RE: Pricing of DVD vs. Video.

[Kennith Slagle <klslagle@uncg.edu>]

	There are many reasons why pricing anomalies exist for both VHS
and DVD. When a new movie on VHS comes out it is priced high because that
is what the producers and distributors want. A new VHS film makes more
money being rented rather than bought. By keeping the buying price high at
first, the rental market drives retail stores to acquire more copies.
Usually, after six months to a year, depending on the film, the buying
price goes down and rental copies are sold at discount. Also, copying a
VHS has been easy and, therefore, the market is soft. If you want a good
price on main stream films, don't buy them right away.

	The DVD market, like CDs, started out being more expensive. As
title selection grew the price went down. The producers,in their attempt
to move the entire market to DVD, started to lower prices. This strategy
is starting to erode because the technology now exists to copy the DVD.
This technology is one reason for the attempts to put blocks to copying
right into the DVD and CD disc.

	Academic titles have a limited audience and do not rent well and
that keeps their price high.

Kennith Slagle
Assistant Director for
Collection Management
Jackson Library
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
PO BOX 26175
Greensboro, NC  27402-6175
Wk:  336-334-5880
FAX: 336-334-5399
Email: klslagle@uncg.edu


<rickand@unr.edu> wrote:

> > On new releases. looks like DVD is much less expensive than video.
>
> This is sometimes true for new releases.  On the other hand, go to the
> "Hot New Releases" section at Amazon and check out the VHS prices: $25 for
> Harry Potter, $15 for Bridget Jones, $23 for Ocean's Eleven... not a
> single one lists at over $25 (except for the multi-tape box sets).  Those
> $100-plus VHS prices are an anomaly, I think.  I'd be interested to know
> why those pricing anomalies exist -- look up Moulin Rouge and you'll find
> you can buy it on VHS for $110 or $13, and there's no apparent difference
> between the two versions.  Anybody know why this is?