Consumers have a number of options when it comes to viewing movies at home. Two of the most extremely popular are booking movies at the local video store and booking movies via an online service. An informal survey was recently conducted on a home electronics/entertainment site about the movie viewing habits of guests. The results specific to some of the misconceptions that remain in existence about online rental of Dvds by consumers that never have yet tried the service.

Participants in the survey were asked a number of questions, including how often they watch movies at home, if they rent movies online, and if not, why. Nearly 28% of those response indicated that they rent movies online. Of the remainder, the most frequently quotation reason for not using an online movie rental service was concern which centered around the perception that online movie rental would be more expensive than the local video store. When looking at a couple of scenarios it becomes evident which method tends to be more affordable.

For many who indicated that they watch just one to 3 movies per month the savings from booking online are small. Booking 2 movies per month at the local video store would average around $7. 40 whereas booking from Netflix for example, if they chose the plan that has a limit of 2 movies per month, would run $5. 99. After getting a video at the local store the user would have overnight or perhaps seven day to return the movie but an online rental will allow them to keep the movie for an unlimited period of time.

For those individuals who responded that they view 1-3 movies weekly, the savings would be more significant. For instance, booking 8 movies per month would run around $29. second there’s 55 at the local store and as far as $14. 99 online if they chose the "2 out at a time" plan or $17. 99 for the "3 out at a time" plan. As viewing increases so does it is likely that experiencing greater savings.

For those who responded that they view 4 movies weekly (averaged out to 16 per month) the average cost at the local store would be $59. 04 while online rental would be $23. 99 allowing the user "4 out at a time". Booking by way of a service like Netflix generally does not limit how many movies a person views but alternatively, how many movies they can have out at any given time. Therefore space leases are more or less unlimited with many of the plans.

The second most regularly quotation reason for not utilizing online movie rental services was that the individual rented movies on the spur of the moment and did not plan ahead. the chosen movie Certainly booking movies online and receiving them through the mail would not allow you to definitely decide at 6: 00 p. meters. that they want to see the Queen and receive it for them to be viewing the movie by 8: 00 p. meters. However, the delay for receiving movies selected through the mail is only 1 business day which might seem sufficient most of the time.

The future of DVD rental may be changing however as Netflix announced in early 2007 that customers would now have the option of watching movies instantly via a surging service that is now available for some movies. The service should be quicker than most download services as surging allows viewing of the movie as it is streamed rather than waiting until download is complete. Although a full move from the current mail delivery system to a download type of service will take time, it is clear that immediacy will only continue to improve. It would seem that other online movie rental services would follow suit in coming years in order to compete.

Consumers who have not been initiated into the online movie rental world also may be unaware of other benefits/features of such services.

Greater selection- A typical video store has 10, 000 to 15, 000 titles available whereas the Netflix online movie rental service has over 80, 000. This would manage to eliminate the problem of consumers arriving at the store in order to find that there is nothing there that they really want to see.

There are no fees related to the delivery and return of Videos; and there is no planing a trip to and from the store as movies are delivered to their door or their home via surging.

Movie selection is helped by user reviews through online programs like Netflix.

Demos of online movie rental services are generally special as there are free demos available and no cancellation fees.

There are never any late fees nor rules on how long a movie can be kept.

Misconceptions about online movie rental services appear to limit the engagement of a significant number of consumers. Online movie rental probably offers the services that most consumers want, even if they don't know it yet.