AnimeSuki Forums

Vexx · 2009-02-21, 16:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by alamarco

It's sad to see any retailer go down. It's bad news for anime, but I think BestBuy had it all wrong to begin with. They were frequently out of early volumes, which made starting a collection pointless.

Actually, quite a few retailers make that fatal error. No one is going to start a new series is all you have on the shelf is #4, #7, and #8. :P

Quote:

I do all my buying online, but I would love if there was a good local store to go to. Not only do you get the item right away, but it'd be a nice place to check out what's new. It would be nice to see a new chain being started, taking the place of all these falling companies.

I basically do *all* my anime shopping at Rightstuf.com or dvdpacific.com for anime anymore. I figure a few small well-focused companies who do it right should be rewarded rather than "big box we sell bits of everything".

Amazon gets plenty of my money in other arenas and B&N is one of the few brick'mortar who also get how to integrate with webspace.

Best Buy, Circuit City and such offer very poor customer service - which is the one thing a brick'n'mortar *could* outcompete online vendors at. People who shop there feel either like prey (aggressive and uninformed sales staff) or like criminals (the entrance and exit nazis).

0utf0xZer0 · 2009-02-21, 17:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vexx

I basically do *all* my anime shopping at Rightstuf.com or dvdpacific.com for anime anymore. I figure a few small well-focused companies who do it right should be rewarded rather than "big box we sell bits of everything".

I knew about Rightstuf, but not DVD Pacific - and it looks like even with shipping factored in I might be able to save compared to ordering through Amazon.ca.

I do wish the Canadian dollar was higher than 79 cents US right now though, nothing is as good as the deal I got ordering stuff from the US last summer.

As for Best Buy - their anime selection in Canada has always sucked (good luck finding anything outside of a few select shows), although I remember getting some good PC game and DVD deals from them over the years.

alamarco · 2009-02-22, 04:40

I order from RightStuf.com almost once a week. I'm starting to cut down though. Ever since the economy went down the crapper I've been getting hit on customs (I live in Canada) on every shipment from RightStuf. It's a real shame because each time I pay ~$20.00, so with shipping factored in I'm not really saving anything.

That's also another reason for wanting local shops: no customs

.

npcomplete · 2009-02-22, 04:50

The best B&M store I've found for anime that doesn't specialize in anime is Fry's Electronics. It depends on the location, but most of the locations around here carry a good amount, much more on average than Best Buy ever did; and one store I frequent has a huge selection. I see people browsing the anime aisle all the time here which is a good sign I think. However one thing to be careful of are multiple re-priced versions which they keep scattered along with any other version of different pricing. They just order everything and throw it up on the shelves. Pricing is pretty good too, mostly the same as what Right Stuff charges, except for old stock that Right Stuff and other online retailers deeply discount quite often.

problemedchild · 2009-02-22, 09:14

BB's selection of anime titles has always been extremely small from what I've seen. My local Fry's stocks far more titles than any BB I've gone to.

I'm not really surprised anime is getting axed from BB's list though. When I used to work at Fry's as a cashier on weekends I would ring up 4-6 anime sales per month out of 800 transactions. Unless you count one dude who buy $500 worth of hentai.....
Anyways, what I'm getting at here is the fact online retailers pretty much will always have a better selection at better prices than your local B&M store. With that in mind, any cost conscious buyer will buy from an online retailer instead of a B&M store, which will in turn eat into the total sales of said B&M. Weak sales will no doubt force the store to stop wasting precious shelf space.

gokigenyou · 2009-02-23, 10:24

I think there will be a noticeable hit to the U.S. anime industry, by the loss of BestBuy as a major anime DVD outlet.

Let me start by saying that I am probably a weird breed of anime fan. I tend to legitimize any fan-subbed anime that I have. I appreciate anime fan-subs, for introducing me to various anime titles and helping expose me to shows that I might enjoy. And, if that title later becomes licensed, I pick it up. (*glances at the $35K worth of U.S. released anime DVDs on the shelves along the wall... sigh... and that does not include the Japanese DVD, Blu-Ray and Laserdisc collection on the other wall*)

Anyways, I do order from online stores like RightStuf, checking them out every Thursday to see what they offer. But I am also an "instant-gratification" shopper. I tend to hit BestBuy on Tuesdays, to see what is out, both for mainstream and anime titles. And you know, that instant gratification impulse can be quite strong. Sure, RightStuf might be cheaper, I will think to myself as I stand in a BestBuy aisle. But then I think to myself, well... this DVD is only a buck more expensive. And I get to watch it immediately.... oh yeah, and rewards points. Darn you BestBuy membership rewards points! You keep compelling me to come back!

