Gamefly: First Impressions

By Shamus Posted Thursday Apr 19, 2007

Filed under: Rants 29 comments

As I mentioned before, I recently picked up a Playstation 2. At the moment I only have one game, which has so far failed to impress me. I want to fill in my software library but I also don’t want to break the bank, which is highly breakable at the moment. I’ve seen a few ads for Gamefly, the service that lets you rent videogames through the mail and keep them as long as you like for a flat monthly fee. Like Netflix, only for games. It sounds like a good way to sample a lot of various titles in a short time, which is a good deal for me as I try to get a feel for what’s out there.

First impressions are everything, and Gamefly made a pretty abyssmal first impression on me. I ran through their list of PS2 titles, clicking on the various games I’ve seen go by over the last few years but never got a chance to play. Here is what my queue looks like:

Gamefly doesn’t have enough games.

My first nine choices aren’t available? (The problem is worse than shown above. There were another half dozen or so titles which I wanted to try but which were listed as “Long Wait”, so I didn’t even bother adding them to the list.) Note that many of these titles are years old. When you click on the little “?” for Short Wait it explains:

Short Wait means there is high demand for this game right now, and we have a waiting list of members who want to rent it. If you return a game and a Short Wait game is at the top of your GameQ, we’ll make every effort to ship you that game the same day. If we can’t, we’ll send the next game in your GameQ that’s Available Now.

This makes it sound like a problem with demand, but when things like six-year-old Final Fantasy X are listed as a Long Wait title, it quickly becomes clear that the real problem is with supply, not demand. They just don’t have enough copies. In that list above, none of those games are esoteric or out-of-print. New copies are readily available for most of them. They could obtain more copies if they wanted to, which leads me to conclude that they think the above situation is acceptable. Almost everything that caught my interest was “Short Wait” or “Long Wait”. The only games which were “Available Now” were games which I knew to be terrible, or games I’ve never heard of.

You can peruse their list of titles, but in order to see their availability you have to sign up. It is only after you’ve done so that you realize you’ve been had, and that you just agreed to pay $22 a month so you can wait in line.

This site explains that short wait “usually” means 24-48 hours. Fine. But if you have an “Available Now” title lower down, they will ship that instead. This means that even though I really want one of those games at the top of my list, they will repeatedly send the lesser-desired titles further down. This isn’t bad, except that I won’t get another shot at one of those top games again until I send back another one on my end. Basically, each time I send a game back it will be a little dice roll to see if I get what I want or what’s available. I could end up waiting a long, long time for one of those “Short Wait” titles. I guess I could delete the “Available Now” titles from my list to force it to wait.

I think I need to look around and see if anyone else offers a service like this. Perhaps they would like my business.

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER: A few hours later, and LEGO Star Wars went from “Available Now” to “Long Wait”. I now have a list of thirteen games I want and not one of them is available. This is asinine.

 


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29 thoughts on “Gamefly: First Impressions

  1. Jadawin says:

    Have you tried gameznflix.com? A friend of mine had it for a few months for his 360 and was pleased with it- if I ever manage to scrape together the pennies for a 360 I am definitely going with them.

  2. Shamus says:

    I did find them via Google. I’m wondering if they are any better about title availability.

  3. Telas says:

    I used Blockbuster’s monthly rental program for a bit for my Xbox. You get to see what’s available in store, and turnaround for a crappy game is immediate. I don’t know if they’ve merged it with their Netflix-like service or not.

    Telas

  4. Malkiel says:

    I live in DC, and have been with Gamefly for about 4 months now, ever since I got my Wii. I’ve always seen that ‘short wait’ but its never effected me. I even had God of War 2 shipped immediately, even though it was in very high demand.

    Also, I ‘think’ you’re in the Pittsburgh area based on reading the site, though I could be wrong. Gamefly just opened a new distribution center in the burgh, so that should help your turnaround times.

    I’ve heard good things about the other services too, including gameznflix.com.

    One thing I do like about gamefly is the ability to buy the games that you currently have out. I did it with a Wii game that my girlfriend really liked. They shipped my next game the following day, and sent me the box and manual to me. They were in ‘just opened’ condition.

