Is the Used DVD Market Changing?
January 16th 2007 04:30
Last year in a long post on DVD box sets, I wrote:
“With DVD Box Sets, you’ve got to have realistic expectations. You’ll get a bargain on a DVD Box set, but it’s not going to be at the insane level of 80-90% discounts seen on regular movie DVDs. One thing to understand is that with the advent of DVD box sets, many older TV shows were made into box sets, and they do not drop in value nearly as much as the newer DVDs.
”The reason for this is that older television shows, having not been on the air for a while, came out to huge fan demand, while newer shows came out because of temporary popularity.”
I may have to reconsider that thought. As an after Christmas purchase, I received Highway to Heaven, Season III, still in shrink wrap, retailing for $69.95, mine for around $17.31 with shipping off of Amazon. This ‘80s TV show is available for a song. I had $45 in gift certificates from work and also managed to purchase a more recent DVD set (Touched by An Angel, Season 3, Volume 2) and a book on the same certificate.
I checked TV shows from the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s and found those prices holding stable. But I did seem to find one interesting suggestion. It may have something to do with the 1980s:
The Cosby Show, Season 1 is available for $13.25, but there seems to be some issue with original music being removed, which I suppose is of great import if you’re a huge fan. But, in general, there seems to be little difference between the Amazon price and the used one, but the one thing I’ve noticed is that Amazon’s discounts off the list price are becoming far more substantial for many series based on viewer demand.
With the older shows, they’ll have a large market at the beginning of their release and then a smaller market as time goes on as the shows don’t acquire fans. Over the course of years, we’ll probably see a buyer’s market develop for many box sets as a greater number of buyers decide to get rid of old sets when moving, etc. and find a limited market. So keep checking on your favorite shows on Amazon or E-bay, a great bargain could be around the corner.
“With DVD Box Sets, you’ve got to have realistic expectations. You’ll get a bargain on a DVD Box set, but it’s not going to be at the insane level of 80-90% discounts seen on regular movie DVDs. One thing to understand is that with the advent of DVD box sets, many older TV shows were made into box sets, and they do not drop in value nearly as much as the newer DVDs.
”The reason for this is that older television shows, having not been on the air for a while, came out to huge fan demand, while newer shows came out because of temporary popularity.”
I may have to reconsider that thought. As an after Christmas purchase, I received Highway to Heaven, Season III, still in shrink wrap, retailing for $69.95, mine for around $17.31 with shipping off of Amazon. This ‘80s TV show is available for a song. I had $45 in gift certificates from work and also managed to purchase a more recent DVD set (Touched by An Angel, Season 3, Volume 2) and a book on the same certificate.
I checked TV shows from the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s and found those prices holding stable. But I did seem to find one interesting suggestion. It may have something to do with the 1980s:
The Cosby Show, Season 1 is available for $13.25, but there seems to be some issue with original music being removed, which I suppose is of great import if you’re a huge fan. But, in general, there seems to be little difference between the Amazon price and the used one, but the one thing I’ve noticed is that Amazon’s discounts off the list price are becoming far more substantial for many series based on viewer demand.
With the older shows, they’ll have a large market at the beginning of their release and then a smaller market as time goes on as the shows don’t acquire fans. Over the course of years, we’ll probably see a buyer’s market develop for many box sets as a greater number of buyers decide to get rid of old sets when moving, etc. and find a limited market. So keep checking on your favorite shows on Amazon or E-bay, a great bargain could be around the corner.
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