RodN Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 For the last few months I had disturbingly considered that JB were slowly creeping up the prices of their CD's but had been fobbing myself off as a conspiracy theorist. But I have confirmed it this week there has definitely been a steady increase in regular cd prices at JB. Has anyone else noticed this? It appears they have this sort of structure now Latest releases - still in the low 20's - as I'm guessing they still have to compete to get people in store Old popular titles that everyone owns already - heavily discounted Everything else in the store - All these disks now seem to be reaching the $30 mark or thereabouts! No kidding have a look just in the regular sections.... they all seem to have this "special import" sticker on them and be priced at $27.99 or above... I even saw a disk for $55! Which was not special at all, no dvds or sacd format or dualdisc or doubledisk or anything like that. This is a significant shift in their approach imo. Am I seeing things or have I just realised what everybody knew already...? I'm wondering if this is because JB has moved into a new approach because they are so big now, where they have become price leaders or whatever.
betty boop Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 hmm thats interesting nobby, I probably havent noticed because I'm usually buying some odd ball title thats usually an import and expecting to pay abit for it or find it marked down severely as theyre trying to get rid of it ! this is sounding more an more like sanity which I think has outragious prices. wonder how this compares with prices in kmart etc. wonder if there is a general price rise in the industry or just JB thats hiking them up. perhaps someone in the industry can comment.
Spearmint Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 I’ve noticed a similar trend hence why I’m tending to import more disc’s now than buy locally. The only negative about importing is you have to wait for delivery.
AndrewW Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 I've noticed this for quite some time now, and not just on their CDs. Have a look in the console software aisle sometime. Their prices are just as bad as EB, with most stuff at full retail. I think they have got to the point where most people believe that they are cheap based on their reputation, and so they are hoping to cash in by raising their prices and hoping people still continue to buy believing they are getting a cheap price. Andrew.
betty boop Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 if jb they are hiking up prices it will soon create room for another bargain price seller to come in. and jb will becoem jsut like sanity etc. its sales marketing 101 that when you jump prices you sell less. just as if you drop price you sell more. depending on hte size of the business and how it operatees it price can be an untenable strategy. perhaps theyve reached that point and need to be making larger margins. anyways I still never quite understood why import discs were more expensive. when the ACCC allowed parallel importing the whole idea was it would drop our prices. and it did straight away. seems like were going backwards now.
RodN Posted April 21, 2007 Author Posted April 21, 2007 if jb they are hiking up prices it will soon create room for another bargain price seller to come in. and jb will becoem jsut like sanity etc. its sales marketing 101 that when you jump prices you sell less. just as if you drop price you sell more. depending on hte size of the business and how it operatees it price can be an untenable strategy. perhaps theyve reached that point and need to be making larger margins.anyways I still never quite understood why import discs were more expensive. when the ACCC allowed parallel importing the whole idea was it would drop our prices. and it did straight away. seems like were going backwards now. The thing is if you are leading in the market and your customers perceive you to be cheap then there'll be (an often short) period of time where they are still getting everyone coming in the door but charging some pretty high prices.
Raaf_ Hornet Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 Perhaps it has to do with JB being a listed company on the stockmarket these days, have to keep the shareholders happy , just a thought
Spearmint Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 Apparently the computer side of the business is going very well for JB. Obviously their marketing plan is doing well.
betty boop Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 The thing is if you are leading in the market and your customers perceive you to be cheap then there'll be (an often short) period of time where they are still getting everyone coming in the door but charging some pretty high prices. yeah walkin the chadstone store on a weekend and its usually packed. one of the reason I dont go there cant handle the crowd and then the long queue to pay. theyve defintely got the bargain pricing rep. problem possibly is eventually the customers will catch on. perhaps they'll stil have the odd bargain about to maintain the perception. one of hte other things is higher prices of discs will drive people further to downloading of the net rather than buying actual discs. not good for the industry long term and not good for the disc buying public long term either.
betty boop Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 Perhaps it has to do with JB being a listed company on the stockmarket these days, have to keep the shareholders happy , just a thought could be, shareholders wanting more profit.
CAVX Posted April 22, 2007 Posted April 22, 2007 For the last few months I had disturbingly considered that JB were slowly creeping up the prices of their CD's but had been fobbing myself off as a conspiracy theorist. But I have confirmed it this week there has definitely been a steady increase in regular cd prices at JB.Has anyone else noticed this? Yes and it been happening way longer than just the past few months - I would say at least 4 years (some Brisbane stores)... Mark
ritesh Posted April 22, 2007 Posted April 22, 2007 For the last few months I had disturbingly considered that JB were slowly creeping up the prices of their CD's but had been fobbing myself off as a conspiracy theorist. But I have confirmed it this week there has definitely been a steady increase in regular cd prices at JB.Has anyone else noticed this? It appears they have this sort of structure now Latest releases - still in the low 20's - as I'm guessing they still have to compete to get people in store Old popular titles that everyone owns already - heavily discounted Everything else in the store - All these disks now seem to be reaching the $30 mark or thereabouts! No kidding have a look just in the regular sections.... they all seem to have this "special import" sticker on them and be priced at $27.99 or above... I even saw a disk for $55! Which was not special at all, no dvds or sacd format or dualdisc or doubledisk or anything like that. This is a significant shift in their approach imo. Am I seeing things or have I just realised what everybody knew already...? I'm wondering if this is because JB has moved into a new approach because they are so big now, where they have become price leaders or whatever. Yeah I have noticed this too, and even on the DVD side... Further, I just have trouble finding some of the CDs and usually get told that they need to be imported from US and the cost is around $30 USD. Have also noticed that the SACD section has greatly reduced to being totally irrelevant now... This is all in the Melbourne City store, close to where I work.... I need to find alternative source, might do need to go online ..... Ritesh
Gutty Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 Last time i bought from JB they had more than one title carrying 2 different prices. ie: Dianna Krall, front display disc was like $25, a flick through the other Dianna Krall stuff and i find the same title for $12 or so....
