It’s not only Blockbuster that sees Redbox as a threat anymore…
According to Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, they are really starting to keep an eye on Redbox, and see them as their number one competitor by the end of the year.
Personally, I see them as complementary services right now. I am subscribed to the Netflix 1-at-a-time unlimited plan, which allows me to watch as many movies as I want from their online streaming catalog, and about 1 per week from the standard by-mail service. Currently, I use them for Blu-ray rentals, as my Redbox doesn’t have blu-ray yet.
What do you think? Do you use both, or has Redbox caused you to cancel or downcgrade your Netflix subscription?
If you want to try Netflix for free, just click here and signup. It’s totally free for a few weeks, and it helps support this site. Enjoy!
[via Yahoo Tech News]
I think they should be afraid, Netflix are continuously raising prices. I had a 4 at a time plan and have just cancelled in favour of the Redbox down my street!
All we need now is a blackbox to carry xbox games and i’m happy! Blockbuster charges about $9 for 5 days!
I just canceled my netflix subscription, I had the one at a time plan costing me 9.62 a month. After the mail back and forth I figure its about 2 movies a week, thats 8 a month, when I can get 9 from red box for the same money and dont forget all the free ones to.
I am trying redbox out, 2nd rental now, both free with codes. The only other good point I would make for netflix is I dont have to drive back and forth to return the movie and beat the deadline, so that saves gas and time.
I use both.. i have a 3 at a time plan. I also love to stream Netflix to my TV via XBOX360. I agree they are two very different services.
I just decreased my netflix subscription from 4 to 2 unlimited at a time. I now supplement it with redbox to get all the new releases I want. Netflix was not sending me the new releases all the time even if I had it at the top of my queue and returned the movies on the correct day to get it there on Monday. I am considering decreasing my netflix subscription to 1 unlimited. Will probably not cancel since Redbox does not have all the new movie releases I want.
Unfortunately, with Netflix, newer customers outrank long-term customers when it comes to who gets the new releases. They will always send the new releases to the newer customers first. This way, they are impressed with the service and stay on with Netflix. The longer they stay, the less likely they will be to cancel. Eventually, they too will begin to experience the same wait for new releases. From a business perspective it makes sense, because if you just signed up and had to wait for your videos (because the long-term customers had them all), would you pay for the service after your free trial? I doubt anyone would. It makes it seem like Netflix is slighting their loyal customers, but in reality, it’s a new customer retention plan. The way I look at it is, I’ve already waited for the movie to be released on DVD, so it’s no big deal to wait another month or so until the “new release rush” is over. In the meantime, there are plenty of great movies to watch that aren’t as popular or in demand… and, of course there’s Redbox. But, yes, Steve I completely agree with you that Netflix and Redbox are a great combonation.
I think Redbox is a great complementary service to Netflix. We watch lots of TV series via Netflix, and use Redbox to rent primarily kids’ movies and the occasional movie for ourselves. I can’t imagine giving up Netflix, and in fact plan on getting a Roku box to stream Netflix movies directly to our TV. Not even Redbox can beat the convenience of Netflix; there are plenty of days I just don’t want to leave my home to rent or return a movie, even if they are just $1.
does n/e one know todays monday promo code? thanks
They aren’t doing it anymore only one per month on the first Monday
My cable is up to $65. I got broadcast digital working well. I am seriously thinking of dropping cable. I rent more than a dozen Redbox “dollar days”(paid) per month and have a Blockbuster online one movie at a time $9.99 plan that works well (Blockbuster actually emailed me a free store movie rental code the other day.)
Basically, I use the Monday free codes for “B” movies. If I drop cable I might consider adding a single movie Netflicks.
I have never had Netflix. Before Redbox appeared I would occasionally rent a movie here or there from either Hollywood Video or Blockbuster but not anymore. When I was younger I rented movies all the time, I don’t know if it’s the selection of movies out there or what but I rent a lot less these days. Redbox is so convenient though that I find myself renting more often. We’ll see though if they can maintain giving out so many freebies and offering their movies for such a low amount. I hope they stick around, Redbox is awesome :)
I stopped using Netflix because I wasn’t able to justify the expense (I had seen all the movie I wanted to see and the new ones weren’t coming out fast enough), but the one thing I’ve noticed is redbox doesn’t have a great selection. I was able to see everything I wanted to see with the free promo codes and had no need/desire to rent anything else. With Netflix, it took me months to get through everything I wanted to see. Redbox is awesome, but by no means a replacement to Netflix (yet).
