troy1

First of thanks to admin for accepting me int htis excellent forum.
I am interesting in opening a small dvd rental shop and I want to find a good software to dvd rental member scheme so that I will be up to date.
So please if someone can help I apprecaite a lot.
Thanks in advancce for any help.

cgray

you might want to make the title of the thread a little more ... how do you say... illuminating.

edit: much better.

Cameron

not sure what all you need here....make sure you have an iron clad rental agreement for people to sign, so no one takes off with your disc. Get a photo id and things like a light bill to verify its them.

know your customer base, and what they want. Most mom & pop shops do well with the stuff that no one else has...you can get "click" or "Lord of The Rings" at any blockbuster...good cult films like Eraserhead and Re-Animator will keep them coming back. A Gay & Lesbian section in small town Kentucky probably wouldn't go over as well as say a John Wayne section...just give the customers what they want.

buy cheap. Starting out, you need to build a good library of titles...however you don't need to spend an arm and a leg doing it. SInce the stuff is going out for rental, i would buy up used disc at Pawn shops, record stores, other rental shops...Hollywood video has plenty of direct to video type titles for around 3 bucks each when you comibine them in a 5 for 15 sale., real easy to recoop that with one or two rentals of each title. Don't pay 12 bucks for Hannibal at Best buy when cd warehouse has used copy for 4 bucks. Its gonna be used anyhow as soon as someone rents it the first time. If you have a tower close, you might also cruise there rental section for some going out of business sales.

What new titles you do buy...hit up online shops. The Deep Discount Sale is just around the corner and a good time to stock up. You might also hit Wal Mart dump bins for a good deal, and easy recoop. SOme great horror movies on sell real cheap right now.

Watch the bargins forum from week to week to see who has the best new release prices and go get what you need. many times best buy and Circuit City undercut themselves, and make it cheaper than buying from a distributor. You might buy 4 copies of a new release for 15 bucks each...rent them for a month or two and then sell them as previously viewed for 7-10 bucks down the road.

Sell previously viewed, and buy back/trade in. WHile you may not want to get heavy into retail. its a good way to get titles without having to do the legwork...people bring there stuff to you...buy it dirt cheap, and rent it out. if they don't take the offer...no big deal. sell off titles that don't rent well...but at the same time realize that just because Its a wonderful life didn't rent all summer, good chance that between Thanksgiving and Xmas it will be out every day.

Do promotions. Rent 1 get one free...4 for 4 bucks, etc. put it on a sign, and advertise it. You might even want to make a dirt cheap rental section. Buy some classic public domain dollar titles like Night of the living dead, royal wedding, my man godfrey, popeye cartoons, etc. from the dollar store and have them be a .50 cent rental, and free on a certain day of the week. Real easy to recoop the money on titles that cheap.

Let people know your open. Take out a big ad in the local paper for a few weeks...get some free rental coupons and pass them along with flyers out to local business owners. Have them hang the signs in windows, and pass the tickets out to employees. Good word of mouth is real important when opening...so you might let that .20 cent late charge go with a smile just so they pass on a good word. Also good to use the internet...put it on craigs list in the dvd for sale section, and the film work section...create a myspace account and hit up the local people in your area. Do online coupons. A website isn't bad, but myspace gives you automatic access to local people. you might even look for local film makers, and make there titles avialable for rent as well.

you might even consider picking up a few "VHS". while not a popular idea around here, still good money can be had renting childrens titles and major classics on vhs. plus they can be bought a pawn shops for under a buck each. I wouldn't clutter the shelves with them to much, but Disney films and major films for cheap might be a good investment at under a buck each...rent it one time and you made a profit. Plus you'll be one of the few places to cater to that crowd.