    Andrew

  5. Karl says:

    Personally, I prefer going to someplace like Gamestop or EB Games and picking through their discount bins. If you have a “short list” that you know you want, you can usually pick up something for $10 or less (especially for the older games on your list). The danger is getting seduced into buying something you’re not familiar with just because it’s cheap. I would also recommend Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Resident Evil 4 and both Baldur’s Gate games.

  6. Corvus says:

    I’ve been overall happy with Gamefly, but I’ve never had a queue issue like you’ve got. Perhaps they’re punishing you for the lack of Psychonauts, Beyond Good and Evil and Okami on the list?

  7. Farvana says:

    Corvus? I applaud your taste.

    If you want to sink some serious time into a lesser-known RPG, try Wild Arms 3, Shamus.

  8. Spiral says:

    My recommendation for an RPG would be Shadow Hearts: Covenant. Humor, occult, and WWI all mixed into a JRPG. Wacky, dark, and pseudo-historical.

  9. Malkara says:

    You’re telling me. I have gamefly, and about the first 6 games they sent me never arrived. Then when I finally got one, and sent it back, they never got it. I’m just about to cancel my subscription.

  10. Shamus says:

    Karl: I used to bargin-bin shop, but on my last trip into GameStop it seemed like their “used” games were ridiculously priced. Bully was $40 new, or used for $35. Really, for used they were knocking just a few bucks off. And a-list tiles don’t seem to get discounted no matter how old they get. Maybe their policies have changed, or maybe my local GS is owned by a lunatic, but I can’t walk in there with less then $25 if I hope to leave with anything well reviewed.

    I agree: Sands of Time is outstanding. I had it for the ‘cube before we got rid of it. One of my all time favorites.

  11. Phlux says:

    Shamus, I think your problem there is that you were shopping at a GameStop. I loathe that place. They train their staff to be pushy, holier-than-thou, upsell drones. They push you to pre-order everything, and chastise you when don’t.

    I have no problem with the concept of pre-orders, really. I understand what they want to do. Control inventory. Don’t order more copies than they are going to sell.

    They are also bad for (and to) game developers. They preferentially sell used copies of a game which they bought used for 15% of its price or less, and give none of that money back to the developers.

    Those of you who like to own a real disk rather than a digital download beware, the publishers are fighting back against this business models. Digital content distribution and non-transferrable ownership are the wave of the future. Personally I don’t care that much, because I like digital content delivery, don’t care about owning disks and rarely if ever sell games.

    I do buy used games on occassion, though, for out of print titles and really old games. I go to a local chain of used game stores, though, never to GameStop.

  12. sdstone says:

    I had a similar queue availability problem too. I think the source is that their prices for keeping it now (and the ease of that system) is outstripping their ability to keep supplied for some reason. They either need to suck it up and spend a lot more money to buy more supply, they need to raise their prices on the ‘keep it’ or lose the ‘keep it’ functionality. That though is probably the best thing they have going for them, so if it comes to that, I’d say they might as well throw the towel in as a company. The day I heard of them, I first thought, as I assume many other people did, “Great, I wonder how long before Netflix buys them?” There’s no need for these to be two separate services. Some people like to watch movies and play games. If we like the convenience of a website, we’re penalized? I’m going to look into Blockbuster’s services, as they seem to offer both.

  13. “They are also bad for (and to) game developers. They preferentially sell used copies of a game which they bought used for 15% of its price or less, and give none of that money back to the developers.”

    I never thought that the big media companies would ever be successful in pushing this “if you buy a used copy of the First Folio you’re screwing Bill Shakespeare” meme, but apparently it’s gaining traction.

    I’m also seeing more and more people who have somehow been convinced that DRM technology is (a) effective at preventing piracy and (b) actually a valuable feature for the consumer.

    Maybe some day somebody will be able to explain these memes in a way which makes me swallow the kool-aid. But I doubt it.

    “I had a similar queue availability problem too. I think the source is that their prices for keeping it now (and the ease of that system) is outstripping their ability to keep supplied for some reason. They either need to suck it up and spend a lot more money to buy more supply, they need to raise their prices on the “˜keep it' or lose the “˜keep it' functionality.”