What a rip off. I mean… making people think that they are getting a free code just to make them read an offer about netflix. I like netflix, and currently have a subscription for two a month, and still use the redbox that’s less than 1/2 mile from my house. Netflix offers a much wider selection, but redbox is great for spur of the moment movies. Still though.. we could have atleast gotten a code. =(
A ripoff? What exactly did you pay for that you didn’t receive that made it a ripoff?
How much money have you saved, not only in $1 new releases, but in free movies?!
And you feel like you’ve been ripped off? What, by clicking on a link and having to read enough words to occupy a minute’s worth of your precious time?
I agree Katie…bait & switch…a cheesy form of dishonesty…without the free Monday’s this site is going to rapidly fade away. No other reason to bother with them!
You two are unbelievably spoiled and have a ton of nerve. I suppose now you’ll go to another company that gives you movies for free every week.
The only thing cheesy is your greed and whining.
Get lost Muta…you probably butt into people’s private conversations to offer your stupid opinions all the time. If you dodn’t want free codes yourself, then what are you doing on this site? Trolling for a girlfriend? Loser!
i tried to use the code 6a43jk but it is not working….
My family and I use a lot of Netflix. We used to rent two movies a week at $3.99 each, which was SUPER expensive. Now we just pay $14/month and get MORE movies, even ones that we forgot were awesome or that we wanted to watch. From time to time we’ll get a new release from Redbox, but oftentimes our other Netflix-addicted friends will have them instead.
I agree. I use both. BUT I did lower it to only 2 at a time, because with Redbox filling in we were keeping the extra movie way too long to justify the expense. :-)
We love Redbox. We typically rent movies on Thursdays or Fridays for viewing on the weekend. The convenience of Redbox is great. We stop a the local grocery store, Walmart or Target and get dinner and a movie in minutes. We don’t have a Netflix subscription and don’t have plans for one. It’s really rare for us to go Blockbuster anymore and Hollywood Video is not convenient.
I’m with most of the other comments here. I have a Netflix 3-at-a-time sub and use Redbox to fill in as needed. The selection Redbox offers is nothing to the variety I can get from Netflix. I find movies sometime I didn’t even know existed & I love the on-line streaming which was great when I was at home recovering from knee surgery. I love both services for what they offer and don’t see the one replacing the other for me.
I think Redbox is great! I also have a 3-at-a-time plan with Netflix that I use for blu-ray and occasional on-line streaming. I’d give it all up though, if Redbox carried blu-ray.
I love both Netflix and Redbox. I used to have a 3x Netflix subscription, but as the kids grow and have their own social life, we found that was too much. We didn’t have time to watch them all in a timely fashion. Now we just have 1x and it works great. We use the instant play through our Tivo and love it too. Add in Redbox for those last minute desires and it’s the perfect set up. At this point in time I find the two services complimentary. Redbox is great for current releases and Netflix is great for those obscure or old- or even TV shows that you missed. Let’s face it- sometimes immediacy matters! And you can’t beat the price of Redbox.
I am tired of getting misleading advertisements like these about trying Netflix or Blocbuster for free. They never have an asterisk next to offer explaining their is a critical prerequisite. You have to dig through the conditions at the Netflix or Blockbuster website to find out the offer only applies to new accounts. Most of us have already had an account with Blockbuster or Netflix in the past that we cancelled. Though you may not presently have an active account with Netflix, if you ever had one, you will find you are not be eligible for the free trial offer, even though it may be a totally new promotion to get members.
if you want to try either blockbuster or netflix free trial again, do a search on your computer and remove all of the things thaat come up (example NETFLIX), then restart your computer, go to netflix, enter a new email and use a diffrent credit card, and you can have a free trial again.
What does that mean? Remove all of the things that come up?
It means to do a search for: “netflix” and delete all of the files and folders that come up in the search results. Make sense?
Thanks – got it.
I love Redbox for the new releases coming out, and I use Netflix to fill my library with older series (and newer ones, have True Blood Coming tomorrow), and older movies not available through Redbox. I have a 3 at a time plan with Netflix, and they have improved so much with sending out movies, I get 9 a week. Love Them Both
I love my Netflix subscription. I get 3 at a time, and we are able to watch a ton of older movies and TV series that Redbox doesn’t offer. We use Redbox for the newest release. I think they complement each other.
