Blockbuster vs. Netflix
By Patrick on Sep 25, 2008 in Personal Finance
Blockbuster and Netflix are the two most prominent online movie rental companies in the US. They both offer a wide selection of movies and have a similar process for renting movies. Members select the movies they wish to rent and place them in a queue, then the company mails the movies to the member when they become available. Movies are mailed in a postage paid envelope and come with a postage paid return envelope for your convenience. All you need to do is watch the movie, put it in the postage paid envelope and drop it in the mail, and wait for your next movie to come.
Blockbuster vs. Netflix
Since the service provided by Blockbuster and Netflix provide is very similar, let’s compare the two and see which features set them apart from each other.
| Blockbuster vs. Netflix Review |
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| Online movie company | Netflix | Blockbuster Total Access* |
| Cost per month | $8.99/$13.99/$16.99 | $11.99/$16.99/$19.99 |
| Budget Pricing Plan |
$4.99 | $3.99 |
| # DVD’s at a time | 1/2/3 | 1/2/3 |
| In-Store Exchange | No | Yes |
| On-line video streaming |
Yes | No |
| Video Selection |
100,000 | 85,000 |
| Late Fees? | No | No |
| Blu-Ray? | Yes | Yes |
| Free Shipping? | Yes | Yes |
| Free Trial? | Yes | Yes |
*Blockbuster has 3 plan options. They are: Blockbuster by Mail (no in-store exchanges), Blockbuster Total Access (a limited number of in store exchanges), and Blockbuster Total Access Premium (unlimited in-store exchanges). Blockbuster Total Access is the most popular plan and is the price that is listed. Blockbuster by Mail is slightly cheaper, and Blockbuster Total Access Premium is more expensive.
Common features between Blockbuster and Netflix
There are quite a few standard features between Blockbuster and Netflix:
- Free shipping. Both Blockbuster and Netflix use postage paid envelopes for sending movies to and from their customers.
- No late fees. This is one of the biggest marketing features employed by Blockbuster and Netflix.
- Blue-Ray. Both Blockbuster and Netflix offer the next generation DVDs.
- Budget pricing. Blockbuster and Netflix also offer a budget rental plan, which limits customer rentals to 1 movie at a time, and 2 movies per month. The plan is $3.99 via Blockbuster, and $4.99 via Netflix. The Netflix plan also comes with 2 hours of free online movie screening.
Unique features offered by Netflix and Blockbuster
Blockbuster Offers In-store exchanges. Blockbuster offers their customers the opportunity to exchange videos and games at a brick and mortar location instead of sending the movies or games back through the postal service. This allows customers the opportunity to exchange movies more quickly than they otherwise would be able to. However, this service is limited to a 2-5 times per month, depending on the plan.
Netflix offers online video streaming. Netflix doesn’t have any brick and mortar stores to offer in-store exchanges, so instead Netflix offers customers the ability to stream movies online. This is unique compared to Blockbuster, but in order to enjoy this feature to its max potential, you need to have a fast internet connection and a computer system capable of displaying high definition graphics. There are currently over 12,000 titles to choose from for online viewing.
Which is better - Blockbuster or Netflix?
Both Blockbuster and Netflix offer customers good value for their money, depending on how often the customers rent videos. Which is better? The plans are very similar, so which plan is best probably depends on how often you would use their unique features, namely the in-store exchanges or online streaming.
Free trial offers. Both Blockbuster and Netflix offer free trials, so you can always try it free to determine which company and plan best meets your needs.
Live in Canada? Check out this Canadian online DVD rental comparison.
I’d love to hear your opinions on these services.
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14 Comment(s)
By Kristen on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply
I just canceled my Netflix subscription after about four years of membership. I loved the service and was not unhappy with it. But, my husband insists on a premium cable package with free on demand movies. With so many t.v. options to choose from, I just wasn’t watching the Netflix movies as when I was single and only had basic cable. It seemed silly to keep paying for something I wasn’t using to the full extent.
By David on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply
Have used Netflix for years now and would never trade it in. If we didn’t have cable, I would just up my membership to the unlimited package and watch everything I do now on DVD. They are a great service and have never had problems with them.
By Anna on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply
I tried Blockbuster in the past and am currently a Netflix subscriber. I mostly use my subscription to watch TV shows on DVD and Blockbuster was horrible in this respect. They would constantly send me shows out of order. I canceled when I got disc 2, 3, 4 and sent back 4 (and put it back into my queue which was another hassle) hoping to get disc 1 which was supposedly available, only to get 5. Haven’t had any problems like that with Netflix.
