Renting streaming movies is a waste of money, here’s what to do instead
Like many of you, I loved renting VHS tapes and later DVDs from physical stores. Not only was it a fun experience and a way to meet new people, but there was often no other way to see the movies you wanted.
These days, there are plenty of options for seeing the movies you want, and digital rental is by far the worst of the bunch.
The “cheap” rental trap sneakily empties your wallet
It literally exhausts you
This thought occurred to me recently when my wife praised Nacho Free for the second time, then we might as well have paid full price to “own” the film on Apple TV. This is one of the pitfalls of online rental. The rental price is usually a bit lower than unlimited access to the movie, but it doesn’t take that many rentals to spend the same amount of money and not get the movie.
Honestly, in a perfect world, if you rented the same movie enough times it should have converted to an actual purchase, but that world is anything but perfect, and I feel stupid throwing even a single dollar at these rental services.
You pay for nothing and get less than ever
It’s funny, but digital rentals are so downgraded compared to physical rentals that I can’t help but let out an exasperated laugh as I write this while shaking my head. For example, if you rented a DVD back in the day, it would have special features. This is something you don’t get with most digital rentals, but you do get with purchase.
With physical rental, you could easily share the disc or tape with friends and family before returning it, and your rental and viewing periods were the same. None of this “30 days to start watching” and then 48 hours from the time you first click play to finish.
A digital rental is so devalued compared to what we had before that $2 seems like a ripoff when you think about it. That’s before you even understand how much worse the video quality is than DVD or Blu-ray, but that’s another conversation.
You’re probably already paying for better options
What are all these subscriptions for?
Before you rent a movie, especially an older movie, you should check to see if it’s already on one of the streaming services you’re paying for. Even if it’s not a service you already pay for, it may be cheaper to pay for a month’s access to this service rather than renting a single movie.
Personally, I find Plex to be the best way to find movie streaming locations. It knows where content is broadcast in your region. So it only takes a few seconds to check out and maybe save some hard-earned money.
But your other sensible weapon is simple patience. In the old days, films were released in theaters, then rental companies were given a few months of exclusivity, after which they were shown on television and available for purchase on home media.
This schedule has now been heavily compressed. Movies are available for digital rental shortly after their theatrical release, then move to streaming services fairly quickly. So if you are willing to wait a month or two, you can just watch the movie regarding the services you are already paying for.
Stop renting, start building something that’s actually yours
There’s nothing like a tangible film
While I don’t like the idea of ”buying” a digital movie that can be revoked at any time, if there’s a chance you might want to watch a movie a second time, it makes more sense to just spend a little more and buy it.
What makes even more sense is to buy the physical version of this movie, assuming it comes out in physical form. By purchasing the 4K Blu-ray of a modern new release, you are getting the definitive, highest quality version of this film. The initial cost is higher, but if you take care of this drive, you get unlimited access for the rest of your life.
When it comes to older movies, I buy used DVDs and Blu-rays of movies that are important to me in batches. No really, some used DVD sellers sell them by weight!
I’ve now built up a curated collection of records that numbers in the hundreds, and I’m not stopping anytime soon. If you’re just casual about your movies and want to watch them once as soon as possible, then perhaps a digital rental is both the most cost-effective and convenient way to do so. However, if you care even a little about movies and want what you pay for, you’ll avoid digital rentals like the plague.
