Blockbuster B&M - Guaranteed in Stock is back

G

gsr

CAGiversary!
I received an email this morning from BB saying that guaranteed in stock is back at all stores. This means that you get a free rental coupon for a new release movie, if they don't have it in stock.

Combine this with the in-store movie pass and you can get a buttload of rentals.

I tried the movie pass for a month when they had the first month for 9.99 promotion going on, but I could hardly ever get a new release. I had to call and HOLD a copy of National Treasure.

I think they could really solve their problems if they just made new releases due back after 2 days, like they did in the past. "Keep it as long as you want" and "No Late Fees" shouldn't apply to new releases.

I'll go ahead and sign up for the movie pass again, just to see if "G.I.S." makes a difference.
 
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Is there any deals on movie passes? I first got the 9.99 1 movie out at a time deal for the first month. Once it ended I upgrade it to 2 movies out at a time. Since it was going to be my first 2 movie out a time pass they have a deal of 14.99, so i took it. After the month ended i canceled my account, it was going to be 24.99 to continue the pass. My question is, is there any movie pass deals? If i use a differend credit card will I be able to get the 10 or 15 dollar pass? thanks.
 
ericx:

I don't think there are any deals on the movie pass..the 9.99/14.99 promo expired a couple weeks ago
 
Why would you combine GIS and moviepass? If you have moviepass, you can get as many movies as you want, X at a time, can't you? So a free movie coupon is sort of duplicated by the moviepass.
I did the GIS once for a game, so I'll keep my eyes open for that; I use BBO for dvd's, and my local BB B&M selections suck, even before 'No Late Fees'. I'm part of the problem, I'll rent a game, and return it 13 days later, because I can.

Best Buy Online is 16.04/mo for me, including tax; includes 3 dvd's out at a time and 2 in-store rental coupons for dvd or games. They kept trying to sell me the moviepass, but A. it's more expensive, and B. you're limited [IIRC] to the specific store you got it from. Virtually nothing on myBBO queue is in my B&M.
 
all they do is Rip open a New copy of a DVD and let you rent it....

Rental is what 4 bucks and they probally only give 10 at the most for these movies probally even cheaper. so they are only out of pocket 6 bucks and they will either rent it again or sell it as USED For 13.. So they are still making money.

video stop used to do this until they ended up with 100 open copies of I ROBOT LOL
 
[quote name='dtcarson']Why would you combine GIS and moviepass? If you have moviepass, you can get as many movies as you want, X at a time, can't you? So a free movie coupon is sort of duplicated by the moviepass.
I did the GIS once for a game, so I'll keep my eyes open for that; I use BBO for dvd's, and my local BB B&M selections suck, even before 'No Late Fees'. I'm part of the problem, I'll rent a game, and return it 13 days later, because I can.

Best Buy Online is 16.04/mo for me, including tax; includes 3 dvd's out at a time and 2 in-store rental coupons for dvd or games. They kept trying to sell me the moviepass, but A. it's more expensive, and B. you're limited [IIRC] to the specific store you got it from. Virtually nothing on myBBO queue is in my B&M.[/QUOTE]

I failed to mention this in the original post, but the question is, "Will they allow the GIS coupon to be used independent of the movie pass?"

So if I go in to get new release movie A, and they don't have it, I get a coupon to get it for free..With coupon in hand, I pick up movie B(old or new).

I come back to return movie B and get movie C, but I realize A is in stock..I use my free coupon to get A. I walk out with A and C in hand. For every new release you can't find, you essentially end up renting something else. Depending on how terrible your local store is with new releases, you can maximize your movie pass by using those free coupons.

Regarding your question about the movie pass, there are different plans..

14.99 - one out at a time
24.99 - two out
34.99 - three out

I sign up for 14.99, because I don't watch enough movies to justify the 24.99 plan.

So to round it up, sign up for 14.99 and take advantage of GIS to maximize your rentals, provided they allow you to use the coupons independent of the movie pass.

For me personally, the convenience of going to a store and picking up what I want at any time beats waiting for movies to arrive in the mail. Netflix and BB also supposedly slow down their mailing out of movies once they realize you're a heavy renter.
 
[quote name='slidecage']all they do is Rip open a New copy of a DVD and let you rent it....

Rental is what 4 bucks and they probally only give 10 at the most for these movies probally even cheaper. so they are only out of pocket 6 bucks and they will either rent it again or sell it as USED For 13.. So they are still making money.

video stop used to do this until they ended up with 100 open copies of I ROBOT LOL[/QUOTE]

Blockbuster will NOT just open up a new DVD to rent out. Never happens, can't.
 
If the GIS a coupon could anyone use it? Hollywood video gives you a receipt/coupon that could only work with the account listed.

What I like to do everytime I go to rent movies at Hollywood Video is to see what movies have GIS and which copies they don't have. When GTA SA for ps2 fist came out they had a huge GIS sticker in their window for gta SA and they only had 4 copies. So I scored a free gta rental.
 
[quote name='slidecage']all i know is the 2nd times i did this they all of a sudden came up with a copy[/QUOTE]

Interesting..I wonder if they modified the policy on new releases.

