NitrateVille.com

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:06 am**

misteranalog wrote:Comments:

(1) Consider cutting your prices to $10-15 per disc

(2) Consider using a still from the individual movie in the box, not a generic montage of multiple characters from an assortment of movies

(3) Consider using the Createspace.com services for both discs and videos on demand

Adding a suggestion:

(4) Redesign your website. I believe you when you say that your DVDs are good quality, but that website gives an unprofessional impression. You could make something clean and professional pretty easily using Wordpress' platform, for example.

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 8:18 am**

Frederica wrote:
Michael O'Regan wrote:A Kindle is NOT something I'll be bothering with. I like a plain ol' book...although I am running outta space in which to keep them....oh, God help me!!!
Sure, you say that now. Mmmuuuaaaahahahahahahaha, soon you will succumb to the siren call of not dusting bookshelves

LeVar Burton put it nicely - he said that while he loves Books he has a library on his Kindle "And the great thing is- I've got a LIBRARY on my KINDLE!"

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:15 am**

LeVar Burton put it nicely - he said that while he loves Books he has a library on his Kindle "And the great thing is- I've got a LIBRARY on my KINDLE!"[/quote]

Unless the Kindle crashes and then you have nothing.

Concerning Mark's product: excellent, well done with nice scores. I bought a couple a few years ago at Cinefest and was happy with them. The cover art is admittedly not too sexy and if the price point was lower, I'm sure sales would increase.

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 11:12 am**

roger P wrote:LeVar Burton put it nicely - he said that while he loves Books he has a library on his Kindle "And the great thing is- I've got a LIBRARY on my KINDLE!"

Unless the Kindle crashes and then you have nothing.

Then you buy a new kindle and you download your books from your amazon account again. They're in the cloud.

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 11:14 am**

And you keep your books even if you switch devices. I used to have the original Kindle. Now I have an iPad with the Kindle app and I still have all my books on it.

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 1:18 pm**

kaleidoscopeworld wrote: Adding a suggestion:

(4) Redesign your website.

I second this. I realize that this is a side business and that it's operating on a shoestring budget. But that's no excuse to have a website which is apparently stuck in 1995. Horrible color clashes between text and background, too much scrolling, not enough navigation. It reflects badly on the quality of your merchandise and your service.

Using WordPress is a good suggestion. I set up a site for my work portfolio in just a couple of days. You can start out with free WordPress templates, and then pay for more features as you discover a need for them.

Another sales site you might explore is etsy.com. I had the idea etsy was mostly for crafts, but there are people selling film posters and memorabilia, 35mm film cassettes and cameras, and a variety of DVD-related stuff (I didn't see any businesses like yours).

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 1:48 pm**

silentfilm wrote:And you keep your books even if you switch devices. I used to have the original Kindle. Now I have an iPad with the Kindle app and I still have all my books on it.

Plus with a simple ap you can read your Kindle books on your desktop- and they can keep track of each other.

Much as I love physical books, my Kindle Fire is with me ALWAYS to read a page or two at odd moments. It also makes an acceptable tablet to connect to the web & surf a bit

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:13 pm**

FrankFay wrote: Plus with a simple ap you can read your Kindle books on your desktop...

Must be as enjoyable as watching a film the same way...which, I know, many are satisfied to do, they say. Soon, someone will probably assert the convenience of reading Middlemarch on their new Apple wristwatch while hanging from a subway strap.

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:22 pm**

I have a problem reading anything much from a computer screen. Even anything more than a short post on a forum has me skipping by it. I just don't seem to retain anything beyond a few sentences. In fact, I'd much rather this site was a monthly magazine. I'd read a lot more of it.

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:26 pm**

entredeuxguerres wrote:
FrankFay wrote: Plus with a simple ap you can read your Kindle books on your desktop...
Must be as enjoyable as watching a film the same way...which, I know, many are satisfied to do, they say. Soon, someone will probably assert the convenience of reading Middlemarch on their new Apple wristwatch while hanging from a subway strap.

It doesn't matter how you read it, as long as you read it.

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 4:16 pm**

My wife has two kindles and I use the Kindle app on the IPad. I don't read books on the desktop. Not the ideal environment for a relaxed read. We still buy real books. For some reason the next must have book we want is for whatever reason often unavaliable on Kindle.

