There was a time, in the not so distant past, when a trip out to your local video store with the family was a weekly or monthly treat. If you were fortunate enough to have a bigger video rental store that had multiple copies of new releases and thousands of DVDs on hand, there was a good chance you could find movie watcher’s guide to suit everyone. But a few things have happened since those days that have rendered video rental stores all but obsolete.
For starters, big box outlets such as Blockbuster have been driven out of the bricks and mortar video rental business to seek salvation online. For most of us, our video stores are nothing more than corner convenience stores with a few hundred movies on hand at any time. Space is at a premium for these guys so they can only afford to have a few copies of new releases along with a smattering of older movie rental titles on hand at any time. It’s a bit frustrating to drive out only to find the movie you had your heart set on is always out.
In addition, next day returns and the inconvenience that it implies, usually finds us racking up late fees that often would have worked out cheaper for us if we’d bought the DVD instead. And what if you’re heading out on a road trip or to the cottage for a weekend – 24 hour rental periods just don’t cut it for a lot of us. And what about the actual rental fee? $3 or more per movie rental? Everyone with a cable or satellite subscription has access to pay-per-view movie rentals, and the concept is quite sound. The downside is that typical pay-per-view rentals cost $5 or more. I’m not sure the convenience is worth that much more.
Why? Well, rather than run on about online movie rental and why it’s the right option for you, allow me to state my case with the following list of 10 Reasons It’s Time For You To Rent Movies Online!
1. Selection. If you rent movies online from instant movie streaming or DVD by mail providers, you will generally have access to anywhere from a few thousand up to 80,000+ movie and TV titles to choose from. Your local video store probably can’t hold a match to that kind of selection.
2. Availability. In all but a few rare exceptions, the movie you want is always available. Most DVD by mail services have hundreds of copies of individual movie titles on hand. Instant movie streaming services like Netflix have no limitation on how many subscribers watch individual movie titles. If you rent movies online, your favorites are almost always available.
3. Savings. When you rent movies online from DVD by mail services, they typically have subscription plans that allow several DVD rentals, some even unlimited, per month for monthly fees as low as $5.95. Even if you only rent movies online only twice per month, you are already ahead. With instant video streaming services, typical plans run from about $8+ per month or, if you opt for a per rental provider such as iTunes or YouTube, you will typically pay $0.99 – $3.99 per online movie rental. Though the latter may be close in price to what you are currently paying at your local video store, you need to factor in both points 1 and 2 (Selection, Availability) and, more importantly, point 4 which is “Convenience”.