And, while I think I am quite an extreme when it comes to anime purchasing (I probably spend about $300/mo on US anime titles, about another $200 on Japan anime titles), and am easy prey for impulse buying (I sometimes think if I stopped shopping for 3 months, the world economy would crash because of it... LOL), I do think that there are quite a number of impulse buyers out there. Sometimes, you see the disc, look at the disc cover art, read the blurb on the back, and ... with something tangible in your hands, you feel like buying. Sometimes, when I look at online stores for anime titles, I get a bit intimidated by the fact that I am on page 4 out of 368 of my anime DVD search query, trying to browse at little thumbnails and wishing that the pages would load faster.

Perhaps most anime shoppers in the US really do buy online. I don't know. But I do think that for the casual anime fan, the lack of anime DVDs at BestBuy will translate into an "out of sight, out of mind" effect. Inertia states that a customer that does not see an anime DVD will not buy an anime DVD. And for some, inertia will keep a potential customer glued to the TV watching "Dancing with the Stars" (which I actually love alot) rather than putting the effort into navigating thru pages of anime DVDs on an online store.

My thoughts, anyways.

npcomplete · 2009-02-23, 11:17

It's hit or miss with pure impulse buying and I've personally missed too many times to continue it. I can understand the instant gratification side though. But with the decline of anime on TV in general--although there was never much at all to begin with--I don't think you'd get a lot of folks who would casually pick up some title he/she has never heard of, especially with the prices they go for compared to a US show (and that's what the casual buyer will compare it with). It works well enough for domestic TV shows and movies because generally the potential buyer has heard of them before and the prices are low enough. And I would think that most impulse buys for US DVDs or BDs are the ones that are on sale.

But I don't think cutting out or reducing anime DVDs from B&M stores except Fry's really hurts the industry that much, if at all. I think it's more of a reflection that it's a niche industry in reality. Just look at electronics and PC components. Like with anime DVDs, the only B&M store that carries any sizable selection now is Fry's. The rest have moved online but that doesn't mean that industry failing, and stores like newegg seem to be doing rather well.

0utf0xZer0 · 2009-02-23, 12:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by alamarco

I order from RightStuf.com almost once a week. I'm starting to cut down though. Ever since the economy went down the crapper I've been getting hit on customs (I live in Canada) on every shipment from RightStuf. It's a real shame because each time I pay ~$20.00, so with shipping factored in I'm not really saving anything.

Wait, what?

I haven't ordered throguh Rightstuf for probably six months (haven't had a big enough order to get free shipping, so Amazon.ca was generally cheaper), but I never remembering paying more than $7 in customs fees. Granted, customs usually charges GST as well, but that's the same when ordering in Canada too.

Anyone know who DVDpacific uses to ship to Canada? That usually affects customs charges.

Kamui4356 · 2009-02-23, 12:38

[cranky old guy voice]Bah, all ya young whipersnapers don' know how good ya have it. What, with yer main stream retailers carryin' the dvd and all yer fancy shamcy bit torrents an' streamin' videos. Why back in my day the only way we could get anime was tradin' 12th generation copies o' vhs fansubs. Either that or a small rental section at blockbuster. Maybe a comic book shop'd have a couple a tapes we could buy, unless we were lucky enough ta live near a store that specialized in anime. An' back then we didn't have all these bilingual dvd releases you got these days. If we wanted ta buy an anime series we had to buy it on vhs, an' it'd cost $20 fer 2 episodes dubbed or $30 fer 2 episodes subbed. [/cranky old guy voice]

Anyway, my point is, the anime industry grew up in far worse conditions. Best Buy isn't cutting it's inventory completely, just getting rid of the titles that sit on the shelves and don't sell in many of it's stores. It'll hurt the industry, but it's not going to be a death blow. The problems musicland's collapse caused weren't just the loss of shelfspace and less retailers carrying the dvds. Musicland defaulted on some payments as well, which is what really hurt the companies.

alamarco · 2009-02-23, 15:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

Wait, what?

I haven't ordered throguh Rightstuf for probably six months (haven't had a big enough order to get free shipping, so Amazon.ca was generally cheaper), but I never remembering paying more than $7 in customs fees. Granted, customs usually charges GST as well, but that's the same when ordering in Canada too.

