<p>In short, They sell them for that much because that's how they've determined that they will make the most money.  </p>

<ul>
<li><p><strong>the net marginal cost of producing the CDs is high</strong> Sometimes they don't expect to sell very many copies of the dvd in the first place, and they have to sell them at a higher price to cover the overhead.   The more dvds that they produce and sell, the lower the net marginal cost of producing them.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>People who do want to buy the dvds will pay that much for them</strong> Sometimes the fanbase is strong enough and small enough such that those who will buy the dvds will pay any amount for them, and the number of people who would pay $20 for the dvd, but not $50, is relatively low.  in this case, it makes sense to sell the dvd for $50.</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-19T21:11:41.457Z
I don't think I quite understand your first point. Are you saying that there's a high marginal cost for producing a new _print_ of DVDs (e.g. once you've produced the DVD for eps 1-2, there's a high marginal cost with producing the DVDs for eps 3-4)? If so, why would producing more prints (say, 12 for a 24-ep series) be beneficial?
senshin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-19T21:19:04.427Z
@senshin no, I'm saying that it costs more to only print 100 or 200 copies of the same dvd than it does to print 20,000
Sam I am says Reinstate Monica
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-19T21:39:00.970Z
Oh, okay, I see what you're getting at now. I think you should rephrase the bold part of your first point to something like "there is a high fixed cost associated with printing a run of DVDs" or something like that (since the marginal cost is only high for the first DVD in a run, and is very low thereafter, so the way you have it written is a little bit confusing).
senshin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-19T18:17:58.453Z
2013-11-19T18:17:58.453Z
Sam I am says Reinstate Monica
<p>I've noticed in a lot of anime series that the episodes are sold in silly spans. Sometimes, 4-5 episodes are sold at a silly price. Why are volumes grouped together like this? It can't be good for sales.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-18T18:09:14.517Z
Blurays typically come out 2 episodes at a time a month apart starting roughly 1 season after the main series starts. I dunno if it's just because they need time to redo much of the animation at a higher quality, or just to milk the fans.
Mysticial
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-18T18:10:55.920Z
@Mysticial Yeah, I've noticed that... and I wonder what the real reason is.. :)
Vaughan Hilts
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-18T19:17:20.753Z
What do you mean by "silly price"? Do you have any examples?
kuwaly
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-18T20:07:42.350Z
As you can see: http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Pass-Vol-1-Japan-LTD-TDV-22431D/dp/B009PGI6CE

Volume like this which are sold at insane prices.
Vaughan Hilts
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-18T21:23:43.777Z
according to [Anime News network](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=14195&page=28) it's 12 episodes, if by "silly price" your talking about it being $50 and being expensive then i don't find that silly since it does come with a book and box rather than just a dvd cover
Memor-X
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-18T21:25:28.707Z
if by "silly price" your talking about it being $50 and being cheap then keep in mind that it's being streamed by Funimation, Hulu and Madman, quite possible there will be Region 2 and 4 releases of the DVD and there's nothing in the description about any subtitles
Memor-X
<anime-history>
Why is anime sold in such low episode count per volume?
# Why is anime sold in such low episode count per volume?
Posted by: username_0 on 2013-11-18
I've noticed in a lot of anime series that the episodes are sold in silly spans. Sometimes, 4-5 episodes are sold at a silly price. Why are volumes grouped together like this? It can't be good for sales.
**Tags:** anime-history
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Blurays typically come out 2 episodes at a time a month apart starting roughly 1 season after the main series starts. I dunno if it's just because they need time to redo much of the animation at a higher quality, or just to milk the fans.  
> **username_0**: @Mysticial Yeah, I've noticed that... and I wonder what the real reason is.. :)  
> **username_2**: What do you mean by "silly price"? Do you have any examples?  
> **username_0**: As you can see: http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Pass-Vol-1-Japan-LTD-TDV-22431D/dp/B009PGI6CE

Volume like this which are sold at insane prices.  
> **username_3**: according to [Anime News network](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=14195&page=28) it's 12 episodes, if by "silly price" your talking about it being $50 and being expensive then i don't find that silly since it does come with a book and box rather than just a dvd cover  
> **username_3**: if by "silly price" your talking about it being $50 and being cheap then keep in mind that it's being streamed by Funimation, Hulu and Madman, quite possible there will be Region 2 and 4 releases of the DVD and there's nothing in the description about any subtitles  
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_4 on 2013-11-19. Score: 1 | Accepted answer
In short, They sell them for that much because that's how they've determined that they will make the most money.

* **the net marginal cost of producing the CDs is high** Sometimes they don't expect to sell very many copies of the dvd in the first place, and they have to sell them at a higher price to cover the overhead. The more dvds that they produce and sell, the lower the net marginal cost of producing them.
* **People who do want to buy the dvds will pay that much for them** Sometimes the fanbase is strong enough and small enough such that those who will buy the dvds will pay any amount for them, and the number of people who would pay $20 for the dvd, but not $50, is relatively low. in this case, it makes sense to sell the dvd for $50.
> **Comments:**
> **username_5** (2013-11-19): I don't think I quite understand your first point. Are you saying that there's a high marginal cost for producing a new _print_ of DVDs (e.g. once you've produced the DVD for eps 1-2, there's a high marginal cost with producing the DVDs for eps 3-4)? If so, why would producing more prints (say, 12 for a 24-ep series) be beneficial?  
> **username_4** (2013-11-19): @senshin no, I'm saying that it costs more to only print 100 or 200 copies of the same dvd than it does to print 20,000  
> **username_5** (2013-11-19): Oh, okay, I see what you're getting at now. I think you should rephrase the bold part of your first point to something like "there is a high fixed cost associated with printing a run of DVDs" or something like that (since the marginal cost is only high for the first DVD in a run, and is very low thereafter, so the way you have it written is a little bit confusing).  
---
