Why do some movies come down in price?

[ThePhantomOak]

I am not talking about the MSRP, I mean some movies show up at $34.99 and stay there for months, and some show up at $34.99 and drop to $20 or so right away, often before they are released....



I ask because it seems like the most popular movies get the biggest discounts and the movies that are good, but not as popular, never change. Seems strange to me. Anyone have any knowlegde they can give me?

[BluPayne4400]

Sometimes depends on the studio. Disney always have sales,promotions,etc where Fox never do and only drop movie by like a $1 usually

[Alan Gordon]

[QUOTE=ThePhantomOak;1094666]I am not talking about the MSRP, I mean some movies show up at $34.99 and stay there for months, and some show up at $34.99 and drop to $20 or so right away, often before they are released....

Retailers' discretion.

Originally Posted by ThePhantomOak

I ask because it seems like the most popular movies get the biggest discounts and the movies that are good, but not as popular, never change. Seems strange to me. Anyone have any knowlegde they can give me?

Retailers offer big discounts on BIGGER titles to get you to buy it from them. Their hope is that you will choose to buy more than one thing from them at the same time, thereby making up the amount they discounted on the one item.

You dig?!

~Alan

[Rhoq]

[QUOTE=Alan Gordon;1094674]

Originally Posted by ThePhantomOak

I am not talking about the MSRP, I mean some movies show up at $34.99 and stay there for months, and some show up at $34.99 and drop to $20 or so right away, often before they are released....

Retailers' discretion.



Retailers offer big discounts on BIGGER titles to get you to buy it from them. Their hope is that you will choose to buy more than one thing from them at the same time, thereby making up the amount they discounted on the one item.

You dig?!

~Alan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossleader

[jw]

Its the same way with video games, cant have inventory just sitting around.

And for a lossleader, that usually only applies for "sales ad" items to get you in the store, not the EDLP . Typically a studio sets the MSRP of a movie at say 39.99, stores offer a discount from that(usually depends on margins) to the EDLP, after that usually within the first week they have the loss leader sales to get you to buy it from Store A vs Store B. Happens more with DVDs than blus as there is a higher demand at this point.

Wal-Mart is great example that I know of, they track those aisle displays weekly and if they arent selling, they are removed and refreshed with an item that will sell better. Sometimes a promotion is applied to it as well and gets the item moving.

[ablu]

MAN ON FIRE.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by ThePhantomOak

I ask because it seems like the most popular movies get the biggest discounts and the movies that are good, but not as popular, never change.

Because they know the more popular movies will sell many more copies.

[Sith]

Chains like bestbuy get bigger discounts the more they order, smaller movies
aren't stocked 7 sections deep, therefore you pay more...

[ThePhantomOak]

Originally Posted by Rhoq

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossleader

Whamo! I am shocked that I knew about that, and forgot already, and then stabbed myself in the eye starting this thread.

What a toolbag.

Anyway, Thanks for the link... I remember that from my first marketing class. Now.

[ThePhantomOak]

Inventory for a Movie like I am Legend, a movie that went from ~$28 to ~$17 before release, so inventory was not an issue... I thought inventory also.

Movies like Fifth Element being $15 on Amazon forces you to buy something else to not get raped on shipping, so I am inclined to think the dude is right...

If it was inventory, they would discount the movies and games that dont sell at all and just take up space. How many copies of Haze does best buy need to fill yearly demand at this point? 1, and then an extra to avoid stock-out?

Hahahaha, I am must be burnt out or something asking such a dumb question in the OP!

Originally Posted by jwbbud

Its the same way with video games, cant have inventory just sitting around.

And for a lossleader, that usually only applies for "sales ad" items to get you in the store, not the EDLP . Typically a studio sets the MSRP of a movie at say 39.99, stores offer a discount from that(usually depends on margins) to the EDLP, after that usually within the first week they have the loss leader sales to get you to buy it from Store A vs Store B. Happens more with DVDs than blus as there is a higher demand at this point.

Wal-Mart is great example that I know of, they track those aisle displays weekly and if they arent selling, they are removed and refreshed with an item that will sell better. Sometimes a promotion is applied to it as well and gets the item moving.

