Patience is a virtue, but who wants to be virtuous? 4283 Posts 4/00
Posted - Jun 2 2001 : 12:50AM
Just curious if there has ever been a DVD that you ordered from a website even though you knew it hadn't been released quite yet.
Would it make a difference if there was a promotion associated with the DVD that only people who pre-booked would get or maybe would get entered in a drawing for?
No, I've never pre-booked an adult title. This is a lot different from mainstream titles (2/3rds of which I pre-order). Significant factors:
1. Pre-book prices for adult titles are almost never discounted. If anything, you pay a premium because the title is an A-list release and brand new. Totally opposite from mainstream where you play 5-10% *more* for buying on or after the release date.
2. Release dates are almost never firm. Historically, "TBD" is the most common adult DVD release date.
3. Competition can significantly alter prices. In the past week, I've seen some pretty good new release titles at prices more than $8 cheaper than the nearest competitor (due to studio-wide sales, coupons, etc.). There's no incentive to buy it early if there's a good chance of getting it cheaper after the release.
4. Unreliable advance reviews. I always take reviews done by stores who have pre-book (or especially EXCLUSIVE pre-book) on a given title with a huge grain of salt. I'd prefer to wait until there are a number of good reviews from a variety of sources before buying.
5. Lame promos. A studio hat, T-shirt, or even a "signed" DVD -- which are probably signed by PAs or anyone else who isn't busy -- are not worth the extra expense. The custom Tera Patrick video for her newest release is creative, but that's only for one lucky person.
For me, an effective promo involves a free DVD or a discount for pre-booking. Nothing else really is worth taking a risk.
Unless the DVD is going to be in limited release (10,000 copies of WILD GOOSE CHASE - DIRECTOR'S CUT SPECIAL EDITION) or that I would get it a few weeks or so before the general public, I don't believe there is any porn DVD that I would pre-order.
Prices are due to become competitive at the time of its release date so I am not worried about saving money, and getting it without the benefit of a review would be too risky.
And any premiums or bonuses with a pre-booked DVD would have to be pretty darn special...like a bonus video or something like that.
(Actually, Saki's response pretty much covers it all...)
Diesel
Check into DIESEL'S DEN on Adult DVD Empire for a Compendium of Climactic Cumshots in FACE/ON...
Actually I have pre-booked a few adult titles (about 4 I think). Though it is very unusual for me to do so. Usually the motivating factor is that it is a movie I really want and therefore want it ASAP. Saki and Diesel have all the reasons pretty much down. Though in my case the cost really isn't the issue. If I want the movie then I will pay the price for it. Contests are cool and all but a rebate would be better. Like Saki said I distrust any "signed" copies unless I get them signed myself.
I have only done it once and that was because I had a coupon for ten bucks off a title and I actually ordered it just before the release date. The title was Being With Juli Ashton and I went ahead and ordered it even without a review because I like Juli and know she does a great job in her scenes and when I did get this title I was not disappointed. Usually, though, I will wait and read a review or two before ordering a title, also to see if there will be a good sale on a title I might want.
Tricia, I've preordered most of my mainstream collection but porn is another story. Saki pretty much covered it in his response.
1) I've bought stuff when it was new only to find it much cheaper shortly thereafter. This irritates me no end. I can wait for almost anything to come down in price.
2) A couple of stores seem to get copies of dvd's before their competition. They tend to have the highest prices (often by a lot). I can understand wanting to keep the bigger stores happy but the extra cost is not generally justified.
3) I can only imagine what kind of promotion or sale it would take to get me to preorder something. As others have said, signed stuff is too easily faked, hats suck, T-shirts are okay but not a big enough deal for me.
4) The stores that have advance reviews of something, this also applies to a lesser extent to websites, have a tendency to be very favorable for some reason. I'm not suggesting that anyone must've been paid off but...
5) Shipping would be a pain too. I like to minimize shipping costs and preorders for most of the adult companies seem to get shipped as they come in.
