Catalogue titles - Are Zavvi prices too high?

[Heche1981]

When PLAY.com unveiled the first wave of exclusive catalogue SteelBook titles in conjunction with Universal (which were released this time last year - May 2012), they were reasonably priced at around £9.99-£12.99. The same for the following waves from FOX / MGM and then Paramount waves.

We grew accustomed to these prices, while new blockbuster releases would still retail at the usual RRP of around £15.99-£22.99 (depending on how many discs and whether a Dvd / digital version was also included)

After PLAY.com announced their departure from the retail stage, Zavvi took over the title of "Home of SteelBooks", and seemed to carry on where PLAY.com left off. However, there was one small difference - The prices of catalogue titles! With exception to the new releases, the exclusives that Zavvi have been offering lately are all priced at around £14.99-£17.99 - A considerable difference from the prices we enjoyed a year ago from PLAY.com


Many collectors have complained that Zavvi are taking advantage of the exclusivity, and feel that the price is too much for older catalogue titles. Not only that, but many collectors feel that Zavvi are pushing out too many in such a short period of time. I believe that the problem isn't so much the fact that the prices are too high, but rather that the frequency of the releases (mixed with the higher-than-PLAY prices) is what consumers are actually objecting to

I personally feel that collectors are willing to pay the asking price, but not on such a regular basis. If Zavvi want to keep releasing wave after wave of catalogue titles every month, then the least they can do is make them slightly cheaper to make them more affordable for those who wish to buy each title. Either that or space out the releases a little more thoughtfully, especially compared to other SteelBooks that may be due for release on the same day / week / month. After a while, it soon adds up, and SteelBook collecting isn't a cheap hobby to begin with!


Therefore, I would like to formally ask for backing of this thread, and hopefully someone at Zavvi will take notice. I would also appreciate it if you could take the time to vote in the poll above.

Very grateful. Heche1981

 

[snooloui]

I totally agree, they are a little bit more expensive than I would like. It's not because Zavvi are greedy though, it's because they offer unrealistically cheap International postage. They are effective subsidising International customers by increasing the prices of the products themselves. If they charged proper prices for International postage, then they would be able to charge £9.99/£10.99 for their exclusives.

I would like to see Wreck pass this on but it will never happen because so many USA/International members would kick up a massive fuss. The UK is pretty much the best country for Steelbooks right now, yet UK collectors get screwed for the sake of foreign buyers.

 

[Jango]

i think we all know why play could offer so cheap prices and where it lead them to. im ready to pay 15pounds for catalogue titles if they doin there job right.

but i agree with there are tomany releases lately, i like a variety of steels but not if i have to choose which one to get and which i have to pass before they sold out.

 

[Heche1981]

I totally agree, they are a little bit more expensive than I would like. It's not because Zavvi are greedy though, it's because they offer unrealistically cheap International postage. They are effective subsidising International customers by increasing the prices of the products themselves. If they charged proper prices for International postage, then they would be able to charge £9.99/£10.99 for their exclusives.

I would like to see Wreck pass this on but it will never happen because so many USA/International members would kick up a massive fuss. The UK is pretty much the best country for Steelbooks right now, yet UK collectors get screwed for the sake of foreign buyers.

Therefore the simple solution is for them to re-evaluate how they charge international customers, rather than making everybody pay more for the products. If non-UK customers want to buy from a British retailer, then they should be prepared to pay a little extra towards P&P. Either that, or Zavvi should become strictly a British retailer, and non-British collectors can aquire what they want via group buys, where they can pay the appropriate prices for P&P

I don't see why we should be stiffed by our own retailer just because non-UK customers want cheaper shipping prices!

 

[snooloui]

i think we all know why play could offer so cheap prices and where it lead them to. im ready to pay 15pounds for catalogue titles if they doin there job right.

but i agree with there are tomany releases lately, i like a variety of steels but not if i have to choose which one to get and which i have to pass before they sold out.

Care to elaborate on what 'we all know'? Cheap Steelbooks were not responsible for the downfall of Play.com (which is what I think you are suggesting), it was simply down to the fact that the market is way too competitive. Plus you've got Amazon who have the power to crush any other retailer if they wanted to. It's tough to compete with a retailer as powerful as Amazon and ultimately Play.com gave up.

 

[Jango]

i gues they sell way more things on the international market than in the uk. zavvi was there long before steels and i know alot of ppl who ordering videogames and other stuff for years from them cuz of the cheap postage costs. so imo they would kill there selfes with reducing retail prices and pushing the postage costs.

Care to elaborate on what 'we all know'? Cheap Steelbooks were not responsible for the downfall of Play.com (which is what I think you are suggesting), it was simply down to the fact that the market is way too competitive. Plus you've got Amazon who have the power to crush any other retailer if they wanted to. It's tough to compete with a retailer as powerful as Amazon and ultimately Play.com gave up.

im talkin about the tax loophole which gave them a huge adventage over other retailers and let them offer us prices noone could touch on a regular way. so yeah the price was indirectly responsible for there downfall wasn't it?

 

[snooloui]

i gues they sell way more things on the international market than in the uk. zavvi was there long before steels and i know alot of ppl who ordering videogames and other stuff for years from them cuz of the cheap postage costs. so imo they would kill there selfes with reducing retail prices and pushing the postage costs.

If you're posting one game in a jiffy bag to the USA, then a 99p markup on UK postage prices is totally acceptable. Posting Steelbooks in Steelbook packaging is a different matter.

im talkin about the tax loophole which gave them a huge adventage over other retailers and let them offer us prices noone could touch on a regular way. so yeah the prices was indirectly responsible for there downfall?

That's a fair point but I don't see why they have shut down when lots of other retailers (many smaller) who had similar business models are still going.

