Movie Rentals

From LoveToKnow Movies

Movie rentals ... it's not just a Blockbuster night any more.

Blockbuster Video

In the early days of renting movies for home viewing, Blockbuster Video was the only option. And the terms were restrictive. Late fees, rewinding fees, breakage fees ... it was a customer-service nightmare. In recent years, however, Blockbuster has made great strides toward becoming more customer-friendly. Late fees are a thing of the past. Larger stores with more extensive, better organized stock. Guaranteed in-stock on new releases. Competition, first from other bricks-and-mortar rental outlets such as Hollywood Video, and then from online rental groups, has been good for the customers at Blockbuster.

Public Libraries Get in the Game

Another widespread chain of "bricks and mortar" rental stores, Hollywood Video provided some much-needed competition in the rental market. But the biggest competition for the walk-in stores was the local library. When the public library system got into the business of renting movies, they were able to undercut the prices and give longer check-out times on older titles. But even the library has competition these days.

Online Movie Rental Services

With the advent of the internet and the DVD format, a new paradigm in movie rentals was born. Now, a person could sign up for a service, have the movies delivered directly to their mailbox, and return the movies whenever they wished. Services like Netflix, QwikFlix, and, most recently, Blockbuster Online have given even the libraries a run for their money. Operated as a subscription service, most online rentals require a flat monthly fee, which entitles members to rent as many movies as they like each month.

Advantages of Movie Rentals

Why rent instead of buying? Most frequent renters like to "try it before they buy it." If they like the movie well enough to rent it more than once, then they know that it will not be an expensive item sitting on their shelf collecting dust. They know that they will watch it. Another reason for renting is that the renter does not have to replace a damaged disk. If you own it and it suddenly starts skipping or gets a crack, you have to buy a new one. But if you're renting and it doesn't work properly, you can send it back with a complaint, and the rental service replaces the DVD. Yet another advantage to renting is variety. If you are not having to pay $15 to $30 each for your movies, you can take in a far greater selection of titles and genres than you would if you had to pay full-price for each one.

Disadvantages of Rental

The movies don't belong to you, so you do have to take them back -- even if you really, really liked them. Sometimes the movie you want to rent is out, and then you are forced to wait; if you own the movie, you can watch it whenever you wish. If you are a "try then buy" consumer, you end up paying more for the movies that you like -- your rental fee plus your purchase price. If your child breaks the movie, you still have to pay for it. It can be harder to find more esoteric titles, or independent films that were not especially popular. Rental places are driven by popularity, so what's kept in stock represents what's in highest demand.


 


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