    I think their basic problem is pretty apparent. They seem to be charging prices fairly comparable with Netflix, but:

    (a) If Netflix is spending an average of $15 for every copy of a movie they stock, I’d be shocked. They’re probably spending more like $10 per movie. Gamefly, OTOH, is almost certainly paying 2-3 times that amount for every copy of a game they stock.

    (b) A movie has an expected watching time of 2 hours. A typical game can easily have 40 hours of game play. And that doesn’t even include replay value or online play.

    So if Netflix has X people looking to watch a movie and Gamefly as X people looking to play a game, Gamefly could easily be looking at having to stock 40-60 times as many copies of the game.

    Now, to some extent, this balances back out for them: If people need 20 times as much time to play a game as watch a movie, they’ll keep the game longer and pay more in fees for keeping it. But it makes it much more difficult for them to balance peak loads against long-tail demand.

    Justin Alexander
    http://www.thealexandrian.net

  14. I find the “used” bin at Gamestop is more useful for superior selection than cheapness.

    However, the “psycho” theory may hold some weight. Even A-list games eventually get discounted where I am, as long as supply outstrips demand. (Obscure stuff like the Disgaea series never shows up, but I’m sure that’s just because the people who buy that stuff in the first place aren’t selling it back in any quantity.)

    I picked up a copy of Psyconauts from the used area for less than $20. Definitely recommended if you think games are missing innovation. It takes a bit to get going but it once it starts going it’s just amazing.

  15. Nick says:

    “If Netflix is spending an average of $15 for every copy of a movie they stock, I'd be shocked. They're probably spending more like $10 per movie. Gamefly, OTOH, is almost certainly paying 2-3 times that amount for every copy of a game they stock.

    A movie has an expected watching time of 2 hours. A typical game can easily have 40 hours of game play. And that doesn't even include replay value or online play.”

    Actually, a rental copy of a DVD costs the company somewhere in the realm of $150-$200. It costs WAY more for the rights to rent a DVD than just the DVD itself. Also, the stock issue isn’t one, because if a game has a 40-hour play time, and people are thus keeping them out that long, they’re NOT GETTING MORE GAMES. Thus, the demand for copies remains constant.

  16. Eric J says:

    I wonder if the problem is that you’re mostly looking for older games. I’d guess that they stock games the same way that Blockbuster stocks movies- tons of copies of new releases, then a few months in, sell off most of those copies, and keep a couple of copies on the shelf. The sweet spot for games being in stock would probably be 2-6 months old.(And for a latest-gen system.)

  17. melchar says:

    Recommended highly =
    FFX yes, FFX-2 [well, it’s great to look at but pretty much a dress-up game]

    Okami [prettiest game EVER! And the story is nifty]

    Shadowhearts [the -first- one because IMO the 2nd one, ‘Covenant’ had a sucky ending]

    the Baldur’s Gate series for PS2 is nice light fun = with good 2-player action where you are playing together and not vs each other

    and =
    Shin Megami Tensei [SMT] = a series of mostly dark games, not really connected to each other – but that each have great stories. That said =
    SMT: Nocturne is my favorite [set = modern day]
    SMT: Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Souless Army is also fantastic [set 1930]
    and SMT: Digital Devil, parts 1 & 2 = also good [setting is futuristic]

  18. Joshua says:

    Actually, Nick is right, the rental copies of a movie are in the 3-digit range as the store has to pay extra for the right to rent it.

    As far as the digs at Gamestop about their used games, I’ve known a number of friends who work there and they’ve said that’s primarily how Gamestop makes their money as the profit margin on new games is very slim. So slim, in fact, that the employees can only apply their 15% or so discount on the used games.

    Although it would be nicer to get a new, unopened version of a game, one of the reasons why the price isn’t as significant is that you’re not getting much less- usually just a worn manual or at worst, no manual. Since the games are checked for scratches at the sale point, most disk-based games are just about as good as a brand-new one. It’s not like a used VHS or car, where the used usually translates into crappier condition.

  19. Russ says:

    I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this or not, but you should keep your game list down to 2-3 games if they are showing up as “Short Wait”. I have been using Gamefly for my PS3 and Wii (yes, I’m one of those guys…had to have it, ask my wife…) and I hate buying games that suck, so I am now renting.

