Redbox - Video supplier price increase 20%

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by RainingLemur

While nobody likes price increases, if the ones pitching major fits knew the WHY behind the increases, they'd probably be a little more understanding. They still wouldn't be happy, but it may be a bit easier to take.

Powerful content-owning corporations want to take an increased advantage of their monopoly to squeeze the customers further. How does knowing this make it easier to take? It's just another (minor) example of the predatory nature of capitalism.

[kevinp]

That's what free enterprise is all about. If you start your own company making widgets, you don't want someone telling you what price you can or can't charge for your widgets. Customers need to speak with their wallets. I personally quit going to movies. A family of four, some popcorn and a couple of drinks - I've already got two mortgages on my house, I can't get a third.

[xg4bx]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

xg4bx has it nailed. Costs are going up for all distribution channels because content providers have realized that these alternative channels are gaining popularity with the public.

The money has to come from somewhere, so it comes down to the consumer to pony up.

tv networks do the same thing. thats why every year or so you see scare tactic announcements like "well customers in X area, you may be losing channel Y" and your cable rates go up. instead of maybe, i dont know, not producing $200 million dollar films and running a $50 million marketing campaign if your profits arent high enough. instead its just easier to squeeze consumers.

service providers need to get the message out "hey, dont blame us" because netflix in particular got tons of undue hate thrown their way.

[xg4bx]

Originally Posted by kevinp

That's what free enterprise is all about. If you start your own company making widgets, you don't want someone telling you what price you can or can't charge for your widgets. Customers need to speak with their wallets. I personally quit going to movies. A family of four, some popcorn and a couple of drinks - I've already got two mortgages on my house, I can't get a third.

i vote with my wallet all the time. i dont like the way the gaming industry is headed so i abandoned the hobby. i dont go to the movies. if push came to shove i can live without cable. i only buy 1 or 2 cds a year. a book costs too much? i buy it used. i only get the cellphones that end up being free with promotions when my plan is up. we buy store brand food.

unfortunately too many people these days have forgotten the concept of delayed gratification. theyll grumble grumble grumble but open their wallet the day something comes out.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

i vote with my wallet all the time. i dont like the way the gaming industry is headed so i abandoned the hobby. i dont go to the movies. if push came to shove i can live without cable. i only buy 1 or 2 cds a year. a book costs too much? i buy it used. i only get the cellphones that end up being free with promotions when my plan is up. we buy store brand food.

unfortunately too many people these days have forgotten the concept of delayed gratification. theyll grumble grumble grumble but open their wallet the day something comes out.

BINGO! I very seldom go to the movies, I'd rather wait to get it on dvd & watch it on my surround system at home. I have found alternatives to high priced books, and I could probably cut my cable bill way down since I hardly watch tv.

[pagansoul]

I only go to 2 or 3 movies a year, used to be 1 a week in the old days of $3 a movie. Now they are $8 and that's the early show. I used to rent from blockbuster but when I started getting my own DVDs and they were still renting VHS I gave up on them. I have used the Redbox and Blockbuster box if something interesting shows up but I tend to rent via Amazon or iTunes if it isn't Science Fiction. I have Amazon Prime so I watch all my TV series and many older movies on my home HDTV. When Netflix did their mail vs stream split I gave up the mail service. I have my mini attached to my TV so I also surf for shows, no need for cable other than high speed internet.

[J. Strnad]

I was telling a friend once that I've made three wise financial decisions in my life: I never got a divorce, I never made a movie with my own money, and I never bought a boat. He replied, "Well, I've never bought a boat...."

We've all but given up on movies in theaters, especially with all the 3D crap they want you to pay extra for. We'll occasionally take in a movie at matinee rates, but NetFlix and Turner Classic Movies satisfy our movie needs quite nicely.

I dropped NetFlix streaming when they started charging because the selection didn't seem worthwhile, and that was before they lost the Starz deal. We manage to watch two or three NetFlix movies a month, at best, so the basic DVD deal has to be pretty cheap to be worthwhile for us.

