There are really two problems. First, yeah, DVDs are practically no one's concern anymore, so all the sales will be focused on what folks really want to buy in great numbers, i.e., Blu-ray Disc players. Second, this results not only in a dearth of special deals on DVD players, but worse, since they're worth so much less (as you can see above, you can get some for as little as $35!), the manufacturers have massively cost-reduced DVD players. There are essentially no "good" ones left. You can expect that these bargain basement units still available for sale have the least of concern paid to quality and reliability. That's not to say that they will absolutely fail, but rather that the likelihood of failure and of early mortality is much higher than just a few years ago.
The same thing happened with VCRs. There came a time after which practically all VCRs available for sale were essentially crap -- again not that they all failed quickly, but rather that the likelihood of failure and of early mortality was much higher than just a few years before. And in that case, the replacement (DVD players) didn't even serve both purposes of a VCR (recording, as well as playback), and the replacement required you to replace all your media -- all your VHS tapes -- too. I think we can assume it will be even worse with this transition, since essentially Blu-ray Disc players completely replace the need for DVD players, and you don't have to replace any of your DVDs -- they'll work fine on Blu-ray Disc players.
So buy DVD players, these days, with care, and with the minimal expectations. Read the specifications and the warranty information very carefully, and make no assumptions that the units will work any better that the specifications say they'll work, and make no assumptions that the units will work any longer than the warranty promises.