Anyone know who DVDpacific uses to ship to Canada? That usually affects customs charges.

Well I usually order more than one thing at a time. Like just recently I received Familiar of Zero and Code Geass LE 3 in a shipment. The customs was $17.00 and some odd cents. The order before that was School Rumble DVD's 1-6 + the tinbox which was $20.00 and some odd cents in customs.

Cinocard · 2009-02-23, 15:37

Not like I was surprised, the anime market here has very limited taste. And I believe most of us order online anyway, and such change doesn't affect consumers pocket that much. When I read the "sayonara" in the topic title, i thought of something much worse. But luckily...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vexx

Last time I was in there, I thought I'd actually buy something.. a cell phone-pc cable. Not only did they not have the product (though they carried the cellphone line) but they tried to get me to switch my phone and service because "that cable is hard to find". ..... (yeah... right...)

Bad employers, good employees?

Vexx · 2009-02-23, 15:51

I can only imagine the utter crap a Best Buy employee has to endure (terrible/no training, impossible review metrics, shitty pay, mind control, no-feedback-allowed, etc). But no, at the present time, they're extra screwed because no one is hiring...

My attitude towards the previous experience I posted wasn't anger at the employee... just a bit appalled at the desperation in the delivery to make a sale, any sale.

Any company that treats its *customers* badly, is almost certainly also roasting their employees alive. The Wicked Witch's soldiers from the Wizard of Oz

orion · 2009-02-24, 10:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinocard

Not like I was surprising, the anime market here has very limited taste. And I believe most of us order online anyway, and such change doesn't affect consumers pocket that much. When I read the "sayonara" in the topic title, i thought of something much worse. But luckily...

Actually, it is bad. Most people are actually buying stuff offline. Musicland's failure took out CPM and damaged ADV and Geneon. Most teens (the target population) don't have credit cards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vexx

I can only imagine the utter crap a Best Buy employee has to endure (terrible/no training, impossible review metrics, shitty pay, mind control, no-feedback-allowed, etc). But no, at the present time, they're extra screwed because no one is hiring...

My attitude towards the previous experience I posted wasn't anger at the employee... just a bit appalled at the dperation in the delivery to make a sale, any sale.

Any company that treats its *customers* badly, is almost certainly also roasting their employees alive. The Wicked Witch's soldiers from the Wizard of Oz

Gimme a break. Most jobs exercise "mind control" to an extent in fields other than marketing. It's called following the company policy. "Do what we tell you or hit the road, Jack." The poor guy prob had to make a quota for an incentive reward in his department.

Cinocard · 2009-02-24, 10:56

Quote:

Actually, it is bad. Most people are actually buying stuff offline. Musicland's failure took out CPM and damaged ADV and Geneon. Most teens (the target population) don't have credit cards.

Perhaps It's been so long since i was a teenager. But I thought most high school students in Us nowadays has a small credit account. And the younger ones will ask others to do it for them. Hm...

Quote:

Gimme a break. Most jobs exercise "mind control" to an extent in fields other than marketing. It's called following the company policy. "Do what we tell you or hit the road, Jack." The poor guy prob had to make a quota for an incentive reward in his department.

That's the point, whether the company policy is good or bad. But employees who have skills to follow such barbaric selling style aren't so bad.

But that's for cell phone and cellphone cable. Anime? I wonder if they know craps about it, working in a comic store.

Vexx · 2009-02-24, 16:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by orion

Gimme a break. Most jobs exercise "mind control" to an extent in fields other than marketing. It's called following the company policy. "Do what we tell you or hit the road, Jack." The poor guy prob had to make a quota for an incentive reward in his department.

You know as well as I do (I hope) that some companies have policies that are realistic, ethical, and adaptive; while others are distinctly unhealthy or corrosive to the employees and customers. The latter often manage to get by on inertia and sheer size.

I've worked for both kinds.

Marcus_rel · 2009-02-24, 17:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vexx

I can only imagine the utter crap a Best Buy employee has to endure (terrible/no training, impossible review metrics, shitty pay, mind control, no-feedback-allowed, etc). But no, at the present time, they're extra screwed because no one is hiring...

My attitude towards the previous experience I posted wasn't anger at the employee... just a bit appalled at the desperation in the delivery to make a sale, any sale.

