Blu Ray discs - why pay more, when you can pay less?

[admin_exported]

I bought my first blu ray player today, so I eagerly popped into hmv, for a first film, after work.

I had already planned to buy a few films online (amazon, play), but I wanted to watch one tonight. I left hmv empty handed.

I'm not discovering something new, and I was aware that films were more expensive in the shop (clearly). What did surprise me was that prices were ranged from between 30 - 150% more expensive in the shop. Nothing even came close to tempt me to buy a disc. Some highlights include:

2001, Elite Squad, Warlords - £25 v £9.99

Iron Man, Wall E - £30 v £14.99

Body of lies - £27 v £16.99

Hancock - £18 v £10.99

There are countless examples, and in some cases the difference was 'only' £5, but that's quite a lot on a £15 film.

My question, in addition to this rant, is: how many people on this forum buy blu rays, and how many do so online, rather than in somewhere like hmv.

It just seems to me that at those prices they wouldn't sell very many discs. I mean, when did it become acceptable to charge £30 for a film - that's video game price. I know they're higher resolution, but it can't cost that much more to produce a blu ray disc, and i even read somewhere that the costs involved are similar.

Oh, and we're in a recession. (i throw this in since it seems appropriate - and we're always hearing about in the news, at work, in the paper, in the bank.....)

 

[Anonymous]

HMTB - Could not agree more old fruit!

I get mine from Blockbuster via their rental scheme, blu ray, dvd or music - whatever you want!

failing that - amazon have some stonking deals as do play.com which also offers free delivery and its quick.

hope that helps

matt

 

[Anonymous]

Agree hmv store is way too pricey, funny thing is - look on their website and you can get some cracking deals!

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, the price of Blu Rays in stores is insane. I think I've only ever bought 2 or 3 in an actual shop, and bought them all as part of some sort of offer. Other than that everything I get is online. Typically don't pay more than £10 for a Blu Ray now.

 

[Anonymous]

online or instore if its on a 2 for 20 or something. Always check onamazon first via my phone to make sure its a good price though.

Instore really is a rip off.

not buying so many atm as we have lovefilm.

 

[Tom Moreno]

fast eddie:online or instore if its on a 2 for 20 or something. Always check onamazon first via my phone to make sure its a good price though. Instore really is a rip off.not buying so many atm as we have lovefilm.

I don't buy in HMV anymore as there's none close to me since we've moved. Up until the move there was one just down the street and I have to say there were quite a few impulse buys down there, almost always on the 2 for £30 or the newer 2 for £20 deals. The vast majority come from Play.com. I wish they had a rewards card type program, I'd have so many points by now! And then there's always the steady supply from Lovefilm.

 

[carter]

if ever i wanna pick one up on the day asda isnt bad £14 -£18 mostly only new releses

 

[professorhat]

Never bought a Blu-Ray from a bricks and mortar. I have a look every now and then but, as you say, even if it's only £2 - £3 more (and many times it's a lot more than that), why pay it when I'm not really in any hurry for the film - order from Amazon before 3pm and I get it next day anyway. It's not as if the bricks and mortar really offer anything over the likes of Amazon / Play either - you don't get the ability to preview the film and make sure it's one you like or anything.

It is crazy really as many people still cite high prices as a reason not to upgrade to Blu-Ray, mainly because they've only seen the Blu-Ray in a shop for £25 when the DVD is sitting about five feet away for £5.

 

[Anonymous]

I rent from lovefilm and it's great. Unlimited 3 disc a week, for £15.65 a month. Granted, you don't get the most current titles but it does it for me as I like to watch many older movies on blu-ray anyway - for that I go to Blockbuster and rent 4 discs for £10.00.

I also look out for great used (sometimes new) offers on E-Bay and have nabbed quite a few deals.

 

[hammill]

I don't understand the purpose of HMV. It will go the way of zavvi and woolworths in a few years.

 

[Anonymous]

THE ONLY ADVANTAGE TO HMV IS YOU CAN TAKE THINGS BACK IF YOU DONT LIKE THEM. HMV'S PROFITS ARE UP NOW THAT ZAVVI AND WW HAVE CLOSED, AND THEY ARE PRETTY GOOD FOR DVDS. JUST NEED TO GET BLU RAYS DOWN TO SENSIBLE PRICES!

 

[roger06]

Agreed - I'd only buy in the high street if on offer or was for a last minute present etc where I couldn't wait for delivery.

I often pop into my local HMV just to have a laugh at the extortionate prices asked for Blu Ray. Another reason for not buying is that often there's an enormous queue at the check out which puts me off but also proves people are buying (something)...

 

[Anonymous]

I worked for one of the big online sellers mentioned and the yearly growth rate even now is huge - meaning that allot of people must still shop on the high street and not online. Chains like HMV realise this and happily make a large margin while they can while trying to grow into new markets - HMV seems more focused on growing gadgets (iPods, etc), gaming and now have even started a second hand game trade in / resell offer. Blu-ray sales online are not that big yet as a percentage of overall sales though, still a growth market for all.

 

[Hems]

I always buy blu ray/dvds online/

 

[SpiceWeasel]

I know what you mean, it's exactly the same in my local Tesco's. How they sell any at those prices is beyond me, normally at least £5 more expensive than online. Saying that though I noticed Asda's prices are alot more reasonable with quite a few of the new releases the same price as online, from what I could remember. I bought the 40th anniversary Italian Job on bu-ray for £12.49, 50p cheaper than Play, bargain.

