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28 Oct 2011 12:57

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Biz: Et tu, Redbox? Netflix isn’t alone in raising its rental prices

  • $1.20 to rent a Redbox DVD — a 20¢ increase source
  • » And its stock is struggling, too: Coinstar, the parent company of the suddenly-hot DVD-rental kiosk brand, is struggling to keep prices at a level to compensate for operating expenses. Not exactly a good time for Redbox to do this, though — because, you know, Netflix is feeling the heat. And while 20 cents doesn’t sound like much, if you rent DVDs on the regular from the kiosks, that adds up quickly. On the other hand, it probably looks worse than it actually is due to the timing. So let’s look at the silver lining: Blu-ray will stay roughly the same price — $1.50 to $2.00.

12 Jul 2011 20:31

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Tech: Too soon? Netflix prices DVDs out of the equation

  • Many Netflix users got a rude awakening today when they got an e-mail noting that prices were going way up on their combined DVD and streaming plans. It led to huge amounts of rage on the Interwebs after the report leaked. While we think this particular bout of rage is a little much, the real problem here is that Netflix has misjudged its customer base. The thing is, lots of customers would probably love to stream all their movies instead of waiting for DVDs in the mail, but the company’s seemingly jumping the gun. This is a change you make when your streaming service is at near-parity with your DVD service — which isn’t the case at all. The problem we see here is one of a thousand small cuts — changing the API so that third-party apps don’t work, redesigning the first-party apps to discourage DVD queues — that have created the overall effect that feels like a betrayal to many. For movie aficionados, the long-tail value is still there. But for more occasional movie fans who don’t veer too far off the beaten path of Hollywood fare, Redbox may have just gained a huge leg up. (photo by Flickr user Jamiesrabbits) source

03 Feb 2010 22:35

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Biz, Tech: Why does Wal-Mart have a limit on buying new release DVDs?

  • five the number of copies of a newly released DVD you can buy from Wal-Mart; Target also does this
  • 40% the percentage of DVDs that kiosk company Redbox buys from Wal-Mart or Target; hmm source