    Early on, every game they had for both systems was either Short Wait, or Long Wait. When that happens, and this is a Netflix trick as well, make those the only games in your queue. You’ll be surprised how fast that “Long Wait” turns into a “Shipped” when they have no choice but to send the ONLY two games in your queue.

    I have even gotten emails, “You are missing out, you should have more games in your Queue, DUDE!!!” I ignore them, and have yet to wait more than the shipping time for any game.

  20. Miral says:

    If you don’t at least try both Okami and Ico, then you need to turn in your RPG license :) They’re both just awesome, even for people who aren’t really into the RPG genre.

    Psychonauts is good too, though some of the boss battles annoy me. (Which is also why I didn’t like Shadow of the Collossus all that much: while the environment is great, it’s pretty much entirely boss battles and I tend to suck at those.)

  21. hank says:

    If you *really* want a title that isn’t available, make it be the only thing on your list. They’ve got to send you *something*… you’ll usually be the next person that gets that title.

    Various companies use different algorithms for determining who gets a title when it comes in… position on the list, time spent at that position, and availability of other choices are all variables. So if something says “long wait”, and you put it anywhere other than the very top of your list, you won’t see it until there aren’t any other people who have it higher on their lists. Move it to the top and remove the rest of your list, and you’ve just maxed out 2 of the three criteria.

  22. wildweasel says:

    Bully is on your list and it’s not available? God, I feel guilty right now – I rented out one copy and clicked “KEEP IT”, and now they’re a copy less. Had I not done that, you would have a better chance to at least get something.

  23. kellandros says:

    Simple trick for using Gamestop: check their website. If you can search for a game there(which is problematic, as they seem to prune out older titles from their availible list), they have a check local availibility option by entering a zip code. It will then list all the nearby stores, and mark if they might have a copy in stock or not. Now this isn’t foolproof, and if the game isn’t on their website anymore it won’t work. But generally the website prices are pretty close to the in-store prices as well.

    I also have learned where my local Target shoves the games they want to put on clearance(back endcap of aisles normally). Picked up Baten Kaitos for $5 that way.

  24. “Actually, a rental copy of a DVD costs the company somewhere in the realm of $150-$200.”

    Unless something has changed in the industry since I was working as a assistant manager for Hollywood Video, this just isn’t the case (except for those movies which are released to the rental chains before the commercial chains — something which essentially never happens any more in any case).

    This seems to be a common urban legend. My best guess is that it got its start because it used to be somewhat true. Not because video rental chains had to pay some sort of exorbitant “rental fee”, but because movies would be released to video rental chains weeks or even months before they were released for sale to the general public. During this crucial period the movie studios would charge $150 or $200 for a VHS cassette and the video rental places would pay it because the value of having “movies you can’t get anywhere else” was worth it.

    But that market doesn’t exist any more. Blockbuster broke it apart by negotiating revenue-sharing deals with the studios (instead of paying you a huge up-front fee we’ll give you a cut of the rental action). But even *that* system doesn’t exist anymore: Blockbuster specifically forced the movie studios to abandon it when the DVD format appeared. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_(movie_rental_store)

    And just think about it for a second: If Blockbuster were really paying $150 per DVD, there’s no way they could afford to have a wall of a hundred copies of a particular movie one the day it was released. At $3 for a 2 day rental they would need to keep every single movie on that shelf rented constantly for 100 straight days just to break even on it. Blockbuster wouldn’t be in business.

    This has been the economic reality of the movie business for at least a decade and a half now: You buy the video for the same price Best Buy does. You rent it for as long as you possible can, and then you mark it as Previously Viewed and sell it for either the same price you paid for it originally or a even little higher.

    Your entire overhead for a video is essentially paid when you sell it previously viewed. Every rental is pure gravy. Late fees are free money from the gods of capitalism.

    When I was working at Hollywood Video the release of TITANIC on VHS was the classic example of this: We stocked hundreds of copies of the movie. We rented almost none of them. Why? Because people either (a) had no interest in it; (b) seen it in the theaters and didn’t want to see it again; or (c) seen it in the theaters and wanted to buy it.

