No, I would not like to pay twice as much for a DVD
Here’s a little something about me you should know: I love movies. But more than that, I love collecting them. So when Frost/Nixon came out yesterday, you can bet I was at the store picking up my widescreen copy. My store of choice is Best Buy – not only for selection, but unbeatable price. New releases for $15 bucks. So while I was in line, I got to thinking – is anyone shopping at those mall movie and music stores anymore? And if so, what possible reason could they have for doing so?
You know the stores I’m talking about right? The ones where you go in and see 16-year old after 16-year old hogging the ‘listen now’ machines, checking out the latest band that will end up sucking three months from now. The ones with Scarface and Reservoir Dogs framed posters up on the wall (and by frames, I mean the plastic surrounded by flimsy black aluminum). The ones where the clerks are so into music and movies that they’ve lost all ability to function in a normal social situation.
Now, let me stop here and explain something. I’m a writer by trade. It’s what I studied in college. Never once did I consider majoring in Economics or anything close to it. But I’ve gotta think that a store with that kind of atmosphere is going to be a little off-putting to the casual shopper. That, and the fact that their prices are $10-$15 higher than everywhere else in the world. I’ll repeat, just for effect – $10 to $15 higher for the exact same DVD I just bought.
(Yes, the line at Best Buy was long yesterday. I had a lot of time to think.)
So just for proof, when I finally got through the line at Best Buy, I headed across the street to the mall. I headed to the Camelot store – the local rip-off shop in my mall, and found Frost/Nixon nicely displayed on the right wall. $29.99. Big sticker. A little laughter, and then I’m outta there. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how these establishments still do business. There simply can’t be enough wayward teens in this world to keep them up and running. But in every mall I’ve ever been in – everywhere in this capitalist country of ours, I see at least one, if not two or three of these chains of overpricing.
Maybe they exist to make me feel good about myself. Maybe they’re still around to make me feel like I just got a huge deal. That I’m a smart shopper. I mean, it’s still the same DVD right? These Sam Goody DVD’s aren’t performing sexual favors are they? At least at that point I could see spending the extra $10 bucks. But $15? Meh…
Best Buy’s great, but we have a local shop that sells used CDs and DVDs. However, they also consistently carry about ten copies of each popular new release. I got ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ two weeks ago for ten bucks. Unbelievable. I also assembled the Lord of the Rings trilogy for 13 dollars. I just climaxed.