Blockbusters Movie Rentals By Mail

There are traditionally two categories of the Blockbusters movie rentals by mail membership, Blockbuster by Mail and Blockbuster Total Access. The Blockbuster online DVD rental program pricing is as follows: one DVD at a time costs $8.99 with unlimited DVDs through the mail and discounted in store exchanges. Other quantities include two DVDs at a time for $13.99, and three DVDs in the mail for $15.99 a month.

Blockbuster's Total Access online DVD program offers the same benefits as their mail program with the benefit of a certain amount of free in store exchanges. For one DVD at a time it costs $11.99 and you get two free exchanges, two DVDs at a time with three exchanges costs $16.99, and three DVDs at a time with five exchanges costs $19.99. The Blockbuster Premium plans include unlimited DVDs by mail and via in store exchanges. For one, two, and three DVDs out at a time it costs $21.99, $29.99, and $34.99 respectively.

It is important to make sure you have a local Blockbuster store if you plan on joining one of their total access plans. You must have an account with the store and be in good standing. The time it takes a movie to reach your mailbox depends where you live.

The Blockbusters movie rentals by mail is a fairly simple process. Once you sign up for the service you manage your "queue" online. This is an ordered list of movies that you want to see. They will ship your movies in chronological order depending on where it is in your queue. Be careful for movies that have multiple discs - they will ship all of them unless you tell them not to.

They will send your first movie within one business day; you should receive an e-mail informing you of the title they shipped. Typically the movie should get to your house within one or two days. It can be longer or shorter depending on how close you live to a sorting facility. The discs come in reusable envelopes, so do not throw them away.

You may notice the discs, small envelopes, and mailing envelopes contain barcodes. It is important to return the movies in their original envelopes to avoid confusion. If you lose the original envelopes Customer Service can provide you with directions as it are quite common.

Once you watch one of the films you can mail it back, or depending on your plan, exchange it for an in store rental. If you return your DVD to a blockbuster store they will ship out your next movie the next morning, so you do not have to wait for the sorting facility to receive your mailer.

How does Blockbusters movie rentals by mail compare with other major competitors??

Netflix is Blockbuster's primary competitor while others do exist, including Red Box and DVD Play. When comparing Blockbuster with Netflix it is a no brainer why people chose Blockbuster's online DVD rental program. Blockbuster offers eight plans from $9.99 to $47.99 while Netflix only offers four plans from $9.99 to $23.99.

The distinguishing feature between Netflix and Blockbuster is Netflix's ability to have separate queues with parental controls while Blockbuster offers in-store rentals included in some memberships. Netflix has a wider variety of DVDs and programs, however; they charge extra for Blu-Ray movies whereas Blockbuster does not. Netflix has 41 distribution centers whereas Blockbuster has 30 distribution centers and 200+ stores.

Other movie rental companies such as DVD Play and Red Box are not competition to Blockbuster because of their small collection and limited inventory. Although they offer $1 DVD rentals per day, they carry a limited supply of new releases.

Blockbusters movie rentals by mail includes the ability to watch new releases from your home via Blockbuster's On Demand Media Player. The new service allows you to progressively stream movies to your TV, ensuring the quality is always consistent. Rentals cost $1.99, however; if you buy $99 worth of rentals in advance you get the player for free.

Blockbuster also allows you to download movies straight to your computer, however they are not included in the membership plans. A download rental costs $3.99 and downloaded purchases can cost anywhere from $7.99 t o $19.99.