Posted by Bill Vermillion on 09/05/05 01:05

In article <39fhh1901j8ucl0qciacgpupns90ih85fu@4ax.com>,
Allan <Spamstillsucks@buffyandkantica22arebrianlamb.net> wrote:
>On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 17:38:40 GMT, Diane
><delenn@nospamatmindspring.com> wrote:
>
>>> >Allan wrote:
>>> >> As I say.. the "Average Joe" never paid $100 for a VHS copy of a
>>> >> movie.
>
>>> Well that's one person. Guess that proves it.
>>
>>You're one person.
>>
>>BTW, you not very subtly changed your assertion from expensive VHS was
>>never meant to be sold to to it was never bought by.
>>
>>In either case, you're wrong.
>
>Say what you will.... most folks never paid $100 for a VHS movie...
>
>http://www.dvdfile.com/news/special_report/features/retail/pricing_primer.htm
>
>Studio Pricing Policies

>"As we know with VHS, which has, until somewhat recently, mainly a
>rental format, titles "priced for rental" cost considerably more than
>a title "priced for sell through." Many consumers have been taken
>aback when they inquire about purchasing a new VHS title only to find
>it is priced at $89.95 or higher. Why are some obscure titles, which
>seem like stuff no on would want, priced for rental at $90+"

....

Actually Beta and VHS video tapes were quite expensive before any
rentals started. When Magnetic Video leased 50 titles from Fox -
being the first company to test to see if anyone would buy movies
for home viewing - prices were from about $40 to $80.

Longer films cost more on Beta as the default for the first
releases was Beta I, as Beta II had not been on the market long
enough. ISTR that one film [whose name I've forgotten] was on
three Beta I tapes at about $79.

The VHS tapes finally came down to $29.99 to $34.95 for the vast
majority of tapes you could buy with rentals in the $90+ range.

It took a while before prices came down. CED forced the LD
prices down and was always $5 to $10 cheaper than LD, and within
about 6 months of the CED format being dropped all LDs went up from
$5 to $20 per set.

VHS slowly came down to the $20 range and that's when studios found
there was a real sell-through market.

Bill

--
Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com

[Back to original message]