Blockbuster Freedom Pass

[jarsim]

I had heard that the Phoenix area was one of the very few test markets (if not the only one), where Blockbuster is testing the "Blockbuster Freedom Pass". You pay $19.99 per month and you can rent up to 2 DVD's a day and have 2 DVD's out at a time and return them whenever you want. Therefore if you watch and return 2 DVD's a day, you can rent up to 60 movies in a month. I finished my first month at 51 DVD's rented, not bad. That works out to about 40 cents a rental! I've caught up on almost every movie I've wanted to see that's out on DVD.

Do any other cities out there have this too? Or are we Phoenicians the only lucky ones?

jarsim

My DVD Collection
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=2&id=jarsim

[limacharliewhiskey]

I was just in my local Blockbuster this weekend (in Southern California) and didn't see or hear anything about this Freedom Pass. It was in the news a few months ago that Blockbuster would try something like this in certain test markets. Looks like you're in one of them, as they're trying to compete with the online DVD rental monthly fee business model that seems to have been adopted by most online rental stores.

The positive aspect of this plan is that you can return the DVD the next day and get a new movie immediately, as you have noticed.

The negative aspect is that you are still limited by Blockbuster's scarce selection of titles. Will there be enough movies for you to see to stay with the monthly fee plan?

Just curious, is there a minimum required length of membership, or can you quit after just one month?

If Blockbuster does adopt this plan on a nationwide scale, they will probably need to greatly increase their inventory and selection at many stores.

[jarsim]

You can quit after a month, they have an automatic renewal (credit card required) for $19.99. If you only want one month (non-automatic renewal), I believe it's a couple of extra dollars.

As for inventory, the store that I go to has an extensive inventory of DVDs. I've noticed that the store I got to has been quickly phasing out VHS tapes in favor of DVD this past year (perhaps in anticipation of the DVD freedom pass?).

New releases alone there are about ten huge walls of DVDs. (Perhaps 7 feet high by 7 feet wide or thereabouts each wall-rough estimate) The "older" DVDs are on racks which of there are about 10 or so (4.5 feet high by 15 feet wide). DVDs take up a majority of the store, VHS tapes are sort of squashed together in a corner of the store.

So, to answer your question even maxing out at 60 DVDs a month, even as much as an avid DVD watcher I am, there's still a huge amount to watch (even though I've eliminated much of my must-see DVDs).

jarsim

[steelerfan1]

They have that here in Houston as well. It is about $3 more to go month to month. I've been doing Netflix and while the Blockbuster deal is better i would still have to keep making trips to the store. It's woth paying a little more per rental to not have to mess with driving to Blockbuster. It is a very smart thing they are doing however. I hope it works for them.

[limacharliewhiskey]

Originally posted by jarsim
New releases alone there are about ten huge walls of DVDs. (Perhaps 7 feet high by 7 feet wide or thereabouts each wall-rough estimate) The "older" DVDs are on racks which of there are about 10 or so (4.5 feet high by 15 feet wide). DVDs take up a majority of the store, VHS tapes are sort of squashed together in a corner of the store.

jarsim

Sounds like the same set-up at my Blockbuster, except that DVDs take up only about half the store. I estimate that at my Blockbuster, they have somewhere between 1500-2000 DVDs, which is far less than the 20,000 DVDs available now.

I've seen or rented most everything that my Blockbuster offers, except for new releases over the last couple of months. There were only about 6 or 7 DVDs that I wanted to rent, 2 of which I am renting for this week. I don't think I could find 50 DVDs worth renting at my local Blockbuster to make the Freedom Pass a deal for me.

For the right customer like you, this Freedom Pass sounds perfect. I was able to rent 12-15 DVDs per month through Netflix when they first started their monthly fee program, but once their delivery times got spotty and their fees went up (with zero improvement to service), I quit.

Let's see if Blockbuster can keep that $20 monthly price level. When I first joined Netflix, I paid $16 for 4 movies-at-a-time. Then the price jumped to $20 for 4 within a year, then $25 for 4 only six months later..

[docF94]

I can't imagine Blockbuster will be able to make much of of this in most places, with their lousy selections in most areas. (Did your Blockbuster not participate in the recent collection merge, putting DVDs and videotapes on the same shelves? If not, you are lucky.)

Does this Freedom Pass work with all movies in stock? New releases, too? Videotapes and DVDs? (I know, there aren't many videos at your Blockbuster, but since most Blockbusters cater so heavily to the videotape consumer, they'd have to offer this to them too, to make money.)

I hate Blockbuster, though I like their cheap previously-viewed movies. I predict that all $20 per month fees are placed in a Swiss bank account, which when it reaches a certain level, will be offered to buy out Netflix. While I sympathize with those who have had problems with Netflix, I love them. They've allowed me to see stuff I wouldn't have otherwise, and whenever I become interested in a DVD, I can put it on the list (which is up to 250, because I don't watch fast enough).

I know Blockbuster wants to kill Netflix asap, but I don't think they can do it. They probably can wait until Netflix stops growing and then offer to buy them out. (I haven't been following them on Nasdaq, and I've got no money in the company other than my monthly fee.) But I'd pay up to twice as much, and I'm broke, before I quit an independent Netflix.

I know some people are fond of Blockbuster, but if they kill (or buy out) Netflix, they will be near the top of my list of most-hateds.

If this program expands, though, investing in Nasdaq Netflix might be very profitable when the buyout offer comes.

adios,