Is DVD media going up in price?

[Bob W]

I noticed on pricewatch that the price for the cheapest DVD-R went from $0.61 to $0.68 each (100 pack). For whatever reason I expected it to come down since more and more DVD burners are being sold every day. I know for a fact my local BestBuy and CompUSA sell the burners as fast as they come in as they are always out of stock.

[Faustus]

The price of the plastics and inks that are used to make them varies much like RAM prices. Because of this sometimes the price creaps up, sometimes down. Also you have to remember there can sometimes be a supply/demand issue and people will raise the prices when they feel they can get away with it. More and more are needed everyday and new production lines take time to be converted from CD-R lines.

[boss]

The price of the plastics and inks that are used to make them varies much like RAM prices.

Exactly. And what is plastic created from? OIL! most of the world's oil is produced in the middle east. there is currently a war going on there... Get the picture?

[Faustus]

mmm... oil, teacher, mother, secret lover. ahum... sorry about that.

[oldfart13]

Although it has been fluctuating of late, oil per barrel is down from what it was pre-attack ($28 vs. $33). Gas prices at the pump where I am have gone down 5 cents per litre in the past 4 days, so that's probably not it...

Could be a lot of other factors though, including shipping, various wholesale costs, fluctuating currencies, raw materials, etc. They all contribute...

Oh yes...did I mention GREED? that also fits in sometimes...

[ecmcdougall]

Err....

How about that supply/demand curve? You yourself (oldfart13 - love that monicker) note that the BURNERS are going like hotcakes - that means more demand for the media.... and thus the price rises!

IMHO, I really don't think that a few pennies more per ton of plastic pellets, especially in the short term, will affect the price of the product. Production costs (equipment, labour, etc.) usually constitute the bulk of the actual cost to produce the product; the raw material costs are usually insignificant (4-8 cents/unit, I once heard reported for CD-R).

On a related note:
I heard rumors (over the last month) that there was a severe shortage of DVD-R media recently - anyone know whether there is any truth to this? I did note that my local CompUSA and BestBuy were out of stock for an extended period of time....

ECM

[mkrayz]

yes there has been.. but it's mostly noticeable for DVD-R's

frankly, this is where you're going to see the market shift and where it's being more standardized.. i love this economy because we as consumers are the ones deciding who succeeds.. eventually DVD-R/RW will be the standard

anyhows to my point.. the reason you see the jump of dvd-r media from .69c a media to about $1.00 each is simple supply and demand.. because of the amount of dvd-r burners being sold.. there's been a recent surge and spike of people buying dvd-r media whihc has created an emergency in terms of supply.. there's a shortage of dvd-r media

simply put: there's not enough.. hence the price hike

[Nolonemo]

And eventually supply will catch up with and outstrip demand. Eventually it'll end up like CD-Rs, where you can now get a spindle of 100 name brand for under $10 after rebate. I remember paying $3 a pop for gold CD-Rs some years ago.

[DvdHeader]

I don't want to digress in a socio/economic/free enterprise/democratic capitalistic debate but I've always been taught that the price of a new product is high when released for the first time and as the product becomes more in demand the price tends to drop since it can be produced (and sold) in large quantities.

mkrayz wrote:

anyhows to my point.. the reason you see the jump of dvd-r media from .69c a media to about $1.00 each is simple supply and demand.. because of the amount of dvd-r burners being sold.. there's been a recent surge and spike of people buying dvd-r media whihc has created an emergency in terms of supply.. there's a shortage of dvd-r media

simply put: there's not enough.. hence the price hike

Well IMHO, I don't see why hiking the price of a product can solve the lack of supply. You wont be able to produce more DVD-R because you increase its retail price. The real reason is simply because since I'd say the early 80's the companies and its minions(e.g. shareholders) are becoming more and more greedy and they hike the price of any product as soon as they see an opportunity to do so for whatever the reason they can invent.

Why not just put the said product in a BO status (back order) until the supply problem is resolve and sell it at the same reasonnable price as before. Of course that would be too simple.

And let's not forget that we're not buying gold or diamonds here which are limited resources on our planet.

[mkrayz]

I don't want to digress in a socio/economic/free enterprise/democratic capitalistic debate but I've always been taught that the price of a new product is high when released for the first time and as the product becomes more in demand the price tends to drop since it can be produced (and sold) in large quantities.

Well IMHO, I don't see why hiking the price of a product can solve the lack of supply. You wont be able to produce more DVD-R because you increase its retail price. The real reason is simply because since I'd say the early 80's the companies and its minions(e.g. shareholders) are becoming more and more greedy and they hike the price of any product as soon as they see an opportunity to do so for whatever the reason they can invent.

Why not just put the said product in a BO status (back order) until the supply problem is resolve and sell it at the same reasonnable price as before. Of course that would be too simple.

And let's not forget that we're not buying gold or diamonds here which are limited resources on our planet.

while it's true that there is a certain greediness involved in hiking prices (not just in dvd-r media).. simply put.. supply and demand.. if you can't grasp that concept, i don't have the time to explain it

the amount of dvd-r/rw burners that have been sold and the people gobbling up dvd-r media has created a SHORTAGE in dvd-r medias, that is why they raised the price

greediness is not the primary factor.. this isn't a "Bait and Switch".. the demand has created a shortage and that's the reason of the increase.. id on't like it either but hey, it happened

i got my dvd burner around january, bought 100pk 1x LEDA media at .69c a media ($69 total)

right now? the same brand/bulk is priced at .99c a media

just gotta deal with it.. economics

[Faustus]

In the "Flaystus: Why I Pay so damned much" class you all get a A.
Moral: It may seem like its too far off but all too soon we'll be buying these things truely on the cheap.

[jacknjt]

you all are wrong. dvd-r goes up becasue more ppl buying dvd+rs and less and less ppl buys dvd-r so it goes up. the more they sell the cheaper it gets. as for dvd-r, it looks like it gona goes up more. good luck dvd-r ppl.

[oldfart13]

Hmmm...guess you haven't been reading the Best Buy posts for today. The sale started last week at Best Buy (USA) and sold out all their -Rs while the +Rs are sitting on the shelves all over the place. Up where I am, the -Rs are outselling the +Rs 5 to 1 but that may also be because

1) The +/- burners are in low supply.

2) The +/- burners cost more than the -R burners.

For the record, the places that sell the media have Verbatims (at least) at the same price for + and - so it's not about price...

[jacknjt]

bestbuy knows that they gona sell more +r medias than -r that y they didnot stock up the -rs so there arent that much of -rs so they gone pretty quick. it that simple.

[mkrayz]

bestbuy knows that they gona sell more +r medias than -r that y they didnot stock up the -rs so there arent that much of -rs so they gone pretty quick. it that simple.

..and Madonna is still a virgin 8)

[eatin sammiches for lunch]

Although it has been fluctuating of late, oil per barrel is down from what it was pre-attack ($28 vs. $33). Gas prices at the pump where I am have gone down 5 cents per litre in the past 4 days, so that's probably not it...

Could be a lot of other factors though, including shipping, various wholesale costs, fluctuating currencies, raw materials, etc. They all contribute...

Oh yes...did I mention GREED? that also fits in sometimes...

Really, gas prices have dropped in your area...I'm curious to where u live.

where I live regular unleaded is $2.25/gallon and the premium grade is like $2.50/gallon

But I live in los angeles, California