Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Online video prices

The pressure is clearly on to get us to get all our video by download. For example the new Apple notebooks don't even have an optical drive.

But I think that to achieve this, they need to give a good think to their prices. Many of them are simply well over-priced. Just a movie rental here in the UK is often over $8 (over five Pounds Sterling).

Now, a season of The Simpsons on Blu-ray disk is less than $19, and it includes the artwork and a lot of extras. But a season of the Simpsons on HD for download, without extras, is twice that price on Amazon, and on iTunes it's a balls-shriveling fifty bucks...
It's just nuts. (Though small, shriveled ones.)
(If you buy the episodes one at a time, it gets worse: on Amazon season 23 swoops up to 65 dollars.)

What is the thinking here? "Hurrah, we save the costs of printing and distribution, so we will double the price!" ??

In the ebook world, customers are launching protests movements against books priced over ten dollars. I wonder how that market would go if an ebook were twice the price of a hardcover, let's call it $50. Not many takers, I guess!

3 comments:

TC [Girl] said...

...it's a balls-shriveling fifty bucks...
It's just nuts. (Though small, shriveled ones.)


Shuddering @ the thought! ;-) ROFLMAO!

Thoses prices *are* RIDICULOUS, though; true 'nuff! :-(

geoff belfer said...

I thought that the "market" will always find its own price - sellers charge the max what they think customers will pay and customers will want to pay the least amount. from this equation a going rate will emerge. If enough people are put off by the price asked, the price will fall or the supplier will go out of business. No one is forced to buy (unless there is a monopoly etc.)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

That's very true. And I'm trying to be part of the pressure the public puts on some of these prices. :-)

Prices are funny. I bought the newish film Hugo, on blu-ray and in 3D, for less than ten bucks!!