AJW

Just received their email:


http://www.redbox.com/pricechange

New Daily DVD Rental Price

Redbox is making an announcement about its prices today, and we want to make sure that you hear it from us first.

Starting on Monday, October 31, the daily rental charge for DVDs will change to $1.20 a day.* The price change is due to rising operating expenses, including new increases in debit card fees. Daily rental charges for Blu-ray™ Discs and video games won't change.** Additional-day charges for DVDs rented before 10/31 won't be affected, either.

In order to make the transition easier, Redbox will discount the first day of all online DVD rentals to $1.00 from 10/31 through 11/30. Additional rental days will be $1.20.***

If you have any questions, please visit redbox.com/pricechange. There, we've provided additional information.

This marks our first price change in more than eight years as we work hard to keep prices low for our customers.

Thank you,

Redbox


*Daily rental charge will be $1.27 in Maryland.
**Maryland pricing for Blu-ray and games: $1.59 a day for Blu-ray; $2.12 a day for games.
***Maryland pricing for online reservations: $1.00 the first day, $1.27 for additional days. May not combine offers. Normal rental fees apply after first day.

MrSmearkase

Meh, I can handle the extra 20 cents.

Vipper II

So nice to see I can count on my home state to take even more money.

Groucho

I'm going back to Netflix. They promised that they were "done" with raising prices.

Draven

Hope everyone flips shit over this 20% price increase like they did with Netflix's "massive" spike.

Texan26

They won't because people will only see 20 cents. They won't do the math and multiply 20 cents by the number of rentals per month.

dvdshonna

I would have raised the fee to $1.50 for the first day
and 50 cents for each additional day. Offer a discount
with the price increase.

(Not that I know anything about the video rental business
or the habits of Redbox renters).

I did read that they tested the price increase in a few select
cities and it did not lead to a decline in rentals.

mike07

My renting habits with Redbox won't change, I usually only rent when they send the promo codes good for one free rental. That's about how often my nearest kiosk has something in-stock that I want to see...

PhantomStranger

Speculation in the press thought the increase was likely going to be $1.50 for the new price.

b2net

Now that redbox got such good press from the netflix issue and many people stating they are headed to redbox, it only makes sense for them to maximize the profits from the increased circulation.

I agree. Most will see it as 20 cents. Not 20 cents times 5 or 10 DVDs.

movieguru

I've mostly only used free codes from them and Blockbuster Express. I get so many of the codes, I haven't paid for any from the machines in months.

ScissorPuppy

Huh? Unless I'm missing something I thought stores now pay less for debit card use? It's the reason why banks are bringing out fees to the customers.
So with this price increase and LESS debit fees, Redbox will be making more money per rental. I think 1.20 is still a hell of a great price, they should just shouldn't lie about why they are raising prices.

RonG617

For micro transactions under $5 which is the entire Redbox business model, the banks are raising the fees if I understood what I read correctly.

TheBang

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20...ncol;cnetRiver

Abob Teff

Does anybody else find it odd they are specifically calling it "DEBIT card fees?"

Redbox doesn't process DEBIT transactions (requiring a PIN).

ScissorPuppy

Wow, ok, that makes sense then. An extra 17 cents per rental would really dig into their profits I think. I wonder how credit card companies are getting away with jacking up transaction fees while the banks were forced to lower theirs? $1.20 it is then, are Blu's going up as well?

onebyone

The article Todd B. posted above said, "The 20 percent price hike won't affect Blu-ray or video game rentals, however, which will stay at $1.50 per day and $2 per day, respectively."

I do not think the credit card transaction fees are going up, just the ones for using the Mastercard/Visa debit cards. Now, how they know it's a debit card when it runs through like a credit card I don't know. Before I cancelled my Suntrust bank account over debit card fees, they told me we get the monthly fee if we use the debit card to make a purchase at all, no matter how it gets run through.

Got to love that Durbin Amendment, we're getting hit from all sides.