Different price on same item because of a promo attached

[Bugaboo9601]

Just need to get this out there. Been bugging me for 2 days. At a local big chain store the exact same copies of all 4 Jason Bourne movies on dvd are double the cost all because of the promo sticker for movie cash on them. The ones without the promo are $5 each, the ones with the promo are $10 each. All the store did is put a new stickered bar code on the dvd cases. The reply I received from the customer service through Facebook was it is your choice to buy one or the other at the prices listed. I just don't get it. It's not like the store is giving the extra money to the movie company. No they are trying line their pockets further. Grrrr. End rant. As an aside I chose not to purchase either copy.

[Shwa Girl]

good that you caught the difference
if you have a public library near you, they may be lending this movie about 1 month after it leaves theaters

[bhlombardy]

Just need to get this out there. Been bugging me for 2 days. At a local big chain store the exact same copies of all 4 Jason Bourne movies on dvd are double the cost all because of the promo sticker for movie cash on them. The ones without the promo are $5 each, the ones with the promo are $10 each. All the store did is put a new stickered bar code on the dvd cases. The reply I received from the customer service through Facebook was it is your choice to buy one or the other at the prices listed. I just don't get it. It's not like the store is giving the extra money to the movie company. No they are trying line their pockets further. Grrrr. End rant. As an aside I chose not to purchase either copy.

Bugaboo: Your frustration is sound and somewhat justified... but is just a tad misdirected. Don't blame the store, blame the STUDIO (in the case Universal Pictures)


When a new movie of a given franchise comes out, it's not uncommon for the STUDIO to take advantage of the buzz surrounding it, and try and cross-capitalize on the marketing for both older catalogue titles, but also to get people out to see the new movie in theatres and generate ticket sales.

In this case Universal Pictures, wants to capture the energy of the currently captive market of Jason Bourne fans. The $8 movie cash sticker is on the disc box to help Universal generate ticket-sales at the box office, and it's a bit of a sham to inflated the ticket earnings, especially for opening week, by giving you a discount at the theatre as well.

[Aside: Paramount Pictures' Star Trek: Beyond is currently the #1 box-office holder in Canada... for the past 3 or 4 months, every Star Trek related DVD, Blu-ray, etc at retailers had a $8 coupon attached to it as well. I went to the see the movie in theatre opening week with my $8 voucher that I got... just sayin']

... All the store did is put a new stickered bar code on the dvd cases.

Actually no, the store didn't do this... see explanation below.

It's not like the store is giving the extra money to the movie company. No they are trying line their pockets further. Grrrr.

Actually, the extra money *IS* going back to the studio because they set the cost the retailer had to pay for these bundles... again, read further...


I have worked in this retail industry in the past, and I can say with 100% certainty that the store is not the one conducting the promotion, the STUDIO is the one that packaged the movies in that fashion and set the higher cost to the retailers.

During these promotions, the studio offers retailers a bundle which includes a limited number of these special-offer movie packages. They come from the studio exactly as you see them on the shelf ... with the movie ticket enclosed and the altered UPC. (*with the exception of the retailers' own price sticker on the front... those are added at the retailers respective warehouses or in the store themselves - depending on the retailer).

The studio packaged the movies with the promotional movie cash enclosed, and attached the different UPC... exactly as you see it. You will almost assuredly find this same promotion at other retailers who have chosen to order these bundles. But rest-assured the retailer (Walmart, Best Buy, etc) are not altering the packages themselves.

ALSO NOTE: The movie "Green Zone" Also starring Matt Damon, and also directed by Paul Greengrass, ALSO has the same $8 sticker for Jason Bourne in theatres... and no surprise "Green Zone" is ALSO from Universal Pictures as this is a Universal Pictures promotion.


And also note: The different UPC is in-fact required because this is a limited-time/quantity offer and it *DOES* technically have different contents (again, includes the $8 movie cash). But either way, the UPC is NOT generated by the store.

----

As I said at the top... YES your frustration is valid... but will add a "somewhat" because the promotion is still pretty good.

