soho video outlets

[david j]

in a previous message someone recommended Maxims in Frith Street, so I tried it, and am very satisfied with the result - a good quality tape and exactly what it was supposed to be.

i have also had a couple of good results at Little Amsterdam in Brewer Street.

any other recommendations??

[fraser]

Has anyone noticed that a lot of the little hole-in-the-wall (i.e. non-legal) places in SoHo have been closing down? There was one in Brewer Street which used to sell more specialist stuff which has now closed.
The problem with this is that the legit places like SoHo bookshop, while being totally reliable, have a really small selection. Compare what they have in stock with what has been passed at R18 already (check the list on the melonfarmers website).
Surely the web companies will have to bring the prices down to reflect the standard price of an R18 tape? Then again if companies like Ben Dover are going to rip us off by selling their titles in 2 70min installments at ?20 each perhaps they still represent better value.

[alec]

"Then again if companies like Ben Dover are going to rip us off by selling their titles in 2 70min installments at ?20 each perhaps they still represent better value."

This seems to be the penalty of having porn legalised. Ben Dover explained the economics of this in alt.fan.televisonx. Apparently, if memory serves, it costs a few thousand to have a tape certificated, copying and distribution are not cheap and he doubted that Sullivan's shops (about 90% of all licensed sex shops) would be keen to sell them at such a price as to give him a reasonable return. And since these are not million-selling items, a larger margin is required - times 2 for two tapes where there was once one. Phil McCavity's R18 titles are also about an hour long with two scenes and Tamara's 18-certificate videos are also an hour long. Unfortunately it seems to be the standard. But picture quality should be more reliable as they won't be nth generation copies.

[trigg]

Chatting to Tamara just after Xmas, to get a video to the BBFC costs ?1k. They are a private company, nothing to do with HM Government, only abiding by their too strict guidelines.

[alec]

I think I recall Ben Dover syaing they charge by the hour or soemthing. I don't pretend to udnerstand how all this works out in the wash.

[woodgnome]

the posting from ben dover, to which alec refers, in defence of his splitting up previously 2hour+ tapes into 2 shorter films, for release in the uk, was made in response to a charge of rip off,by myself, in a.f.t. last year.

it's worth posting again for the figures he mentions, if nothing else.


5th september 2000
Subject: Ben Dover answers his critics.

Hello, Ben here, some good points you make and I'll try to answer them. The
most important point comes right at the end of this e-mail, but ever anxious
to enter into learned discourse with people re: my show, let's go. Most
interestingly you disapprove, quite rightly of consumers being ripped off,
however you state, also correctly that my tapes have been available 'under
the counter' for ages. These are of course, mainly, pirate copies for which
I get nothing, so presumably you find it quite acceptable that I am ripped
off. Interesting!

Now lets get some basic facts and figures going here. The
reason I have decided to break the titles up into parts 1&2 is basically
because some of the scenes on some tapes would be too strong for the new R
18 certificate, and also some of the girls I have filmed do not want the
scenes available in the UK, and I promised them that I wouldn't do that.

Now, licensed sex shops pay between 3 and 4 pounds for a finished, packaged
tape. There is so much old product from Europe and US, available for
literally pennies, that that is all they are willing to pay. Of course the
shops will still be selling this stuff for 20 to 25 pounds because the
owners want to make ALL the money.

The cost of the BBFC certificate for a 2
hour 20 minute tape is getting close to 2 grand, and packaging and
duplication is not cheap. This would mean that for the full length tape I
would have to get at least ?7 a tape from the shops to break even. They
simply will not pay that, even though if they sold them for ?20 and gave me
say ?10 per copy [my profit ?3 ] their profit would still be ?10 for doing
nothing except putting it on a shelf.

Whilst I don't think that is fair to
me frankly, since I am the one who produced the bloody film, they, as I said
want to make all the money for doing nothing, except selling them. The
break even point for me for a 1 hour [approx] tape after costs is still
about ?4, and that is what they will pay. The shop owners are of the same
opinion as you, in that they don't think people are so desperate for my
tapes they will take nothing else.

Of course there is better stuff out there
that they can buy cheaper because there is product sitting in warehouses
all over earning nothing, so they can be bought cheap, beacause they have
already made their money, and are now just taking up space. So you have no
need to worry because it doesn't look as if my show will be in the shops at
all.

If you do ever see it remember whatever the price is, I will only have
got maybe ?4.50 per copy so you will be safe in the knowledge that I have
made about 50p per tape. Ironically another reason why the store owners are
offering me so little is because they can get hold of pirate copies so
easily!!!, because my show is one of the more 'popular'. I would say that
makes me the one who's being ripped off, wouldn't you.?? One shop in Soho
didn't want my stuff at any price because he would prefer to sell the pirate
copy because people think it is more 'naughty' than the R 18 version!!

Anyway, as I said the main point is this; There are only about 90 sex shops
and David Sullivan owns them all apart from about 10 or 12. He owns the
rights to the entire PRIVATE catalog and will not be stocking any other
titles anyway [apart from ones he gets for about 50p] so this entire
discussion is largely academic!!!!!! in as much as my titles are unlikely to
appear in ANY shops at all. So if you like the show you can keep buying the
pirate copies with the added frisson of knowing that you are ripping ME
off!!!

I hope this answers your points, please feel free to e-mail this
response to anyone who might be of the same opinion as you. You are welcome
to e-mail me at ben.dover1@virgin.net if you want to. Remember they could
pay me ?6 for a tape, and charge,say, ?12 for part 1 of a tape, which I
think is reasonable and still make ?6 a copy. They won't do that because
they are just too greedy! Cheers BEN>

[joe king]

What about DVDs? Most I've bought have been originals.
Does Ben Dover lose alot on those? I see some vendors have tapes copied from DVD masters.