Friday, February 17, 2012

CODE RED PLANS TO SELL DIRECT TO CUSTOMERS

Due to the poor sales NIGHTMARE received after multiple complaints and even death threats, it seems the majority of complainers and would-be killers didn't even buy the dvd. The only way for lesser known title to turn a profit is to eliminate the middle man. Out of the 35 titles released in 2011, only seven titles made a profit (not NIGHTMARE, the most harassed title). Due to shipping and stores wanting 55% off the suggested retail price, and the distributor getting their cut, it seems a $19.95 title only coughs up a tiny $7.00 profit, and then 1/2 of money gets eaten away from pressing and shipping to stores gets slapped on and there's always returns. If we can sell direct, or sell at only one place with just one shipping charge to transport the dvd, then recoup/profit can be made. Most "in" dvd labels have no problem dumping 3,000 titles, but the titles CODE RED are putting out are old films from the 70's/80's that buyers seem to push back with, "l'll buy it later". This is strange since other labels' product is still in print after 6 years, and what little Code Red titles sell seem to skyrocket in value (like investing in gold) after 2-3 years. Selling direct can be the answer to keeping titles in-print longer, and we can personally answer the complainers since we can check our records to see if they actually bought the dvd or not. So far the major complaint was that NIGHT OF THE DEMON didn't have a reversible cover, when it does. This means they didn't buy it. How can we answer these people who do not even buy the product? It's like Pizza Hut apologizing to a vegan about their Meat Pizza Combo, when the vegan would never buy it to begin with. Once we get organized, we can start selling the new releases of 2012 direct to our customers (not rental stores, and more to the loyal horror buyers). We are going to test the waters soon with a much requested biggest Canadian thriller/horror GHOSTKEEPER. Thanks to all who support Code Red. (this direct sale will only be smaller titles, and not high profile titles)

74 comments:

Colt said...

I am okay with this, So does that also mean the cost of the DVD will be lower?

Allen w/ Code Red Facebook Fans said...

Best of luck with the new business plan!

razzzor! said...

Excellent news! I will continue to support Code Red. Wild East Productions have been able to maintain a healthy release schedule, and they mainly sell directly to their customers. I hope Code Red can do the same and survive. I am looking forward to your next release!

Explosive Action said...

This could be a great idea. I hope you will ship internationally and accept PayPal, and that postage charges are reasonable (unlike Full Moon, for example, who want $55 to ship five DVDs to Australia).

I picked up Nightmare just last month from Amazon actually, waiting for it to arrive, and I also have Night of the Demon and a bunch more older and newer titles.

Looking forward to what you come up with.

Robert said...

Sounds good to me if it means we can get more/rarer titles and bonuses. It works for Twilight Time. Maybe this means we can get a blu ray someday? Also have you thought of using kickstarter . com as a way to fund your pressings?

Anonymous said...

I hope DVDs can be purchased without having to use Paypal. I do not use it and do not like them. Can you just accept credit cards or even mail payments on your own?

Anonymous said...

The Nightmare release was great. I've liked the movie for years. The colors looked good and it was widescreen. So, what's to complain about ? Don't like it, watch the blown out Continental vhs or the cut british disc. Big improvement by Code Red, yeah!

drew said...

yPaneo fencethis is a great idea, but like Explosive Action, I am in Australia too and am interested to see how postage costs turn out. I have been picking up your titles where I can but this new venture sounds great. If it means you can actually make some money and therefore get some of those long held-back titles released (eg Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker etc), it seems like the perfect solution.
cheers d

Anonymous said...

Count me in. I'm tired of dropping a fortune on eBay for OOP code red dvd's. I'd rather put it in your hands directly.

GG Pan said...

Nice. Looking forward to this development. Hoping Ghostkeeper is here to stay!

Mike K said...

Whatever you guys need to do in order to turn a profit and continue giving us titles we love, do it up! I'm more than happy to see the money end up directly in your hands.

Jimmy said...

I won't be original here.

You know I would do it to support you as I told you many time. I prefer to give you the total ammount of a purchase than a small fraction of it.

Whatever you choose the credit card way or the Paypal way doesn't make a difference to me.

