How Does Redbox Still Exist?

With the popularity of streaming services, how is Redbox still in business?

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[Wolfenhex]

Something I didn't see mentioned is that you're allowed to return your rented Redbox disc to any kiosk (doesn't have to be the same one you rented it from). This makes it perfect for truckers. Get a movie at one truck stop, watch it during a break on the road (often in the middle of nowhere, so don't expect good internet for streaming), then return it at the next truck stop.

[thedave]

There's several reason why i like my discs, but the most important is, if a streaming deal ends between a movie studio and a streaming service I paid full price for a movie on, I don't lose the movie. Anything you buy "digitally" is never really yours. Buy a 4k bluray disc, it's higher quality than any stream, and you can encode it to your NAS and watch it anytime, even when the internet is down.

[TekuJames]

This is precisely the reason I got myself a library card today. I was so frustrated with being unable to find the movies I wanted to watch on services I'm on and "other" streaming places being crap quality. Now I can rent Blu Rays for free!

[Leftistattheparty]

My parents. That is why redbox still exists

[anthony]

I literally just got a bluray player for $4 at a Goodwill and am currently out hunting for movies/TV shows on the cheap because I'm tired of streaming fragmentation and the fact that I just like OWNing my content.

[amazingdrewH]

I’m ten seconds in and I think the main difference between blockbuster and Redbox is that it’s a lot cheaper to maintain a vending machine than it is to run a whole store

[mektr]

Honestly I think the only reason Redbox ever slowed down in business is because Covid slowed down the entire movie industry to the point that new movies just weren't being released, and are still to this day being released at a snails pace when compared to pre-covid movie production and releases. I, like many others, prefer the better quality of the Bluray and the intact surround audio that many streaming services for some reason decided to downmix to stereo. Also you can often buy the movies outright from Redbox for ~$5 to $9 and rip them into your plex server at the quality you want and with the audio track you want ;)

[ED]

Redbox has kept relevant by diversifying their portfolio as well! Redbox has a neat side business where they help service and maintain other company's kiosks. Redbox built a fleet of maintenance workers nationwide to service their kiosks and they offer the same fleet to other similarly styled machines; of course, for a price! Think about all the random kiosks you see at Walmart, they are ALL probably serviced by the same group of people and it's likely that they are a part of Redbox's official network or have been. These machines may seem like vending machines but they often have things that go wrong and companies are keen on limiting downtime as much as possible. Also, most of these machines are not a Rent - Return situation, they are a mobile retailer, which means they need to be refilled! Routine maintenance can occur during refill visits so it makes sense to have a trained tech there to ensure any companies kiosk can stay in good shape!

[timramich]

Redbox also lets you return discs to any Redbox location. It doesn't have to be the literal machine that spat it out. You couldn't do that with video rental stores.

[JayBirdPhotos]

Linus has this nice new multimedia room in his house. Watching a Blu-Ray in that room with the muti-speakers and such is far better than attempting to watch a stream. Even with the best quality internet you're still losing out quite a bit due to compression... not to mention not all movies on streams offer Dolby 5.1 or more audio that a Blu-Ray does.

[Michael-zfko]

I'd take RedBox over any streaming service. Streaming quality will always be beaten by physical BluRays, and I found the scratching issue rarer than the internet hiccuping in the middle of the movie. Plus, you can buy the BluRay (or ahem, even rent) for cheap and copy it to your Plex server. It's a hundred times better than downloading movies from some "alternate" sources.

It would be a sad day if RedBox goes under along with physical media and leaves us at the mercy of streaming services we can't control.

[robertd]

i live in a rural town and have a red boxes to rent from. one is at a 711 a quarter mile from my house so renting for 1.50/2.00 is worth the drive to save from avoiding the $6 rental.

during covid it saved me when i was laid off and needed to save money and was bored. 2 movies, a bag of chips and a seltzer water/coffee/soda from the 711 for less than $8 kept me sane without spending more than i could 😂😂😂

[JeremiahPetersen]

When we moved 4 months ago 6 miles down the road and went from 100mbps internet down to a 500kbps Internet connection that will drop connection the moment it storms, is after 6 pm, or it just feels like it, is the moment I realized Redbox still fills a definite use.

[bishop]

Yep it's true, this is especially true with people that travel, Redbox is extremely popular with the truckers. We can pull in anywhere rent a movie watch it on our game consoles and return it anywhere there is a Redbox.

[kuromiLayfe]

Biggest thing I always liked with physical discs is the extra content (like some movie related mini games or just the cool menu’s some had when going through the contents

[monicaevie]

Redbox will always do amazing in small towns, especially small mountain towns. My mom and I live in the California desert, and we can’t afford WIFI, so we rent movies from Redbox. Also, we used to live in the mountains, where the wifi stops working pretty much daily, so you basically can’t stream movies. People in the mountains go crazy for Redbox. The Redboxs we have out here do amazing.

[funnyguy]

Filed for bankruptcy today 😢 but things come back all the time we’ll see what happens

[dasschnellsten]

It’s good for cabins where cellular signal sucks. You don’t want to buy internet access when you’re not up there 24/7.

[patrickprafke]

If what Ubisoft and Sony and others are doing isnt a wake up call for actually owning your media. Then that's on you. There is nothing wrong with owning what you buy.

[katherinelangford]

Yep. My corner store still rents new release DVDs for $3. I still get movies from them; newer stuff, less cost than digital rental, get a 5 min walk to the corner, and that nostalgia feeling picking out a movie.