>When they are available it is usually 5$ for a "rental". Is that a joke? I used to pay that at Blockbuster, and they had a physical location and employees! They've priced their digital content in such a way that I will only pay to see the movies that I really want to see. If it was cheaper, I'd be a constant consumer.
I don't see anything wrong with that pricing. Physical store and employees = time consuming and inconvenient. You should expect to pay a little more not evening having to leave your home to rent a movie, nor having to leave it again to return the movie.
That said, good point about a lower price driving more sales. I assume the current price is optimized for total revenue, but who knows. And yes, the more expensive the rental, the more some will pirate it instead.
5$ in the digital age just seems ridiculous. That's 50% of my Netflix subscription for one film! If it was 1-2$ I would feel much better about renting a film online. At 5$ I'm halfway to a movie ticket, which is a much better experience (for me at least).
I don't see anything wrong with that pricing. Physical store and employees = time consuming and inconvenient. You should expect to pay a little more not evening having to leave your home to rent a movie, nor having to leave it again to return the movie.
That said, good point about a lower price driving more sales. I assume the current price is optimized for total revenue, but who knows. And yes, the more expensive the rental, the more some will pirate it instead.