Answers in Progress

In my last post I listed out a lot of my initial questions that came to mind when I first started looking into the DVD Rental Kiosk industry....

Q: Who maintains the stock?
A: ME - I was pretty sure I would get this answer, but I wanted to be on the safe side and ask. I would be in charge of purchasing the DVDs, and placing them in the machine. New releases are set to hit the street on Tuesdays, so I could go out every Tuesday and load the new movies, or I could put them out sometime sooner and lock them down.

Q: Where do I get the movies?
A: Anywhere I want, but Gordon suggest I check out VPD. DVDNow has a strategic Alliance with Video Production Distributors. VPD is a big company that supplies a large part of the market with DVD's. Their deal with DVDNow is 6% over cost, and a buy back program for any DVD's that do not get sold from the machine.

Q: How long does it take to stock the machines?
A: 5 to 10 minutes

Q: Are there any sample reports I can see?
A: That will come with back end software demo if you become an accepted distributor.

Q: What is the potential income?
A: DVDNow is prohibited by law to make income claims, but after you are accepted as a distributor they can put you in contact with some other distributors who have much more liberty to discuss that type of information. (Here is a link to a blog written by a guy who already has a few machines up and running)

Q: How do I get customer email addresses, so I can do promotions?
A: This cannot be gotten from the machine, but a customer can visit your website to get a receipt, and they are working on a way to offer email subscription for promotional contact.

More to come...

Plan B Continued... DVDXpress

If you read my previous posts, then you know that "Sell-Through" is important for a DVD Kiosk, and that selling a product in the original packaging is key for increasing sell-through of your DVD inventory. You also know that Redbox and DVDPlay, aside from not making an offering for individual operators, sell their DVDs in generic slimline cases to save space in the machines.

When DVDXpress popped up on my Google search, I thought I might have been on to something. According to the little demo on their webpage, it looked like they dispensed their DVDs in the original case.

DVDXpress also had an interesting twist that I had not seen anywhere else. For a monthly subscription of 12.99 you could rent as many DVDs as you wanted from their machines on a 1 at a time basis. This I thought was a pretty clever way to develop loyalty, and a residual income. You could also rent DVDs at the regular price on a per night basis like Redbox and DVDPlay offered as well.

By now, you know the drill. I looked all over the webpage and did not find owner/operator information. I called the Sales Department but go a voice mail message. I hung up and call Customer Support so I could get a live person. Hooray! I found a live person, but they let me know that they do not offer the option for an individual to purchase and operate their machines.

So that was strike 3. Thankfully this is not baseball, and 3 strikes does not mean you are out....