    So did we take a titanic loss on TITANIC? Hell no. Holiday season rolled around and we had a whole table full of previously viewed (many of them never having actually been viewed) copies of TITANIC, every one of which sold for a slight profit.

  25. PanDeSal says:

    Ever hear about the Monty Python cheese shop skit?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDat9zdw7Gs

    CUSTOMER: Good Morning.
    SHOP OWNER: Good morning, sir. Welcome to the National Cheese Emporium.
    CUSTOMER: Ah, thank you my good man.
    SHOP OWNER: What can I do for you, sir?
    CUSTOMER: Well, I was, uh, sitting in the public library on Thurmond Street just now, skimming through Rogue Herries by Hugh Walpole, and I suddenly came over all peckish.
    SHOP OWNER: Peckish, sir?
    CUSTOMER: Esurient.
    SHOP OWNE: Eh?
    CUSTOMER: (In a broad Yorkshire accent) Eee I were all hungry, like.
    SHOP OWNER: Ah, hungry.
    CUSTOMER: In a nutshell. And I thought to myself, ‘a little fermented curd will do the trick’. So I curtailed my Walpoling activites, sallied forth, and infiltrated your place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles.
    SHOP OWNER: Come again?
    CUSTOMER: I want to buy some cheese.
    SHOP OWNER: Oh, I thought you were complaining about the bouzouki player.
    CUSTOMER: Oh, heaven forbid. I am one who delights in all manifestations of the Terpsichorean muse.
    SHOP OWNER: Sorry?
    CUSTOMER: (In a broad Yorkshire accent) Ooo, I like a nice tune – you’re forced to.
    SHOP OWNER: So he can go on playing, can he?
    CUSTOMER: Most certainly. Now then, some cheese please, my good man.
    SHOP OWNER: Certainly, sir. What would you like?
    CUSTOMER: Well, eh, how about a little Red Leicester?
    SHOP OWNER: I’m afraid we’re fresh out of Red Leicester, sir.
    CUSTOMER: Oh never mind, how are you on Tilsit?
    SHOP OWNER: I’m afraid we never have that at the end of the week, sir. We get it fresh on Monday.
    CUSTOMER: Tish tish. No matter. Well, stout yeoman, four ounces of Caerphilly, if you please.
    SHOP OWNER: Ah. It’s been on order, sir, for two weeks. I was expecting it this morning. CUSTOMER: It’s not my lucky day, is it? Er, Bel Paese?
    SHOP OWNER: Sorry, sir.
    CUSTOMER: Red Windsor?
    SHOP OWNER: Normally, sir, yes. Today the van broke down.
    CUSTOMER: Ah. Stilton?
    SHOP OWNER: Sorry.
    CUSTOMER: Emmental? Gruyà¨re?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Any Norwegian Jarlsberger, per chance?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Liptauer?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Lancashire?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: White Stilton?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Danish Blue?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Double Gloucester?
    SHOP OWNER: ….. No.
    CUSTOMER: Cheshire?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Dorset Blue Vinney?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Brie, Roquefort, Pont-l’à‰vàªque, Port Salut, Savoyard, Saint-Paulin, Carre-de-L’Est, Bresse-Bleu, Boursin?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Camembert, perhaps?
    SHOP OWNER: Ah! We have Camembert, yes sir.
    CUSTOMER: You do! Excellent.
    SHOP OWNER: Yes, sir. It’s, ah ….. it’s a bit runny.
    CUSTOMER: Oh, I like it runny.
    SHOP OWNER: Well, it’s very runny, actually, sir.
    CUSTOMER: No matter. Fetch hither le fromage de la Belle France! M-mmm!
    SHOP OWNER: I think it’s a bit runnier than you’ll like it, sir.
    CUSTOMER: I don’t care how fucking runny it is. Hand it over with all speed.
    SHOP OWNER: Oh …..
    CUSTOMER: What now?
    SHOP OWNER: The cat’s eaten it.
    CUSTOMER: Has he?
    SHOP OWNER: She, sir. (pause)
    CUSTOMER: Gouda?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Edam?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Caithness?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Smoked Austrian?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Japanese Sage Darby?
    SHOP OWNER: No, sir.
    CUSTOMER: You do have some cheese, do you?
    SHOP OWNER: Of course, sir. It’s a cheese shop, sir. We’ve got …..
    CUSTOMER: No, no, don’t tell me. I’m keen to guess.
    SHOP OWNER: Fair enough.
    CUSTOMER: Er, Shop owner?
    SHOP OWNER: Yes?
    CUSTOMER: Ah, well, I’ll have some of that.
    SHOP OWNER: Oh, I thought you were talking to me, sir. Mr Shop owner, that’s my name.
    (pause)
    CUSTOMER: Greek Feta?
    SHOP OWNER: Ah, not as such.
    CUSTOMER: Er, Gorgonzola?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Parmesan?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Mozzarella?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Pippo Crà¨me?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Danish Fimboe?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Czech sheep’s milk?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: Venezuelan Beaver Cheese?.
    SHOP OWNER: Not today, sir, no.(pause)
    CUSTOMER: Ah, how about Cheddar?
    SHOP OWNER: Well, we don’t get much call for it around here, sir.
    CUSTOMER: Not much ca- It’s the single most popular cheese in the world!
    SHOP OWNER: Not round here, sir.
    CUSTOMER: And what is the most popular cheese round here?
    SHOP OWNER: Ilchester, sir.
    CUSTOMER: Is it.
    SHOP OWNER: Oh yes, sir. It’s staggeringly popular in this manor, squire.
    CUSTOMER: Is it.
    SHOP OWNER: It’s our number-one best seller, sir.
    CUSTOMER: I see. Ah, Ilchester, eh?
    SHOP OWNER: Right, sir.
    CUSTOMER: All right. Okay. Have you got any, he asked expecting the answer no?
    SHOP OWNER: I’ll have a look, sir ….. nnnnnnooooooooo.
    CUSTOMER: It’s not much of a cheese shop, is it?
    SHOP OWNER: Finest in the district, sir.
    CUSTOMER: Explain the logic underlying that conclusion, please.
    SHOP OWNER: Well, it’s so clean, sir.
    CUSTOMER: It’s certainly uncontaminated by cheese.
    SHOP OWNER: You haven’t asked me about Limberger, sir.
    CUSTOMER: Is it worth it?
    SHOP OWNER: Could be.
    CUSTOMER: Have you- SHUT THAT BLOODY BOUZOUKI UP!
    SHOP OWNER: (To dancers) Told you so.
    CUSTOMER: Have you got any Limburger?
    SHOP OWNER: No.
    CUSTOMER: That figures. Predictable really, I suppose. It was an act of purest optimism to have posed the question in the first place. Tell me:
    SHOP OWNER: Yes, sir?
    CUSTOMER: Have you in fact got any cheese here at all?
    SHOP OWNER: Yes, sir.
    CUSTOMER: Really?