Any company that treats its *customers* badly, is almost certainly also roasting their employees alive. The Wicked Witch's soldiers from the Wizard of Oz

I got a job at Best Buy when I was 16 selling video games, consoles, DVD's and all that jazz. But Vexx is right, it was my very first part-time job (was the youngest person working there) and they put me on the floor by myself on my first day! I remember, I had no training and it was an 8 hour shift

And man, even though we weren't on commission, we had to sell or shit was going to hit the fan. LOL, and they would always do employee evaluations all the time. On one evaluation my supervisor asked me what our stock was trading at - like, how the hell should I know?

I WAS ONLY 16 FOR SHIT'S SAKES!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

I knew about Rightstuf, but not DVD Pacific - and it looks like even with shipping factored in I might be able to save compared to ordering through Amazon.ca.

I do wish the Canadian dollar was higher than 79 cents US right now though, nothing is as good as the deal I got ordering stuff from the US last summer.

As for Best Buy - their anime selection in Canada has always sucked (good luck finding anything outside of a few select shows), although I remember getting some good PC game and DVD deals from them over the years.

He's right about the selection part, Canadian stores have never really stepped up their game in regards to Anime.

npcomplete · 2009-02-25, 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by orion

Actually, it is bad. Most people are actually buying stuff offline. Musicland's failure took out CPM and damaged ADV and Geneon. Most teens (the target population) don't have credit cards.

.. you really think so? Many years ago that might have been so but like many specialized products, most have moved online for the better and the people have followed. I didn't recognize the Musicland name so after looking it up, I see that they owned Sam Goody's which I stopped visiting a while before they closed down.

Like Cinocard mentioned, I think a majority of teens have credit cards now. But while the target demographics for TV would include teens, I think the target for DVD is more of the younger adult, e.g. college students on up, who can afford to buy more

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus_rel

He's right about the selection part, Canadian stores have never really stepped up their game in regards to Anime.

.. neither have the US Best Buys

cyth · 2009-02-25, 19:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by npcomplete

.. you really think so? Many years ago that might have been so but like many specialized products, most have moved online for the better and the people have followed.

I highly doubt this to be the case. Five years ago the industry still thought it would keep all the alloted shelf space and that anime had a bright future in North America, but that wasn't the case, and change in sales trends reflected very slowly because of slow release schedules and the DVD singles format. What I'm trying to say is that the retail market isn't that dynamic, and neither is the teenager population.

I think our opinions on what trends are currently present are heavily influenced by limited experience from our daily lives and personal habits, but I like to believe that the saying "old habits die hard" carries some weight universally, except when it comes to the internet.

Lostdreams · 2009-02-25, 20:24

woah... People actually bought anime?
this isn't really big news to me personally, but I guess this is how a lot of animes make money. I'm still really surprised that people actually buy dubbed anime.
I'm actually surprised people actually watch anime...
Sorry, but I didn't think a lot of people actually watched anime to buy it, or even watched it at all considering I don't know anybody who watches anime except me...

MidnightViper88 · 2009-02-25, 23:58

Uhh, yeah...Contrary to the myth in the shadow of the internet and all the free stuff you can access on it, people still do have money to spend, and if someone likes what they see for free enough, they'll pay to personally own it in collection...

I don't know about many people, but I find it extremely irritating of the lack of quality when it comes to downloaded or hosted videos on the internet...Video quality is the top thing, since there are a lot of limits placed on a file in order for it to be hosted on any one site, and even if you download it from somewhere like a Torrent, the file is still ripped from somewhere even if a DVD, and anything that's ripped most likely without a small chance will have been ripped with loss...I haven't quite seen "lossless" video rips as frequent as lossless audio rips, and lossless audio rips are already infrequent, so I'll be damned if you can find a DVD-quality download anywhere out there...

And although I do it week in and week out, I'd rather watch anime on something a little bigger, like my TV, instead of slumped over looking at my relatively-dinky laptop screen...

I like supporting things that I like, and I mean that in more ways than supporting the obvious...That's why I still continue to buy CDs, even if my main reason is for the audio quality versus ripped files...Although I don't have the financial means to buy everything that I'll ever want, but what I can afford, I'm putting good money against, and it's usually worth it...My money's actually going to the people and the company that put out a good title, money that they actually deserve for the title that they put out...

Besides, I rather like personally owning a collection of anime DVDs...It means much more to me than a bunch of shitty-quality pirated stuff burned in blank disks...

