Right after the Battlestar Galactica finale, I got all morose and paranoid, and decided to order all the DVDs. I ordered Season 1 for $24, and Season 2.5 for $22 on March 24, since they were in stock. At the time, Season 2.0 and Season 3 were out of stock, but in the same price range - somewhere around $20-25. I didn’t order them, because I wanted them to ship Season 1 right away, and not hold it up while waiting for the others. Season 4.0 was around $45, but I figured that since that was a recent release it would drop after a while, so I was going to hold off.
About 2 weeks later, I checked again for Seasons 2.0 and 3, and they were in stock, and at the same price. I didn’t order them for reasons that I can’t remember. A week after that, I checked again, and the prices had shot up to $38 for each of Seasons 1, 2.0, 2.5, & 3. So I didn’t order, but kept watching. Prices held steady for while.
April 29, I checked again, and Season 3 had dropped to $27, but 2.0 was still up at $38. I went ahead and ordered 3, and have been checking 2.0. Yesterday it dropped to $34, and today 2.5 dropped to $34 as well. I see that Season 1 has dropped back down to $27, and Season 4.0 is down to $30.
So what gives? Why do they keep fiddling with the prices? Do they have some odd supply & demand algorithm, or is there some bloated exec throwing darts at the wall to reset prices daily?
I used to go to DeepDiscountDVDs.com for my DVDs because they were cheapest. I went to buy one the other day and found that Amazon was cheaper AND had free shipping (it was slightly over $25). I waited a couple of days, unintentionally, and it was even cheaper when I came back!
No idea why they’re doing this but I’m not complaining. I wonder if they’re just dying to sell those buggers because of services like Netflix Watch Instantly and others. Heck, even Amazon has “watch instantly” now!
Amazon constantly changes prices on all kinds of merchandise. Some things remain at fairly steady prices (like back catalog of music, movies, etc.) but others fluctuate a lot. It’s like going to a retail store where things are “on sale” to one tune or another frequently. If I go to the grocery store, I can expect my favorite brand of XYZ to either be (1) full price, (2) on sale by 5% this week only, (3) on sale by 20% for the next three months (4) on sale by 20% for the next two weeks, (5) buy one get one free this week only, (6) etc. I’m sure Amazon has a complicated formula for determining what the price of something should be on any given day.
I have frequently put things in my cart at Amazon then checked back daily to see if the price dropped a significant amount before I really needed to order it. I’ve gotten some good deals that way.
Speaking of DVD pricing, can anyone explain from what planet someone has to be from to purchse a DVD from Barnes & Noble (retail loactions)?
New realeases during their first week can be bought from Target/BestBuy/Walmart for around $15-$16. Barnes & Noble $22.
After that they usually go back up to normal retail. Target/BestBuy/Walmart $20.
Barnes & Noble $30.
Then once in a while they have a sale “buy one regular priced DVD, get the second for 1/2 price”. So “on sale” you can get 2 DVDs for $45, still $5 more than the other guys normal price.
When it comes to DVD prices Amazon is not even always competitive with the other sellers on Amazon. I’ve found that the only time when Amazon will have the best DVD prices are for pre-orders which will have a guarantee that price drops that occur between your pre-order and shipment will be be passed along to you. So for pre-orders it’s Amazon, otherwise I shop around.
They basically count on the DVDs being impulse buys or for people looking for instant gratification. My SO, who worked at Target before going to Borders, often told people to drive a few miles down the road to save as much as half off Borders’ price.
Yeah, and then occasionally they’ll have 30% off coupons, which sound like a deal except it’s only good on the list price, so it still ends up being more than someplace like Amazon or Deep Discount DVD.
I used to live about half a block from DeepDiscountDVD’s warehouse which meant that if I ordered a disk before 8am it would go out in their morning shipping, sort into my mail at the local post office, and be in my box by 3pm.
As for Battlestar Galactica Amazon has been having sales off and on for the seasons in the past few weeks. That would be the cause of the price changes you saw.
I experienced similar weirdness in the run-up to the release of the recent Depeche Mode album. I pre-ordered this monster box set about two months before release. At the time, it was priced at $79.99. Periodically, though, the list price would jump up to $99.99, then fall back to the cheaper price. Currently, it’s listed at $89.99.
There’s the issue of selection. If you’re buying a mainstream release you’re better off going to WalMart or Targets for the price. But if you want to buy some foreign film or documentary or indie cult movie, you’re probably going to have to go to Barnes & Noble, Borders, or order it online.
I don’t know about B&N, but Borders has the “call in for a discount code on your next purchase” method of enticing repeat customers. My daughter used to go to Borders about every 10 days or so, to take advantage of the discount codes.
I rarely pay full price for books, usually I shop at used book stores. There are a few authors that I make sure to buy new, so that my money is a vote and a royalty check.
Same thing goes for video or computer games. I can buy The Sims at just about any place that sells computer or video games. Buying something that’s NOT a popular franchise means that I have to hunt for it.
Am I the only computer-owning person in America to have never played The Sims?
Amazon’s pricing is so weird. A little over a year ago I got it in my head that I wanted a pizza stone. I found a great rectangular one that fit the whole interior of my 3/4 sized oven perfectly. $14.99. I got a book or something else, too, so the shipping was free. Now I go to check the price and the same stone is $40. Awesome for me, but bizarre.