YES the disc and packaging *IS* identical to it's $5 counterpart, and you ARE otherwise buying the exact same copy of the disc for $10, BUT with the added bonus of the $8 movie-cash coupon enclosed.


Let's do the math...

$5 for the disc, nothing special added... Sure, if you have no intentions of going to see the new movie in theatres then buy the $5 copy.

$10 for the disc, adds an $8 movie cash... if you're going to the theatre to see the new movie anyway, that amounts to an $8 saving on your part, making the Blu-ray/DVD only $2. That's an 80% discount on the disc (or 60% if you're considering that the other copy is only $5, but it's still more than half-off)

AND... if you go to the theatre on Tuesday (to Cineplex in London, ON) -- the ticket price is only $6.99 ... with your $8 movie cash you would wind up seeing it for FREE, on Tuesday night

AND... if you opt to buy all the previous Bourne movies on disc... convince 3 of your friends to go with you to the theatre to the new film. You buy the tickets with your vouchers, and they can reimburse YOU for the tickets so you're not at a loss. Win-win-win.

[Shwa Girl]

@bhlombardy , I may be confused, but I think the store is able to change the price, no?
I saw a movie display with new releases at a grocery store's entertainment section, unpriced. I asked the department manager for the price and he could not find one using the bar code. He told me that I could get the movie for $10 'that day only'. I saw the same movie for $29.99 advertised in another store flyer. So, I think the store has some discretion on how they price movies. No?

Also Giant Tiger and other stores price movies at $2.99 and $4.99 that were originally in the $20 range. These are not new releases but have not been previously viewed.

[bhlombardy]

@bhlombardy, I may be confused, but I think the store is able to change the price, no?
I saw a movie display with new releases at a grocery store's entertainment section, unpriced. I asked the department manager for the price and he could not find one using the bar code. He told me that I could get the movie for $10 'that day only'. I saw the same movie for $29.99 advertised in another store flyer. So, I think the store has some discretion on how they price movies. No?

Also Giant Tiger and other stores price movies at $2.99 and $4.99 that were originally in the $20 range. These are not new releases but have not been previously viewed.

Technically speaking, yes, a retailer CAN change the price on any item they sell, sure. ... They can sell any item they want for any price they want... but if they want to stay in business, they dont charge LESS for an item than what they paid for it from the manufacturer. So they aren't likely going to change a price that winds up being lower than what they paid for it. The only times you see this is during times of mass-clearance, but 99% of the time, no.

However, yes, stores can drop and increase prices at will... and Bugaboo's implication in the original post was that the stores just slapped new stickers on the package, changed the UPC, and doubled the price. I'm offering clarification that this is not the case.

For these movie-money promotions, the retailers themselves aren't changing the prices. They are selling the slightly "different" item that was supplied to them based on what it cost from the manufacturer. (in this case, the only difference is the included movie-money, but that alone makes it 'different')


I can ASSURE you that the retailers are not opening movie packages, stuffing movie money in them, repackaging them, resealing them, changing the UPC, and then increasing the price. That's not how these promotions work. -- the STUDIO is doing this, however.


The studio packages the movies, with the coupon. They MUST change the UPC if the contents change (and they have with the $8 coupon), and sells them to the retailer for the cost that THEY (the studio) want to acquire during this period.


In my earlier post I used the term COST when referring to Universal Pictures and not PRICE for this reason. COST is what the store paid for the item... PRICE is what we pay for the item. (although I know a lot of people say "cost" at the retail level). -- but for all intents and purposes... the cost that Universal sells to the retailers ultimately reflects the selling price just the same...

