Redbox or Bust?

[krimsonviper]

For the last couple of months, I've started to rent movies from a small kiosk found in shopping centers an grocery stores. They are $1 to rent per night and are now starting to rent out video games, and I got to thinking. I wonder how much these franchise owners make, and how many they need to make profits.

Here's where you guys come in: do you guys rent from these kiosks as well and what versions do you use and why? I want to see if it's a pretty popular commodidity(for the life of me, I can't seem to spell this forsaken word. spelling halp?) and if I should even invest actual time to research this further. One of the requirements for finding actually buying one is 15,000 potential customer zone. I have a particular spot I'd be willing to scope out to drop one off and I already feel it has high traffic and perfect.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

$1 DVDs and $1.50 Blu Rays? Hellz yeah I use the s*** out of Red Box. That and the fact that you can return them to ANY red box is pure money.

Hell, I rented one here in MS and returned it in Rhode Island without any fees whatsoever. Freaking awesome.

[Razi]

RedBoxes are pretty popular here.

There's one next to Walgreens that gets used all the time.

[Eikon]

Redbox is fantastic! Netflix is better because its cheaper, has more selection, and is instantaneous. BUT.. Redbox has the new releases faster, so I pick them up from time to time. There is a blockbuster kiosk near my house as well, but I've never tried it.

[Kompresshun]

We do use Redbox here and there, but we use Netflix streaming and Zune marketplace more often usually. Plus Dish network has been giving us a lot of free PPV movie codes lately.

[AppleBonker]

I tend to buy my own movies, so I guess I'm not in the target audience. I haven't rented a physical disc in probably five years. Though I have wondered the same thing about what the upstart cost is for a Red Box and how profitable they are. I know a lot of people that use them regularly.

The reason I tend not to rent is that I've become a huge HD snob and basically refuse to watch a movie on DVD if it is available on blu-ray. And BRs tend to be less durable. Renting them it seems like one in four is unreadable because people abuse them. I can't handle that failure rate.

[Jesda]

99% of my movie watching has to do with a girl, so despite the closure of Blockbuster, there's still a need for movies you can rent in person.

"Wanna come over and watch a movie?"

'Sure! Do you have Love Actually?'

"Uh... yes..."

'See you in 20!'

*runs to nearest Redbox*

[Jesda]

I think this is why prostitutes were invented.

[alms24sebring]

All Blockbusters have closed around here. So, in there place are Redboxes at all 7-11s and at random shopping centers. But, I usually just Netflix anything on the old PS3. Even then I use my ex's Netflix account so I get free movies and TV shows. (f*** that b****).

I never buy movies just because I know Ill never watch it again. That and they are expensive. I usually dont like to repeat movies either very often. I dont even, or rarely, buy pornz movies!

[MinisterofDOOM]

My problem with Redbox is the extremely limited selection. Kiosks can obviously only hold a few different titles, so most are new releases. Usually, with newly-released movies, if I want to watch it, I'll buy it. If it's something I'm "not sure about" It's generally the 2 hours of time investment I'm worried about wasting rather than money, so even if it was free I probably wouldn't bother watching it.

[hitbychance]

Blockbuster here is rather pricey, to rent a game for a week its 12$ or you have the option to rent a game for a month for 30$, i don't rent many movies.

Netflix Canada is so outdated it's useless, i used the month free trial to find out that anything relatively new is not available.

[alms24sebring]

yeah BB was pretty pricey. It was like $7 for a bluray. I think it was like 1998 the last time I rented a game from there.

[Kompresshun]

The last time I rented a game from Blockbuster, a little over a year ago, they were like $8 for a week. I usually go and buy video games now or wait a couple of months and buy it pre-owned.

With movies, I usually buy unless it's something i'm not real sure about. If I don't feel like it's worth buying without question, then I rent it on Zune or pick it up from Redbox.

[krimsonviper]

Keep the votes coming people!

[AZ89two4Tsx]

The reason I tend not to rent is that I've become a huge HD snob and basically refuse to watch a movie on DVD if it is available on blu-ray. And BRs tend to be less durable. Renting them it seems like one in four is unreadable because people abuse them. I can't handle that failure rate.