Lars Jacobsson said...

Seems like a great idea! The deal-breaker for me would be if you had too high international shipping costs (i'm in Sweden). I like the idea of ordering directly from indie DVD/record/book-publishers that I like, thus eliminating the middleman, but many companys who sell directly insists on ridiculous international shipping prices, which makes it much cheaper to order elsewhere. When you order a simple DVD you don't need it registrered and delivered on your doorstep in 3 days from ordering, at the cost of the DVD itself almost - regular mail and 2 weeks delivery works just fine and should at least be an option. Also you should have bulk shipping prices, I think. I often order lots of DVD:s at the time as ordering them one and one is rather costly.

I hope this business model works out for you as I love you're company and would be really sad to see it go. Ps! I think you are paying way too much attention to über-geek internet trolls (I have a feeling it's just a few people making a lot of noise). Just ignore them and let them complain about "Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker", non-reversable covers and release dates all they want, you'd be much happier for it.

Anonymous said...

I could see this new business model working well so long as titles are not sold at full MSRP. If movies are $15 I could see myself buying direct, but if everything is $20-$30 good luck with that. I don't even pay $20-$30 for Blu-ray movies at retail. I think $15 is the sweet spot for DVDs so long as they are NOT DVD-Rs. Places like Warner Archive that do DVD-Rs, the rare occasion I've bought one, I've waited until I can get them for around $10. Remember if prices are too high you're still going to be complaining about how titles don't sell well. It's better to sell 200 copies of something for $15, than 40-50 for $30... Again best of luck with this Bill!

Anthony1138 said...

This is great news. I'd much rather pay Code Red directly, putting my money in your pockets and keeping the price of DVDs down. It's a win win for Code Red and fans.

Anonymous said...

I always feel bad when Code Red releases a title that I am not interested in (hey we all have our tastes) because I would love to support the effort. I promise you this if you release certain titles that were announced that I wanted I will certainly buy them directly from you.
Best of luck with this approach.

Jerry said...

How about repressing some of those uber-expensive OOP titles for direct sale?

Jimmy said...

Jerry don't quote me on that but the licence for most of them is probably expired. Of course I can be wrong, but I doubt it...

Anonymous said...

Part of your statement is not quite correct. People complained about the DVDs not having a reversible cover of the front artwork without Maria on it. The reversible cover of Night of the Demon displays a childish joke and not the Maria-free front artwork. Some for Caged Men. Here we get different poster artworks and no spine. Saying that these people didn't buy the DVDs is not correct. Why no reversible covers without any banners or hostesses like Scorpion Releasing does? The get a lot of praise for that.

Anal Del Rey said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Code Red DVD said...

I should answer this question. CAGED MEN died big time and only sold 270 copies so I doubt the complainer even bought the dvd. It's not a horror film. As for NIGHT OF THE DEMON..ALL THE COMPLAINT WAS THAT IT HAS NO ARTWORK ON THE OTHER SIDE! It might have been different, but they didn't even buy it to know it was artwork behing the Maria's cover. Check the message board, many people didnt buy the dvd. Dont buy, don't complaint. besides, VAMPIRE AT MIDNIGHT was reversable and also got complaint.

P.I. said...

Will money orders be a payment option?... FYI: I order directly from other companies ( SW and AC ), so I think this is great news... and, I only order from one online store ( the same place I find your DVDs )...

The Dude said...

Brian, I hope this will enable you to sell "Ghostkeeper;" "Blood Mania;" "Kill Point;" "Low Blow;" "Raw Force;" and other future releases. Hopefully this will give you the chance to release the movies you were also planning to release from the past, such as, "Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker;" "Family Honor;" and etc. I was very satisfied with "Nightmares" "Rituals" "Night Of The Demon" and "Vampire After Midnight." Please stay in business and don't give up!

Anonymous said...

So are all of the current in print titles going out of print? And does this mean you'll only be selling future releases direct?

Anonymous said...

Hope you guys will be able to ship to the netherlands!! Love the work you people are doing. Ghostkeeper is one that was high on my list!!Keep up the good work!!

Anonymous said...