I could not get a copy of National Treasure for nearly a week during the month of May.

[quote name='ericx']If the GIS a coupon could anyone use it? Hollywood video gives you a receipt/coupon that could only work with the account listed.

What I like to do everytime I go to rent movies at Hollywood Video is to see what movies have GIS and which copies they don't have. When GTA SA for ps2 fist came out they had a huge GIS sticker in their window for gta SA and they only had 4 copies. So I scored a free gta rental.[/QUOTE]

i'm pretty sure it's tied to the account.
 
My mom kept National Tressures for about 2 weeks and never had to pay, it was great. Block Buster is so fucking dumb.
 
[quote name='gsr']I think they could really solve their problems if they just made new releases due back after 2 days, like they did in the past.[/QUOTE]
Better yet - open up a movie download service, so people can watch the movies on their computers, legally. Like IPOD.

troy
 
I don't think movies-on-pc is where it needs to be yet. I have broadband, so I have the speed to get it; if I use my PC to watch movies, it's a DVD [usually a tv series].
There already exist movie-downloads-on-demand; Movielink is one of the bigger ones, I think.
The whole point of movie downloads is free [though illegal], I don't think the 'average Joe' is going to spend 2-4 bucks to download a movie, watch it on a computer screen in the two days he has before it times out. For all that money and hassle, odds are he'll just rent it from the store and watch it while lying on the sofa; if its out of stock, he'll probably get something else.
When I first got broadband I did download and watch a lot of short films from IFilm or other places, but if I'm going to pay for a movie rental, I'm going to watch it on my bigscreen tv with sound system and comfy sofa.

For me, the convenience of being able to manage my queue at any time, and just drop a disk in the mailbox, definitely beats having to go to the store to browse their shelves, see what's in that I want to watch, if anything, and check it out. However, I also go with my son, and for some reason, while he's good in most other stores, he always runs around like a maniac in BB, so going to the B&M offers logistical difficulties I don't have with BBO.
 
The point is that Blockbuster is *losing rentals*. People are not renting, because they're downloading the stuff at home.

The solution is to target those people by opening a Blockbuster.com to provide downloads.



Also, it wouldn't be 2 days time. It'd probably be a couple months (as was originally envisioned with Divx).
troy
 
I don't think BB is losing rentals due to downloading. Even if they are, they people downloading are dl'ing not for convenience, but because it's free [though illegal]. I think they're losing rentals due to online rental services, and dvds being priced for purchase rather than in the VHS days of 'priced for rental'. As well, the 'No Late Fees--keep as long as you want' has an effect on the already well-known low inventory and selection levels of BB's B&M stores.

BB's big obstacles to even more market ownership, imho, are:
* the inconvenience of going to a B&M. They now have BBO.
* late fees. No late fees helps this.
* selection, or lack thereof, of titles. BBO improves on this as well.

Last time I tried Movielink [which was, admittedly, a while ago], you could keep the movie for 1 week, and it 'timed out' 48 hours after you started watching it, and you could only watch it on the PC it was downloaded on. For 3.95 or so. For that price, most people would probably either rent the movie from the B&M [especially with No Late Fees] and watch it on their tv, any tv, [the honest people] or just download it from an 'unofficial' free site.

Divx...*shiver* that was a mistake, and an insult to consumers.

"Movielink lets you keep the movie for 30 days, but once you begin watching it, you have a 24-hour window during which you can view the movie as often as you want.

CinemaNow offers a download-to-own option for some movies, allowing you to download a permanent copy of the video that you can watch on your PC as often as you'd like. CinemaNow lets you burn copies of some movies to DVDs, too, but because the software saves the movies in Windows Media format, you can't watch them on a standard DVD player.

At present, downloads take so long--several hours, even over a broadband connection--that these services aren't likely to threaten Blockbuster's livelihood anytime soon,"

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,115160,00.asp

That article also discussed Video on Demand and PPV, which I could see as more of a threat than downloading onto PC. But the same things that handicap BB, are more so for VoD: limited availability time, limited selection.
 
How is BB losing rentals if all the new releases are always out? The csr at my local store said that the number of customers has gone through the roof after introducing the movie pass.

I think we're pretty far away from downloadable movies - it might be feasible if every home has a fiber connection but that isn't happening for at least another 5-10 years.
 
I have the 3 movies out at a time (through the mail) for $14.99. But I use the 2 coupons per month to rent recent release games. With the no late fees, I can keep out a game for 12 days. So, for most of the month I can have a game out along with my movies.

I may try to scoop up some of the guarantee coupons . . . that way I can focus on getting other films in the mail.
 