Titles can be endless on what people would consider a must have/ must see. My private library has over 2000 titles and nowhere near everything i want/need. Pick some mainstay series. horror sections and western section always do good in mom & pop shops.

i'm sure you'll get plenty of suggestions...some mainstays
Friday the 13th series
Nightmare on elm street series
Day & Dawn of the dead
halloween series
John Wayne titles
Shane
Disney films

some cult films that i have seen do well
Rocky horror picture show
Toxic Avenger
Eraserhead
Re-Animator
Barbarella

also don't forget the book report kids who waited to long and forgot to read the book...you'll rack up...always have
To Kill A mockingbird
Lord of the flies
The outsiders
Scarlet Letter
Hamlet
Most dangerous game

good luck with it...let us know where it is and when you open.

Sci-Fi Wasabi

Where are you thinking of opening? Suburbs, city, college town?

wendersfan

Something I always liked to see (back when I rented videos at B&M shops) were lists of employees' favorite movies. Things like that helps to build a rapport between employees and customers, and can lead to sharing of recommendations, the expansion of tastes, and in general, a more loyal customer base which will generate more income for the store. Also, having some reference works like movie guides or Katz's The Film Encyclopedia laying around is a good idea.

Cameron

^agreed, just make sure your employees keep there titles updated with what they have been watching...and not everyone has the same titles over and over. Film books are a must have. Get a Maltin guied and Video watchdog...you can usually find last years book for dirt cheap on half.com

Chucky

Honestly, I think the best advice for you would be:

Don't throw your money away on this business idea.

And I don't mean to threadcrap. But in my opinion, Netflix & other online rental places have prettymuch killed the market for a B&M rental shop. Blockbuster is hanging by a thread, and they're a huge corporation with name recognition and clout. I don't see how a small Mom & Pop rental place will have any success at all.

Unless *maybe* if you're going to do a niche market, like Asian/Indian DVDs that the Netflixes and Blockbusters of the world don't carry. But even that's a long shot.

Good luck! You'll need it.

GIjon213

Or, go into another kind of niche market. Open a pizza place with your video rental place, and offer delivery for pizza and a movie. Maybe deliver the movie in a paper envelope, like Netflix, and the customer just drops it in the mail box to get it back to you.

Kocheese99

One word. Four Letters. PORN!

DoubleDownAgain

I think the op was looking for software, probably something combined with Point of Sale software to track rentals.

I googled it and found a couple of them:

http://www.winrental.com/

http://www.completesoft.com/vs-the-c...nt-of-sale.htm

I don't think most people would have first hand knowledge if this type of software, but maybe there a few former (or current) video store clerks out there that have had some experience with this kind of software.

The Bus

I have to second Chucky. Keep in mind video stores only service people around a 5-mile radius, tops. No one wants to drive 20 minutes to rent a video.

printerati

This is spot on, and is why I disagree with the two naysayers. We have an independent video store in our community that seems to do quite well, and it's the niche films/sections that keep people coming back. The owner is a younger guy who just enjoys movies and (in addition to owning his own business, of course) wanted to provide a service to the community where his family lives. His wife runs an import shoe store on the same street.

I've e-mailed him back and forth on a few occasions to discuss upcoming releases and to try to get him to expand his selection of Korean films. I've never talked business with him, but you might be able to get some pointers from him. Their Web site is www.bughousevideo.com.

Cameron

^for sure^ rental isn't dead by a long shot...companies like Blockbuster and Movie Gallery just had a poor business model, and a bad selection. With mom & pop shops customers develop a relationship with the employees. They trust them for information...its more of a place for film nerds than anything else.

Netflix and its copycats are a good value, but there are plenty of people who just prefer to go in and look around the video store.

troy1

Thanks to all for the answer all given , I am intented to open a dvd shop with mixed of mobile p[hones and hi-fi - in a small island in the mediteranean.

Deke Rivers

I cant agree with that..I work PT for a small independent video store in the Chicago burbs and it does very well even with Hollywood and Blockbuster stores in the same vicinity. We have an adult room which helps as well but for the most part we have a very loyal customer base.