 

[cooey]

Yes I think are way too expensive especially when Play.com were happy to charge £9.99/£10.99 for them

 

[Jango]

That's a fair point but I don't see why they have shut down when lots of other retailers (many smaller) who had similar business models are still going.

so you want zavvi going the same way? foolin your government/society so they can get us cheaper steels and hoping that the british empire don't find out and close them because other "smugglers" going also away with it?

 

[snooloui]

so you want zavvi going the same way? foolin your government/society so they can get us cheaper steels and hoping that the british empire don't find out and close them because other "smugglers" going also away with it?

When did I say that? I said I don't think the closure of the Channel Island loophole (of course the £15 limit is still there, but the Channel Islands are now excluded) was responsible for Play.com closing down when other retailers who operated under the same legislation are still going after the closure of the loophole. Zavvi ship from the UK, so they already pay VAT (which means they don't remove VAT - unbelievably some non-EU customers complain about that too).

 

[Jango]

i just think the prices of play.com are just not possible without using some loopholes. so its not a fair comparison at all. if you want play.com prices than they have to go the same way and we know how it end it. thats all im saying. i rather pay some pounds more and know they doing it the right way than playing some tricks to save us a few pounds and risking they have to shut down as well.

 

[eynon]

I voted for "The prices are fine, but I would rather the releases were more spread out" as I think they are only a little too expensive for catalogue titles, not far too expensive.

A small compromise on both would be ideal but I would much rather x10 steelbooks spread out over ten weeks, one per week than x10 steelbooks all released on June 3rd.
Not to mention a couple released the previous week and a couple the following week, it's just too much.

 

[snooloui]

i just think the prices of play.com are just not possible without using some loopholes. so its not a fair comparison at all. if you want play.com prices than they have to go the same way and we know how it end it. thats all im saying. i rather pay some pounds more and know they doing it the right way than playing some tricks to save us a few pounds and risking they have to shut down as well.

I still believe that we are subsiding International postage though. Play.com's prices plus VAT does not equal £14.99 or even higher for some titles.

 

[zoneism]

i think we all know why play could offer so cheap prices and where it lead them to. im ready to pay 15pounds for catalogue titles if they doin there job right.

i gues they sell way more things on the international market than in the uk. zavvi was there long before steels and i know alot of ppl who ordering videogames and other stuff for years from them cuz of the cheap postage costs. so imo they would kill there selfes with reducing retail prices and pushing the postage costs.

im talkin about the tax loophole which gave them a huge adventage over other retailers and let them offer us prices noone could touch on a regular way. so yeah the price was indirectly responsible for there downfall wasn't it?

so you want zavvi going the same way? foolin your government/society so they can get us cheaper steels and hoping that the british empire don't find out and close them because other "smugglers" going also away with it?

i just think the prices of play.com are just not possible without using some loopholes. so its not a fair comparison at all. if you want play.com prices than they have to go the same way and we know how it end it. thats all im saying. i rather pay some pounds more and know they doing it the right way than playing some tricks to save us a few pounds and risking they have to shut down as well.

Jango, just so I'm clear you seem very certain that Play were smuggling products in to the UK via a loophole and that when the loophole was closed that led to their downfall, right?

But Play selling catalogue Steelbooks at £9.99 - £12.99 all pretty much came after the closure of that loophole (except the first Universal horizontal wave) so they can't have taken advantage of that situation on those products. Therefore (almost) every catalogue Steelbook that Play released had VAT paid on it by them. Let's also bear in mind that Play, unlike many other business who operated out of the Channel Islands, was originally set-up by local Jersey residents as a bricks-and-mortar store before going exclusively on-line.

I think many people see tax evasion and assume the culprit to be the retailer every time when in truth that isn't always the case.

And before we sing Zavvi's praises they also operated out of the Channel Islands to avoid paying VAT (not originally a CI based business) before the loophole was closed down and they then decided to further avoid VAT by shipping via the US as it actually worked out cheaper to do so (yes, you did read that right).

My point is not to attack your opinion with this post, but instead to highlight some facts which should probably be considered before further slamming Play for unfair activity when it comes to selling catalogue steelbooks cheaper than Zavvi.

In my opinion they could be cheaper especially if they are going to be releasing so many catalogue titles. And definitely on some of the much deeper catalogue titles. Perhaps when more of their exclusive titles stop selling through then we will see prices dropped to a more reasonable level, similar to when Play started selling through the exclusives that they had 'excess' stock on.

 

[mr blue]

yes especially if they are going to charge £27 like entertainment store, granted most likely iron man 3 will come down in price, also would like to see the releases spread out a bit more

 

[yeslek]

Zavvi most definitely charge too much, BUT to a point, we were spoiled with play's low price's for catalogue steels. £14.99 and below for a steel is about fair IMO though of course the lower prices did tempt me into buying a few movies I'd been on the fence about, so in turn the higher Zavvi prices are putting me off a couple of titles I might have otherwise purchased

 

[TakingYoSteelz]

Zavvi should become strictly a British retailer
!

Now, lets not start the crazy talk here! There's already been a panic over a brief rumour that this would soon be the case. Internationals are very grateful for the service Zavvi offer. I, for one cannot afford to enter GBs for every Zavvi release, pay rising shipping costs and then HDN costs on top. I enter a GB every once in a while and am appreciative that there are members willing to do this, but it's too much of the "little extras" to do with all releases. An extra $10 per release adds up along the way.

Lets try to keep those ideas out of Zavvi's heads. Charging a few quid extra for International orders would definitely make more sense, if it really is the case that the prices are high to make up for the cheap International shipping, although I strongly doubt that's the reasoning for certain high prices.