This could be great news, as long as you don't just limit payment options to Paypal. I prefer money order or check. I agree with others that putting money into your hands directly would be a good thing.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who complains obviously did not grow up in the VHS generation. Be happy that these titles are coming out at all in remastered & uncut editions. If dvd was never invented, where would these films be? That's right...in the vaults for all eternity. Kudos to Code Red!

Anonymous said...

This is good news and something I will support as long as you ship overseas.

Martin Montag said...

I'm a Code Red fan living in England and buy your DVD's from Amazon U.K I would be happy to buy direct from Code Red, but will you be shipping outside of U.S.A / Canada ? If so how high will the shipping charges be?
Just about all of Code Red DVD's have vanished from Amazon U.K I can not find a copy of Night Of The Demon for sale, which I want to buy. I don't care about the cover artwork, there was no cinema poster for this film.
Where else can I buy Code Red movies?

Anonymous said...

I am a huge and loyal fan and supporter of Code Red. I buy every title that you release. (I even purchased 2 copies of Nightmare hoping to help its sales). I am sorry to hear of the troubles you’re having. I hate to see things not doing sell. I hope things turn around real soon. Because of you I have finally added titles to my collection never released before. I support any changes you need to make to make things better.
Please keep up updates on where to get your product. I don’t want to miss out on anything. Good Luck!

Taylor said...

This is an excellent idea, this way everybody comes out ahead!! Just keep the coost down to a manageable level and I'm sure this will be a success. Can't understand why Nightmare flopped, come on people, put your money where your mouth is!

Morrisminor said...

It's a great idea to start selling the product directly yourself as supplying retailers really does filter the profits. Horror is not my genre and I don't go after every title that you do put out but I'm still incredibly grateful to you guys for Choke Canyon, The Last Chase and Vampire at Midnight. I hope your new business model is a success.

Josh said...

Whatever works for the company to keep things afloat, just please don't do the god awful dvdr crap.

movieguy11a said...

The only 2 Code Red releases I was interested in 2011 was Nightmare and Love Me Deadly/Curious Case of the Campus Corpse which i purchased. Im still waiting on Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker which has been on your list for several years now and still no updates. As long as the shipping isnt outrageous, Media Mail has tracking # and is less than $3 so if you have several price options to choose from would be great, because when I get them from Amazon im a prime shipping customer so there is no shipping and shipping charges are a concern for sure. I have always loved the Code Red/BCI stuff...The Unseen is one of my faves..I look forward to ordering from you guys...best of luck for sure

Code Red DVD said...

I check the usps.com for ths postage claim. Media mail is $2.47 + 85 tracking cost + .35 for the mailer. But dvd first class is cheaper as it'll be 2.29 + .35 + .85. I talk to fred the mailman and he laugh on postage being $3.00 with tracking. He said that fee is from 10 years ago. it seems $3 charge for US shipping is it??

Go!Go!Gorilla! said...

Sounds good! I'm all for whatever keeps you releasing great flicks!

razzzor! said...

Perhaps you could also offer autographed copies of some of your releases. I am not sure of the logistics of this as I assume the commentaries and on camera interviews are recorded before the final artwork is printed, but it would be cool if you could offer limited edition autograghed DVDs on your website.

Brian said...

Oh man, this is'll be so much better than having to go to amazon. If you guys set up an online store I would probably be able to buy a lot more of the titles you offer.

Anonymous said...

Just listened to TEC podcast with Bill. Very cool. Though I think Bill is being a bit harsh on Butcher Baker not selling much. It's a very hot title and one of the most well respected rare slashers of the 80s. I know people have said that The Visitor would do well, and it didn't (which I bought and loved btw) but BBNM is more well known than that. I love your company, and take the time you need to flesh out the extras. Just chiming in that I think it's the diamond in your awaited titles list and that it could be one of the stronger releases in the future. Maybe, maybe not. Just my 2 cents.

David said...

Certainly a good business decision, following the manufacturing on demand model that the studios use. How often would you be posting a new release schedule? I'm particularly interested in the Leo Fong martial arts films (Killpoint, Low Blow). Any information on these titles and if they will follow soon?

ET said...