Going back to the original topic. I have been a poster here for about four years and these DVD's have such a low profile that I barely have noticed them. Only this thread has made me take note in all these years. The website looks OK to me. There are a few titles I would like to buy. No real problems with the pricing. However I think the owner should spruik his titles better here and elsewhere. Only 54 post from him over the years. Maybe start threads on new titles he has or introduce them in appropriate threads and get his other products involved in discussions.

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 4:38 pm**

Changsham wrote:My wife has two kindles and I use the Kindle app on the IPad. I don't read books on the desktop. Not the ideal environment for a relaxed read. We still buy real books. For some reason the next must have book we want is for whatever reason often unavaliable on Kindle.

Going back to the original topic. I have been a poster here for about four years and these DVD's have such a low profile that I barely have noticed them. Only this thread has made me take note in all these years. The website looks OK to me. There are a few titles I would like to buy. No real problems with the pricing. However I think the owner should spruik his titles better here and elsewhere. Only 54 post from him over the years. Maybe start threads on new titles he has or introduce them in appropriate threads and get his other products involved in discussions.

Mark, I see you are on Facebook, do you use it to advertise your discs? There are quite a few HUGE classic film groups on FB--check with the owners to see if they'd mind your announcing new releases. I'll bet people would be happy to know about them.

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 6:50 pm**

Frederica wrote:
Changsham wrote:My wife has two kindles and I use the Kindle app on the IPad. I don't read books on the desktop. Not the ideal environment for a relaxed read. We still buy real books. For some reason the next must have book we want is for whatever reason often unavaliable on Kindle.

Going back to the original topic. I have been a poster here for about four years and these DVD's have such a low profile that I barely have noticed them. Only this thread has made me take note in all these years. The website looks OK to me. There are a few titles I would like to buy. No real problems with the pricing. However I think the owner should spruik his titles better here and elsewhere. Only 54 post from him over the years. Maybe start threads on new titles he has or introduce them in appropriate threads and get his other products involved in discussions.
Mark, I see you are on Facebook, do you use it to advertise your discs? There are quite a few HUGE classic film groups on FB--check with the owners to see if they'd mind your announcing new releases. I'll bet people would be happy to know about them.

This. Of all the well-intentioned suggestions made on this thread, I think this is the one that would have the most impact. Having spent my whole career in sales/marketing, the key to turning a potential customer into an actual customer is to somehow be on their minds when they are in a buying mood. Not an easy thing to accomplish, but there are many things you can do to increase your odds...and since most people visit Facebook (or Twitter) at least once a day, there aren't many places where you will get more visibility.

I have always wondered how Grapevine VIdeo manages to generate the volume they do...given that at least half of the discs I have seen of theirs are unwatchable. One thing, they have a pretty high profile...they are on Facebook and Twitter, and have a monthly email newsletter. They sell through Amazon, Oldies.com and other outlets. Yeah, I know those take a bite out of profit margin, but if you give up 25% and triple your sales, you are still way ahead of the game. They are ubiquitous and you can capitalize on that.

Look at Warner Archive...they do a weekly podcast, a weekly email newsletter, are all over Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And Grapevine, Warner Archive, etc all have regular sales and specials. I don't think I have purchased anything from WAC that wasn't on sale in the past 3 years, and I buy a ton of discs from them. When I see they are having a nice sale, I go...oooh, what do I need to buy?!

I don't think streaming is the answer...read Ben Model's comments. Most collectors want something they can hold in their hands. You can't "collect" bits and bytes that are streaming over a wire. I would put my efforts into raising the profile of Reelclassicdvd first.

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 6:57 pm**

Mark, allow me to recommend Weebly for simple and charming web design. I'm by no means a coder or tech savvy in that sense and I've had a lot of fun designing what I think looks like a great site. Tommyjose.com

Posted: **Thu Mar 12, 2015 7:50 pm**

azjazzman wrote:...Having spent my whole career in sales/marketing, the key to turning a potential customer into an actual customer is to somehow be on their minds when they are in a buying mood....

Is that the reason L.L.Bean sends me a new catalog every month?

Posted: **Fri Mar 13, 2015 3:51 pm**

Per suggestion in the thread, a tangential discussion about reading on e-readers was split off to here.

