So no more late fees. Blessing? Who knows ...

http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/14/news/mi ... tm?cnn=yes

This para is of most interest to me actually

But customers will be given a one-week grace period after that to return the product. After that grace period ends, the chain will automatically sell them the product, less the rental fee. If the customers don't want to purchase the movie or game, they can return the product within 30 days for a credit, less a restocking fee.

blockbuster really must be desperate

Sounds interesting. More of a marketing ploy to me, but whatever.

I remember reading an article a year ago that blockbuster was really concerned because more and more people were just buying movies instead of renting them, especially family type films that they know will get a lot of use.

So, perhaps that's one reason for the change.

The real problem for blockbuster though is their gouge prices.

well keep in mind that netflix is now a formidible competitor and really, once people are more open to the general idea of something like netflix, there is no way blockbuster can really compete with it ..

but i do believe this is just another way to squeeze money out of people ... hell its not the 1 or 2 day late fees that brings in the dough .. its those people who keep it for a longer period of time .. give them more reason now to lie back and watch people as they're shocked to find out that theyre the owners of a used dvd.

yeah, why pay $5 to rent a movie for 3 days when i can just buy it at best buy for $15.99 when it comes out. I haven't rented a movie in ages.

I havent rented a movie since before the advent of dvds. I remember when first run videos were $100 and you were forced to rent. Things have changed greatly.

I don't see the point of renting when the cost is so close to the purchase price. :?

my thoughts exactly

NET FREAKING FLIX!!

I havent rented since the mid 90s.And with films on DVD getting cheaper i think the era of renting movies will come to an end soon.

You are still risking about $15-$20 on a movie you have never seen before. Renting will always exist for those who want to risk only $2-4 or in some other case $20 for a unlimited monthly fee to rent movies like Pluto Nash instead of buying them. Its almost like saying 10 years ago, the internet will put phone companies out of business

I have digital cable with all the premium channles,I dont have to blind buy.

Why?? Why would Blockbuster be desperate??? There the #1 Videostore chain in the U.S.. They have no reason to be desperate..

Obviously they are feeling threatened by something or they would be doin this :wink:

I'm not sure what though.. That actually sounds like a good deal to me... :wink:

Exactly. When do major corporations actually care about the consumer...the people who keep them in buisness?

I'm notorious for returning movies on time, especially Blockbuster.. Looks like I'll be buying alot of movies from them with the deal there presenting..

So wait, after the one week grace, how much will they be charging for the DVD for you to own?

bkb.

Blockbuster is going down every year due to lowered dvd prices but even more importantly, by services such as netflix. http://www.netflix.com. Its the fastest growing dvd rental company right now. blockbuster still has the monopoly but with the services offered by netflix, blockbuster cannot hope to compete over the next few years once more people feel comfortable with e-business.

also, anyone who expects to buy these dvds at normal price is crazy. blockbuster is sold these dvds at a 100 bucks for a normal dvd unlike the rest of us .. so expect to pay atleast half that amount .. again, its speculation but theres no way you're getting it for the same price.

I read the RottenTomatoes thread about this. Some of them (one was a Blockbuster employee) seems to think that this will teach customers a lesson to return videos on time. I think it's going to backfire. I'm sure the average Blockbuster customer doesn't know about this. I'd like to see their reaction when they get dinged full price for their first late DVD.

Blockbuster must have done a lot of risk analysis before agreeing to do this.

I don't see why people would be upset over being charged full price when that is probably less than they would pay in late fees. Blockbluser late fees are huge.

Poor bABA keeps trying to remind everyone of internet ordering rentals. He's right. There is much higher purchasing, but above that, for people that aren't willing to caugh up 10-15 bucks for a movie I'll most likely not like (Guess what? I'm picky), then yes, there will always be rental. What form that rental is taking will change however. Eventually, its not even going to be about mailing and returning rentals via internet ordering. Some site is going to set up a film archive/bank, and you'll be able to connect your computer to the tv, and whenever you want to see a movie you will go to the archive, select the movie, and it will feed directly to your t.v. right when you want it. Hey, we'll be fatter and lazier since now we don't even need to leave the house to get in-house entertainment, and we'll become increasingly alienated by the thought of actually having to talk to a real life person, but you know you win some you lose some.

Blockbuster is desperate because even though it is holding up well compared to smaller rental places (One of the ones I used to work for already went out of business, and the second one is pretty damn close after having closed half of its 4 locations) business is anything but booming. They'll scramble, but unless they come up with a dorrstep delivery service the way pizza parlors do, they'll have to close shop within the next decade. Their european market will allow them to continue ordering cheap bulk for only so long. They'll switch over to internet ordering as well.

Thank you for listening.

E niente. You were the one providing the astute insight.

[quote="dolcevita"]Some site is going to set up a film archive/bank, and you'll be able to connect your computer to the tv, and whenever you want to see a movie you will go to the archive, select the movie, and it will feed directly to your t.v. right when you want it. Hey, we'll be fatter and lazier since now we don't even need to leave the house to get in-house entertainment, and we'll become increasingly alienated by the thought of actually having to talk to a real life person, but you know you win some you lose some.
[quote]

You think so? Lets be reminded that homegrocer.com went bankrupt by trying to give us the convience of shopping online instead of a supermarket. If people are that lazy and we order everything online, places like Frys and Best Buy would go bellyup. A video store is just less than half mile away and I would rather rent the movies I want right now as opposed to wait for it on mail for a couple of days. Its not that difficult. As for direct streaming, its super slow and most of the time I have server lag either from their server or my isp. It would not catch on for another 5 years