What would it take to get me to preorder dvd's on a regular basis? Let's use Evil Angel and Wicked as examples.
1) Give a significant discount off the regular selling price. EA and Wicked titles seem to go for about $25 each when new. Make it $18 shipped and I'll go for it. Heck, I'd buy one of everything (except the she male/gay stuff) either of you put out if the price were low enough. (sight unseen, buying one of everything would need a good price)
2) Contests, to me, are suck. Unless I see the "randomly selected ballot" being selected, there's too much chance for fraud or favoritism. I'd like signed dvd's but again, unless I watched them being signed (or a close friend that I trusted watched them being signed, no thanks).
Bottom line: make it worth our while. I'm sure you can figure something out to guarantee a certain level of sales-even if you have older titles as the freebies...
PS: you can email me for more ideas if you'd like-I'm a promotional wizard according to a few people here.
Another big ditto for what Saki said. I like that a few stores offer some of the bigger titles for pre-order, but there's no real advantage without it being cheaper.
I think that everybody has done a good job explaining the reasons for NOT pre-ordering Adult DVD's. I have pre-ordered some adult DVD's but that was before discovering ADT. Now, I rarely purchase a title as soon as it comes out unless the store that has historically had the lowest (or close to the lowest) price for that series or manufacturer is selling the title. Otherwise, I'll usually wait a week or two before ordering.
I still pre-order virtually ALL mainstream titles because of the substancial discounts available for pre-orders. Back in the early days of e-commerce and the massive amount of coupons available (boy I miss Reel.com), I would keep a list of future realeases that I wanted to buy, and as soon as a coupon became available, I would buy as many DVD's as necessary to activate that particular coupon. This was pretty easy for mainstream titles because the mainstream studios all announce and (usually) meet the street dates.
And a bit of data to back this up: A month or so ago, I was lamenting that Empire's studio-wide sale on Wicked titles didn't include the pre-order title, Vengeance. If the sale price was honored for that title, it would have been around $20 shipped. Instead it was around $30 shipped. Then this week, Empire put Vengeance on clearance, for $16 (eventually raising the price to $19.99). That's a drop of about 40 percent. How does that inspire confidence in pre-ordering when a highly-acclaimed A-list title goes from expensive to cheap in a few weeks time?
I pre-order mainstream titles as matter of routine (hell, this week alone I've pre-ordered Blood Simple, Safe, Family Viewing/Next Of Kin and Speaking Parts). The only time I've done so with adult titles was with the reissuing of the Pyramid trilogy, which turned out to be quite a long wait. Of course, the legal problems that kept those titles on the release date TBA list for so long are hardly typical and not at all the reason I don't pre-order porn. The reason is that there are very few adult titles that I get excited enough over that I would feel I needed to own them on the very day of release. And frankly I have hard time thinking of many prospects that would inspire me to do so. Well, maybe Nightdreams...
Nooooooooooo goddamn fair! When I ask questions I get stuck in polls. Tricia gets to ask in Adult DVD talk. It always Tricia, Tricia, Tricia. Anyway I pre-book if there is a really cool disc I want. Example: X-men, Gladiator, The Gate in stores now. Opps sorry I am sure that that branches over to adult. We do good working with on-line companies doing a pre-book on a big title. Hope to see ya soon hun.
I pretty much agree with Sakis points, but am interested in why Tricia posted the subject in the first place.
May we presume that it was some kind of market research excersise and all future 'EVIL' dvd's will be considerably discounted if we pre-order ?...........Thought not !
Patience is a virtue, but who wants to be virtuous? 4283 Posts 4/00
Posted - Aug 4 2001 : 4:18PM
The original post kind of alluded to my original thoughts.This was posted a couple weeks before our promotion with AdultDVDNow.com for Buttman at Nudes a Poppin 11 where, based on the lack of interest for pre-booking, we decided to try to entice people to do that by offering through AdultDVDNow only 4 FREE copies of the DVD which would be picked randomly by people who pre-booked the title.
