Re: Getting F@#ked by Cheap Trick
Date: July 20, 2009 07:32AM
The CD was priced at $12.99. Shipping was $7.03 = which was, as I originally stated, vastly overpriced.
BUT, anyone who didn't want to pay that much, didn't have to. They could have simply chosen not to right then and there, and to waited to see what the retail price would end up being in stores. ANYONE who still decided to buy and get the CD early made a CHOICE to do so. To complain about it later is senseless.
Also, so far as we know, only ONE chain is selling it that cheap. As I said, the actual MSRP (Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price) cost is still more than what it would have cost to buy it from the band (minus shipping costs). It seems a lot of you don't understand how retail actually works. Once a retailer buys the product from the artist, they can then charge whatever they want for it - whether it's more, or less. If the retailer decided to sell it at a loss to get people into their stores, that's up to them, not the artist. True, the artist can decide to cut a deal with a retailer going in, so that the retailer would be inclined to buy more product. But that's the nature of the beast in a capitalist, free market system. I'm not saying it's right - it just is what it is.
Here's an example for you....NEH Music, a company who get's a lot of my personal business, often sells new release imports cheaper than most other online stores. And sometimes, their prices are more expensive. Now I, as a smart consumer, am aware of this, so I will often wait before buying anything, to see who's going to have whatever item for the best price. However, if I decided I didn't want to wait, and had an opportunity to get a CD cheaper and sooner than everyone else was maybe going to have it further down the road - then that would be my choice to do, and take my chance with what I was paying. If a month later, CD Universe, or Amazon, or some regular brick & mortar store ends up having a sale with the CD much cheaper, well, that's not the their fault, and it's certainly NOT the BAND's fault. It would be mine.
Lastly, one other thing to keep in mind. The price that Best Buy is currently offering the CD for is likely just for the first week or two. It will go back up. It's a SALE price, not the regular price.