For the first time in eight years, Redbox has increased its price nationwide for DVD rentals. But will the increase have a negative impact on the company’s reputation and bottom line?
Joseph Poma, an investor with SeekingAlpha.com, doesn’t think so:
“A 20% increase in price for the [Redbox] customer is negligible when in actual dollars, it is a 20-cent-per-night increase . . . For Coinstar though, a 20% increase in price will yield a tremendous increase in revenue over the subsequent quarters. I don’t anticipate any drop off in sales due to the price increase, and I anticipate increased growth even during the holiday season.”
One thing that might help cushion the impact of the Redbox price increase is its (possibly suspicious) timing. The price hike comes at a time when Redbox rental rival Netflix is reeling from a series of missteps that have burned up a lot of customer goodwill. So surmises ZDNet.com writer Sean Portnoy:
“Redbox may be a little sneaky trying to drop this fee increase in while one of its main competitors is suffering a PR disaster for raising rates, but that’s also a good way to avoid some of that same heat,”
We asked last week if many Insiders were planning on altering their Redbox rental habits because of a 20-cent price increase, and the results were decidedly mixed. What do you think will be the prevailing consensus of the public at large?
(via Home Media Magazine)
I have always been a Redbox fan but this year has been weird. I either want to go see a movie in the theatre and then buy it or have no interest in the title. When I do find a movie I want to see via rental it’s usually DVD only, sometimes with 10 minutes of un-skipable previews. I want to rent Blu-rays and usually stick to that, so if this means a higher credit with the “free codes” then great, but as I already have more than enough ways to keep myself entertained, higher prices for anything will result in me spending less. So now I’m down to Directv, Netflix Streaming, 1 or 2 movies a month Redbox, Amazon for my fav tv shows and my large Blu-ray collection, I’m good.
Just another nail in the coffin. . . this is how it starts. Netflix is constantly looking better and better and better and now this – wow. What’s Redbox thinking? With Netflix stock prices down – Redbox should have REDUCED their prices and/or given away a LOT of free/reduced coupons in order to pickup Netflix strays – instead they up their prices?!? Add Epix and Hulu and even youtube movies (great free ones, too) not to mention open source sites like Open Culture (fabulous treasure trove of excellent quality FREE movies, documentaries, educational stuff, etc., etc., etc. – AND Vudu and Amazon (and the list is growing -) the competition is getting fierce for those who do not appreciate seeing all the movies, tv shows, documentaries, etc., you want for a measly $7.99 a month. NETFLIX ROCKS – THERE’S NOBODY TO BEAT THEM. Capturing a third of the broadband market in prime view time is awesome, dudes. Cut the cords – show cable how sick to death we are of them ripping us off for years. Netflix is all over the web offering free one month accounts! ! !
Netflix sucks! I used to have a subscription a few years ago and everytime a new release came out I would always have a short wait next to the name in my que. It would be weeks before it would be available. I started using the Redbox reserve on line for $1 and just pcik it up on my way home from work.
Hate to see it happen…but Redbox is going the way of Sears,….who have been “pricing themselves out of business ” for years….. Yes, Sears hasn’t gone under entirely..but their deceptive pricing has irritated even the die-hard long-time patrons such as myself and I have bought from and supported Sears since the early 1950’s…..Sears has declined to the point that they are now owned by K-Mart and Sears-Craftsman tools are now sold in K-Mart stores… Volume is often better than high prices…. How many DVDs does Redbox have which are now months….even years old ? Might it be better to offer these at greatly reduced prices than to gather dust ?