With the streaming market splitting, it's going to get really expensive if you want all the content that's available. Streaming is pretty clunky compared to DVD and satellite and cable, so I'm beginning to think that this "white-hot" market may be in for a cooling down period as Hulu-Plus battles NetFlix battles Amazon battles Who-knows-who-else for content. Viewers aren't going to want to subscribe to all of them and no single service can afford to buy all of the content and offer it for cheap. Once streaming rates approach the rates for cable and satellite, people will have to wonder what all the fuss was about.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I was telling a friend once that I've made three wise financial decisions in my life: I never got a divorce, I never made a movie with my own money, and I never bought a boat. He replied, "Well, I've never bought a boat...."

We've all but given up on movies in theaters, especially with all the 3D crap they want you to pay extra for. We'll occasionally take in a movie at matinee rates, but NetFlix and Turner Classic Movies satisfy our movie needs quite nicely.

I dropped NetFlix streaming when they started charging because the selection didn't seem worthwhile, and that was before they lost the Starz deal. We manage to watch two or three NetFlix movies a month, at best, so the basic DVD deal has to be pretty cheap to be worthwhile for us.

With the streaming market splitting, it's going to get really expensive if you want all the content that's available. Streaming is pretty clunky compared to DVD and satellite and cable, so I'm beginning to think that this "white-hot" market may be in for a cooling down period as Hulu-Plus battles NetFlix battles Amazon battles Who-knows-who-else for content. Viewers aren't going to want to subscribe to all of them and no single service can afford to buy all of the content and offer it for cheap. Once streaming rates approach the rates for cable and satellite, people will have to wonder what all the fuss was about.

You are a very "wise" man, except you could look into "little" boats. I have a rubber sea kayak that is a lot of fun, can be carried easily in any vehicle and has never cost a cent after the initial purchase.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

i vote with my wallet all the time. i dont like the way the gaming industry is headed so i abandoned the hobby. i dont go to the movies. if push came to shove i can live without cable. i only buy 1 or 2 cds a year. a book costs too much? i buy it used. i only get the cellphones that end up being free with promotions when my plan is up. we buy store brand food.

unfortunately too many people these days have forgotten the concept of delayed gratification. theyll grumble grumble grumble but open their wallet the day something comes out.

cfrizz-------------quote--------------------
BINGO! I very seldom go to the movies, I'd rather wait to get it on dvd & watch it on my surround system at home. I have found alternatives to high priced books, and I could probably cut my cable bill way down since I hardly watch tv.
--------------------------------------------

pagansoul----------quote--------------------
I only go to 2 or 3 movies a year, used to be 1 a week in the old days of $3 a movie. Now they are $8 and that's the early show. I used to rent from blockbuster but when I started getting my own DVDs and they were still renting VHS I gave up on them. I have used the Redbox and Blockbuster box if something interesting shows up but I tend to rent via Amazon or iTunes if it isn't Science Fiction. I have Amazon Prime so I watch all my TV series and many older movies on my home HDTV. When Netflix did their mail vs stream split I gave up the mail service. I have my mini attached to my TV so I also surf for shows, no need for cable other than high speed internet.
-------------------------------------

J. Strnad-------------quote----------------
I was telling a friend once that I've made three wise financial decisions in my life: I never got a divorce, I never made a movie with my own money, and I never bought a boat. He replied, "Well, I've never bought a boat...."------
------------------------------------------


Strnad, earlier I said that you should look into small boats, and I realized that I didn't mean to imply that I had never bought a boat. I have besides my inflatables, and small boats, a "small" ocean going fishing boat. (kind of a mini trawler) I am converting it into a house boat. I have been divorced 3 times, but I have never made a movie with my own money, nor do I go to movie theaters anymore, or buy DVDs.

Still, and this is the purpose of this post, I watch a lot of movies. I can wait until they come to DVD and rent them though. Sometimes I set the DVR on the TV to copy one that is broadcast. I don't have cable. I haven't bought a movie since they sold all those VCR tapes real cheap when they went to DVDs down at the video store. Now I wish I wasn't storing those VCR tapes. They will be gone for the most part in a year or two.

