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Re: [ARSCLIST] Good idea, dumb business model so far -- soapbox
At 02:37 PM 2/12/2009, Bob O wrote:
Put a $5 DVD in front of them and a $12 CD, and they will take the
DVD every time. Same thing happened when VHS tapes were selling
for $10 and CDs $15-plus
How do you explain the fact that Walmart was paying around $6 for
those CDs that they were selling for $15 and not reducing the price
until people started buying?
You'd have to ask Wal-Mart. I only know what I'm seeing, and I see
the audio CDs aren't moving.
Something new I noticed this last trip were three CD sets selling for
$16 in a decorative tin of the various oldie compilations. In a few
months, I'll be able to tell you if they are moving. If they are
covered in dust, I'll notice it.
What's real is that people aren't buying music. There is no evidence
that this is a question of price. My personal belief is that it's
most likely a question of quality. A lot of people in both the tech
sector and the record business don't want to hear that.
What if it's both a question of price *and* quality? If shops are
able to sell best-buy oldies for $1 over list, doesn't that mean the
perceived value of those CDs is higher? China proved to us that you
can sell useless junk if it is priced cheaply enough. Perhaps that
which passes for new music from the major labels needs to sell for
$2/unit? (what was it Mrs. Sinatra said when told her son stuffed
two dollars in a certain author's wine glass?)