Renting back catalogue DVD's same price... why?
 

There are so many old movies I'd like to watch again now that they are out on DVD, but everytime I go in Blockbuster or Hollywood they charge the same price for older titles as they do with new ones (DVD only stuff). I can see the business side in the sense that they had to buy all these over again... an older DVD title isn't always much less than new ones. But it still bugs me after so many years of renting VHS titles for MUCH less than new releases.

Yeah, I know... try Netflix or something. There was a Wherehouse a mile down the road that used to rent ALL DVD's for only $1.00 a night, but they stopped doing that (gee, I wonder why?!!)

Re: Renting back catalogue DVD's same price... why?
 

I think you just answered your own question.

Rental places don't calculate the rental cost by how old the movie is, but by how much it costs them to buy the film. VHS cost a lot less than DVDs, and are going out of fashion, so it cost less to rent them.

-Videophile

VHS was less than DVD? I thought VHS movies were much more expensive when first released before DVD days. In any case, I'd also think that DVD titles will last much longer as long as they don't get scratched up.

Re: Renting back catalogue DVD's same price... why?
 

Even if both the older title and latest hits have the same MSRP, the newer title may have a lower wholsesale price because locations will be ordering many copies, while the store's discount on the older titles will probably be less since they will be buying fewer copies.

Re: Re: Renting back catalogue DVD's same price... why?
 

True. But I guess I get a little peeved when I see many older titles like "Princess Bride" going for $10 brand new.

Don't rent. :P

Don't rent isn't a bad idea huh? But I'm one of those people who likes to watch a movie just one time... unless it's a masterpiece like Cabin Boy ;) I think it's time to turn my attention to online renting...

On line renting is a great alternative! Try Netflix or one of the other on line rental companies. I am using Netflix and quite happy with their service.

Re: Re: Renting back catalogue DVD's same price... why?
 

Where did you get this info? VHS prices are much more than dvd's. The only time that VHS is cheaper is when it's a sell through title.

Saying DVD should last longer on the shelf than VHS might actually be wrong from what I have seen. People are animals, and I think you need to be more careful with DVDs than with tapes which renters mostly aren't.

Plus a lot of people are dishonest, and will actually scratch DVDs to get a free rental claiming the disc was unplayable when they got it.

That's one thing that Family Video does that I really like, all of their catalog DVDs (and VHS) are $1 for a 2 night rental, and on Tuesdays / Wednesdays / Thursdays, if you rent a new release ($2.50 for 2 nights), you get a free older title rental.

Of course, this isn't going to help you in Atlanta since Family Video is in the midwest. Have you checked around the different grocery store chains in your area? Two around here (Schnucks and Cub Foods) rent catalog DVDs for $1 (and Cub has their new releases for $1 also, but they only get pan & scan when they can). I don't rent at either because there is one Family Video store in town which is across the street from a Hollywood Video store. These two stores have are in a little price war and have had $1 DVD rentals on any DVD (including new releases) for the past year and a half. :)

Geez Heat... count your blessings! I realize that it might be silly to complain about a DVD costing $3.79 to rent vs. maybe $2.00. But I just hate renting a movie for that price when I'll be returning it the next day. I never keep a movie for 5 days. Never.

I'll check some grocery stores. I've only seen one Kroger rent movies in Atlanta, but they are on the other side of town.