2009-02-23, 12:38	Link #29
Kamui4356 Aria Company Join Date: Nov 2003	[cranky old guy voice]Bah, all ya young whipersnapers don' know how good ya have it. What, with yer main stream retailers carryin' the dvd and all yer fancy shamcy bit torrents an' streamin' videos. Why back in my day the only way we could get anime was tradin' 12th generation copies o' vhs fansubs. Either that or a small rental section at blockbuster. Maybe a comic book shop'd have a couple a tapes we could buy, unless we were lucky enough ta live near a store that specialized in anime. An' back then we didn't have all these bilingual dvd releases you got these days. If we wanted ta buy an anime series we had to buy it on vhs, an' it'd cost $20 fer 2 episodes dubbed or $30 fer 2 episodes subbed. [/cranky old guy voice] Anyway, my point is, the anime industry grew up in far worse conditions. Best Buy isn't cutting it's inventory completely, just getting rid of the titles that sit on the shelves and don't sell in many of it's stores. It'll hurt the industry, but it's not going to be a death blow. The problems musicland's collapse caused weren't just the loss of shelfspace and less retailers carrying the dvds. Musicland defaulted on some payments as well, which is what really hurt the companies. __________________

2009-02-23, 15:51	Link #32
Vexx Obey the Darkly Cute ... Author Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ... Age: 66	I can only imagine the utter crap a Best Buy employee has to endure (terrible/no training, impossible review metrics, shitty pay, mind control, no-feedback-allowed, etc). But no, at the present time, they're extra screwed because no one is hiring... My attitude towards the previous experience I posted wasn't anger at the employee... just a bit appalled at the desperation in the delivery to make a sale, any sale. Any company that treats its customers badly, is almost certainly also roasting their employees alive. The Wicked Witch's soldiers from the Wizard of Oz __________________ "It Really IS Rocket Science", Novel series rough drafts; vol. 1 thru vol. 3 complete Volume 4 in work, Visit the thread for short stories!

2009-02-22, 04:40	Link #23
alamarco Why hello there! Join Date: May 2008 Location: Canada	I order from RightStuf.com almost once a week. I'm starting to cut down though. Ever since the economy went down the crapper I've been getting hit on customs (I live in Canada) on every shipment from RightStuf. It's a real shame because each time I pay ~$20.00, so with shipping factored in I'm not really saving anything. That's also another reason for wanting local shops: no customs .

2009-02-22, 04:50	Link #24
npcomplete Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008	The best B&M store I've found for anime that doesn't specialize in anime is Fry's Electronics. It depends on the location, but most of the locations around here carry a good amount, much more on average than Best Buy ever did; and one store I frequent has a huge selection. I see people browsing the anime aisle all the time here which is a good sign I think. However one thing to be careful of are multiple re-priced versions which they keep scattered along with any other version of different pricing. They just order everything and throw it up on the shelves. Pricing is pretty good too, mostly the same as what Right Stuff charges, except for old stock that Right Stuff and other online retailers deeply discount quite often.

2009-02-22, 09:14	Link #25
problemedchild ô_ô Join Date: Nov 2003	BB's selection of anime titles has always been extremely small from what I've seen. My local Fry's stocks far more titles than any BB I've gone to. I'm not really surprised anime is getting axed from BB's list though. When I used to work at Fry's as a cashier on weekends I would ring up 4-6 anime sales per month out of 800 transactions. Unless you count one dude who buy $500 worth of hentai..... Anyways, what I'm getting at here is the fact online retailers pretty much will always have a better selection at better prices than your local B&M store. With that in mind, any cost conscious buyer will buy from an online retailer instead of a B&M store, which will in turn eat into the total sales of said B&M. Weak sales will no doubt force the store to stop wasting precious shelf space.

