amazon.

05-07-2009, 11:34 PM	#8
Johnny Vinyl Moderator Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Jul 2007 Location:At the crossroad of Analogue Dr & 2CH Ave Home Theater Gallery:19 Blu-ray collection:205 DVD collection:7 Blu-ray reviews:3 Trading Score:8 Timezone GMT: -7	I'm fortunate in that I live in a very competitive large market (Toronto, ON) and there are always deals to be had somewhere. One just has to watch the sales or make note mentally of pricing when they're out and about. I've never ever paid top dollar for any BD release. I personally think the biggest obstacle currently is hardware pricing. Player pricing needs to come down dramatically so the average family can actually afford the additonal expenditure. Once that market opens up for studios, they can produce larger BD runs at lower cost. John

05-08-2009, 12:11 AM	#9
jcs913 Blu-ray Champion Member since:Apr 2007 Blu-ray reviews:3 Trading Score:577 Timezone GMT: -6	My 2 cents in this conversation is that BD's may still be $25-$35 in general at stores, but compare them with their DVD counterpart at $15-25 and the value of the BD should be more clear. Cars DVD is $20 at BB, and the BD version is $30. For a disc to have 5x the capacity, can we convert that into 5x the value? Possibly. Which means that the price of BD discs is a steal compared to the price of DVD's. So the conception of BD discs being 'overpriced and holding back the format' has holes in it.

05-12-2009, 03:22 AM	#12
Dr.Zoidberg Senior Member Member since:Apr 2009 Blu-ray collection:41 Trading Score:3 Timezone GMT: 0	Yea, I agree, when I tell people I have a blu-ray player, they are like "I don't know if I would spend $25-$30 for a dvd" and I try to tell them that I spend about half that but all the b&m prices are the ones they see. Only reason I got a blu player was because it hit the $200 pricemark and that's what I was waiting on. I am so picky (read into that "cheap") about what dvd's I buy. I only have about 40 dvd's and 10 of them are tv shows. Only blu that I have double dipped from dvd is The Matrix, all the rest of mine I didn't own anyways.

Best Blu-ray Movie Deals