5 ms·

I love this and wished that it was here in my country. A dollar is cheap even from where I am at. Here, you can buy pirated DVDs on the sidewalks for a dollar

by wenbert 17y ago

I love this and wished that it was here in my country. A dollar is cheap even from where I am at. Here, you can buy pirated DVDs on the sidewalks for a dollar (USD). If there were Redboxes here, people would automatically switch from buying pirated DVDs to Redbox. FYI, I am from the Philippines and pirated DVDs are so rampant here that they sell it publicly outside schools, and in some malls...

erlanger 17y ago
> Here, you can buy pirated DVDs on the sidewalks for a dollar (USD). If there were Redboxes here, people would automatically switch from buying pirated DVDs to Redbox. It seems like Hollywood prefers that we pirate new releases.
vijayr 17y ago
same is the case in India, where I am from. I can buy a pirated DVD for twenty rupees (about 40 cents, at 50 rupees a dollar), and if I buy more (5-10) I can get it even more cheaper. guess what the studios did? they released DVDs, for sale, at about the same price (25 rupees) - not the latest films, but many recent titles.
- diehell 17y ago
  So does pricing the DVDs at about the same price help? Do people buy the legit copies or still prefer the pirated DVDs?
  - flotsam 17y ago
    Since the movie studios only release slightly older movies (3 months or so after release), the piracy market has changed so that only the latest movies are pirated and are normally of low quality. Also, a lot of the pirated movie DVDs are compilations, stuff like 3 movies-in-one or multiple movies of an actor. This is valid mostly for regional movies. Legit English DVDs of popular movies from western studios are sold for around 600-700 rupees (around 15 dollars), so the market for pirated copies of such movies is pretty large.
  - vijayr 17y ago
    I don't know the exact numbers, but I have seen these low priced DVDs sell like hot cakes, even though the selection was quite limited (around 1.5 years ago, when I was in India, not sure now). What the studios don't realize is this - they wont lose anything by reducing the prices because a) piracy will come down b) the sheer volume of sales, will make up for the price reduction. Indian market is supremely price sensitive, so Indian companies aim for volume. The same can and will work in US too, if only the studios have the common sense to try it.
  - wenbert 17y ago
    It is not only the pricing but the availability. I think, here (Philippines), people buy pirated DVDs because the distribution is so wide-spread. So if you sell cheap and legit copies and people have to go all the way out to buy, then chances are that they won't. With Redbox on the other hand, if it is available just around the corner or at least in places with security guards (less likely to be vandalized, etc.), then I'm pretty sure that the ones who sell illegal copies will go out of business in weeks.
awad 17y ago
I think DVDs in Bangladesh (last time I went) were about a dollar as well. And they're just as rampant as in the Philippines. So I have to wonder, why would Redbox be any more popular than pirated discs? Same price, one is ownership and one is rental.

by wenbert 17y ago

erlanger 17y ago

> Here, you can buy pirated DVDs on the sidewalks for a dollar (USD). If there were Redboxes here, people would automatically switch from buying pirated DVDs to Redbox. It seems like Hollywood prefers that we pirate new releases.

vijayr 17y ago

same is the case in India, where I am from. I can buy a pirated DVD for twenty rupees (about 40 cents, at 50 rupees a dollar), and if I buy more (5-10) I can get it even more cheaper. guess what the studios did? they released DVDs, for sale, at about the same price (25 rupees) - not the latest films, but many recent titles.

diehell 17y ago
So does pricing the DVDs at about the same price help? Do people buy the legit copies or still prefer the pirated DVDs?
- flotsam 17y ago
  Since the movie studios only release slightly older movies (3 months or so after release), the piracy market has changed so that only the latest movies are pirated and are normally of low quality. Also, a lot of the pirated movie DVDs are compilations, stuff like 3 movies-in-one or multiple movies of an actor. This is valid mostly for regional movies. Legit English DVDs of popular movies from western studios are sold for around 600-700 rupees (around 15 dollars), so the market for pirated copies of such movies is pretty large.
- vijayr 17y ago
  I don't know the exact numbers, but I have seen these low priced DVDs sell like hot cakes, even though the selection was quite limited (around 1.5 years ago, when I was in India, not sure now). What the studios don't realize is this - they wont lose anything by reducing the prices because a) piracy will come down b) the sheer volume of sales, will make up for the price reduction. Indian market is supremely price sensitive, so Indian companies aim for volume. The same can and will work in US too, if only the studios have the common sense to try it.
- wenbert 17y ago
  It is not only the pricing but the availability. I think, here (Philippines), people buy pirated DVDs because the distribution is so wide-spread. So if you sell cheap and legit copies and people have to go all the way out to buy, then chances are that they won't. With Redbox on the other hand, if it is available just around the corner or at least in places with security guards (less likely to be vandalized, etc.), then I'm pretty sure that the ones who sell illegal copies will go out of business in weeks.

awad 17y ago

I think DVDs in Bangladesh (last time I went) were about a dollar as well. And they're just as rampant as in the Philippines. So I have to wonder, why would Redbox be any more popular than pirated discs? Same price, one is ownership and one is rental.