DVD-by-mail - Types of Plans

Types of Plans

Most companies provide variations on five basic types of membership plans:

"Unlimited"

These plans have no maximum on the number of movies one can rent per term, although there is a limit on the number one may have out at any one time (the higher this limit, the higher the monthly charge). Most of the plans at Netflix, Blockbuster, etc. are of this type. "Unlimited" is something of a misnomer, since one will be limited by the delivery time of the postal service involved, the distance between the customer and the company's warehouse, etc. The company may also take active steps to reduce the number of discs shipped—see the "Throttling" section below.

"Limited", "capped", "monthly maximum"

These plans have a limit on the number of discs customers may have out at any one time, and also a maximum total of discs that can be rented during each billing period (usually monthly). This provides a cost ceiling for the supplier, and these plans are usually cheaper than unlimited plans. Some plans allow for additional shipments at extra cost once the maximum has been reached. Usually no credit is given if usage is below the maximum, although plans that allow this sort of "carry-over" are not completely unknown.

"Package"

Instead of each disc being sent and returned independently, a "package" plan sends a certain number of disks together, and one returns all the discs in a single package as well. A common scenario allows for two packages to be outstanding, and subsequent packages ship as a previous one is returned.

"Individual Rentals", "pay-as-you-go"

A plan of this type would allow individual rentals for a fixed fee (perhaps varying by type/age/popularity of the title), with no monthly fee. Since companies rely on the monthly fees of low-volume renters to make up for those whose shipping costs approach or exceed what they are paying, there is little incentive to offer such a plan, and the rental price would likely have to approach or exceed store costs. Still, it would be a useful alternative for occasional or periodic renters who want access to the huge selection of online companies or the advantages of mail rental, yet do not want the fixed monthly cost.

"Peer to Peer Trading"

There is also a completely different variant which might be termed "peer-to-peer". Individuals are able to exchange items directly with other consumers, using a company's services to provide matching between customers, mailing envelopes, credit for items traded, etc. Examples include Peerflix and SwapSimple.

"Season Rental", "Series Rental"

These are company controlled package plans based on a set of predetermined settings by the company. Season rental plans allow customers to rent entire seasons of television shows in single shipments; the customer can not break up or modify the package. Customers often can still queue various packages together for uninterrupted service; returning the first package in order to have the next one shipped (i.e. Star Trek season 1 followed by season 2). Such plans are usually allotted either by show, or by season, for a set price.

Series plans allow customers to rent entire television or film series in bulk; often in a single shipment, (i.e. Friends TV show or the Baby Cart film series) but otherwise work identically to Season Rental plans. (The terms “Season” and “Series” are reversed in the UK.)