That's too high for media mail. We ship out DVDs daily and pay $1.88 most of the time and about 2 out of 10 are $2.05. This is for media mail and a tracking number.

Code Red DVD said...

ET? when was the last time you mailed something. check www.usps.com and you'll see the real cost. postage went up on 2012.

ET said...

We're sending orders out everyday. Out of the last 10 DVD(standard cases) orders we sent out today using media mail and tracking, 7 cost $1.88, 1 was $1.71, and 2 were $2.05.

We occasionally hit $1.71 on really light things but like I said earlier, $1.88 is the most common we're paying along with 1 or 2 $2.05 out of every 10 we ship.

If you're buying postage directly from the post office, then you're going to spend an extra dollar, or so.

The trick is to go through companies like stamps.com but you get an account that doesn't have a monthly subscription. Then you'll get a discount on shipping, which we get but we pay a 7 cent fee, which I included in the shipping costs I quoted earlier.

Before we figured that out, we lost a lot of extra money on shipping which we didn't have to. If you want more info, I'd be glad to get you in touch with my wife since she's the shipping expert.

Code Red DVD said...

ET, I deal with post office direct and do not sell large volume to deal with what you are mentioning. Since you are a store who sells dvd, why are you posting here? these items will not be sold to stores.

ET said...

I'm not selling large quantities either, nor am I selling to stores. We just sell stuff on the side to earn a little more income. Even if you sell one thing a month, you can still pay cheaper rates. It's not some special deal. Anyone can ship stuff this way.

I'm trying to help and there's no reason you couldn't pay less on shipping but you sure seem resistant to someone that has a little knowledge on the subject trying to help out.

If you want more help, I'm willing to do it but if you want to keep telling me it's impossible, then I guess I'm done. It's not like you'd be out anything other than a couple emails getting details from my wife. I like your stuff and I was just trying to show you there's cheaper ways to do shipping.

ET said...

If you want some info that you actually can pay less for shipping without owning a store or shipping large quantities, shoot me an email at walkereric@yahoo.com and I'll pass it along to my wife to answer questions.

We buy postage online, print out the label and then drop them off at the post office. There's no tricks to it.

Even though my wife is the expert on it, I believe it's cheaper because you have someplace like stamps.com ordering huge amounts of postage, so they get a deal with the post office. Then they add on a little bit to what stamps is getting charge, so they get a profit and can offer lower shipping rates than if you go straight to the post office.

Thomas P. said...

That is great news, but im wondering, if Code Red starts to sell from the website, will Code Red also ship internationally, i live in Denmark, and buy allmost all the realeases, from other online stores.

K-Fleet said...

People will bellyache no matter what you do, so just continue to release what you can and offer the best price, transfer, and supplements. It's not about blaming people for a lack of sales, it's about putting out quality product on time and correctly marketing it. Media Blasters lost a lot of faith when they started bumping titles to later dates and some to TBAs. I'm a fan of your releases and will support either way, but want to feel like my dollar is truly appreciated rather than excuses being made.

ScriptBoyTV said...

I can't believe that people are complaining about $3.00 for shipping. It's the right price. I'm completely on Bill's side.

Anonymous said...

But will you post overseas?

criminalmischief said...

Hopefully Raw Force will be released this way as to not lose money. as there are too many bootlegs & that shitty grindhouse 25 version(VideoAsia) out there.
And Code Red won't fold. Naysayers will continue to bash & whine while never actually buying the product as per usual but to the true collector's & fans this changes nothing except insures the longevity of code Red & quality product unseen by the masses for years to come.
ViVa the Revolution!

Jerk Face said...

please do this, I have scoured my dvd stores trying to find Night of the Demon and found other "Maria" titles but not that one. finally i went to amazon where i find the disc selling for $35 plus S&H, double your SRP.
I would even support DVD-R's, like the warner archive, if it meant certain titles came back into print.

Jeff McKay said...

Seriously?!?! This ET guy is complaining about $3 shipping?!?!!!! Trust me, no one can ship any DVD cheaper than that, via stamps.com or any other venue, especially if you want any delivery confirmation...... that is unless you are a shill for such fake mail company. Yes, if you're shipping out a thousand items a day, you can probably get some sort of discounted rate, but for all small sellers, you are completely sh** out of luck. Seriously, this 'ET' guy is full of baloney. I'm sure he'll retort and deny his dumbness, but just go to your local PO yourself and you'll get the REAL truth.