I use the Redbox. It is at my Ingles grocery store, and at my Pharmacy and several other places.

I used to use DVD Express (or something like that) at BiLo, but they changed to the Block Buster boxes to rent movies from. Tonight I got a interesting sci-fi dvd at RedBox at Ingles but also was in BiLo looking for something. I checked out the Block Buster box.
They had "Super 8" for $2.00. I got it the other night for $1.20 at Redbox. They also had one that Redbox doesn't have yet. "The Rise of the Planet of the Apes." (That might not be the exact title.) It was $3.00.

I will wait until it comes to Redbox for $1.20.

[J. Strnad]

SeaKing, just remember what someone once said of divorces: They're more expensive than marriages, but they're worth it!

But FWIW, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was, in my opinion, one of the best popular films of 2011. Well worth $3!

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Go take a look at your grocery bill.

Currencies are down, and this is a correction to compensate for that. It isn't just rental movies. Concrete items have a concrete value relative to one another.

Has the value of a dollar actually dropped enough for this to be the justification? Hasn't it been getting a boost from the Eurozone crisis?

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

SeaKing, just remember what someone once said of divorces: They're more expensive than marriages, but they're worth it!

But FWIW, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was, in my opinion, one of the best popular films of 2011. Well worth $3!

The divorces were good, and now as time passes, the previous marriages are getting better and better. Being married to a sailor, a flying sailor, is tough for a woman.

We now all get along better than ever. The children have made that possible. We are all on the same page with the children. I had children with two of the wives, and dearly love the children that my third wife had already by two different husbands.

All of them are great, and I have to keep a chart of who is where, birthdays, and other celebrations. Christmas, birthdays and graduations are hectic, but Amazon Gift Lists help keep me straight.

[Tony1988]

Prices go up and sometimes they also go down. It was bound to happen.

I remember just before Netflix went up in price, I had told my friend that it was probably going to go up because it was getting more mainstream. He scoffed at me and said it had been the same price for years. A year later he sheepishly tells me they were going to start charging seperately for the delivery and online service.(it was just an extra dollar before now of course its much more)

The fact of the matter is once these types of things get more popular they usually dont go down in price like electronics, they go up.

The cool thing...its not a neccessity. None of us have to pay for it. We can opt to just watch regular tv.

I have been playing with the idea of getting rid of cable myself. Cable has gotten so expensive its just not worth it anymore. Theres very little I watch now. Basic tv should suffice and I can spend the extra cash on dvds, one thing in the movie/tv industry that has gone down.
I will miss TCM though. I love that channel.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by Tony1988

Prices go up and sometimes they also go down. It was bound to happen.

I remember just before Netflix went up in price, I had told my friend that it was probably going to go up because it was getting more mainstream. He scoffed at me and said it had been the same price for years. A year later he sheepishly tells me they were going to start charging seperately for the delivery and online service.(it was just an extra dollar before now of course its much more)

The fact of the matter is once these types of things get more popular they usually dont go down in price like electronics, they go up.

The cool thing...its not a neccessity. None of us have to pay for it. We can opt to just watch regular tv.

I have been playing with the idea of getting rid of cable myself. Cable has gotten so expensive its just not worth it anymore. Theres very little I watch now. Basic tv should suffice and I can spend the extra cash on dvds, one thing in the movie/tv industry that has gone down.
I will miss TCM though. I love that channel.

My friend with what you save by dropping cable, you can buy any series that you like from TCM, which I have to say I don't even know about, since it has been so long since I watched cable or satellite, except when provided by someone else.

[Kevin8or]

If Netflix was determined to raise prices, they should have done it like this Redbox increase. They could have, should have, said to their customers: we haven't raised prices in years, but our streaming costs are rising... we're sorry, but we're hiking prices by 20% across the board. I think people would have griped about the increase but few would have actually quit. Instead Netflix tried to split the business, raise the prices, and call it a benefit to customers. Scandal!