EDIT: The Italian Job was my 2nd ever bluray purchase from a proper store/shop, the othe being Planet Earth boxset from Tescos as it was the same price as online at the time. Better deals online from play or amazon etc.

 

[ElectroMan]

The only Blu-rays I've bought in store were from Zavvi just before it closed. Morrisons also sometimes have Blu-rays for under a tenner (never anything I want to watch, though!).

I agree that the HMV in-store prices are ridiculous. I bought a DVD there a few weeks ago, and was asked if I would like to sign up for their loyalty card - 'free, is it?' I asked - and was astonished when told 'sorry, no it's not'! It may be only £3, but Nectar and Tesco don't charge, neither do Game, who have a better selection of, er, games.

So far as Lovefilm is concerned, they do have the latest releases, but you may need to join the queue. I'm trying to rent the Star Trek original series Blu-rays, to see if they're worth buying, but they should on my rental list as 'long wait' ...

 

[robstar63]

I always buy my Blu Rays online from Amazon, RDVD.co.uk, DVD.co.uk and occassionally Play.Com.

I really enjoy going online and searching for bargains and usually buy 1 or 2 a week at knock down prices ie latest Indian Jones (Crystal Skull) at £8.00 (Rdvd.co,uk) Alien V Predator Requiem £5.45 ish, Horton Hears a Who at £5.00 etc etc

HMV is in my view one of the reasons that many people do not move over to Blu Ray.

They are a major influence and one of the main places where people will see the Blu Ray films for sale.

Seeing them at the prices discussed surely only serves to scare people off of adopting the format feeling that the difference in price is not warranted.

I am sure that HMV would make more money by shifting many many more items to potential new adopters at reduced price than by sticking to their current pricing strategy and attracting only the more dedicated fans of the format !

 

[Anonymous]

ROBSTAR63, I AGREE ENTIRELY! MAYBE WE SHOULD SEND A LETTER TO THE APPROPRIATE PERSON AT HMV ADVISING THEM AS TO HOW A CHANGE IN PRICING POLICY WOULD BENEFIT THEM. THEIR MARGINS MUST BE MASSIVE, BUT I CANT SEE THEM SHIFTING MOST THEIR STOCK ANYTIME SOON. I'M SURE BLU RAYS ACCOUNT FOR A TINY PROPORTION OF THEIR SALES. WE SHOULD REFER THEM TO THIS THREAD. HAVING SAID THAT, I SAW A WOMAN WITH A SHOPPING BASKET IN HMV FILLING IT UP WITH BLU RAYS!

 

[Anonymous]

Robstar63,

I just went on rdvd.co.uk - it's got some real bargains on there (casino royale for about £5). Do you know if the stuff is all brand new, or do they also sell second hand stuff?

I may have to use that sight in my blu ray shopping arsenal together with play and amazon.

Thanks for that.

On a different note, there should be a forum dedicated exclusively to reviews of blu ray discs - more on picture and sound quality than the film (although that's always useful) where people can comment on films they've bought and how they thought it looked.

 

[sc1]

I rarely, if ever buy from HMV or other stores due to the high prices. It is probably a vicious circle though because less will be purchased due to high price but the stores will say that the prices need to be high because they don't sell a lot of units.

 

[cheyworth]

one thing that does get me is that you can pick up an offer like 3 for £30 when looking through you can get all 3 Bourne films, but if you want them as a box set then it will cost an extra £20. (£20 just for a card box!)

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

The reason that HMV prices online are so much less than in store is because, like Play and Amazon (via Indigo Starfish), they operate out of the Channel Islands and avoid UK taxes. If you've ever wondered why each BD (or CD or DVD) comes in a separate packet it is because there is a threshold (per parcel) under which tax is exempt. If 2 or more BD's were posted in one parcel they would attract tax.

You will frequently see signs in HMV stores proclaiming "Blu-Ray Discs from £10" only to find just a single offering at this price, on the end of the rack thus qualifying the offer.

I was amazed yesterday to find BD's on clearance for £10 in WH Smith in Reading including Pan's Labyrinth, Hulk, Rambo to name but three.

 

[Anonymous]

rogueeelement is correct! HMV stores are not bumping the pricing up on purpose they are selling as cheap as possible! plus they have to store rent and staff costs etc.

Online is cheaper and the way forward.

i.e. jessops were selling a camera for £200 and I bought of Amazon for £149!

 

[professorhat]

Shimminator: i.e. jessops were selling a camera for £200 and I bought of Amazon for £149!

Yes, but the difference there is, with Jessops you can go in the store, get some advice on which would be the best camera for your needs, try the camera out in the store, make sure it's the right size for your bag / pocket etc. and all those other advantages in store browsing allow over buying online, thus the extra money gets you a service the online retailers can't give you. Of course you could do this, say no thanks and then buy online, but this is very unethical in my opinion.

However, there isn't any need to do any of the above with a Blu-Ray purchase (for me anyway) - I'm not going to decide whether to buy it based on the blurb written on the back of the box! Thus the only advantage is coming away with the product instantly, and this isn't worth an extra £10 - £15 over the online price - there's no way they are selling as cheap as possible at that price, even if you factor in the extra tax and overheads of a bricks and mortar.

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:

- there's no way they are selling as cheap as possible at that price, even if you factor in the extra tax and overheads of a bricks and mortar.

I agree, I wasn't looking to justify their in-store prices, simply explaining why online is cheaper. I do read the back of the boxes though to check if a BD is carrying an HD soundtrack as it's not alway immediately apparent..... then order online