When streamed-only versions are more expensive than physical versions (e.g. films on DVD)

[mikeymikec]

IMO it's absolutely nuts for say Amazon to have say a film available to watch online in streamed form for a higher price than a physical copy of the film that I can watch with quite a bit more flexibility.

My question is, are there people here who would generally (I say generally rather than picking some obscure scenario as far as most people are concerned) quite willingly pay more for a streamed-only version for say a film than getting a cheaper DVD/Blu-Ray?

I can see a potential argument similar to my feelings about ebooks (that I generally try to avoid physical books now because I'm trying to save on physical space, and I find it far more convenient to read books on my phone anywhere), though even then it galls me to find an ebook that's more expensive than the physical version.

 

[paperfist]

Sometimes convenience trumps intelligence or how I saved time by swallowing the higher price pill in exchange for not searching for the better deal.

 

[William Gaatjes]

Well, if it is a really expensive movie that made a jump in movie goodness like avatar did, i can imagine that the price can be higher than a normal movie but that is for me understandable when the movie studio themselves stream it. But in any case, since we already pay the internet provider for the connection between the streaming service and our pc, i find it madness that a streaming site asks more for the streaming version than the physical copy.
With ebooks it is the same thing.
I can understand that the streaming service needs to pay for the rental or purchase of the streaming server hardware.
It is strange now that i think of it, perhaps because of movie streaming sites, the dvd production companies might have a price war to stay afloat.
And that may be why a dvd is cheaper. Blueray, i doubt it because of the higher image quality but might be the same.

 

[mikeymikec]

Example: Suicide Squad

Amazon Video: £8.99
DVD: £4.99
BR: £8.00

 

[Rifter]

Yeah i never stream much unless i need it NOW. Otherwise i order the blu ray.

 

[nakedfrog]

The weird thing for me is when a physical CD is cheaper than the MP3 version, especially when it features AutoRip.

 

[Red Storm]

Example: Suicide Squad

Amazon Video: £8.99
DVD: £4.99
BR: £8.00

Between those options, I could only watch via Amazon Video. I don't have a DVD or BR player (and I bet there's a ton of people like me), so in that sense I can see why the streaming method is more expensive.

 

[KB]

It happens with books too. The physical book is sometimes cheaper than the kindle price. Its like the ticketmaster convienence fee, pure profit. Lucky for me I like physical media books more anyhow.

 

[FeuerFrei]

The weird thing for me is when a physical CD is cheaper than the MP3 version, especially when it features AutoRip.

Yeah.
IF the cd is near the price of the download, I'll get the cd every time I want an entire album. Kind of depends on how many tracks I want though. But even if I only want 4 tracks I can sometimes buy a used disc for $5 or so. It's kind of Amazon's fault for selling 226-256kbps VBR encodes. If you want it done right you've got to do it yourself, I guess.

 

[balloonshark]

I usually buy a bunch of movies during the holidays on sale. In December I bought Suicide Squad extended edtion blu-ray/dvd/digital for $6 US. I always opt for physical and most of the time they come with digital copies anyways. It's insane for people to pay $5 on sale for digital only as it is why the prices stay high. I'll keep buying $4 to $6 blu-rays on sale.

 

[bbhaag]

Maybe Amazon and services like theirs has to pay a higher royalty fee for the same content. Traditional content providers hate any type of new services with a passion so maybe they charge places like Amazon or Netflix more for their content so then of course that cost gets passed onto the end user/consumer.

 

[mikeymikec]

It's kind of Amazon's fault for selling 226-256kbps VBR encodes. If you want it done right you've got to do it yourself, I guess.

Huh. The one time I bought an Amazon MP3, it was 128kbps.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Huh. The one time I bought an Amazon MP3, it was 128kbps.

Damn, son, I don't know what to say ...
Now that you mention it, I see some Amazon-sourced mp3s at 195,197,199 bitrates in my collection.
Guess I should hit up CDbaby whenever possible - they do 320kbps but their mp3 tagging is sorely jacked up. I have to do major surgery on the tags often.

