More economic news

[formant]

Look, it was bollox example - do you think all Cds were 5 at Amazon and 15 at HMV? Bollox to that.

I used to buy a lot of VHS (10 years ago) from HMV and others, and they had deals - 2-3 for £10, totally new stuff is expensive even on Amazon - blu rays say £13-17.

People buying separate tracks that they like rather than full CDs for full price is the key reason for downturn in retail CD market, well that and MP3s that can be downloaded by anybody with half a brain.

No, for CDs and DVDs the price difference was less than £10 but often around £5 unless stuff was on offer. For games and box sets however we are talking a common £10-15 price difference, so really, that bollocks example isn't that far off.

Agree about the shift towards downloading music of course. I bought CDs up until quite recently, always enjoyed having a large physical music collection. Eventually gave up and invested in a Sonos system (love it). All my music is now digital and I'm slowly working on bringing myself to sell off the CDs.

[AtW]

No, for CDs and DVDs the price difference was less than £10 but often around £5 unless stuff was on offer. For games and box sets however we are talking a common £10-15 price difference, so really, that bollocks example isn't that far off.

One would need to factor in Amazon's delivery costs.

As the market for offline CDs was shrinking so were their revenues, that made it hard to drop prices to compete more effectively.

[formant]

Amazon has got scale to get special pricing, so they may appear to be selling at cost but in reality they make profit: that's economics of scale for you.

Yes and no. With some suppliers they do sell at a (small) loss or at cost to undercut other retailers (one of my neighbours supplies them with garden machinery, and they often sell his stuff at a (their) loss). But it works, because that way they're becoming people's one-stop shop for everything, even the items that they're still making a good profit on, that people would otherwise buy elsewhere. They make people feel like they're cheapest for everything. They aren't.

[formant]

One would need to factor in Amazon's delivery costs.

None on Super-Saver-Delivery, which is probably the biggest chunk.

Needs to factor that into Amazons profit margins though.

As the market for offline CDs was shrinking so were their revenues, that made it hard to drop prices to compete more effectively.

I see why they did what they did, I just don't have a whole lot of pity, considering how predictable it was. Virgin Megastore did the right thing years ago.

[BrilloPad]

And now blockbuster....

BBC News - Blockbuster goes into administration

[Bunk]

And now blockbuster....

BBC News - Blockbuster goes into administration

That's been on the cards for a while too. I can't remember the last time I went into a shop and rented a movie. I knew a few people who switched to the original Lovefilm service and got them delivered by post but I think their own online service and Netflix have killed that off now.

[NickFitz]

That's been on the cards for a while too. I can't remember the last time I went into a shop and rented a movie. I knew a few people who switched to the original Lovefilm service and got them delivered by post but I think their own online service and Netflix have killed that off now.

No, my Dad still gets DVDs in the post from Lovefilm. He then rips them to HDD and watches them that way, but he prefers doing that to downloading or streaming.

[Bunk]

No, my Dad still gets DVDs in the post from Lovefilm. He then rips them to HDD and watches them that way, but he prefers doing that to downloading or streaming.

Sorry, I should have said "will kill that off". I know it's still available but I reckon its days are numbered too.

[Doggy Styles]

That 'plentiful' supply of shop jobs for the redundant Mrs Shop Assistant is reducing rapidly.

[doodab]

That 'plentiful' supply of shop jobs for the redundant Mrs Shop Assistant is reducing rapidly.

Don't worry, the private sector will create plenty of jobs. They're just waiting for the government to privatise policing riots and cleaning the blood off the streets afterwards.