Wal-Mart Pushing the DVD Rental

Wal-Mart has lowered DVD rental service prices:

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said it would offer a $15.54 monthly subscription rate for the service for customers who only want to have two DVDs rented at one time. When the company started the service in October, it had a subscription fee of $18.86.

For those who wish have three rentals at once, the price will be $18.76, with a monthly fee of $21.94 for customers who want four rentals, the company said. [Reuters]

They are also offering a free 30-day trial period:

• Choose from thousands of DVDs, with no limit to how many titles you can add.
• Arrange the DVDs in the order you want to receive them.
• Receive the first DVDs from your list – how many is based on your membership plan.
• Keep them as long as you like – there are no late fees!
• Use the postage-paid envelope to mail a DVD back when you’re finished.
• Receive the next title from your DVD List.

Billing

When you sign up for your 30-day free trial, we’ll ask you for a credit card number. If you’re happy with Wal-Mart DVD Rentals, we will automatically begin billing your credit card when your free trial ends. If you’re not completely satisfied, you can cancel the service anytime during the 30-day free trial to avoid being billed for the next month.

Actually the monthly fee still seems high: I’d do it for $10 a month for the one at a time deal. That would be about one a week for $2.50 each. Remember online services should be LESS than their real world counterparts as the company’s costs are lower (no display, lower storage, lower personnel costs), the time lag between order and receipt should generate a discount.