Mail order subscriptions are horrible. New movie gets rented out and it could be weeks before you get to see it…IF you keep an open spot on your qeue, meaning you will have one less movie out at a time that you still have to pay for. I dropped them a long time ago, and now rent exclusively through Redbox. Any new release they don’t have I get through my local library for free. And you’ve got to have some expensive equipment to stream the online movies. Hell, if I could afford that I would just rent from Blockbuster or Hollywood in the store.
And as far as old movies and TV series’, I get them free through my local library as well. I would not pay for a service to do what my library does for free…that seems a little dumb. They have a HUGE selection, and whatever they don’t already have, I can fill out a request card and they will have it soon enough. They’ve never denied me once.
I use to have a netflix account, but I had to close it to help save money for my boyfriend and my move this coming weekend, so we had to get rid of expences that were not needed. But even with redbox, we are going to get netflix back up and running once we move and find out our expences and what not.
I think Netflix and Red Box complement each other. I have the 3 @ a time netflix and rent anywhere from 1-3 a week at red box. I like both. The town I live in only has 1 red box. I sometimes rent from other boxes in other cities I pass through. So it is sort of like I use red box for the movies that Netflix claims are a long wait. I have removed over 20 from my queue because I got them from red box. The only drawback with red box is selection. I will be keeping my netflix though. I do agree with Katie though.
“Katie says:
May 18, 2009 at 10:47 am
What a rip off. I mean… making people think that they are getting a free code just to make them read an offer about netflix. I like netflix, and currently have a subscription for two a month, and still use the redbox that’s less than 1/2 mile from my house. Netflix offers a much wider selection, but redbox is great for spur of the moment movies. Still though.. we could have atleast gotten a code. =(“.
I like redbox never used the other
We started with Redbox, then discovered Netflix. We lived in the middle of nowhere for about 2 years, so Netflix was MUCH more convenient. Now that we are closer to civilization, we use both. Netflix at 2 at-a-time and for streaming to our Xbox360 and Redbox for when we don’t have a movie or we want a new release. We really like both!
i cancelled my netflix account and go with redbox for almost all my movies!once a year i will sign up for a month of netflix to catch up on some indies and other movies that redbox doesn’t carry but then i quickly cancel them!
I only use Redbox. With four kids, it is so easy to grab a DVD and go. The only disadvantage is missing some of the movies that only Blockbuster or Netflix carry, for example “Prison Break” series. Redbox had season 1 which got me hooked, but didn’t carry any other seasons. :( But, I am not uspet enough to go to Blockbuster and rent it. Even if Blockbuster gets it’s own kiosks, I will still continue to use Redbox. It was a great invention and I will continue to support them. Redbox all the way!!!!!
i just tried the different zip code idea with redbox as the code….doesnt work unless youre a first timer member….but i tried it with breakroom and it worked once…will try others as days go by…..now was there a monday code?
I have Netflix the 3 @ a time deal The only reason I have netflix this long is because of the blue ray. I watch movies on my days off work. I tried Redbox, but is a real pain to get up to return those movies before 9pm. Sometimes the machines in my area broken or should I saw “down” since they are computers. I had blockbuster rentals too but that got old since they did not have a large selection of blue rays. Anyways I am sticking to nextflix until the “BIG REDBOX” can come up with something better.
will not get netflix because when you want to close your account it become a hassle with your debit card. No thanks.
I agree, I don’t want to give ANYONE the permission to debit my account without me pushing the button that says “Pay”. My daughter had netflix a few years ago, and once she cancelled it took 3 months to get them to quit debiting, and the bank said that they couldn’t do anything. So I will go to the REDBOX and decide when my account gets debited! Love RedBox!!!
Have been using free codes for months now, but the bank still charges the dollar plus tax per movie. The screen on the machine and email receipts all say balance 0.00, but the 1.07 is still being deducted from my account. Does anyo9ne know why this is?
Never heard of such a thing. The first thing you should do is call Redbox customer service. They are generally nice, they refunded 1.07 to me one time when I couldn’t return my free Monday DVD because the machine was full. The credit actually failed to go though because of a problem on their end and they put it through again, this time successfully.
By the way, if you ever get “machine full” when trying to return a DVD: the advice they gave me is, rent another one, that frees up a slot to return the first one.
Have none of you heard of Family Video?? I can’t imagine renting my movies from a box. From the comments here and what my friends say, the selection is poor or the box is broken and there are issues with charges. How can you pass up $1.40 for a new movie for new members, free kids rentals for 5 days, tue wed thur when you get a new movie they give you a free $1- 5 nite movie! They never hassel you and their selection is bigger than any redbox or netflix – and there titles are instock!