Dude, do you have Xbox live?

You can stream movies in 1080p on Netflix/Zune. They're just as good as a DVD, and even if you only have a decent connection there will be ZERO buffering/lag. And it beats the hell out of buying a Blu-Ray disk. WAY cheaper.

[LongBeachCoupe]

Theres a variety of ways to rent for free from redbox, as long as you return it the next day... You can currently get 5 nights worth of rentals at the blockbuster machines for $2.

I use redbox... The 28 day rule kinda screws it up sometimes, and for a new release, theres some small dvd kiosk at my supermarket that has them on release date.

Reserve your movies online @ redbox as well...

Anyone wants tips or pointers pls pm me lol

[TOMMY VERCETTI]

I use to go to Blockbuster all the time once a week but when Hollywood Video opened up down the street from Blockbuster I started to go there B/c it was cheaper. Hollywood was around $3.00 a movie and you could keep it for a week. Blockbuster was $3.99 for one night to rent a movie. Then Hollywood Video went out of business then I started to go back to Blockbuster. But after a couple of times spending $3.99 renting one movie a night it got to the point where it was too much. Then after that I stopped going to Blockbuster. I like Red box a lot but I really wish they would come out with a credit card that you could just pick up and just pay cash for it like a gift card that you can buy. The big reason why B/c I don’t have a credit card and when people don’t have a credit card it makes it hard to rent movies from red box. So, now I just don’t rent movies anymore which sucks for me.

[ADDirishboy]

I just use Netflix. $12 a month for physical DVD's AND streaming. Yea. I like.

[LongBeachCoupe]

I use to go to Blockbuster all the time once a week but when Hollywood Video opened up down the street from Blockbuster I started to go there B/c it was cheaper. Hollywood was around $3.00 a movie and you could keep it for a week. Blockbuster was $3.99 for one night to rent a movie. Then Hollywood Video went out of business then I started to go back to Blockbuster. But after a couple of times spending $3.99 renting one movie a night it got to the point where it was too much. Then after that I stopped going to Blockbuster. I like Red box a lot but I really wish they would come out with a credit card that you could just pick up and just pay cash for it like a gift card that you can buy. The big reason why B/c I don’t have a credit card and when people don’t have a credit card it makes it hard to rent movies from red box. So, now I just don’t rent movies anymore which sucks for me.

Credit card or debit card works I thought... I would have assumed we all had access to a debit card if we have interwebz

[AppleBonker]

The reason I tend not to rent is that I've become a huge HD snob and basically refuse to watch a movie on DVD if it is available on blu-ray. And BRs tend to be less durable. Renting them it seems like one in four is unreadable because people abuse them. I can't handle that failure rate.

Dude, do you have Xbox live?

You can stream movies in 1080p on Netflix/Zune. They're just as good as a DVD, and even if you only have a decent connection there will be ZERO buffering/lag. And it beats the hell out of buying a Blu-Ray disk. WAY cheaper.

Yup, and a netflix streaming membership even though it gets minimal use (though I get better quality streaming from my Oppo blu-ray player than the 360). 1080p on netflix streaming does not equal 1080p on blu-ray media. Different compression. Way different quality. Blu-ray wins. Audio options on streaming netflix (at least at the moment) are two channel or nothing. Blu-ray has surround sound and generally a lossless compression or even uncompressed audio. Blu-ray wins. I still enjoy having physical media so I can transfer it from one location to another or not have to worry about my network functioning. Blu-ray wins. Special features are available on discs, not generally with streaming media. Blu-ray wins.

Assuming you watch at least one movie per month, netflix is cheaper than buying the blu-ray copy. Netflix wins.

I'll go ahead and stick with buying blu-ray copies.

[gearhead05]

I just stick with Netflix. My sister and her friends use Red Box all the time though and love it. I just saw some news that in June (or may July, not sure) Red Box is going to start carrying games and renting those out for $2. Being the huge gamer that I am, I can see myself starting to use Red Box once that happens.