-

Using Bugaboo's example above:

For the $5 copy of the disc... Universal sold them to the retailer at wholesale for $4 each. The retailer marks it up to $5 and make their 20% profit margin. (that's how stores stay in business)

For the $10 copy of the disc which includes the movie cash... Universal sold them to the retailer for $8 each... The retailer, still aims to makes 20% profit, so they sell it for $10.
(The retailer is NOT about to charge $5 for a copy of the disc that they paid $8 for. -- that's another reason the UPC is different)

Universal charged the retailer TWICE what the other copy costs... so UNIVERSAL is getting the extra money in lieu of the $8 voucher that comes with it.
Sure, the retailer is also doubling their profit (from $1 to $2 profit) so they have an incentive to order these promotional editions and sell them. But the lions-share of the earnings is going back to the studio.

[bhlombardy]

Also Giant Tiger and other stores price movies at $2.99 and $4.99 that were originally in the $20 range. These are not new releases but have not been previously viewed.

Yes... and usually how THIS works is that many movie studios have a buy-back agreement with the MAJOR retailers. (think Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, etc) Studios will often buy-back movies from retailers that were are no longer hot-sellers.

The idea was this: If we thought a movie was going to be a big seller on DVD/Blu-ray disc, we'd order in HUNDREDS to have in stock so we'd have them when the crowds showed up on release-day-Tuesday because we knew we could return them to the studio in 60-days or 90-days (depending on the studio and the title) and get a full rebate on those titles. But if we didnt have any on release-day, we couldn't sell them, and customers would go next door. We used to "guarantee" it was in stock on release day.

Regardless, when a big release would come out, we might have paid $20 each, and sold them for $25 or $30 each on release day.... and onward for a few weeks. and THAT would be the original price.

The Studio would then rebate us back for any titles we didnt sell and also returned to them whenever they called for them. (watch sometime in stores when you see them pulling movies OFF the shelf and boxing them... these are most likely going back to the studio for rebate). OR they'd offer us a discounted rebate for the ones we kept in stock (meaning the $20 we once paid for them, might now be $10 and we could sell them for less if we wanted.)

When the returned discs get back to the studio, overhead costs are re-assessed for that title, and the studio opts to repackage (using various methods) and resell it at a discounted price. Now Sometimes it meant bundling it with other, similar movies in say a multi-pack (eg: a Tom Cruise pack... or an Action bundle... etc) but the discs are the same ones they pulled from retailers and re-purposed. The longer time goes on, the less value these discs hold, and they may, again be recalled and repackaged. -- all in an effort for the studio to squeeze out every last dime they can for a title that isn't as hot as it once was.

Ultimately, as years go by, you wind up seeing these movies in bargain bins, grocery stores, discount stores (*like Giant Tiger), gas stations, where they have now met the end of their life. There's no more recall on these. The Studios auctioned them off in cartons containing a pot-pourri grab-bag of titles for $1 (or less) each, for these stores to sell at whatever they can fetch for them.

They were once good movies... maybe even GREAT movies, that maybe have stood the test of time, but the studio has milked every last dime they could out of them.

Also note that you will almost NEVER see huge blockbuster franchise films in these bins... including Star Wars, Marvel superheroes, Disney (almost never), Star Trek, etc... These discs are recycled and repackaged semi-annually in re-releases, repackages, and bundles because they go on FOREVER. -- unless the franchise is otherwise dead, or the studio is no longer marketing that version of the disc.

--

Lethal Weapon comes to mind. These films are classic action films form the 80s and 90s. These discs were released over time on Blu-ray around 2006 at about $25-$30 each... eventually these versions of the discs became difficult to find because Warner was planning to remaster them.

A few years later (c.2012) the re-mastered versions, in a 5-disc set came out. It had all 4 movies remastered video and audio, and a bonus disc with never before seen documentaries, etc. -- it sold for $99 in 2012. I have seen that same package for as little as $30 recently, but it's not easy to find in stores.

BUT go to any Bargain store even today, and get a slightly lesser-package, still with all four films (the original non-remastered discs from 2006) in one case, for $10.
Warner Bros has to do SOMETHING with these older discs, and that's what they've done.

Rest assured, when the alleged Lethal Weapon reboot comes out on TV (later this year, or next) you'll see yet another re-pack and re-sell of these movies yet again. Same discs, just new branding.