Posted: **Sat Mar 14, 2015 8:59 pm**

Agreed on badly-needed website redesign, increased visibility, and CUSTOM COVERS. Collectors not only like having actual discs on actual shelves, they like actual cover art too. Grapevine's quality can be hit and miss (when they hit, they knock it out of the park, and when they miss, the bat flies out of their hands and kills innocent bystanders), but they have visibility, a usable website, and custom covers. As for your website, there isn't even a link to new releases on the home page. I went there looking for your new release of HUMAN HEARTS, and there's no mention of the new release on the home page, nor a direct link to it; instead, you have to click Movies From The Silent Era and then scroll down a thousand miles to find it at the bottom; it's not even at the top, fer chrissakes. Not remotely intuitive or convenient for the customer. I would think you'd want to make it as easy as possible for customers to buy from you. Grapevine not only has a link to their new releases on their homepage, but they also have the cover art of the new releases scrolling across one section of it; plus, it's organized so you can find the particular film you're looking for without scrolling through every single release until you run across it. With their handy dropdown menus, you can search alphabetically, by subject, or by star; you can also use their handy all-purpose search bar. (To be fair, Looser Than Loose's website is also a pain to navigate.)

That said, I purchased HUMAN HEARTS from you just now, and am really looking forward to seeing it. Thank you for all you've done to make these films available. You've got the print quality; I think that with some more spit and polish regarding the rest, sales would improve. Oh, and I just "liked" your FB page too.

Posted: **Sun Mar 15, 2015 4:35 am**

WaverBoy wrote:Agreed on badly-needed website redesign....

I agree with all of that post. I find the website confusing and not at all easy to navigate.

WaverBoy wrote:That said, I purchased HUMAN HEARTS from you just now, and am really looking forward to seeing it.

I was about to do the same but postage to the UK seems very expensive. For a $20 disk the postage is $16.

By way of contrast, if I ordered a single disc from Grapevine the cost would be $9.50 and when I bought your release of Forbidden City from Amazon last June the postage was only $6.48! The same is true of all your releases listed on Amazon.

I'd much rather buy direct from you but is there a way to bring the shipping costs down?

Amran

Posted: **Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:50 am**

WaverBoy wrote:Agreed on badly-needed website redesign, increased visibility, and CUSTOM COVERS. Collectors not only like having actual discs on actual shelves, they like actual cover art too. Grapevine's quality can be hit and miss (when they hit, they knock it out of the park, and when they miss, the bat flies out of their hands and kills innocent bystanders), but they have visibility, a usable website, and custom covers. As for your website, there isn't even a link to new releases on the home page. I went there looking for your new release of HUMAN HEARTS, and there's no mention of the new release on the home page, nor a direct link to it; instead, you have to click Movies From The Silent Era and then scroll down a thousand miles to find it at the bottom; it's not even at the top, fer chrissakes. Not remotely intuitive or convenient for the customer. I would think you'd want to make it as easy as possible for customers to buy from you. Grapevine not only has a link to their new releases on their homepage, but they also have the cover art of the new releases scrolling across one section of it; plus, it's organized so you can find the particular film you're looking for without scrolling through every single release until you run across it. With their handy dropdown menus, you can search alphabetically, by subject, or by star; you can also use their handy all-purpose search bar. (To be fair, Looser Than Loose's website is also a pain to navigate.)

That said, I purchased HUMAN HEARTS from you just now, and am really looking forward to seeing it. Thank you for all you've done to make these films available. You've got the print quality; I think that with some more spit and polish regarding the rest, sales would improve. Oh, and I just "liked" your FB page too.

Ouch! But, I guess, a justly deserved kick in the pants.

The site does need a major face lift. There's no doubt about that. It should be more slick, more intuitive and easier to navigate. I will address this as time allows and all of your suggestions will be taken into account.

But the key word here is time. As it think most of you know, Reelclassicdvd is a labor of love and a project I can only attend to when I'm not working my full time job. In my defense, I think it's fair to point out that what time I do have is not so much spent on the site itself, but lavished on the quality of my releases. I have never cut corners or taken shortcuts. You won't find people's eyeballs floating around on their heads, you won't see combing or artifacts and you won't see DVDs made from VHS masters. If a film transfer takes 28 hours to compress to DVD, then it takes 28 hours. I won't compromise. In many cases, Reelclassicdvd releases have surpassed the quality of those released by Kino and Image. I know because I've compared them. I'm also proud to say that my silent releases have always been provided with custom music scores created and performed by some of the best musicians in the business.

