×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
How is section 23 selling anime so cheap?




Anime News Network Forum Index -> Industry -> Retail
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
potatochobit



Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 1373
Location: TEXAS
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 12:50 am Reply with quote
I don't know if it is just me, but anime keeps getting cheaper
how is this possible? I know some of the titles are obscure but I don't mean older shows, I am talking about new releases.

35$ seems to be the new common price. I frequently buy titles at sales for around 25$ and I even bought cuticle detective inaba on blu-ray for 9$ after discounts from frys.

I just don't know what has changed? The recession? Larger customer base? Too much competition? What exactly is forcing anime prices down so much because I really don't know.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Sohma_Curse



Joined: 07 Dec 2012
Posts: 512
Location: New York
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 6:15 am Reply with quote
TBQH, wholesale prices on DVDs/blu rays is a lot cheaper than you'd expect; especially when retailers buy in large quantities. Retail markup can be anywhere from 3-5 times the wholesale price (and sometimes higher). Selling some things at or just above wholesale price gives customers incentive to continue purchasing other media with you, thus making up the difference.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime
Dfens



Joined: 08 Feb 2013
Posts: 459
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 1:29 pm Reply with quote
Actually Anime prices have been the same for the last couple of years. It all depends on the retailer to decide which price to set. Ever since I started using RightStuf exclusively for the last 4-5 years I've found them to have the lowest prices when they are having a sale especially their yearly black friday/12 days of Christmas sale.

Take that Cuticle Detective set you bought right now it's 44.99 on Rightstuf but on sale it would be about 41.99 or less. But for whatever reason Frys has the same item for 17.99 plus tax. That may be a temporary thing or because it isn't a hit title and that's why the price is so low but every now and then if you shop around a better deal for 1 or 2 titles will come up.

Or lets look at Highschool of the Dead on Blu-Ray Frys has it for 41.99 plus tax not a bad price. Rightstuf it's 52.49 right now but on their Sentai sale it would be the same price as Frys 41.99 no tax and if you order another 8 dollars of stuff free shipping. Plus if you have a member ship like I do it drops the price down 10 percent to a final price of 37.79 so a savings over Frys of 7.87

But I paid 25 dollars for my copy during the last Christmas sale so I saved over 20 dollars.

Still every now and then rarely can you beat RightStuf. One title I bought off Amazon was over 8 dollars cheaper even with sales tax so I got it their instead.

From what I've seen most Sentai titles are 34.99 for the DVD version and 41.99 for the Blu-Ray copy when on sale. Same price for Funimation 34.99 for the regular combo pack and 41.99 for the LE if available.

You are not going to really get any cheaper than these prices unless you buy them used off say Ebay or something.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
OldCharlieStoletheHandle



Joined: 12 Dec 2009
Posts: 1288
Location: Mastic Beach, NY
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 7:15 pm Reply with quote
A funny thing I've noticed is that Amazon never seems to have good sale prices on Sentai/Section23 titles, yet I have gotten some FUNimation titles at better prices than Right Stuf from them. Conversely, Deep Discount sometimes has Sentai titles really cheap (and Bandai before they went the way of the dodo) but I haven't really seen any impressively low prices on FUNimation titles there. Also with Deep Discount, if you notice them having some kind of sale on Warner Bros. titles be sure to check Viz titles as they are sometimes included (as WB does their DVD/BD distribution).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
jmfsilenthill



Joined: 31 Aug 2009
Posts: 1863
Location: Chinese cartoons are srs biz
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 7:18 pm Reply with quote
I don't see how it's so cheap. They charge around the same as Funimation and Viz, only offering worse value for your money.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
jlaking



Joined: 02 Mar 2008
Posts: 224
PostPosted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 4:23 pm Reply with quote
It could be them getting rid of some overstocked titles.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime
Sohma_Curse



Joined: 07 Dec 2012
Posts: 512
Location: New York
PostPosted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 7:09 pm Reply with quote
jlaking wrote:
It could be them getting rid of some overstocked titles.


Most Sentai/S23 titles are ALWAYS around $30-35 for blu rays on sites like dvdplanet, deepdiscount, rakuten, etc, even during pre-orders. Whereas TRSI's regular (sale) prices for the same titles range from $42-52+. The only time TRSI comes close to the less expensive retailer's prices is during their holiday sales. Even their Sentai-specific sale only brings the blu ray prices down to about $37 (and that's with the additional 10% Got Anime discount).

Whatever the case, by knowing when and where to shop for certain items, you should never be paying more than $40 for a Sentai title with 13 episodes or less 11 months out of the year. During the holidays, that number drops to $20-30.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime
Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 2:05 am Reply with quote
Sohma_Curse wrote:

Whatever the case, by knowing when and where to shop for certain items, you should never be paying more than $40 for a Sentai title with 13 episodes or less 11 months out of the year. During the holidays, that number drops to $20-30.


With every release by Funimation or Sentai, it's a matter of how long you're willing to wait. Since Funimation has two budget lines, you won't get the savings as you do with Sentai with all of their newest releases; only select titles for the oddest of reasons.

Once they go into Classic and SAVE releases, Sentai's prices can't even come close. But regardless, it is a numbers game; Sentai manipulates sale prices directly while Funimation only twiddles around with the MSRP as a title can drop twenty dollars without warning and with no new release. With already in stock merchandise, there's no way that should happen.

I can imagine what Sentai does but as for Funimation, I don't know.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Crisha
Moderator


Joined: 21 Apr 2010
Posts: 4290
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:37 am Reply with quote
I won't purchase from DVD Planet or Deep Discount, especially not during the holidays. I have bought from DD before (not during a holiday sale) and wasn't impressed with the packaging or customer service. I'd rather pay more and give Right Stuf my service.

I mostly tend to wait for holiday sales to buy Sentai/Section 23 titles anyways. I'll pre-order Funi, NISA, Nozomi, and AoA releases I really want, but Sentai's releases are usually lacking for me to feel the need to pre-order or order soon after release.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Industry -> Retail All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group