This is why I rip rather than buy from iTunes

[Alrescha]

Too bad iTunes doesn't do sales like Steam does, except with movies and tv shows. Otherwise I'd buy from them more often than physical media distributers.

iTunes does movie sales all the time. I spend ~$10 ea on my movie purchases.

I agree that in general, iTunes prices are too high. That's not Apple's fault.

A.

 

[bruinsrme]

There's another way of looking at it though. We used to buy loads of DVDs back in the day but the majority only ever got watched once, and a minority twice. I would rather rent movies for $10 a time and never have to keep them now. If you only watch the movie once it's much cheaper, and if you only ever watch it twice it's only a small amount more. Plus you don't need to worry about ripping and storage. That is quite convenient IMO. The biggest drawback with that model is that movies have a habit of disappearing from iTunes and so are no longer available for rental, so it's far from perfect.

i bought Wall-e years ago. I wish I kept count on how many times I have had to have the itunes support team reassociate the movie to my account.

Funny thing is I know exactly where my copy of the DVD is.

 

[brentsg]

He's not comparing the price of those films to the price of content in iTunes in general, but the price of those films compared to the price of the same films in iTunes. So no, it's not silly. It's a perfectly valid comparison.

Going through "discount bins" is always a good idea, sometimes you find a movie you really like, sometimes you find something you'd forgotten about, sometimes you find something you've had a hard time finding before... Ignoring these types of deals because "no one wants those movies" is just being plain stupid.

You're missing the point. It doesn't matter that he's comparing those same films. It matters that discount bin films are being used to draw a comparison to iTunes pricing. Of course the discount films are cheaper, they are being dumped. They are taking up physical space in the retail environment and they need to go away. With iTunes, there is no physical entity to get rid of, so there is no incentive to have a closeout price.

That's like me finding a brand new car on the lot that's a horrible color, has bad options, and is last year's stock. Just because I can get a super great deal on this one doesn't mean it make it a great example to demonstrate how all the new cars are overpriced.

Nor did I say that bargain bins should be ignored.. I simply disagreed with the comparison. Heck, I've never bought an iTunes movie.. probably never will. I prefer to buy Blu-rays, make my own "digital copy", and upload it to my media server. I don't care about the pricing. I care about the quality and control of my media.

 

[GGJstudios]

It matters that discount bin films are being used to draw a comparison to iTunes pricing. Of course the discount films are cheaper, they are being dumped.

Read my earlier post.

 

[hafr]

You're missing the point. It doesn't matter that he's comparing those same films. It matters that discount bin films are being used to draw a comparison to iTunes pricing. Of course the discount films are cheaper, they are being dumped. They are taking up physical space in the retail environment and they need to go away. With iTunes, there is no physical entity to get rid of, so there is no incentive to have a closeout price.

I understand the concept of clearing stock and the difference between digital and physical storage space, but it doesn't make it an invalid comparison. He said he can buy movies cheaper in a brick-and-mortar store, and that's why he'll keep on buying his films there instead of in iTunes.

That's like me finding a brand new car on the lot that's a horrible color, has bad options, and is last year's stock. Just because I can get a super great deal on this one doesn't mean it make it a great example to demonstrate how all the new cars are overpriced.

So comparing the price of a movie at Best Buy with the price of the same movie in iTunes is like comparing the price of an old, cheap car with the general price level of new cars? On the subject of missing the point, I'd like to say you're the one missing it.

I don't care about the pricing.

That could be the reason why you're not getting the whole price comparison argument...

 

[brentsg]

I understand the concept of clearing stock and the difference between digital and physical storage space, but it doesn't make it an invalid comparison. He said he can buy movies cheaper in a brick-and-mortar store, and that's why he'll keep on buying his films there instead of in iTunes.


So comparing the price of a movie at Best Buy with the price of the same movie in iTunes is like comparing the price of an old, cheap car with the general price level of new cars? On the subject of missing the point, I'd like to say you're the one missing it.

I guess if you're willing to wait for new release movies to be yesterday's news then it's a fine comparison. But how does it hold up when you want to see something that just came out? That's certain to level the playing field. It's one thing to build an argument based upon clearance stock. I just don't think it's representative of that big picture.

And the car analogy was fine. In both cases it's comparing a one-off scenario of older product that a retailer just wants to make go away to something that's in a non-discounted state that a retailer has little incentive to discount.

 

[spacedcadet]

rental

We just rent Blu-ray movies from Lovefilm.com on release for £2 a time. Free postage, no late return fees, keep disk as long as you like, no monthly subscription.

I rarely would want to watch a film more than once so don't see the point of buying them.

 

[GGJstudios]

I guess if you're willing to wait for new release movies to be yesterday's news then it's a fine comparison. But how does it hold up when you want to see something that just came out?