I have read all of your suggestions and the vast majority are, without question, very perceptive and of great value. You've answered my question, "Does anybody really care?", with a resounding YES. I thank all of you for that. It gives me some hope to carry on.

Mark

Posted: **Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:01 am**

avance wrote:
WaverBoy wrote:Agreed on badly-needed website redesign....
I agree with all of that post. I find the website confusing and not at all easy to navigate.

WaverBoy wrote:That said, I purchased HUMAN HEARTS from you just now, and am really looking forward to seeing it.
I was about to do the same but postage to the UK seems very expensive. For a $20 disk the postage is $16.

By way of contrast, if I ordered a single disc from Grapevine the cost would be $9.50 and when I bought your release of Forbidden City from Amazon last June the postage was only $6.48! The same is true of all your releases listed on Amazon.

I'd much rather buy direct from you but is there a way to bring the shipping costs down?

Amran

Hi Amran,

I'm sorry, but this has me a bit confused. I don't see how Amazon could have charged you only $6.48 to ship one of one of my DVDs to the UK when they pay me $14.95 for shipping expenses. My actual shipping cost for a DVD to the UK is $12.75 which does not include packaging or documentation.

Mark

Posted: **Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:20 am**

Ironically, the Amazon charges for international shipping are just that: half what they are for you or me going to the post office. And even more puzzling is the fact that Amazon shipping to Canada is 2x, actually probably more like 3x what it costs for your or me going to the post office.

Ben

Posted: **Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:29 am**

Yes, you're right, Mark. A DVD to Europe in a case is $12.75 at the PO. A DVD in a clamshell can vary but to most Euro countries is under $2.00 if you send it as an envelope vs a package. So maybe that's something to think about. Drop the DVD case and art to Euro or offer that as an alternative. For domestic, the PO costs aren't that different. DVD case for domestic is $2.50 while a DVD in clamshell in $.91.

For my Kickstarter campaign, all the disks I sent to Europe (20 or more) were sent in clamshells to keep costs down. Only one guy complained about not getting a DVD case with art (which I never said I was providing in the first place) so to shut him I refunded his money.

Posted: **Sun Mar 15, 2015 10:47 am**

Mark Roth wrote:
avance wrote:
WaverBoy wrote:Agreed on badly-needed website redesign....
I agree with all of that post. I find the website confusing and not at all easy to navigate.

WaverBoy wrote:That said, I purchased HUMAN HEARTS from you just now, and am really looking forward to seeing it.
I was about to do the same but postage to the UK seems very expensive. For a $20 disk the postage is $16.

By way of contrast, if I ordered a single disc from Grapevine the cost would be $9.50 and when I bought your release of Forbidden City from Amazon last June the postage was only $6.48! The same is true of all your releases listed on Amazon.

I'd much rather buy direct from you but is there a way to bring the shipping costs down?

Amran
Hi Amran,

I'm sorry, but this has me a bit confused. I don't see how Amazon could have charged you only $6.48 to ship one of one of my DVDs to the UK when they pay me $14.95 for shipping expenses. My actual shipping cost for a DVD to the UK is $12.75 which does not include packaging or documentation.

Mark

I'm glad Amran raised the question of shipping cost to Europe. I was interested in several of your titles, but the high shipping cost to France (like the UK) prevented me from moving forward.

Posted: **Sun Mar 15, 2015 12:36 pm**

drednm wrote: Drop the DVD case and art to Euro or offer that as an alternative.

Or, simply send the disc in a sleeve along with the artwork (without the case). I've had this in the past from one of our members here and it's worked out pretty cheap. DVD cases are easy to come by over here.

Posted: **Sun Mar 15, 2015 1:17 pm**

I've had good luck with clamshells because it slides into an envelope. If I ship in paper sleeve, it usually requires cardboard which is then too thick to mail as an envelope. And as soon as you go to bubble wrap, you're into package/parcel prices.....

