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Author Topic: OMG...$975 for a DVD  (Read 17364 times)

Rob C

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #20 on: October 13, 2006, 10:42:28 am »

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Remember, this is the Age of Hype.  Very little is what it's cracked up to be.
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Yes, and don't forget that you sometimes get what you pay for but you never get what you don't pay for, unless it's an unpleasant surprise.

Ciao - Rob C

ddolde

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #21 on: November 18, 2006, 05:15:30 pm »

Before you shell out eight hundred bucks or so check out Tony Kuyper's Luminosity Mask Tutorial and actions.  Now I have to rework most of my images

It's FREE

http://www.goodlight.us/writing/luminosity...itymasks-1.html
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feppe

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #22 on: November 18, 2006, 07:40:20 pm »

This is a tough one. I agree completely with Mr Briot that the pricing is "fair" (although as someone with almost a degree in economics I don't like using that word in this context).

What I'm not so sure about is whether this is a good business decision. Mr Briot apparently is pricing his DVD as a premium product as part of differentiating himself and all his work - creative and technical - from the competition. He is also perhaps trying to avoid cannibalizing his workshops - if you can get the DVD for fraction of the price of a workshop, why fly over?

Nevertheless, it should be clear that Mr Briot would profit more from selling far more of the product at a more affordable price and lower margins. Then again, Mr Briot is an established pro so I'm sure he knows what he's doing, and I believe the price is a carefully considered decision.

Personally I would be happy to buy the DVD at full price if I had that kind of money, since Mr Briot's free essays have been instrumental in improving my photography and I wouldn't mind supporting his efforts by buying a product which is sure to improve the area I feel I am weakest at (printing). I guess I need to graduate and get a job

DiaAzul

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #23 on: November 18, 2006, 08:48:52 pm »

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Nevertheless, it should be clear that Mr Briot would profit more from selling far more of the product at a more affordable price and lower margins.

Not necessarily - there is the risk of devaluing the Briot brand by flooding the market with mass product at too low a cost. If everyone can do a Briot then the market will become commoditised and the final artwork will become worthless. Alain has spent a long time building up his reputation, knowledge and skills better to protect that than earn a quick buck or two.
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ddolde

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #24 on: November 18, 2006, 09:02:19 pm »

All this Briot worship makes me want to puke.  He clearly states in his audio cd that he wants to make $300/hour doing whatever he does associated with his photography.  

If you want to support this arrogance and greed go for it !
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mtomalty

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #25 on: November 18, 2006, 09:10:28 pm »

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Not necessarily - there is the risk of devaluing the Briot brand by flooding the market with mass product at too low a cost. If everyone can do a Briot then the market will become commoditised and the final artwork will become worthless. Alain has spent a long time building up his reputation, knowledge and skills better to protect that than earn a quick buck or two.

While it is certain that he won't devalue his brand by flooding the market with a low cost
product there exists the possibility that he could marginalize  his brand by nature of
economic 'exclusion'.
I,personally,don't think the sub-$1000 pricepoint will work,long term, but it is clear,after
reviewing the summary on his site,that the DVD is packed full of usefull and very time-
consuming (to produce) essays and tutorials and offers far more content than competitive
products.

The effort and expertise,on his behalf, certainly warrants the price but I'm not sure the market will agree.
Only Alain will know for sure. The rest of us only speculate.

Mark
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feppe

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #26 on: November 18, 2006, 10:57:41 pm »

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Not necessarily - there is the risk of devaluing the Briot brand by flooding the market with mass product at too low a cost. If everyone can do a Briot then the market will become commoditised and the final artwork will become worthless. Alain has spent a long time building up his reputation, knowledge and skills better to protect that than earn a quick buck or two.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=85987\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

That's exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned him going for the premium market and differentiating himself and his product by the high price.

As to arrogance and greed, I don't understand what the beef some people have with money. If someone thinks Mr Briot's DVD is worth its price, so be it. If not, don't buy it. There's no need to go for the jugular just because someone is out to make a buck. We all work for a living - well, most do.

mahleu

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« Reply #27 on: November 19, 2006, 09:42:20 am »

If people will pay that much then i don't see a problem.

Maybe if i was getting a decent salary then i may consider it, for the moment
i would rather spend my cash on upgrading my equipment, my technique can
improve through free resources for now.
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ddolde

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #28 on: November 19, 2006, 01:08:22 pm »

Well to put it in perspective, I have purchased a few items from Mr. Briot.  

One was his Marketing CD.  It was more a loose compilation of various pdf files and such, and certainly did contain some useful information.  However several of the files were corrupt and would not open.  I believe they were "certificate of authenticity" labels,  I did point this out to Alain in an email but never did receive a correct CD nor noncorrupt replacement files.  

My second purchase was a few custom double mats with fancy corner cuts.  I was pleased with the corner cuts but the cheap Crescent matboard the were made with left me with no desire to purchase any more.  "Museum Quality"?  I hardly think so.

I found his Audio CD entertaining but hearing he thinks he is worth $300/hour left me a little nonplussed.  Maybe there is a French word that defines it more accurately.

My point is that Mr. Briot's marketing may be flawless.  But what you actually get may not be.
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luong

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #29 on: November 19, 2006, 01:58:24 pm »

I do not see anything wrong in Alain Briot's hourly rates. Several professions charge similar rates. It might be more difficult to become a lawyer than a fine art photographer, on the other hand, the number of fine art photographers who are sucessfull at making a good living is certainly much smaller than the number of lawyers who do so. I hear some speculations that there might be only a few dozens of them. So this makes Alain Briot part of a quite rarefied group. Now add his willingness to discuss his art and business in detail, as well as his litteracy, and you have a rather unique offering.
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dbell

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #30 on: November 19, 2006, 02:57:54 pm »

Mr. Briot is free to charge whatever he wants for his products. The public is free to buy them (or not). Why all the vitriol? If you think his DVD is overpriced, don't buy it. There are people out there charging more than $975 for an 8x10 print.