By deepali on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply
I like Netflix - it’s worked well for me. One thing I’ve noticed about the two is that the selections are different. I think Netflix has more esoteric movies (I like foreign documentaries).
Netflix also lets you put the account on hold for 90 days, which was great while I was busy with school. I assume BB lets you also?
By Patrick on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply
deepali, I’ve also heard that about Netflix’s selection. I’m not sure about pausing the subscription though. Great marketing angle though!
By Patrick on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply
Anna, That would truly frustrate me! Thanks for sharing.
By laura on Sep 29, 2008 | Reply
what I like about netflix is the wide variety of movies avaialble. I don’t watch new releases or big blockbusters, but rather tons of documentaries, foreign films and independent films. I find that netflix’s offerings provide a wider scope of variety of choices than blockbuster.
Also . . . not sure if its still true, but didnt Blockbuster used to ‘censor’ their selections offered? i know the in store rentals sure did. Anything that had the slightest hint of well, anything, it seemed . . . just wasnt available.
Discouraging.
I’ve never had problems with Netflix, other than one DVD that arrived broken. I went back and for 2005, 2006, 2007 i added up my monthly rates and divided it by the number of movies i had rented in those years . . . and the average cost worked out to be $1.67, $1.65 and $1.59. Not a bad deal at all.
By Mindful-Money on Sep 29, 2008 | Reply
Does any one know which service offer the most music/concert videos? My husband has a hard time finding these and we end up buying them.
By Patrick on Sep 29, 2008 | Reply
Laura: Thanks for sharing. I’ve also heard that Netflix has the larger catalog - especially regarding documentaries and hard to find films. This is great for customers such as yourself. And based on the cost of your average rental, you are getting a great deal!
Mindful-Money: Based on what I have heard, Netflix is probably the better choice for music DVDs. You can try their service for free with the Netflix 30 Day Free Trial Coupon Code, or you can try blockbuster free as well - Blockbuster Total Access free trial. In both cases you can end your subscription without paying anything if the service doesn’t meet your needs. Just be sure to read the fine print, because these deals are constantly changing!
By Andrea on Sep 29, 2008 | Reply
This reminds me of a really funny video I saw recently about the way people used to rent videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPIdTVT9VIo
By Patrick on Sep 29, 2008 | Reply
Andrea,
That is hilarious! Thanks for sharing!
By ubowman on Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
I was the most loyal Netflix customer ever.
I started in Aug. 2006 with the 3-at-a-time plan. The movies always shipped so quickly! I would get it the very next day and when I would send them back, sure enough-the next day they arrived at their processing center.
I decided to play around with the other plans to save some money, tried the 1-at-a-time and it proved to be so not worth the savings. The 2-at-a-time is really the best for my personal needs and the money.
I can only speculate this but it really seems like I am being treated like a second-class customer since I bumped my plan down. The movies now take 3 days both ways. I suspect it is NOT my post office as I am in the same address and all my other mail is fine.
I am going to give Blockbuster a try as their plans are so close in price. I’m not even sure at this point if it is worth me complaining to Netflix. It is a shame that they would do this do their loyal customers.
By Patrick on Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
ubowman: I’m sorry to hear about your recent results with Netflix. There have been a lot of cases with both Netflix and Blockbuster “throttling” customers they deemed as “power users” and were unprofitable for them. So they would limit the number of new releases they could get per month, or otherwise limit certain orders. It’s too bad those things happen.
By Danielle on Oct 1, 2008 | Reply
Netflix is what I use.
You forgot one Netflix benifit (they almost took this away a few months ago but got a lot of complaints). Netflix allows you to create different profiles or queues for each person. My husband and I have our our lists and I get 1 DVD from the top of mine, he gets 1 from the top of his. When he left town for a week I just reassigned so both of our DVD’s came from my queue.
Mindful for anyone on Netflix who wants to put their account on hold (up to 90 days) or downgrade your account it does not pro-rate to take place immediately. It will take place at the next billing cycle. I missed the end of the billing cycle by 1 DAY and ended up canceling the hold becauase it would not have taken effect till the end of the next month.
Of course if you want to upgrade, it takes place immediately, you are charged a pro-rated amount for the rest of that billing cycle and they ship you 1 more DVD right away.
@ubownman - I never experienced extended delays after downgrading, but then I never got my movies next day either! It is almost always 1 business day in between from when I ship it to when I get the next one. Maybe that was just a coincidence and something else has affected the rate of delivery at the same time you downgraded?