Completely agree 100%. Netflix has improved very much in it’s streaming service. I am finding more and more new titles all the time. When I can’t find something I go to Blockbusters one blu-ray by mail service. Yes I have both. Blockbuster also has a HUGE library. I look for concerts in Netflix and only find a few so I use BB. With Netflix I have both streaming and one blu-ray by mail and I’m very happy with the services. With Netflix by mail I get as much as 11 movies a month. With BB I get four to five movies a month. Blockbuster is in the process of setting up a streaming service just like Netflix. I also read Redbox will be doing the same by December of 2012. I’m thinking about joining Amazom Prime Streaming Service, It’s only $79.00 a year a real bargain. If your wondering how I have all this time to view movies and concerts, my wife and I are 100% disable. So the services are a blessing. I been with Netflix about three years now, Blockbuster since August 2011. We have seen hundreds of movies and a good amount of concerts. The cost to see these all of these at a movie house would be in the thousands. I also use Redbox too. As for the increases in all of the supplies it is fair. I do think Netflix was rather high in there increase and I was not happy with it. but I guess I can live with it because they HAVE been adding many new titles to the streaming library. If your in the market to get a Networking blu-ray player stay away from Panasonic. I have two and they having add NO new apps in two years, and a matter of fact they have removed some. I wish I would have done some research before purchasing. I hope to reply was a helpful…
The rate increase is not that big of a deal since it didn’t affect the price of Blu-rays. That being said, there are quite a few other problems that they need to address before raising prices. Case in point, my worst experience with RedBox ever just yesterday. I reserved 3 Blu-rays online. I went to go pick them up at my usual location and for the 5th time in the last 6 months the touch screen doesn’t work!! Ok, no problem, I take out my iPhone and find the next location that has the movies. PROBLEM #1 – While trying to secure the movies at another location I receive a “you have reached your reservation limit” warning. So now I have to drive over to the other location and hope the movies are still there. PROBLEM #2 – I grab my debit card go in to the new location and attempt to rent the same movies. Now I get a “unable to process credit card” error. . . . this is most likely a direct result of problem #1 of the reservation limit. So I have to go back to the car and grab another credit card to rent the movies. All of this aggravation could have been avoided with the option to cancel reservations. Also you would think that in this day and age they would have a remote login ability so they could reboot the boxes or diagnose them without having to send someone out.
I was able to call in and get my reservation credited as well as a few free movies for the inconvenience.
If anyone has experienced problems similar to the ones that I had, please call them and complain so that they will fix these problems.
I too had a similar event happen…reserved movies online with a free movie code. Onsite reservation box disabled. Called the customer service only to be told there was nothing that could be done. Offer of a free code to use at another Redbox location with time restrictions but I only user online reserve to make sure I get the movie I want. So I was out the movies, out the free rental. I’ve had drop off issues a few times had to wait till serviced to find my returned DVD. Btwn all my personal problems, the delayed release of DVD’s and now the increase I think I’m pretty much done with Redbox.
They should have been raising prices all along. Redbox could easily be doing $1.50 for DVDs and $2.00 for Blu-Rays.
This price hike smacks of desperation as Coinstar sees growth shrinking YOY.
Too little, too late.
Don’t agree OBVIOUSLY but I guess you’ll now concede redbox makes money.
At $1.20 it’s still a great deal! If you guys can tell me where I can ge family entertainment cheaper somewhere else please share and I will be on it.
It’s only logical that Redbox had to raise their prices because all the banks and credit card companies went up on their fees too. You know everytime you rented a movie from Redbox they are charged a fee when you swiped your card that says Visa or Mastercard. I have seen small stores that have signs posted at the counter that say minimum charge $5 on Credit or Debit charges which they are not really allowed to be doing according to their Credit card use agreement.
Your local/public libraries. I might start getting movies from libraries. Some libraries let you borrow a movie for $1 per night & some even let you borrow movies for free.
In order for valued enlightenment, may I respond, Mike? At the risk of seeming redundant – at Netflix for $7.99 a month you can stream movies, documentaries, tv, et al 24 hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week. If an average movie is 2 hours – that’s 360 movies you COULD view per month for $7.99. That’s less than 2 CENTS per movie as family entertainment for an entire 2 hours or a penny per hour – which beats everyone. Netflix even has a 3rd party site that allows you to define your family requirements, i.e., family fare, HD, specific year, per rating, per genre, etc., etc., etc. Any reasonable person can locate which type of movie/documentary or other media suits their tastes. In addition to car/gas issues – I’ve also been concerned about Redbox returns – what if there’s a storm (increasing instances throughout the US) and I can’t return Redbox dvd – I would be steaming that I’d be penalized for each day I cannot get the dvd back. None of these concerns affect your enjoying Netflix. Among other things, the internet isn’t affected by weather conditions – inasmuch as it was envisioned and created to withstand a nuclear attack. Netflix is still the best – despite other readers concerns – perhaps they should each revisit these concerns and see if Netflix wouldn’t be a good fit going forward. Thanks for reading.