It appears you're ignoring my earlier post, where I described the same scenario with new releases. iTunes pricing doesn't hold up even then.

 

[hafr]

I guess if you're willing to wait for new release movies to be yesterday's news then it's a fine comparison. But how does it hold up when you want to see something that just came out? That's certain to level the playing field. It's one thing to build an argument based upon clearance stock. I just don't think it's representative of that big picture.

He was talking about his personal preferences, nothing more. And if you look at the titles, I'm guessing he's not that bothered with having to wait a few weeks (have you read GGJstudios' post?) on a title he wants to see.

And the car analogy was fine. In both cases it's comparing a one-off scenario of older product that a retailer just wants to make go away to something that's in a non-discounted state that a retailer has little incentive to discount.

He was comparing the prices of the same movies between different retailers, not the general price level of new movies with the price of an old movie. Therefore the analogy is invalid.

----------

We just rent Blu-ray movies from Lovefilm.com on release for £2 a time. Free postage, no late return fees, keep disk as long as you like, no monthly subscription.

I rarely would want to watch a film more than once so don't see the point of buying them.

Do they have any special protection, or could you hypothetically rip all the movies?

 

[Scarpad]

I've just learned to never buy blu ray's when they first come out, if you can wait a month or two they drop substantially, buying used is another way of doing it. Never buy anything at full price anymore

 

[CrAkD]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

What does it matter what content it is? Business model? Who cares. I want cheap content that I like and iTunes can't compete for that specific thing. I don't care why they can't compete. I don't care about clearance. Non clearance on sale off sale. I don't need movies to live so it's either I buy them
at the price I think is fair or I don't buy them at all.

 

[Bobioden]

Has nobody ever heard of Redbox. Blueray and SD movies for $1 rental.

 

[GGJstudios]

Has nobody ever heard of Redbox. Blueray and SD movies for $1 rental.

I know many do, but I don't like the idea of paying every time I watch a movie. By the time I'd watched it 4 or 5 times, which isn't much, I could own it.

 

[starkmj]

I've just learned to never buy blu ray's when they first come out, if you can wait a month or two they drop substantially, buying used is another way of doing it. Never buy anything at full price anymore

That's funny..many times I've found the opposite. I've found that when the movie first comes out, it's on sale many times at Target and Best buy. A month or two later, it's full price.

 

[elpmas]

Is it 10 movies? Looks like 9 to me :S
The good thing about buying it from iTunes is that it saves room

 

[WebHead]

Regardless of whether it's a valid comparison, I don't think they should be charging as much for a non-physical product with no manufacturing or distribution costs (and Apple picks up the bandwidth). Same for e-books and e-magazines.

 

[elpmas]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; ADR6300 Build/FRF91) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

Regardless of whether it's a valid comparison, I don't think they should be charging as much for a non-physical product with no manufacturing or distribution costs (and Apple picks up the bandwidth). Same for e-books and e-magazines.

Yes its overpriced, but wouldn't this set the tone for the future? Eventually many of these things (movies, ebook, etc) will become digital/cloud. So why not set the price now, rather than do a mark up and get flamed on?

 

[dejo]

Has nobody ever heard of Redbox. Blueray and SD movies for $1 rental.

Blu-ray rentals cost $1.50/day from Redbox.

 

[Primejimbo]

Is it 10 movies? Looks like 9 to me :S
The good thing about buying it from iTunes is that it saves room

I also like the fact you can re-down load them also if you need too. You scratch the physical disk, you're SOL. I been finding that the music on iTunes been cheaper for the stuff I want. The stores been $2-3.00 more with iTunes and that doesn't include gas going to the store.

Regardless of whether it's a valid comparison, I don't think they should be charging as much for a non-physical product with no manufacturing or distribution costs (and Apple picks up the bandwidth). Same for e-books and e-magazines.

The cost of servers, electric to run the servers, cooling them, the electric to cool them. The money for the rent/own that the building the servers are on, property taxes, People to maintain the servers, and other stuff. All that adds up. You're also probably paying a covenant tax also. Getting it from iTunes, you don't have to drive someplace and waste gas.

----------

Has nobody ever heard of Redbox. Blueray and SD movies for $1 rental.

Blu-ray rentals cost $1.50/day from Redbox.

Actually Redbox is $1.20 a day (they went up) and I think you're right about the cost of Blu-Ray

I know many do, but I don't like the idea of paying every time I watch a movie. By the time I'd watched it 4 or 5 times, which isn't much, I could own it.

Who keeps the movie for more than 2 nights at the most??

 

[pedz]

Not sure where people are seeing $10 for rentals (except for pre-releases, which is fair).

