More and more people sign up for online dvd rental plans everyday. Many find shopping from home or work and having the movie delivered convenient. Others find the wider selection and easy of finding a movie the best reason. Whatever the reason, you are probably considering signing up for one yourself. Do you know what makes a good dvd rental plan? Do you know how to compare plans? The major components of any plan are the number of movies allowed out, the inventory, what we will call travel time, and the price.
Your first concern should be with the number of movies you are allowed to rent at one time and how many you are allowed to rent each month. Most plans offer unlimited total movies in a month, though the cheapest plans usually cap the number each month. DVD swap plans like Peerflix limit the amount of DVD’s you receive to usually no more than you are sharing. Most plans offer a monthly rate plan. Café DVD recently added a monthly plan choice to their a la carte program. Most of the plans offer you the ability to purchase the DVD if you wish.
While it may be great that you can rent as many movies as you want, if the company you choose does not have any movies you want to see, you are wasting your monthly fee. Inventory can be looked at two different ways. First of all, what do they carry? All of the online dvd rental companies carry movies. Games n Flix offers video games as well. Secondly, how many titles do they have? Currently Netflix claims the lead with over 85,000 titles, but swapping plans like Peerflix could offer a wider variety.
Travel time refers to the time it takes for you to a) get a movie, b) your returned movie to arrive, and c) how long it takes for your next title to arrive. Netflix and Blockbuster both say their movies arrive in one to two days with new titles arriving four to five days after each movie is mailed back. The other major players claim two to five days. Peerflix depends on the owner of the DVD so delivery times for them may be longer. Café DVD allows you to make the turnaround time for new movies faster. They will start processing your new title as soon as you mail the returning title by clicking on their “Movie Mailed” mark on the website.
Finally comes price. All of the other considerations must be weighed to cost. Is 4 DVD’s for $23.99 a month better than 2 for $13.99 a month? Should you buy an unlimited plan or a capped plan? Do you want to rent games as well? Do you want a store you can go into if you want a movie right away or can you wait for the mail? It really depends on what you consider value.
Once you have decided on your company and plan, you are ready to begin receiving titles. Whatever plan you choose depends on your wants. As long as you find a good balance between cost and service, you will enjoy your online dvd company.
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