Alot of movies are not available to stream via Netflix. Also, I watch only 1 or 2 rented movies a month (redbox $2.40 vs Netflix $7.99). So for me, Netflix streaming is a waste of money for me. And five years ago I was paying $4 rentals at Hollywood Video, so $1.20 is still a good value.
Ok Jim you got a good point with only watching 2 movies, but what about TV? I’ve gotten rid of my cable bill and only watch TV shows that are on Netflix now. Sure you don’t get every show, but there is enough there to be worth the price difference between it and cable or satellite, and new shows and movies are showing up all the time.
And for those who don’t know: Netflix has an area they call Starsplay. It has everything playing on the Stars movie channel on streaming, so it’s like having a movie channel included in what your already paying for Netflix.
As for the movies that aren’t available to stream, that’s what the DVD rental is for. Personally it doesn’t bother me that I can’t see certain movies the day they hit the shelves. I’ve got over 400 movies in my movie queue that I would like to see, so there is always something in there that is entertaining when the most current things out are not available yet. I also throw in some TV shows in my dvd queue as not all shows are available to streaming. In all it works out great, and I haven’t had any issues.
This would be a great if Netflix streaming had the same new releases that Redbox does, but it doesn’t. So this makes your comparison a complete joke.
We have been reduced to a country of whiners.
We pay anywhere from $20-$50 a month for Internet plus maybe $30 for a data plan if you have a smart phone to log onto a site to complain about a 20 cent (yes 20 cents) increase.
Did anyone remember life before redbox? It involved $3-5 rentals at Blockbuster or a local video store. So now a service which has been giving rentals for 200%-400% less now increases their price .20 and people go crazy?
Just like you need to budget to stay sustainable and have money for the future, so do corporations. I mean if you cannot afford a 20 cent increase, methinks you couldn’t have afforded the original $1 price tag either.
I agree here. I refuse to EVER go back to blockbuster becouse of there very poor service! To this end I did not have a place to go untill red box came out. In addition how can you beat the ability to return anywhere. I have on more than one occation returned a movie on the other side of the country from where i have rented it. In addition Redbox price increase 20% Netflix 50%
Folks will rent less but not so much so that revenues will decline. Slightly fewer rentals at $1.20 a night will enhance overall rental revenues. Will also lower lines at redbox a bit. Also higher prices will fund any looming studio battles.
I understand Jim’s position. I just acquired broadband and switched from 1-out-at-a-time Netflix and see that indeed some of the best movies I had in my old que are NOT available for streaming. I don’t understand that – other than it’s a tool of theirs to increase revenue. As it pertains to me, however, after going thru the approximate 100,000 movies/features/documentaries that I CAN stream – I may just have to give up the ghost and pay an additional $7.99 to get those in DVD-only format. Either way it is a win/win situation for me as it allows me the freedom to explore viewing which would normally NOT attract me and thereby widen my perspective a bit (as I’ve already done viewing a doc about a comic genius’ US media-wide censorship and his youthful and rather odd demise. Marveling that I had not ever even heard of him until seeing this documentary. Really exemplifies the power of the media – and NOT in a good way.)
Thinking about the wonders and ease-of-use of Netflix streaming the other day I decided that I would gladly pay CONSIDERABLY more than what I am paying – as the value is totally there. I won’t share exactly what I WOULD pay – but I would happily pay it for this OUTSTANDING service. I cannot put into words how Netflix has met my needs – no gas, no weather issues, no checks to write, no commercials, no delays, no downloads, no disagreeable CSRs to contend with, no hidden fees, no unreasonable conditions (that’s all I can think of at the moment.) The value IS there – others depriving themselves of this service should resolve their issues (real or perceived) in order to see the real worth of this service.
who here don’t watch movies any more on dvd since redbox stop giving out free codes for peep who don’t have cell phone, just watch hulu.com old movies
I only rent Blu-ray’s and they rent them for $1.50 plus tax.
