# Blu-ray Player Pricing?



## Oleson M.D. (Feb 3, 2010)

Has anyone noticed the huge jump in Blu-ray player pricing lately?

The Panasonic DMP BD80 as well as the LG BD390 have taken big spikes in price. Is there a shortage of these players? Is it because of the Dollar/Yen ratio?

A few months ago the Panny model could be had for well under $200. Now they are well above $200, even on Ebay.

Same with the LG. You could buy them new all day long on the net for $289. Now you'll be hard pressed to find one for less than $350.

What's going on? Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places for the best deal.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Oleson said:


> Has anyone noticed the huge jump in Blu-ray player pricing lately?
> 
> The Panasonic DMP BD80 as well as the LG BD390 have taken big spikes in price. Is there a shortage of these players? Is it because of the Dollar/Yen ratio?
> 
> ...


Our store has them pretty cheap


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## Oleson M.D. (Feb 3, 2010)

I checked your store pricing and my original point has been validated.

The Panasonic DMP BD80 was listed @ $349.95, Panasonic's own web-store lists them for $249.95. Consumer Reports shows price of $200. I could have bought a new one 2 months ago for $180. Today you'll spend well over $250 used on Ebay!

The LG BD390, which most recently had an MSRP of $349.99 (originally $399.99), now is going for $360 to $500. 

Keep in mind these are last year's models and as such the price should dramatically drop with the intro of the "New & Improved" models from the above manufacturer's.


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## RBTO (Jan 27, 2010)

Quite possibly, the new models are coming out. Last year about this time, I tried to buy the BD30 which had been as low as $129. Couldn't find it anywhere below $250 so I waited a few months and the new model (BD60) came out and was being offered for less than $150 in fairly short time. I think the supplies of the older models dry up (Panasonic under-produced the BD30) and then they become a commodity until the next generation passes them by. If you aren't in a hurry, I'd just wait a few months and by late spring the new ones should be out.


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## conchyjoe7 (Aug 28, 2007)

Everything but wages is going up...yeah I know; same old story. Personally, you couldn't give me anything by "Lucky/Goldstar" DBA "LG". Same with Samsung...call it my luck but I have had nothing but nightmares with anything "made in Korea", of course your mileage may vary! Now, Panasonic is quite another story...excellent products!
Cheers...


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## RBTO (Jan 27, 2010)

I think the newer models have hit the stores. In another thread, someone mentioned that the BD60 could be had for $90. In checking, refurbs are going for that but completely new units are around $114 not including shipping. These probably won't last long since they are the remaining older units but the BD60 was an excellent BD player so someone getting one at these prices could hardly go wrong.

I agree on the Chinese and Korean electronics. I wouldn't go there. Although some of the Japanese units are made in these countries, the quality is considerably better. I think it boils down to manufacture specifications which are higher (relative to the Asian brands) for brand names like Panasonic and Sony (and there is probably a little more R&D work in there too).


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Prices usually take a hike around this time. Christmas sales are over and new models are going to be out in about two months.


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> Prices usually take a hike around this time. Christmas sales are over and new models are going to be out in about two months.


And in the UK we had a VAT hike which put prices of everything up


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## Toby Jack (Feb 5, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Prices usually take a hike around this time. Christmas sales are over and new models are going to be out in about two months.


He's right. Before Christmas prices were ridiculously low. Rather than watching pricing for the older models you listed watch for these:

Panasonic DMP-BD85K
LG BD590

These are the updated models. They have a bunch of cool new features (well at least the LG does.)


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