Recession, what recession? CBS/Paramount prices

[Wambaugh]

I have noticed a lot of new pre-orders coming from CBS/Paramount with prices that can only be described as mad. Most of their upcoming pre-orders have RRPs of £34.99, prices of around £24.99 - and we're talking 3 disc sitcos. I know sometimes prices drop before the products come out, but these prices would really be taking the biscuit. What on earth have they been smoking? To think adding £10 to the average price (and to the RRP) of their DVDs during a recession would be a good idea, it's barking mad.

Here are examples:
King of Queens: Season 6
Sabrina, The Teenage Witch: Season 5
Everybody Hates Chris: Season 3
There are some dramas which suffered the same thing (Dynasty, Diagnosis Murder) but I'm inclined to think those prices are more reasonable for a drama.

All of those listed abovehave had RRPs of £24.99 of late, selling for around £10 less, now they have RRPs of £34.99, and sell for around £10 less. What on earth would posess them to think that doing this in a recession would be wise?

These prices are insane, and they're pretty new. Some of the DVDs being released this month do not suffer this crazy pricing, but their upcoming products for July and later are insanely priced. It's not just that, some of them have fewer discs than usual - no doubt impacting quality.

DVD prices haven't been like that for ages, in my experience. Most studios wouldn't dream of selling a sitcom for those prices. What are these people thinking?

[PoochJD]

Hi,

I can't give you any answer as to why CBS/Paramount have such high RRP (Recommended Retail Prices) prices, but all I can say, is that they are notorious for doing this, with many releases.

It's happened on releases of shows like CHARMED, THE TWILIGHT ZONE (old version), THE TWILIGHT ZONE (1980's version), and many, many others. For some reason, they are happy to:

1) Set the RRP's ridiculously high, at the start

2) Keep the RRP's higher than many other companies,

3) And then have the cheek to put on the back of many of these titles that "Some changes may have been made compared to the original broadcast versions" (or words to that effect), meaning you can't guarantee that what you are buying, is what you originally saw on TV.

Ultimately, they are free to charge what they want, but it won't help bring them sales from Joe and Jane Public!


Pooch