    (pause)
    SHOP OWNER: No. Not really, sir.
    CUSTOMER: You haven’t.
    SHOP OWNER: No, sir, not a scrap. I was deliberately wasting your time, sir.
    CUSTOMER: Well, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to shoot you.
    SHOP OWNER: Right-O, sir.
    CUSTOMER: (Shoots him) What a senseless waste of human life.

  26. Ian says:

    This topic is kind of a dead horse, but what the heck.

    @24: I used to work at Iggle Video (a video rental department inside of some Giant Eagle supermarkets) and I occasionally had to unbox new releases and put them into the system.

    The price definitely wasn’t as high as $150-200, but it was definitely a jump from what we mortals would pay for a new movie. It also depended on the title, some cost $40 for us to have the privilege of renting out while some went up as high as $100.

    That said, we certainly didn’t pay $100 for each copy. Typically, we’d pay the higher rate for, say, 1-3 copies and pay $15-20 for each additional copy.

    So yes, video rental shops definitely pay more for videos to than consumers would, but it’s not ludicrously high.

  27. Timothy says:

    I was doing research on whether to rent from Gamefly or just stick with Blockbuster who is rapidly going out of business but I am enlightened by the postings here.

  28. Aelelia says:

    My family has found Gamefly to be a massive waste of time. We only used their services for a month, because every game they sent us was scratched so badly that they wouldn’t play, and refused to send replacement copies for their bad stock. We’ve stuck to buying games ourselves or renting them from blockbuster since then.

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