DCI dvd pricing

[DrinkinOuttaCups]

So, just a thought, but...have you guys ever considered, y'know...actually asking DCI instead of letting all this rampant speculation run amok? I just sent an e-mail to DCI. I know I won't get a reply since it's not during business hours and they don't reply to e-mails over the weekend, but I'm gonna plan on calling them on Monday, too.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is...how about contacting DCI with your concerns instead of starting up another "I hate DCI" thread?

[jjeffeory]

Its leaving money on the table that I believe it could gain. A high price does not always maximize profit.

Not that I agree with this, but if you read the book "How to Sell at Margins Higher than your Competitors" by Lawrence Steinmetz & William Brooks, you'll find that the latest way in order TO maximize profits is a high price! What you have to do is create perceived value or have a captive audience. Basically, DCI has a captive audience... Also, companies like Apple computer use this ideology too. We're all falling for it too!

[jjeffeory]

So, let's review a little.

Just today I finished listening to 1990 finals on CD. I, again, enjoyed almost every bit of it - especially the memory of SCV playing the final chord of Carmen from the tunnel.

It was less expensive back then, and they didn't have DVDs, although I've watched those shows many, many times on VHS.

Let's assume I paid $100 even back then. This is 29 YEARS later. My expense worked out to $3 PER YEAR.

Is it so expensive to relive all those wonderful moments?

I don't think so.

I wish all you complainers would get real. Your purchase helps the activity which helps kids experience what DC really means.

Come on. In this age of $4 cups of coffee is $3 per year really such a bite?

Wow, I think I just want to go out and buy a car about now! That's one way to look at it, but many prefer to look at ABSOLUTE cost and numbers NOW, not stretching things out over time like some car salesman routine. That kind of thinking is partly what got us into this current recession!

[Tom Brace]

It sure sounds like another example of DCI devaluing the lower tier corps.

Drum corps fans who go watch a drumline in the parking lot instead of going to watch these corps during the season already do that for DCI.

[MelloMike]

So, let's review a little.

Just today I finished listening to 1990 finals on CD. I, again, enjoyed almost every bit of it - especially the memory of SCV playing the final chord of Carmen from the tunnel.

It was less expensive back then, and they didn't have DVDs, although I've watched those shows many, many times on VHS.

Let's assume I paid $100 even back then. This is 29 YEARS later. My expense worked out to $3 PER YEAR.

Is it so expensive to relive all those wonderful moments?

I don't think so.

I wish all you complainers would get real. Your purchase helps the activity which helps kids experience what DC really means.

Come on. In this age of $4 cups of coffee is $3 per year really such a bite?

Pretty rational. For hypothetical purposes, suppose you bought the DVD in 1991 at $40. Over the course of 18 years that comes out to about $2.22 per year. In perspective that's like 1 milkshake or two dollar menu items.

And even with the fact that $100 this year buys less than $100 next year will then theoretically the DVDs continually get cheaper despite the fact that the price is unchanged year after year.

[Ahamay Oton]

Because people will pay $99 for the top 12 but probably wouldn't pay $75 for 13-21.

Generally the answer to the question of "Why does X cost so much" is "because a constantly shrinking number of people will pay that much"

Fixed.

[knightsbari]

So, let's review a little.

Just today I finished listening to 1990 finals on CD. I, again, enjoyed almost every bit of it - especially the memory of SCV playing the final chord of Carmen from the tunnel.

It was less expensive back then, and they didn't have DVDs, although I've watched those shows many, many times on VHS.

Let's assume I paid $100 even back then. This is 29 YEARS later. My expense worked out to $3 PER YEAR.

Is it so expensive to relive all those wonderful moments?

I don't think so.

I wish all you complainers would get real. Your purchase helps the activity which helps kids experience what DC really means.

Come on. In this age of $4 cups of coffee is $3 per year really such a bite?

That's just for one season .... what if you say march 4 years and want all for ... or what if your one of those who get the DVDs every year ?

[year1buick]

DCI isn't "gouging" anyone. When you buy the DVD, you're not just paying for the cost of the materials. You're paying for the cost to produce them, which includes a professional production crew, equipment, mastering, and production. When you do that at the numbers DCI does, which is not at a large production run level like, say, a Hollywood movie, but also not at the small run level like when you make ten DVDs for your buddies, the cost is ENORMOUS.

The DCI DVDs are the giant cash-cow many fans think they are. The fact that DCI is able to sell the lower-tier corps DVDs are a discounted price is a good thing, especially considering that they probably sell a fraction of that disc compared to the Top 12.

Lowering the price to gain more "exposure" would be a bad thing, especially considering the DVDs are purchased by fans, not the uninitiated.

Did those aspects change drastically when they went to DVD? From what I recall, the price immediately more than doubled when they went from VHS to DVD, and I doubt production costs (even accounting for inflation) accounted for the difference. I think they just set a price point and went with it. When (if) it gets more reasonable, I'll start buying again.

[perc2100]

Of course people will pay.... but would more people pay less for cheaper top 12.... (as opposed to how many people buy it, and then make copies for all their friends..)

I would totally buy the DVD's if they weren't $100. Now-a-days with DVD's being priced lower and lower, I can't justify spending $100 for 2.5 hours of 'entertainment' (and that's being generous, as there are Top 12 shows I definitely would not watch over and over). This is the first time in over a decade that I've seriously considered buying the DVD's. But at those prices, I don't think it's worth it to me (I would maybe reconsider if the DVD's had the same content as before, with extra camera angles, commentary, and judge tracks).

[perc2100]

Pretty rational. For hypothetical purposes, suppose you bought the DVD in 1991 at $40. Over the course of 18 years that comes out to about $2.22 per year. In perspective that's like 1 milkshake or two dollar menu items.

And even with the fact that $100 this year buys less than $100 next year will then theoretically the DVDs continually get cheaper despite the fact that the price is unchanged year after year.

And if DCI would let us buy the DVD's on a payment plan like that, then I bet more people would buy into that

Seriously, though, $100 is $100. In this economy, entertainment (i.e. non-essential) income has to be prioritized and for some people it's more worth it spend, say, $210 on the full series of Battlestar Galactica on Blu-ray (roughly 74 hours of episodes plus several more hours of bonus content in hi-def). Or it's more worth it to spend $45 for the Independent World WGI Finals disc (that are bare-boned with no extras).

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with DCI charging market value for their product; but some fans can't (or won't) spend $100 for a bare-bones Top 12 DVD, especially when just a few years ago the DCI DVD's contained so much extra content.