[djluis2k6]

As the product stays on the shelf longer and longer, the stores want to try to make some kind of profit on it before just sending it back to their vendor and lose out on money. So they'll lower the price of what's staying on the shelf longer, vs. a movie like Titanic was probably high priced for a good while.

[jw]

Originally Posted by ThePhantomOak

Inventory for a Movie like I am Legend, a movie that went from ~$28 to ~$17 before release, so inventory was not an issue... I thought inventory also.

Movies like Fifth Element being $15 on Amazon forces you to buy something else to not get raped on shipping, so I am inclined to think the dude is right...

If it was inventory, they would discount the movies and games that dont sell at all and just take up space. How many copies of Haze does best buy need to fill yearly demand at this point? 1, and then an extra to avoid stock-out?

Hahahaha, I am must be burnt out or something asking such a dumb question in the OP!

using Amazon as your basis is a bad example. They are a warehouse with an online storefront, alot lower overhead costs. I was using a B&M store. Obviously you missed something anyways....

Whamo! I am shocked that I knew about that, and forgot already, and then stabbed myself in the eye starting this thread.

What a toolbag.

Anyway, Thanks for the link... I remember that from my first marketing class. Now.

Since we know how everything works, Why ask questions? Should have polled the group

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by djluis2k6

So they'll lower the price of what's staying on the shelf longer, vs. a movie like Titanic was probably high priced for a good while.

While you HAVE a very good point, the above quoted part bothered me. I purchased one of the Star Wars prequels for LESS than $10 the week of release. While "Titanic" was released on DVD QUITE some time after it appeared on VHS, I'm pretty sure the stores had some DANDY sales on "Titanic" once it finally appeared on DVD.

Also, Amazon, who sometimes discounts the big releases (think "I Am Legend" and "Cloverfield") more than the smaller releases.

~Alan

[Clark Kent]

Pricing is due to a variety of factors from both the studio and the individual retailers and how well the title is selling on the market. Sometimes both the studio and the retailers overestimate how popular an individual BD will be. So the studio overproduces copies and the retailers over-order copies. Each individual retailer and studio have slightly different ways to handle situations like that. Some titles will rarely go on sale. Why discount a popular title that is selling well at regular pricing?

[ThePhantomOak]

Originally Posted by jwbbud

Since we know how everything works, Why ask questions? Should have polled the group

Is that some kind of flame?

Maybe this school will help you out next time
http://www.flame.edu.in/index.php

[jw]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Pricing is due to a variety of factors from both the studio and the individual retailers and how well the title is selling on the market. Sometimes both the studio and the retailers overestimate how popular an individual BD will be. So the studio overproduces copies and the retailers over-order copies. Each individual retailer and studio have slightly different ways to handle situations like that. Some titles will rarely go on sale. Why discount a popular title that is selling well at regular pricing?

I am glad we are on the same page.
Most retailers have distributors that take back movies for credit, So they order alot in hopes of release weeks sales with the cushion of being able to send them back for credit if they dont sell

Other retailers get a big discount because they buy direct from the studio bypassing the distributor thus saving money and passing that along to the consumer.(So they have to discount them as they cant send them back)

[Drexyl666]

Originally Posted by ablu

MAN ON FIRE.

that is the very first movie i thought too. i'm still waiting for that damn movie to drop in price.

[Bobby Henderson]

Music/video stores positioned in shopping malls deserve mention in this thread on how they just don't discount much at all. And if they do it is seems like a rare event.

I see huge price differences on Blu-ray movies between a shopping mall store like fye or Sam Goody's, electronics stores like Best Buy, warehouse stores like Sam's Club and discount retailers like Wal-Mart and Target. Online retailers often offer the best deals -sometimes less than half the MSRP rate you'll pay at a shopping mall store. A lot of it is retailer discretion. But a major event release can be given an unusually low MSRP by the movie studio.

It amazes me that shopping mall stores like Sam Goody's can even continue to survive. They pay really high rents to be in a mall, so their overhead is already high and then they don't have the floor space to have huge amounts of stock. They get forced to charge full MSRP. That move drives away customers willing to look for a bargain and makes it even more critical for them to price gouge the customers who still buy product there.