 

[mikeymikec]

Damn, son, I don't know what to say ...

I'd be interested if anyone on this forum from say the US gets the same result (in terms of bitrate). Search for and buy: Heart - Stairway to Heaven (it's live at the Kennedy Center Honors for Led Zeppelin). I got it for 99p.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I'd be interested if anyone on this forum from say the US gets the same result (in terms of bitrate). Search for and buy: Heart - Stairway to Heaven (it's live at the Kennedy Center Honors for Led Zeppelin). I got it for 99p.

Ok, I took you up on the experiment. I live in Texas. Looked up Heart's cover at the Kennedy Center on Amazon.com. Downloaded said track just now for $1.29. It's 243 kbps VBR mp3.
Granted, it wasn't on Amazon.co.uk ...

 

[Cozarkian]

It's made me buy fewer movies and when I do, it is always a physical copy with a digital HD code.

Keep in mind while you view the physical media as something extra you get, to the store, the physical copy is something that takes up space on their storage shelves. Companies want High turnover of physical inventory, so they sell the physical copies cheaper because they want to use that space for something else.

 

[mikeymikec]

Ok, I took you up on the experiment. I live in Texas. Looked up Heart's cover at the Kennedy Center on Amazon.com. Downloaded said track just now for $1.29. It's 243 kbps VBR mp3.
Granted, it wasn't on Amazon.co.uk ...

Eeek, mea culpa! I just ran the mp3 through Winamp and sure enough, VBR. It was VLC that reported it as 128kbps. Really sorry!

 

[purbeast0]

I personally would take a physical copy over a digital copy 100% of the time. I've never purchased a digital video and don't plan on doing it as long as streaming services don't surpass bluray in both video and sound quality. I use Redbox very often because streamed versions can't even compare video/audio quality wise. Video is close, but audio is not.

 

[mikeymikec]

I personally would take a physical copy over a digital copy 100% of the time. I've never purchased a digital video and don't plan on doing it as long as streaming services don't surpass bluray in both video and sound quality. I use Redbox very often because streamed versions can't even compare video/audio quality wise. Video is close, but audio is not.

Mostly me too, but my reasons have different personal priorities, the highest on the list being ownership of what I've bought. Every company dies (or gets bought out), or departments/projects/services are shut down, and I want to be able to continue owning my staff after that happens. Ebooks are the only digital-only media I purchase as a general rule atm, and only when I can convert them to an open format that I can do with and back up as I please.

 

[purbeast0]

Mostly me too, but my reasons have different personal priorities, the highest on the list being ownership of what I've bought. Every company dies (or gets bought out), or departments/projects/services are shut down, and I want to be able to continue owning my staff after that happens. Ebooks are the only digital-only media I purchase as a general rule atm, and only when I can convert them to an open format that I can do with and back up as I please.

Well yeah that is definitely it too. Any video game I can buy on disc or digital I go disc 100% of the time if the prices are the same or it's not dirt cheap on digital but expensive on disc.

 

[lxskllr]

I prefer digital cause it takes less room. I buy Amazon digital as a last resort(and I mean *last*) due to the shitty encodes. I much prefer bandcamp since I can get flac. Amazon would get more of my money if they improved their rips.

 

[justoh]

How do you own a raw copy unless you buy the disc? You get the most bits for your money that way, even if they're so-called redundant. You could just store raw files on a server, transcode and stream as needed. Easy fix.

 

[paperfist]

How do you own a raw copy unless you buy the disc? You get the most bits for your money that way, even if they're so-called redundant. You could just store raw files on a server, transcode and stream as needed. Easy fix.

This is were old age comes in. I started to rip my CDs at least 6 times and gave up. Yup, I caved and bought them twice, but I'm not a slave any longer to the ripping process.