Sunday, January 24

More Baffling Video Dealer Behavior; or you aren't Best Buy, man...

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Awhile ago I detailed the annoying practices of video dealer "in-betweeners" and this morning I ran into an even more totally baffling ideology from a swap meet DVD seller. Today I could have scored an authentic, factory sealed copy of Zombieland, exactly nine days before its official release date. The guys selling these are there every weekend and peddle a strange mix of "real" discs, obvious bootlegs of real discs, and throwaway bootlegs of UFC events and Bumfights. When I first spotted this crew setting up shop a number of years ago, they carried nothing but bootlegs, though I guess over time the fear of that whole up to five years in prison and/or $250,000 fine-thing caused this real/fake release mixture. I seldom see people actually buying stuff from them, but they manage to usually have Tuesday's new blockbuster releases like clockwork. Sometimes they have real releases way ahead of their street date and this is where this morning comes in.

There it was, Sony's brand new Zombieland DVD, sitting there next to bootleg copies of Gran Torino and the Platinum Edition of The Lion King. Now, this occurrence isn't new to me, and realizing there was only one copy on the table threw up alarms. So I put on my idiot face and tone as I coyly asked how much the DVD was. I was quickly met with "It's not for sale, it will be next weekend." Huh? I didn't press the reasoning because these dudes look like they have friends on C-block, but what possible advantage would there be to not sell the product you have out...to sell?

I don't give a flying damn if you'll have it for sale next week. I don't want it next week, but I will buy it now. What, I'm just imagining that I'm holding this DVD in my hand? What's for sale and what isn't? Pre-release swag is awesome (well, with movies that are worth it) but the thing is this thrill dramatically decreases with the arrival of the street date. So yeah, I could wait and buy it from these dudes next weekend...or just wait three days more for February 2nd and pick it off the bountiful retailer tree anywhere. There's almost no incentive to buy it from these guys if they won't break street dates by a substantial margin and this should be obvious even to them, right? Chain stores and e-tailers can indeed face hefty fines for breaking street dates, but you aren't Best Buy, man. I'm sure Mr. Police Officer will notice those badly-printed covers on your Drag Me to Hell bootlegs before those real factory-sealed DVDs already out or not resting on your table. Maybe it's just me...?
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5 comments:

DrunkethWizerd said...

Hmm. I've already seen BluRays of Zombieland down at Walmart... and that was last week.

Unknown said...

bad guys with a conscience, good call... i remember like 20 years ago going to a k-mart parking lot with a friend who had a friend selling vhs movies out of his trunk... cheap pricing and somewhat empty parking lot... i looked around my inner voice saying "what the hell are you doing, why don't you just put your hands up now" i got out of there, but fast...

Buscemi said...

Wal-Mart breaks street dates all the time, usually between a day and a week.

I Like Horror Movies said...

Purely genius, Im surprised they even knew the street date to begin with

Jayson Kennedy said...

That's the thing, I have no idea if they knew the date or not, still seems insane to not sell something you know you have a guaranteed purchase on right then. Hahaha

...do you dare tread upon the staircase?

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