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Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

post #1 of 17
2/16/07 at 1:20pm
Thread Starter 
http://blockbuster.mediaroom.com/ind...eases&item=713

Weird...

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H
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post #2 of 17
2/16/07 at 9:28pm

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

hmm, they didnt even tell us in work today.
i wonder if they even knew.
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post #3 of 17
2/17/07 at 10:13am

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

Seems like a pretty limited offer. You have to be a member at a Blockbuster store who also uses Netflix.

It's not like tons of Netflix users are suddenly going to put themselves through the membership sign-up process at a Blockbuster store just for a free rental.
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post #4 of 17
2/17/07 at 11:31am

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

you'd be surprised.
last time we did this a bunch of people came in to sign up
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post #5 of 17
2/18/07 at 11:21am

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

I still have a blockbuster membership from back in the day, and I went to the store to rent soem stuff during the last promotion they did, I was shocked at how much they've changed since they were king BNF (before netflix, lol). Ive even seen a few stores around town close down as well. But their rental system is interesting becaue you can get them in the mail and return at the store and get a new one, which is nice, but the stores do not have anywhere near the supply Netflix does or BB online. How is BB's online selection compared to Netflix's?
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post #6 of 17
2/18/07 at 3:40pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

I have a BB membership card as well, and had I had time for a movie this weekend, I would have used this offer. I have 3 netflix discs sitting at home but I am in no mood for those -- which happens fairly often, one of the few minuses of the online rental system, and the reason for which I had supplemented my Netflix subscription with a Hollywood Video unlimited rental pass (no new releases) until a few weeks ago (dropped that as part of the new year cost reduction resolution ).

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H
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post #7 of 17
2/18/07 at 9:05pm

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

I'm tempted to try this just to get to see "Shut Up and Sing" with The Dixie Chicks since it's not being offered through Netflix.
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post #8 of 17
2/24/07 at 9:30pm

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

Unfortunately I didn't have any Netflix labels - but I am saving them up for the next time they run this promotion
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post #9 of 17
2/27/07 at 11:47am

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

Here's a clue for BB: a lot of us use Netflix because we hate BB. (Although I do still go there sometimes to buy used DVDs.)

I tried BB's lame attempt at cloning Netflix, and it sucked. Much worse selection, discs took a lot longer to arrive, etc.

This is sort of like McDonald's offering free Big Macs for vegetarians.
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post #10 of 17
2/28/07 at 3:44pm

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

Quote:
I tried BB's lame attempt at cloning Netflix, and it sucked. Much worse selection, discs took a lot longer to arrive, etc.

I got lucky - distribution centers for Blockbuster Online and for Netflix are both in the next city over. And I don't really see a difference in selection, not when it is something like 70,000 discs in Netflix and 65,000 in Blockbuster Online. There may be one or two titles that either has that the other does not -- but those situations are rare enough. Blockbuster had the UK television series Ultraviolet, Netflix did not, for instance.
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post #11 of 17
3/6/07 at 12:00am

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

Looks like the talk of the postal service raising rates is going to impact Blockbuster (and probably Netflix too). This article --

http://www.hackingnetflix.com/2007/0...uster_onl.html

-- describes some market research being done by Blockbuster to see how badly people will freak if the prices go up ...way up. The sample message, which granted is just to gauge reaction, jumps the price by $5. Unfortunately the sample message uses one of the lower-priced plans as the example, so it is not clear if the normal 3-out plan (which currently costs $17.99) would also jump $5 to $23 total, but it gives a sense of what they are considering.

Bearing in mind that Blockbuster prices are taxed (I pay $19.34 for the $17.99 plan), this starts to add up.

Ah, I just got my housemate's analysis of the potential new price, and since he's better at math here's his take on it:

At $19.34, assuming we're doing approximately 15 movies a month via mail (that's 3 a week), it works out to $1.29 per film. With exchanges, that's $0.65 per movie. If they increased their plan to $25 (with tax, $26.86), it works out to $1.79 a movie or $0.90 a movie. Now I think 15 a month is a reasonable estimate on the number of films we get. Admittedly, it's slowed down recently (for some unknown reason), but even with the rise in cost, the Total Access works out to a better deal per film than the mail only, assuming the mail-only plan would be about the same price as the current Total Access plan. Of course, that's just my analysis.

He's probably right. It will still be a good deal.
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post #12 of 17
3/6/07 at 10:01am

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Will_B
Looks like the talk of the postal service raising rates is going to impact Blockbuster (and probably Netflix too). This article --
Redbox will be unaffected by the postage increase.
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post #13 of 17
3/6/07 at 3:00pm

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

Touche!
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post #14 of 17
3/6/07 at 7:54pm

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

Will B:
The link you provided isn't related to what you are claiming. The offer being tested is offering two different price levels for Blockbuster: Mail Order Only and Total Access. If someone doesn't live near a Blockbuster store and can't take advantage of the Total Access offer I can see it making sense to offer them the Mail Order Only option at a lower price.
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post #15 of 17
3/7/07 at 10:00am

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

The link I provided discusses a proposal in which the price of the Total Access plans goes up. The proposal has a positive spin by emphasizing that if you opt out of the Total Access plan and enter into a Mail Only option, you can remain at the current price (but lose the in-store exchange privilege).

The article has been updated with some pics of the proposed higher prices and I am pleased to see that at least in this proposal (which may not reflect what they actually introduce), the new higher price for the 3-out Total Access plan is only $21.99 plus tax, an increase of only four dollars. But it is an increase.

If one decides not to accept the price increase, you can change to the Mail Only plan (losing the in-store exchange privilege), and in this proposal it appears their intention is to keep the price for Mail Only the same as what people currently pay for Total Access.

It isn't a lower price, it is the same price with less. Or a higher price for the same.
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post #16 of 17
3/7/07 at 10:46am

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

Still seems odd that the "mail only" option will be the cheaper option since I thought increasing postage rates were the catalyst for this change? Seems like the mail only option should be the higher price.
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post #17 of 17
3/7/07 at 10:52am

Re: Blockbuster - Free In-store Rental for NETFLIX Members (02/15 - 02/21)

well they still have to be mailed back.
if they are in store the store throws them in a mailbox.

so total access members will be paying for the service of trade in for a free rental.
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