ET said...

People can deny it all they want but I do it everyday. All one has to do is actually check with stamps.com for themselves and see it for themselves.

Also, if you sell stuff at Amazon and buy shipping through them, they go through stamps.com. Once again, you're paying around $2 for tracking and first class shipping.

People that actually have experience in things may know something. Shocking, I know but apparently people refuse to do any research should it go against their current mindset.

Just trying to save a company I like some money to help them provide great service with less overhead.

ET said...

Jerk Face, if you're looking for Night of the Demon, keep an eye out on ebay. Hastings has been putting some up for Buy It Now the last 3 days for around $20. It's been coming and going, so keep checking back in case it comes up again.

Anonymous said...

I just checked stamps.com website and there's a $16 monthly fee. I don't see anywhere on there to waive that fee and pay a little extra per transaction instead. I only sell a handful of items per month, so I'd definitely lose money using them. Unless there's a hidden no-fee plan not shown on their site? I'm thinking CodeRed could benefit if they sell enough volume.

ET said...

http://www.stamps.com/welcome/custom/ebay/

It's been about a decade since I've sold anything on ebay, so I can't really give any info on the process.

Anonymous said...

ET, I also sell stuff and would love lower rates and I have been following this conversation and I also just looked at stamps.com. But you have supplied no info on how not to pay a monthly fee to them to get cheaper shipping. And as that person before said, even their site says there's definitely that $15.99 fee, and savings are only "up to 15% off" on certain only select services, but "up to" doesn't even mean it will actually be 15% and could just be 1%, and that's all still including their $16 monthly fee. It still doesn't seem like a great deal unless you're selling hundreds of units a month, or just for the convenience of not having to go to the post office (which is always nice to avoid). I really would like a good deal and maybe I'll call them and see what the deal really is, but their site surely doesn't show any super no-money plan.

That ebay link for their stamps.com plan you posted is useless for me as I never used ebay and that's an exclusive ebay only limited promotion, at least from the fine print (I didn't research further, but I'm sure there are some hidden terms). I'm sure ebay will get some sort of cut whatever the costs may be. Anyway, unless you can actually show a legit plan that stamps.com offers with no monthly fee and a decent reduction in shipping costs on top of that to be used anywhere including Amazon, it just sounds like you are shilling for that company. I'm sorry, but you keep saying that your "wife is the expert" and then now you say "It's been a decade since I did ebay so I don't know the process." You don't seem to really know anything about this then, do you? With all do respect, I think you just want people to go over to stamps.com and sign up, so are you a marketing employee there?

ET said...

I'll just leave it at this point for now. Not selling stuff on ebay doesn't equal not selling stuff at all. I sell stuff, just not on ebay and I pay lower rates. Rather than get into a huge discussion that's somewhat off topic regarding the technical details of shipping instead of the blog post of Code Red's new distribution plan, which we should all be focused on, I posted my email in case there was interest since paying shipping through the post office is a higher rate. Even when we first started and were going in everyday, the lady at the counter told us we could save money on shipping by doing it online. We did some research and found out we could. If someone doesn't want to do any research because they think it's not possible, doesn't hurt me any. Nobody has to even come to me for research. I just thought I'd help out. If people don't want to research anything and insult me, once again, it doesn't hurt me any. I was just an outsider willing to offer some help. If anyone wants more research, there's a decent forum at Amazon for marketplace sellers. Go ask them since I'm not going to fight with anyone about it anymore. I'll just continue paying what I pay for shipping, whether or not anyone wants to believe in it. You know, there's a reason people make money off things like one cent books over at amazon. I can tell you they aren't paying $3 for shipping either.

Rick said...