Jax
What are you doing here then? I think you better get back to your job at Family Video! HAHA
next time make sure to give out the address and phone number….so silly.
I’m really sorry you can’t figure out the locations on your own!! Heard of google? Apparently not. Unedcuated!
Never heard of them before now. After looking up their website I see that they have only 600 stores in 17 states, none anywhere close to me, so that’s why I’ve never heard of them. Given that Redbox has something like 25 times as many kiosks nationwide as Family Video has stores, I am sure many people on this website don’t know or use them either.
“How can you pass up $1.40 for a new movie for new members?” Ummm… maybe by getting it for $1 from a Redbox? Or even for free, using a code?
And when you say they they have a greater selection than Netflix… I know you’re just talking nonsense trying to advertise for these guys. Netflix has 100,000 DVD titles actually in stock, and more which aren’t even on DVD yet ready to be streamed to you.
Silly uneducated people! Simple minds!
“time when I couldn’t return my free Monday DVD because the machine was full. The credit actually failed to go though because of a problem on their end and they put it through again, this time successfully.” —– LOL….Cant rent a movie cant return it.
By the way, if you ever get “machine full” when trying to return a DVD: the advice they gave me is, rent another one, that frees up a slot to return the first one. ——Wow how deceptive their practices are!
Jax. I’m sorry, but you’re an idiot. Too tired to list all the reasons. Figure it out yourself while you’re on your lunch break at Family Video. Oh, and Be kind, Please Rewind.
lol
I’ll laugh watching you try to rent a movie from a redbox. Not that I would belittle a video store employee, but I do have a better job than that. You spend to much time here…maybe you should get some “edumacation” Is this the language you understand simpleton?
has anyones monday code worked today? my husband tried it this afternoon it didnt work.
i have tried both Blockbuster and Netflix , but i am very happy with the redbox , as you get the movie that you want to watch cheaply , however only drawback is that sometimes it is hard to get the new movie
Not as hard as netflix or blockbuster online. If redbox is out just check back (online) a couple times a day or whatever, and you will get it within a couple days or so. netflix or blockbuster will take much longer to get you a new movie once it gets rented out.
i cancel my net-flix all together… even if i have to wait alittle to see a new movie its worth the wait and saving $$. we need to start showing these companies that we’re tired of everyone taking our $$..
Here’s the skinny…
I get the 3 at a time plan from NetFlix;
I burn them to blank DVD’s (just as good or not better;
considering the extreme usage, blanks will burn through the crap);
presently I am getting 25 Netflix DVD’s per month
at $16.95…you do the math…cannot beat it…
considering their massive database of DVD’s.
The secret is to send them back as quickly as possible
which is not to hard when you can burn them very fast.
(I watch a new dvd every night while I eat dinner;
too cool!)
Yes, Netflix is very stinjee on New releases, and that is where
RedBox is great, especially when I get the FREE code!!!
Life is good!!!
Since I started using Redbox I reduced my netflix number of movies. However this is the second week that I am having problems with Redbox. Last week the list of movies was late on the website so I could not rent online until late morning. This week It is not accepting any of my credit cards online. I will welcome all competition. Competition is good for the consumer.
I use both netflix one at a time and redbox.Netflix has a bigger selection of movies for me to rent and also blu-ray.Redbox I enjoy because it is very convienent for me to rent the new releases online and pick them up at Walmart.
As long as Netflix makes me mail in a dvd i will never subscribe. People are very impatient these days. And it’s a whole lot easier to just go down the street and rent a movie from Redbox. If Netflix were to open some kiosks, then things might get interesting, but for now they better be scared of Redbox.
It’s a whole lot easier to go to a Redbox than to go to your mailbox?
Really?
I am sure there are situations where this is actually true, like you work at a McDonalds with a Redbox but your mail goes to a PO box requiring a trip to the post office. But for the vast majority of people Netflix is more convenient.
Most people’s mailboxes are pretty close, but the Redbox is often a few miles away. And you need to make two trips to the kiosk, one to rent and one to return. And sometimes there is a line at the kiosk, you need to wait for a guy and his three children to page through the movie list to decide on a rental before you can do a simple return.
Redbox does have advantages over Netflix in some aspects, but you have missed the boat entirely on what they are.
I find that I still like Netflix better because so many of the DVD’s I get from Redbox are in bad condition, skipping, stopping, freezing, the color going in and out. I haven’t had has many problems with Netflix as I do with redbox. I enjoy getting a free dvd rental every now and then, but still, netflix is way better!