I am thinking of switching from ripping to purchasing on iTunes now that the cloud is here and found this thread interesting. I definitely assume iTunes is more expensive (and I think over time it should come down), but I am willing to pay an early premium.

Out of curiosity I did a random comparison of the featured movies on iTunes vs Amazon (which I often find to have the lowest prices, though I know there are probably many better places to get things cheaper). Below is a list of the purchase price at each for comparison. This isn't meant to be scientific or perfect in anyway, just thought it was interesting.
(everything is HD/Blu Ray unless specified, didn't distinguish 720p/1080p, n/a-not available for purchase)

New/recent releases:
Descendants – n/a - $20
My Week With Marilyn - $20 - $20
The Three Musketeers - $20 - $20
Happy Feet 2 – n/a - $20
Jack and Jill - $18 - $20
Footloose - $20 - $22
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - $20 - $20
Young Adult - $20 - $20
Like Crazy - $20 - $26.50
Melancholia - $20 - $18.50
Hugo - $20 - $25
Puss in Boots - $20 - $27.50
Tower Heist - $20 - $25
Immortals - $20 - $23
The Skin I Live In - $18 - $20
Senna - $20 - $15.50 (DVD only)
Riseup - $13 – n/a
Johnny English Reborn - $20 - $15
In the Land of Blood and Honey - $18 - $25
J. Edgar – n/a - $20
TinTin - $20 - $22
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (Pre order) - $20 - $22
Game of Thrones Season 1 (Pre order) - $39 - $44 (i know this it not typical)

Observations: Looks like iTunes actually fares pretty well on new releases. I thought I would be able to do better on newer releases, but in almost all cases they were either the same or iTunes is cheaper. iTunes seems to cap the price at $20.

Amazon specials (thought it would be interesting to see how they compare for some of the movies amazon has on special):
Harry Potter (8 movie series) – $85 (sold individually-SD only) - $80
Gone With the Wind – rental only - $13
Sherlock Holmes – rental only - $13
Fringe Season 3 - $50 - $30
Sucker Punch - $15 (SD) - $14
2001: A Space Odyssey – rental only - $10
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – ($20 for SD trilogy only) - $9.50
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – ($20 for SD trilogy only) - $9
The Hangover – rental only - $12
The Big Bang Theory: 4th Season - $30 - $30

Observations: This is very interesting, looks like most of the movies on special at Amazon are not available for purchase in iTunes. I also checked a lot of other movies but didn't bother listing them, and in every case they were not available for purchase in iTunes (maybe there is some correlation between movies being blocked in iTunes and Amazon putting them on special). I have to assume this is licensing related, which is really ridiculous, why would they let you buy the disc but not the digital version. Also have to assume that will eventually get resolved and we will be able to buy these movies (there are plenty of other older movies you can buy on iTunes). And given iTunes has specials too I will hope they might offer some over time.

Looks like if you want newer movies there is no harm in going with iTunes. For older movies the selection is obviously much more limited and you will miss out on specials, hopefully that will improve with time. The other big difference is extras, which I don't care about but I know many people do. Again hopefully that too gets resolved eventually. Overall though it was not as bad as I expected for iTunes, gives me some hope.

 

[darster]

Another way to save money on blu ray is to find discounts on Amazon.uk. Yes, you can buy them from the US and sometimes they will actually shipped from the UK for free if you have amazon prime. Just takes a a few days longer and many times is a little cheaper than buying from Amazon in the US. Just make sure they are region free and I usually just check on the following site. http://regionfreemovies.com/

Actually just checked, and Amazon.UK will even tell whether they are region free in the list of movies.

I have bought several movies. Bought Bourne Trilogy almost a year ago that was $20 cheaper than what was sold in US. Amazon.UK will convert to $US before you buy so you know the price ahead of time. That way you can compare.

 

[TheNewDude]

What's the best way to rip these blu rays?? I have a few I want to put on my iPad but how do I do it??

 

[urkel]

Those are in the discount bin for a reason. Nobody will buy them so they have to dump the stock.

Perhaps iTunes is expensive but it's silly to compare to close out junk.

If those titles are "close out junk" then why do they still cost $20 on iTunes?

It seems you are missing the point entirely. It's not about the quality of the movie, it's about how the pricing structure for digital download is so rigid that bargain bins CANT exist.

 

[hafr]

Regardless of whether it's a valid comparison, I don't think they should be charging as much for a non-physical product with no manufacturing or distribution costs (and Apple picks up the bandwidth). Same for e-books and e-magazines.

I wonder what the profit margin is on a physical sale vs. a digital sale. I mean, it's not like the difference is manufacturing and distribution...

 

[Rideherhard]

in the Canadian store I found South Park in HD WAY cheaper than blu ray at futureshop..