My question is this - why would you not sell these titles to stores as well, at least on a direct basis so you keep more of the profit? Being a former owner of a Mom & Pop video store, we were the biggest supporters of small labels and the ones that stayed open still are. You could sell direct to the public and still sell direct to independent stores as well (it's the 3rd party distributors that can make the profits too small for you and for the stores). Indie stores are not the enemy, we are partners - important partners that help publicize titles from small DVD labels in the first place. I appreciate the sentiment behind what you are doing, but leaving out small retail hurts your cause, not helps it. Many people would not have discovered these small films were it not for their local video, book or record store.

By the way, those of you asking if the DVD price will be lower or arguing if the shipping should be $2 or $3 are missing the point completely. Support these labels now or there won't be any to support.

And if you refuse to spend more than $15 for a DVD or Blu-ray, soon you will either not have DVD's and Blu-ray's to buy, or you will have to settle for non-remastered crap with no special features. You get what you pay for, and soon your home video choice will only be between another crap Transformers sequel or some kids film with an American Idol reject starring. And you won't deserve more lol.

Jimmy said...

ET as you were the one coming here singing the awesomeness of some website to get good deal on shipping (something I doubt was your complete intent in the first place), why anyone here would have to do the research? According to your words your wife save a great deal of money shipping so asking for a proof isn't that much to ask for... Unless the saving is only when you sign someone to use their service.

Martin Montag said...

When are you going to start selling, as I'm ready to buy now.

Anonymous said...

You can't get most Code Red DVD anywhere at the moment

Anonymous said...

Why not make a no-frills, good quality divx/avi version of your film releases for direct download as an alternative choice to buying a dvd? Buy the dvd for $12 plus shipping or download the avi for $4.

Maybe worth a trial with one title.

Rebekah Herzberg said...

I have always been a supporter and will continue to be a supporter even though I am not a Maria fan and could think of 982758972389523 other girls you guys could have used but to me the most important part about the product is the format and features of the dvd. I stopped worrying about cover art when VHS died. I am sorry to hear you guys are having troubles and I hope it picks up.

Anonymous said...

Can someone please tell me if Code Red will release FAMILY HONOR and DEVIL'S EXPRESS ? The trailers for these 2 titles have been on other Code Red releases from years back. Will they ever be released?

Anonymous said...

I have almost all your releases, so we are out here, supporting. Maybe not the numbers you would like, but there is a loyalty out there. don't discount us and just know we appreciate your efforts.

Josh said...

Hey (code red) are you guys aware your release of ghost keeper is for sale on amazon, just got mine today, good job with the release guys. Kinda odd heard nothing off a offical release date anywhere.

Artisturn said...

Sorry to hear Nightmare didn't sell well I picked it up as soon as I was able to find one.
Glad to hear you will be selling direct due to the fact I have a hard time finding your DVDs and when I do find them in the store it is usually only one copy in the store or I have to track down a used copy.

Plus I would rather pay you directly so the funds will go toward you releasing other hard to find cult movies.
Best of luck.

Anonymous said...

Will you be opening a store on this site soon?

Anonymous said...

SOUNDS AWESOME!!! I WILL SURELY BUY DIRECT FROM CODE RED AND SUPPORT YOUR LABEL INSTEAD OF THE MAINSTREAM SITES THAT ONLY DO IT FOR THE MONEY!! /MARTIN, SWEDEN

christbutcher said...

Poor sales, but your releases are sold out everywhere. Are you sitting on dead stock?

Cronosmantas said...

People are bitching about $3 shipping? That is the perfect amount! When I sell a DVD on eBay it costs me $3.15 to ship one dvd out with delivery confirmation, and that's not including the cost of the packaging! You can't beat $3. Most websites charge an even $5 so be glad Bill is being so gracious!

Anonymous said...

Guys I love your products...and understand your decision to sell to fans direct. I assumed, as you say, you do this so it can be a more profitable venture for you. I respect that. So here's the thing...why are you still under-printing your DVDs? It seems Ghostkeeper that came out in May...shouldn't be out of print. Copies selling for $48 on ebay...seem to indicate you're still cutting yourself out of potential sales and maximizing your profit. Its almost like you're intentionally creating a shortage. Aftermarket sales of your discs may be good PR...but how do you profit from this? The only thing you're possibly enabling is price gouging in the after market and inevitable bootlegging of films once they become unavailable.