2009-02-23, 10:24	Link #26
gokigenyou Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Boston, MA	I think there will be a noticeable hit to the U.S. anime industry, by the loss of BestBuy as a major anime DVD outlet. Let me start by saying that I am probably a weird breed of anime fan. I tend to legitimize any fan-subbed anime that I have. I appreciate anime fan-subs, for introducing me to various anime titles and helping expose me to shows that I might enjoy. And, if that title later becomes licensed, I pick it up. (glances at the $35K worth of U.S. released anime DVDs on the shelves along the wall... sigh... and that does not include the Japanese DVD, Blu-Ray and Laserdisc collection on the other wall) Anyways, I do order from online stores like RightStuf, checking them out every Thursday to see what they offer. But I am also an "instant-gratification" shopper. I tend to hit BestBuy on Tuesdays, to see what is out, both for mainstream and anime titles. And you know, that instant gratification impulse can be quite strong. Sure, RightStuf might be cheaper, I will think to myself as I stand in a BestBuy aisle. But then I think to myself, well... this DVD is only a buck more expensive. And I get to watch it immediately.... oh yeah, and rewards points. Darn you BestBuy membership rewards points! You keep compelling me to come back! And, while I think I am quite an extreme when it comes to anime purchasing (I probably spend about $300/mo on US anime titles, about another $200 on Japan anime titles), and am easy prey for impulse buying (I sometimes think if I stopped shopping for 3 months, the world economy would crash because of it... LOL), I do think that there are quite a number of impulse buyers out there. Sometimes, you see the disc, look at the disc cover art, read the blurb on the back, and ... with something tangible in your hands, you feel like buying. Sometimes, when I look at online stores for anime titles, I get a bit intimidated by the fact that I am on page 4 out of 368 of my anime DVD search query, trying to browse at little thumbnails and wishing that the pages would load faster. Perhaps most anime shoppers in the US really do buy online. I don't know. But I do think that for the casual anime fan, the lack of anime DVDs at BestBuy will translate into an "out of sight, out of mind" effect. Inertia states that a customer that does not see an anime DVD will not buy an anime DVD. And for some, inertia will keep a potential customer glued to the TV watching "Dancing with the Stars" (which I actually love alot) rather than putting the effort into navigating thru pages of anime DVDs on an online store. My thoughts, anyways.

2009-02-23, 11:17	Link #27
npcomplete Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008	It's hit or miss with pure impulse buying and I've personally missed too many times to continue it. I can understand the instant gratification side though. But with the decline of anime on TV in general--although there was never much at all to begin with--I don't think you'd get a lot of folks who would casually pick up some title he/she has never heard of, especially with the prices they go for compared to a US show (and that's what the casual buyer will compare it with). It works well enough for domestic TV shows and movies because generally the potential buyer has heard of them before and the prices are low enough. And I would think that most impulse buys for US DVDs or BDs are the ones that are on sale. But I don't think cutting out or reducing anime DVDs from B&M stores except Fry's really hurts the industry that much, if at all. I think it's more of a reflection that it's a niche industry in reality. Just look at electronics and PC components. Like with anime DVDs, the only B&M store that carries any sizable selection now is Fry's. The rest have moved online but that doesn't mean that industry failing, and stores like newegg seem to be doing rather well.

2009-02-25, 20:24	Link #39
Lostdreams Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008	woah... People actually bought anime? this isn't really big news to me personally, but I guess this is how a lot of animes make money. I'm still really surprised that people actually buy dubbed anime. I'm actually surprised people actually watch anime... Sorry, but I didn't think a lot of people actually watched anime to buy it, or even watched it at all considering I don't know anybody who watches anime except me...

2009-02-25, 23:58	Link #40
MidnightViper88 HI, BILLY MAYS HERE Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: The 502 Age: 35	Uhh, yeah...Contrary to the myth in the shadow of the internet and all the free stuff you can access on it, people still do have money to spend, and if someone likes what they see for free enough, they'll pay to personally own it in collection... I don't know about many people, but I find it extremely irritating of the lack of quality when it comes to downloaded or hosted videos on the internet...Video quality is the top thing, since there are a lot of limits placed on a file in order for it to be hosted on any one site, and even if you download it from somewhere like a Torrent, the file is still ripped from somewhere even if a DVD, and anything that's ripped most likely without a small chance will have been ripped with loss...I haven't quite seen "lossless" video rips as frequent as lossless audio rips, and lossless audio rips are already infrequent, so I'll be damned if you can find a DVD-quality download anywhere out there... And although I do it week in and week out, I'd rather watch anime on something a little bigger, like my TV, instead of slumped over looking at my relatively-dinky laptop screen... I like supporting things that I like, and I mean that in more ways than supporting the obvious...That's why I still continue to buy CDs, even if my main reason is for the audio quality versus ripped files...Although I don't have the financial means to buy everything that I'll ever want, but what I can afford, I'm putting good money against, and it's usually worth it...My money's actually going to the people and the company that put out a good title, money that they actually deserve for the title that they put out... Besides, I rather like personally owning a collection of anime DVDs...It means much more to me than a bunch of shitty-quality pirated stuff burned in blank disks...