How often do you pay for VOD rentals?
I'm specifically talking rentals here, not purchases. So you pay to watch it over a 24-48 hour period, and then you don't have it anymore.

I'm curious if this is a thing people here are actually doing, or do you completely avoid paid rentals in favor of physical/digital purchases?

When I first got the capability I rented a good number of movies, but with the number of subscriptions I have access to now it's rare that something comes out that I want to see right away, but isn't available on a subscription service and/or I have no interest in buying on disc. Vudu used to have daily 99 cent rentals and I got every one I had the least amount of interest in, but seems nobody goes that low anymore except for titles nobody has heard of. There's been a few obscure older movies I've looked up though which are available to rent so will check those out when time allows, then search out a physical copy if I like them.

Pretty sure I’ve never rented digital, except for freebies. Can’t imagine I’ll ever do it, unless pricing structures drastically change.

Very rarely do I pay for VOD rentals unless they are discounted. I understand it was kind of a thing for some when theaters were closed at the height of the pandemic and there was no access to new movies. I pay $24 for possible access to 12 new movies a month at AMC. I rather pay to see new movies on a 100 foot screen in IMAX, Dolby etc in Dolby Atmos or Surround sound. I’m not shelling out $19 to 25 to Vudu to watch it on my couch on my TV speakers. That’s for my streaming subscriptions.

The trash that comes out at $5 to $10 each from Lionsgate that’s straight to VOD and plays itself as a hot new release aren’t even worth that price. Maybe 1 in 10 are actually watchable.

I never rent via VOD rentals unless it's free. I still have a Netflix disc in the mail subscription that lets me watch almost anything that's not available via a streaming subscription. I'll usually only buy digital if it's on sale for $5.

Never have.

I was going to say I never have, but then I remembered... There was a UK show called Early Doors. It was only on for 2 seasons, but it remains one of my favourite shows.

Almost 20 years after it was broadcast, they did a live show, and it was not released on DVD or Blu-ray, nor was it broadcast.

Much to my delight, they put it up on Vimeo for £4.99, with all proceeds going to charity. Easy decision, and money well spent!

I've never rented, yet, but didn't want to vote "Absolutely never" because it sounds aggressive like I never would. But I'm open to the possibility in the future.

I rent an occasional DVD or BluRay from Red Box. But they only charge $2 for a 1 day rental and the Walmart that has a kiosk is literally a 2 minute drive away from where I live.

I can understand the hesitancy to pay $20 for a digital movie as it’s pretty pricey. For me that’s too expensive. But I am open to an occasional $4 or 5 title if it really interests me and I’m too lazy to check Red Box.

I’m not sure I really believe some here who claim they paid the $30 rental for the Disney plus premiere access to watch Black Widow, Jungle Book, Cruella, and Mulan. Sure you did

Never PVOD. VOD for $6.99 or less for a smaller film, from time to time, sure... (like Something in the Dirt for example) if it just came out day and date or close to. Usually, I'd just Redbox or wait until it's on a service.

In the past, I only ever rented when it was free (eg, vudu promo code) or cheaper than usual (vudu used to have a $0.10 rental promo for a while for their anniversary, and I think a few times I've gotten rentals when they were on sale for $1)

Generally, it's not worth it for me to rent, since: I've got a large library (with a good portion I haven't yet watched, although with a few genres I'm running out of titles I haven't watched), moviesanywhere screen pass sharing gives access to plenty of movies I don't have, and streaming services are a much cheaper way to watch movies if you have more than one or two on the service you want to watch.

However, at this point, I'm no longer particularly interested in buying to add to my library (especially non-MA movies), and there are movies I'm interested in watching that never go on sale and aren't available through screen passes. or streaming services, and I'll probably start doing the occasional rental (maybe 1-2 a quarter?) especially if I have amazon reward credits I can use towards it.

Maybe thrice yearly. Every so often there's a movie I want to see, don't want to own, and can't find on one of the services to which I subscribe.

Never, these days. Usually wait for streaming.

I rent physical discs from Redbox when T-Mobile Tuesdays provides a free code. I used to do VOD rentals from FandangoNow, when T-Mobile Tuesdays had free codes for that sometimes.

Maybe once a year. I got Antebellum as a premium rental, and I rented the original Spirit horse movie when my kid had a friend over who insisted it was the best movie ever and we should all watch it (it was fine).

Pretty much never. I might have rented one or two in the past to burn credits or a promo code.
If I want to see it enough to pay "right now", I'll buy it. And even then I've realized not to pay 'full price'.
Otherwise I'll wait for it to come to a service, or drop in price.
There's enough content on the services I have, or that I temporarily own via digital purchase, and things cycle quickly enough, I don't need to pay 19.99, or even 4.99 for 48 hour rental.

With so many subscription streaming services, there is virtually almost no need to rent as movies and shows just keep coming out non-stop every month.

But, I think it's funny how the word "rent" is blasphemous here. "Wuuut? You mean I pay $20 for it and it's gone after I watch it? F that! I'd rather own it. "

^ to be honest, I'm a little surprised by the results of the thread. I kind of thought there'd be at least a few people who regularly pay to rent movies from Vudu, Amazon, iTunes, etc. at least once per month if not once per quarter... but I guess not. Like others, I do tend to stop at a redbox more often than doing a digital rental, though.

The only time I tend to pay to rent something if it's a movie I really want to see sooner than later, and don't have the option to see it at a local cinema. Doesn't happen often, but it definitely does happen. I also agree... "rent" shouldn't be a scary word

I don't think we have since we used to use Redbox and that's been literally years.

We have several streaming services, I have a big DVD/Blu collection, and if there's something we can't get those ways, well, there's the other way.