Redbox is still the best deal.
BLOCKBUSTER Express will launch an easy, $3-$2-$1 pricing structure on November 8, 2011:
For the first 28 days, new releases on DVD (our Hot Movies) will be $3 plus applicable tax.
After 28 days, Recent Releases on DVD will be $2 plus applicable tax for the initial night.
After 90 days all movies on DVD will be $1 plus applicable tax for the initial night.
Redbox is the best. I will never rent from Blockbuster. They are greedy bastards. They just don’t learn. They kept raising their prices at the stores till they had to start closing them and now they are up to $3.00 a night at the machines. They can kiss my ass. I will continue to rent at redbox for $1.20 but if they start getting greedy like blockbuster that will be it, I’ll just wait 6 months or so and buy it for $5.00 at Walmart. As for Netflix I will never rent from them again.
Can Redbox explain why it raised it rental rate by 20%. Inflation is currently running at 1% -2%. In addition Blockbuster Express is still at a $1.00 per rental for either DVD or Blueray and they have some movies 30 days before Redbox. Sounds something Netflix tried to do. How did that work out? I guess I rented my last movie from Redbox..
Wow! Seriously?? They need to meet inflation by increasing 2%? 2 pennies? It would be cost ineffective and absurd to spend the time and money programming, implementing and marketing a 2 penny price increase.
I’ve never seen so much insanity over 20 cents. We always knew the prices would have to increase as their expenses and as studio negotiations increased. BB Express just shot their rental prices up 300% and you are griping about 20 cents?
As far as your current actual inflation figures, get your facts straight before spewing figures; the US Inflation rose 3.9% on a 12 Month Basis ending in September marking the highest rise in 3 years. (US Labor Department inflation data)
Blockbuster does not operate the Blockbuster Express kiosks. NCR licensed the name and operates them. Blockbuster is not involved at all. In fact they have tried to stop NCR since Dish bought out Blockbuster however I think it’s still in court.
By the way the Blockbuster stores have the one out at a time combo pass (DVD/bluray/game) for $7.99 the first month, $14.99 a month after that. You can swap movies and games out unlimited times.
I’ve found it easier to forgo renting physical discs and renting streaming from Amazon. Yeah, it’s $1.99 but I don’t mind paying a little more in order to not have to worry about returning a movie on time, especially since the last 3 times I Redboxed, the box was full and I had to drive around looking for an “empty” machine. So raise the prices all you went, Redbox, I stopped caring.
This price hike is at a bad time. I have almost stopped entirely from renting from redbox. Their bluray selection is abysmal and $1.50/nt doesn’t sound expensive, but once you factor the time, drive, wait at the kiosks, and gas, it wasn’t worth it for me. There’s several boxes around me, but I’m always in a rush to/from work. And you can buy older blurays on sale for less than $5 sometimes. The new releases are always unavailable for me, so it’s not like a little bit of wait for a deal hurts me.
I will not go along with the price increase. I will borrow from libraries, or do w/o.
Unfortunately not a lot I can do about it, fortunately(or Unfortunately) there isn’t much worth renting anymore, more than half of the time it’s older movies I want to see and Redbox is limited there, so I must either drive an hour or so to find a Blockbuster or buy it outright from Amazon. I do find it funny that Blu ray didn’t get bumped, I understood the .50 difference before, maybe you should have split it between the two. It was nice to see the Blockbuster Kiosk selling movies, picked up Blindside for $4.99
Redbox is going to have to be very careful with their future price increases. Vudu has already lowered their prices along with improving their offerings on some of their streamers and if Redbox goes up too fast, people will be thinking twice about using time/car/ gas to pick up their dvds at kiosks.