byte-me Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 Yes and it been happening way longer than just the past few months - I would say at least 4 years (some Brisbane stores)...Mark Very true. It is as others have said also that people now have it in their mind that they have the cheapest prices and shop there without question. Also price matching is a big helper in price rising and an excellent marketing strategy as well. If you go to a store and they price match something you will tend to try that store again and they may help you out a few times. the time that they say that they cannot price match as it is lower than their buy price, some people will still purchase from them thinking that they helped out the lat few times. I am not sure why a lot of businesses are heading in this direction. As far as I am concerned turnover is what it is all about and I would rather make 10 sales with a profit of $10 on each sale with a good chance of repeat business and recommendations than make one sale and an $100 profit for the opposite reasons. I am not saying profit is not good, quite the opposite but business survives via it's customers and jacking the prices to get big margins of profit may work in the short term, but repeat business and recommendations is almost certainly going out the door with each customer that soon realises that they could have bought cheaper else where. Just my 2 cents.
Neon Kitten Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 For the last few months I had disturbingly considered that JB were slowly creeping up the prices of their CD's but had been fobbing myself off as a conspiracy theorist. But I have confirmed it this week there has definitely been a steady increase in regular cd prices at JB. I disagree - in fact, I'd say they've been getting lower overall, if anything. Two or three years ago they started to seem uncompetitive compared to the big chain department stores. Not any longer. Latest releases - still in the low 20's - as I'm guessing they still have to compete to get people in store New releases more often than not are priced at $18. That especially holds true for chart CDs which they can buy in masive quantities and therefore get a good discount on. Silverchair's new album was $18 on the day or release, as was Eskimo Joe's, just to give two examples. They are both still at that price point. Everything else in the store - All these disks now seem to be reaching the $30 mark or thereabouts! Pretty normal where the title is no longer selling in large quantities and therefore is only ordered in small quantities. No kidding have a look just in the regular sections.... they all seem to have this "special import" sticker on them and be priced at $27.99 or above... I even saw a disk for $55! That would have been a Universal indent (imported by the record company rather than the store) title. Universal is notorious for pricing their indents ridiculously high. Which was not special at all, no dvds or sacd format or dualdisc or doubledisk or anything like that. Well last week I picked up the two new Depeche Mode SACD/DVD titles for $27 each. I'd consider that an absolute bargain - and you won't find them for less than $30 elsewhere. A few weeks ago I wanted to pick up the remastered edition of Simple Minds' album "Empires And Dance" (a cracker of a record, by the way!) The price? $9.99. If you're still feeling bad about JB, go to HMV/Sanity and try to stop your mouth dropping open in horror at the pricing. Try finding something there that's non-current or non-mainstream. Then go to Big W or K-Mart and try to find ANYTHING that's not recorded for either the SMS generation or the retirement home community. Then pop back into JB and remember the fact that their success is due, more than anything else, to one thing - their massive, diverse range and their ability to keep back catalogue items in stock.
mustud52 Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 Last time i bought from JB they had more than one title carrying 2 different prices. ie: Dianna Krall, front display disc was like $25, a flick through the other Dianna Krall stuff and i find the same title for $12 or so.... I noticed the same thing over the last two Saturdays. Made me feel good when I found the ones with lower prices! On the other hand I remember when I first started buying cds in the early 1980s - they were $25 each back then. I guess that is now the equivalent of...I don't think I want to know.
Spearmint Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 I’m normally the opposite I’ll buy a disc this week and next week it’s on special. I’m positive someone is checking out my collection before including titles in their specials.
???? Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 I’ve noticed a similar trend hence why I’m tending to import more disc’s now than buy locally.The only negative about importing is you have to wait for delivery. But at least that way you get the original version, not the Australian repress from Shock - who ALWAYS bugger up audio or artwork... worth the hassle IMO
Neon Kitten Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 But at least that way you get the original version, not the Australian repress from Shock - who ALWAYS bugger up audio or artwork... worth the hassle IMO While some of Shock's local issues over overseas stuff has been dreadful artwork-wise (but that's the exception rather than the rule0 I have never encountered any of their titles where the audio has been "buggered up". Examples?
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