In the future, we may decide to offer variations on this as one-time only offers per title. Perhaps a discount through one site only. Maybe a free companion DVD to only people who pre-book (or maybe who order through the first week of release). I was thinking maybe of including a coupon for a future installment of a DVD in a series, like if a person bought Bend Over Babes 1, they would have a coupon inside to later purchase another Bend Over Babes for a couple dollars off at a few different participating sites or something. It's all trial-and-error, as Evil Angel traditionally only runs sales directly to distributors, and we haven't been able to control whether they pocket the difference or pass that on to the consumer level. We're looking for better ways to reach the consumer. Basically, we're looking for ways that will make the consumer, retail sites, and us all a little happier.
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Planet Sex Deactivated User
1951 Posts 6/01
Posted - Aug 4 2001 : 4:26PM
As a DVD collector, I do pre-book some DVDs - but only the ones that will become a rarity in no time, or are very difficult to find/have limited distribution to begin with (like the DVD Drive-In independent/limited release of Lady Frankenstein , for example).
................................... Robin : When you think, Batman, with those 4 supercrooks hangin' around, it's amazing somebody hasn't already reported this place to the police! Batman : It's a low neighborhood, full of rumpots. They're used to curious sights, which they attribute to alcoholic delusions. Robin : Gosh, drink is sure a filthy thing, isn't it? I'd rather be dead than unable to trust my own eyes!
Tricia, I think a great way to solve the problem would be to offer some form of deal to ADT members via the website. I'm sure Steph, awesome promotions director, could think something up with you. I like the idea of a free companion dvd but a number of your loyal fans might already have a title that you'd offer that way. Please don't overlook your most loyal fans.
About the only way I'd consider pre-booking for a porno DVD release is if the inducement were major and it were from a VERY reliable source. Nothing against you, Trish, but the porn industry as a whole is far too unreliable in terms of quality, quantity, delivery, pricing, etc, for me to be interested in pre-release orders.
If you were to offer a 20% off coupon deal for the pre-order and two others of your titles (my choice) through a participating on-line retailer, you might entice me (except that I'm gay and you don't have gay titles - just thought I'd add my two-cents' worth).
The real catch (after reliability) is pricing. As others have mentioned, pricing after release of porno DVDs varies wildly. I'd be rather stupid to pay $30 or $40 for something now when in a month I could get the same item for $20 or $25 - or even less with judicial shopping and application of sales & coupons.
Patience is a virtue, but who wants to be virtuous? 4283 Posts 4/00
Posted - Aug 5 2001 : 11:34PM
Well, I would love to see Evil Angel venture into the gay market in a couple of years.
As for the price being discounted in the future, it takes 2-3 years before we lower the price on any of our movies, and even then, it is only a temporary sale that lasts two weeks, and most distributors only buy enough to last them a couple of months.
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Planet Sex Deactivated User
1951 Posts 6/01
Posted - Aug 6 2001 : 7:36AM
The brazilian branch of Evil Angel already did it. They've been releasing gay flicks for three months or so.
Sadly, their first titles (brazilian-produced amateur flicks) aren't all that rage. It's a fucking shame, cause of all the brazilian-based companies, EA is the only one able to beat the Evil Robot King and save the human race again.
................................... Kate Hudson isn't exactly a household name like Lysol, but she can clean and disinfect my basin, tub, and tile anytime.
Patience is a virtue, but who wants to be virtuous? 4283 Posts 4/00
Posted - Aug 6 2001 : 3:12PM
Actually the two "Evil Angel"'s aren't really exactly the same. We send them our movies and they're kind of a branch of us, but business decisions for each company are made almost completely independent of each other.
So their venture into the gay market had nothing to do with us. In fact, I wasn't even aware.
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Planet Sex Deactivated User
1951 Posts 6/01
Posted - Aug 6 2001 : 5:04PM
I know, but you have the same name, so it's hard to avoid close relationships...
................................... "Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989