If Joe rents Movie A on 6/1/05, and keeps it until 6/13, which he now can, that is 13 day rental for what, 3.50 or whatever. Joe has it out, so Bob can't rent it. Previously that 13 day rental brought it more money due to the late fees; or, the late fees motivated Joe to return it on time, so Bob could rent it, thus, 2 x 3.50 instead of 1 x 3.50.
Currently, and under NLF, items are still rented out, but they are, or can be, rented out for a longer time period for the same amount of money, thus lowering BB's profit/income. Of course, they can counter that by buying more inventory, but that would hit the bottom line as well.
Same with the movie pass. I assume they're making money, otherwise they wouldn't do it, but with the 'buffet' style service rather than 'a la carte' or 'pay as you go', there's the potential for greater volume, but lower profits.
Schultzed, that's exactly what I do. My DVDs come from BBO, I'm watching lots of TV series which can take some time to go through, so i don't necessarily churn and burn, but I use the coupons to rent games rather than buying, especially those 'meh' ones, or ones that can be beaten in a couple weeks [although we've rented Return to Arms like six times
 
[quote name='dtcarson']I don't think BB is losing rentals due to downloading. ..... Movielink ... For 3.95 or so. For that price, most people would probably either rent the movie from the B&M [especially with No Late Fees] and watch it on their tv, any tv, [the honest people] or just download it from an 'unofficial' free site.[/QUOTE]Well...

- I've heard rentals (all rentals) are on a downward slide.
- The reason is debateable, but I think it's the same reason as low TV ratings - people are downloading instead of watching/renting.

- I hear a lot of people say watching on TV is better. But I genuinely don't understand. What's so great about watching on a TV? My computer monitor looks a lot better. And the sound is just as good (surround).

- IMHO I'd pay someone $3.95 to download a movie, rather than waste 5 dollars (rent+gas) & 1 hour driving to the brick-and-morter.

troy
 
Well, watching on *my* tv, depending on what I'm watching, is watching on a 60" widescreen HDTV with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound system, while laying on a comfy couch, versus a 15" flat panel monitor with dinky speakers in an office chair. I do still watch some dvd's on PC, but I like the portability of being able to watch on the PC, TV, or the upstairs tv; downloading doesn't give you that [very easily.]
Obviously it depends on what someone has. Watching a TV can be more of a 'shared activity' than gathering around a computer monitor.
TV ratings aren't great because, well, TV nowadays pretty much sucks. I think you're overestimating the impact of downloading movies/shows. Certainly it's happening, but I don't think it's that great of an extent.
I agree, if the choice was between paying to download, and paying to rent at a store, I'd probably lean toward downloading; but your reason is exactly my reason for having Blockbuster Online [and Netflix for 4 years before that.]
I think there's room in the market for all these venues, but that downloading movies isn't a major factor yet.
 
[quote name='electrictroy']Well...

- I've heard rentals (all rentals) are on a downward slide.
- The reason is debateable, but I think it's the same reason as low TV ratings - people are downloading instead of watching/renting.

- I hear a lot of people say watching on TV is better. But I genuinely don't understand. What's so great about watching on a TV? My computer monitor looks a lot better. And the sound is just as good (surround).

- IMHO I'd pay someone $3.95 to download a movie, rather than waste 5 dollars (rent+gas) & 1 hour driving to the brick-and-morter.

troy[/QUOTE]

- i'd like to see some figures

- tv ratings don't have much to do with downloading..You need a nielsen box in order to count towards the ratings and anyone that has one of these is actually watching their shows on the television. People like us who don't have a nielsen box don't count towards the ratings even if we do watch shows when they air.

- you're watching at the standard resolution on tv(i'm talking standard definition..with HD, you watch it progressively) so it looks better...your pc monitor is probably cranked up to some resolution that exposes the flaws and artifacts of a dvd. Most people don't like to sit in front of a 17" monitor to watch a movie(you can get a 27" tube tv for $200 at walmart) nor do they want the hassle of loading the movie in a software player. DVD player - open - insert disc - play is what works for most people.

I don't know what kind of surround you have, but if it's one of those $30 logitech systems, I can guarantee you that my $175 home theater in a box will sound better.

- Blockbuster is less than one mile away from my house and I suspect that is the case for most people.
 
[quote name='gsr']- I don't know what kind of surround you have, but if it's one of those $30 logitech systems, I can guarantee you that my $175 home theater in a box will sound better.[/QUOTE]My TV and Computer share the same $1000 speaker system.

Blockbuster for me is a 30-minute round trip... plus figure 30 minutes wasted looking to see what's available... equals 60 minutes wasted. Oh, and a dollar wasted driving there. I'd rather just sit on my butt at home, and download, rather than waste that time/money.

troy
 
That's cool, if that venue is the best for you. I'm not saying you *shouldn't* do that by any means, I'm just saying that I think people in your situation make up a very small minority of the population. I'm amazed that BB is a 30 minute round trip for you; where I work, I'm within 10 minutes of 2 BBs, and at home, 8 minutes from 1. 30 minutes spent looking around the store, I agree with this totally, i would like if the BBV website allows you to check inventory status at a certain store. This is one big plus for online rentals; I go to my queue whenever I want, and put what I want to watch at the top of the queue, then forget about it.
I guess the first question is,
* do you want to rent a la carte, or buffet style? If you watch say one or two movies a month, then VoD or downloading would be perfect, followed by B&M, if convenient. If you are heavier volume, the online rental services would be more appropriate.
 
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