I’m hoping they continue to lower their prices. I was very impressed with Vudu’s HD picture and sound quality and would much prefer to just stream than to drive around town two trips per rental.
Not only did the price of dvd rentals go up they redbox now tack on sales tax to increase the price of rentals
Even at a 20 cent increase, Redbox’s selection is still limited (by greedy studios) and they need an edge. I still prefer a movie not being available in the kiosk until it’s $1.20 versus the insane $3 BB express price. BB FLOODS my local market with “free” ($1) codes for 90+ day old movies. If I really wanted to see a movie, after 90 days I would have already seen it…often times from redbox. Now I’ll just rely more on my library which RENTS the same movies for a WEEK for the SAME $1 (even the late fees are cheaper than the kiosks). I can even reserve the movies I want. I’m not going to a RedBox anytime soon unless then send me some free codes again.
Sure 20 cents is not going to hurt anyone but it’s a 20 percent increase! I just don’t see how a 20 percent increase in justified for anything! Unless of course they are giving their employees a 20 percent pay raise too. For most of us it would take 4-5 years to see a 20 percent increase in our pay. This is the exact reason our economy will continue to struggle – CORPORATE GREED!
Netflix is cool….when it works…sometimes the lag and buffering time is too frustrating to deal with. Redbox is still a good deal…and is appealing to a wider audience now that they offer video games.
I typically rent Blu-ray when available, so glad they didn’t raise the prices on those. The 20 cent increase will not affect my decision to rent at all. Redbox is one of my favorite companies and I’m happy to support them. There is no better deal on a new release rental, anywhere! Seriously, I find $.20/week just in change on the ground, it is a non-issue.
Netflix, however, I sadly cancelled. I’ve used streaming for years and have seen just about all I want to. It is hard to find something to watch on there that isn’t also on Amazon instant play- which is free with my Prime membership.
I started getting videos from the library more and more. I pay for it with my taxes anyway so I might as well use it.
The $.20 increase that Redbox imposed is a $.22 uplift…when you consider SALES TAX. Sales tax in my area is 8.25%, so a movie was $1.08 – out the door. The ‘Out the Door’ price is now $1.30. Well, that is an increase of .22 per night or $1.08 divided by $.22 = a 20% price increase in a dismal economy.
Gee, does Bank of America hold most of Redbox’s outstanding shares?????
6 Redbox rentals = one streaming Netflix subscription. Given that I rent around 15 movies a month, I could buy TWO Netflix subscriptions every month & have $3.50 left over in change. But, don’t need two, so that numbers are one Netflix subscription and a monthly savings of: 15 X $1.30=$19.50 minus $8. for Netflix = $11.50 SAVINGS PER MONTH AND UNLIMITED MOVIES plus no vehicle expense (gas, tires,etc.) and no rushing to meet Redbox’s 2100 hour/9 pm. return time.
Crackle.com has movies. Movie2K.com has movies. I think, no I know that this is ‘Korporate Amerika’ getting greedy in the middle of a Depression & it’s an abomination from sea to shining sea.
It actually started me watching more Redbox BluRay discs because the price difference went from $0.50 to $0.30 between DVD and BluRay which isn’t as big of an impact so not only is Redbox getting that additional revenue from me, they have to stock fewer DVDs if more folks like me jump over to BluRay for their renting pleasure.
This also helps Netflix IMO because when everybody is raising their rates it makes Netflix look like less of an A-hole company and just the frontrunner to what now seems was inevitable.
They obviously can’t decrease their prices and still keep a profit. It’s only 20 cents more. It won’t deter me from getting a Redbox. Still more conviently than finding a Blockbuster Express or waiting for my netflix dvd to come in the mail.
i recall spending 2 dollars a movie to rent vhs tapes in the 80s i dont see aproblem with a 1.20
I remember paying $5/night to rent a DVD when we had Movie Gallery in town. $1.20 at redbox is nothing compared to that. Though with getting a wii, we’ve been renting more games than movies anyways and those are $2 a night.
Sometimes babies like to bite those toys. I wonder, is it really safe to use?
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