They're overpriced for sure, and that's the only reason the M1U pricing looks equivalent rather than exorbitant
I wasn’t a DVer, but they’ve always been available if you were willing to pay a scalper. The only thing that has changed is that more retailers find it appropriate to rip off their customers. It’s kinda like a liquor store I’ve done business with for years now wanting $3,800 for a bottle of 23yr PVW. MSRP is $299.99. Should the owner not be able to make extra profit on it, no, of course they should. But >12x MSRP is just predatory imho.
* Much higher than MSRP, which was reduced compared to the previous generation because that attempt at raising prices killed market demand for said previous generation.
* No longer affordable by the traditional customer base but sustained by a new market with questionable longevity in its demand
Take your pick.
Sure, in a pure rational economic sense the market price has risen because supply has fallen at the same time a new market of buyers became very interested in the product, but we're talking consumer expectations and historical trends here, not the current price in a vacuum.