Posted: **Sun Mar 15, 2015 6:33 pm**

BenModel wrote:Ironically, the Amazon charges for international shipping are just that: half what they are for you or me going to the post office. And even more puzzling is the fact that Amazon shipping to Canada is 2x, actually probably more like 3x what it costs for your or me going to the post office. Ben

Could not international orders be fulfilled by trusted, non-bootlegging friends living outside the USA ?
These trusted "foreign" friends could - on demand - run off a US seller's DVD and ship it to customers within their borders without charging buyers international shipping rates from the USA.
e.g. Customer Vlad in Russia orders, via Amazon, a Battleship Potemkin DVD from Trotsky Video based in Mexico.
Trotsky Video's owner then has a European/Russian pal create and ship a copy to Vlad, thus paring shipping fees/delays.

Obviously my "solution" must have serious defects, or someone would be doing it ... what are they?

Posted: **Tue Mar 17, 2015 5:20 pm**

JFK wrote:Obviously my "solution" must have serious defects, or someone would be doing it ... what are they?

Well how would they make the DVDs? I'm assuming these are properly pressed DVDs, not DVD-rs, so it's not really a DIY thing.

Mark Roth wrote: The site does need a major face lift. There's no doubt about that. It should be more slick, more intuitive and easier to navigate. I will address this as time allows and all of your suggestions will be taken into account. <snip>

I have read all of your suggestions and the vast majority are, without question, very perceptive and of great value. You've answered my question, "Does anybody really care?", with a resounding YES. I thank all of you for that. It gives me some hope to carry on.

I was the first one to bring up your website. I don't doubt your commitment to quality, you obviously know your stuff, but the site just doesn't cast your product in a good light. Also, to be honest, I would have assumed that the site was defunct just by clicking on it.

Sites like Wordpress really are very user-friendly. If you are short on time though, you could hire a local design student or someone to do a few hours work setting it up something for you and giving you an introduction.

Keep on doing your thing Mark

Posted: **Wed Mar 18, 2015 6:58 am**

BenModel wrote:Ironically, the Amazon charges for international shipping are just that: half what they are for you or me going to the post office. And even more puzzling is the fact that Amazon shipping to Canada is 2x, actually probably more like 3x what it costs for your or me going to the post office.

Ben

I just bought one of the Charley Chase sets from Kino at their rock-bottom price of $9.99.

With shipping, I actually ended up paying over $25. Some bargain, eh? Not!

Jim

Posted: **Wed Mar 18, 2015 3:17 pm**

Amazon US charged me about $7 for my last two DVD's and $8 for hernia inducing The Dawn of Technicolor to ship to Australia.

Posted: **Sat Mar 21, 2015 11:11 am**

Ok, this is hardly a positive post, but comments were asked for, so here goes.

Firstly, there are only so many people out there who want to buy these films. Sadly, many of the films you offer are available elsewhere, from better-known companies, and often at cheaper prices. That, therefore, considerably reduces the amount of films you have on offer that people are likely to buy from you. If both yourself and the British Film Institute offer the Chaplin Mutual films, as an example, I know which version I am going to buy.

The same goes if you are offering a film also offered by another public domain company. If you and Grapevine offer the same film, which would I go with and why? Well, Grapevine send me monthly newsletters, thus reminding me of their existence and telling me of their new films. Their website is considerably more professional (not perfect, but better). And their prices are cheaper. Not only are the actual discs around $4-5 cheaper, but so is the postage and packaging. It costs me $16 to pay for shipping to the UK from Reelclassics, and only $9.50 from Grapevine. In fact, it is only if I order 4 or more discs from Grapevine that P&P reaches $16. So, buy ordering the film from Grapevine, I save around $10.

What the above means is that the only films that people are likely to buy from you are those that are not available elsewhere, which narrows down your amount of titles a lot.

The website is a big issue, not because it's awkward and cumbersome, but because it doesn't project professionalism. It's great that you provide clips from your films but, as has been mentioned, a website that looks like it hasn't been given a makeover in fifteen or twenty years is not one that customers are likely to trust. As far as I'm aware you don't comment in the various film groups on facebook or try to sell your wares on there - or even a great deal here. And while this forum has a certain amount of members, there aren't actually a huge amount that contribute on a regular basis. To my knowledge, you don't have a twitter handle either.

I don't mean the above to be unkind, but simply honest. To move forward and garner more sales, you have to publicise your business more, make it look more professional so people trust it, and make sure your prices compete with other similar businesses. Sitting back and hoping people will come to you doesn't work in 2015 - you have to go to them, wave at them and remind them you exist, and tell them why they should spend their money with you.

Hope that helps.

NitrateVille.com

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