--
Daniel Bell
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madmanchan

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #31 on: November 19, 2006, 02:58:10 pm »

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My point is that Mr. Briot's marketing may be flawless. But what you actually get may not be.

This is no different than any person or company trying to make a sale. Look at Canon, Microsoft, Epson, Apple, Sony, etc. They are masters of marketing. Their brochures are slick and flawless. I think we can all points out flaws in their products that are not mentioned in the brochures and advertising.

In the end it comes down to the same thing. It's up to the individual customer to make the choice whether a particular product is worth its price. This is true whether we're talking about the 1Ds II, Aperture, the PlayStation 3, or the Briot Printing Mastery DVD. This is capitalism.

Eric
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Eric Chan

alainbriot

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #32 on: November 19, 2006, 04:36:43 pm »

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Well to put it in perspective, I have purchased a few items from Mr. Briot. 

One was his Marketing CD.  It was more a loose compilation of various pdf files and such, and certainly did contain some useful information.  However several of the files were corrupt and would not open.  I believe they were "certificate of authenticity" labels,  I did point this out to Alain in an email but never did receive a correct CD nor noncorrupt replacement files. 

My second purchase was a few custom double mats with fancy corner cuts.  I was pleased with the corner cuts but the cheap Crescent matboard the were made with left me with no desire to purchase any more.  "Museum Quality"?  I hardly think so.
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Doug,

Regarding the mats you purchased, unless I am mistaken, you chose "Standard Quality" mats and not "Museum Quality" mats.  Standard Quality mats are cut from regular matboard while Museum Quality mats are cut from museum quality boards.  I don't think either is "cheap" but there is a difference in quality which is reflected by the respective cost for each. Standard quality mats are priced much lower than Museum quality mats.

Regarding the Marketing CD I must not have received your email otherwise I would have sent you either a replacement CD or would have emailed you the missing/corrupted files.  Bad files on a CD occur quite rarely, but it can happen and when it does, as with any problem with an order, Natalie and I do address it immediately.

Let me know which files you need and I will send you replacements right away.  Regarding emails, if you do not receive a response from me within a week it is a good idea to email back, or call my toll free number.  I receive a very large volume of emails and while I do my best, the possibility of overlooking one of them is always there.  

Alain
« Last Edit: November 19, 2006, 05:25:59 pm by alainbriot »
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Alain Briot
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image66

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #33 on: November 20, 2006, 03:35:02 pm »

Personally, I think Alain's pricing is perfectly acceptable. Unfortunately, too expensive for me as we are still paying off medical bills for my wife's battle with cancer.  If I could, I would not only buy his training DVD, but would even attend a workshop.

Alain is an outstanding teacher and a mighty fine technician who has figured out the "Fine Art Photography" ballgame.  To be able to learn from him is definitely worth the investment and right in line with the cost of getting additional schooling from the local university.

I don't understand why people are so up in arms over his prices.  This ISN'T a "collective".
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Nick Rains

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« Reply #34 on: November 21, 2006, 01:40:48 am »

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This ISN'T a "collective".
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Well said.

Alain is perfectly entitled to charge whatever he chooses.

I don't get this whinging, photography is not a particuarly expensive profession compared to many others and professional training is cheap compared to many other professions.
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Nick Rains
Australian Photographer Leica

Scott_H

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OMG...$975 for a DVD
« Reply #35 on: November 21, 2006, 07:04:55 am »

Something is worth what someone will pay for it.  It may not be worth $975 to me, but if other people will pay $975 for a dvd then it must be worth that much to them.  I can't imagine how it could be worth that much, but that doesn't really matter.
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jmparis

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« Reply #36 on: December 18, 2006, 08:57:19 pm »

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I'm sorry, but $975 is just plain excessive for a DVD.  [...] c'mon Alain....
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Alain Briot creates magnificent images which he sell at a reasonably high and fair price. Over the years he has successfully developed and continues to develop a niche market for his art and has built an enviable reputation as an artist.

In building his career and reputation, Alain must have discovered that in the art market, money is often not a deal breaking issue. In fact, a large number of rich people buy art to make a statement, to proclaim their achievement and in some not too frequent cases, because they truly know and appreciate art. In this environment, the higher a well known artist charges for his works, the stronger becomes the statement that a buyer of his works can make. Thus, once you sell to the affluent, increasing your prices every now and then is a winning formula. I suspect that Alain Briot has discovered and legitimately exploit this formula when it comes to his prints. I believe that this is a fair and sound strategy for him and for most others at his level of competence and notoriety.

Given that context, I would speculate that Alain Briot is, consciously or not, applying his art pricing strategy to his latest video seminar. And for all I know, it will probably fail to maximize his financial return for his effort. In the case of this DVD package of know-how (whose marginal cost of production is almost zero), the basic economic laws still apply. Unless I seriously misjudge the market, a price of say $125 would probably generate a net profit considerably larger than that which can be expected with a price of $995.

Nonetheless, there are advantages to Alain strategy: He can now make all kinds of special price reduction and bundling offers (it already started), New Years special, print and DVD specials, Seminar plus DVD specials, etc. Also, such a high price for this specific DVD will make his other DVD look comparatively more attractive.

So, for my part, I will have to look for a second hand specimen to become available.
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