The DVD Ripoff

Why is it that DVD cost more to buy than VHS tapes? VHS tapes take more time and labor to create as each tape needs to be individually recorded, whereas DVD are stamped out. The same thing is true for a CD vs. a cassette tape. I suspect the reason that DVDs are more expensive is that it is viewed as being more valuable, so the actual cost savings are not passed on to the consumer. The answer is because they can.

It has been said that DVDs are saving the movie industry because now they have a means of making a profit on movies that otherwise would be a loss, yet movie ticket prices are going up all the time. It is hard to say how much of that is the Theaters, but when it gets so expensive to go to a movie (just how do they manage to get so much money for a drink and popcorn?), just why are they so surprised when people stop going to the theaters and just rent or buy movies instead. The experience tends to be better since it typically cleaner at home and often there are less annoying people.

When pre-recorded first came out the tapes and discs were very expensive, often around $80 or so, and then they found that they could make more money by reducing the price to around $20 because more people bought them. I have to wonder if they would make more money if they reduced the price of DVDs to around $5-$10 so that people would be much more willing to buy them. It would make the risk of buying an unknown movie much less risky. Some of the movies they are selling on DVDs are not of a very high quality, especially some of the older movies which look like they just recorded an old film version without even cleaning it up.