Advice on game rental system

arfur

arfur

arfur

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I'm launching a new pc store (ocuk dont do what we do so no worries ;) ) and i've had the idea of renting xbox and ps3 games, its a small town and blockbuster isnt very close. Anyone got any advice at all? Including how do you stop people robbing the games?

Thanks
 
Make a contract saying that if they do not return within the set time contraints you will be prosecuted. Surely that is law binding?
 
I'd personnally look at getting some kind of membership contract setup requiring a member to show proof of their address and agree to legal action / fines if games are not returned on time or at all. So basically speak to a solicitor
 
You would have to chase them through small claims court or a debt collecting agency which will work on your behalf. A solicitor would be too expensive and not worth it. You just have to take risks basically with a business like that, why do you think you can't rent out consoles anymore?
 
You need to source your games differently, don't you? Its been ages since I ever rented, but aren't they usually 'rental copies, not for resale', or is that just DVDs? I forget.
 
Same for games and movies - you purchase copies with a rental license, costing a lot more than a general retail one.

Oh, and there's not much you can do about people nicking them beyond the usual membership records etc. Get business insurance.
 
Do what love film do and mark you disks some how. A games rental down here stopped renting as people would change the disks for their old broken ones and return them.
 
Require a credit card to setup membership and charge people on the card for things they don't return?
 
arfur said:
I've been googling for suppliers of rental versions but cant find any, can anyone suggest any?
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I believe the likes of Blockbuster source their titles directly from the production companies (games included). I'm unsure about other locally owned businesses.

Might be worth emailing Blockbuster head office and other rental places such as LoveFilm to see if you can get a tip as to how they operate.
 
Pestilence said:
Might be worth emailing Blockbuster head office and other rental places such as LoveFilm to see if you can get a tip as to how they operate.
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:eek: Do you honestly think that companies are going to give away trade secrets to a random email?

OP, it might be an idea to contact the publishers directly to enquire about game rentals.

Just a thought though, you really need to do your research and maths well before starting a scheme like that (I know it's only part of your business), but think:
  • How much admin will be involved in the rental aspect
  • How much space in the shop will they take up (could be used for point of sale stuff or extra stock)
  • How much will it cost to get a decent enough selection to get people coming back?
  • How much will it cost you in time and money to replace nicked stock?
  • What are your prices going to be to compete with the likes of Blockbuster and Lovefilm?
  • Who are your major competitors and what can you offer that's unique? A better price, a larger selection of games, no late fees, two for the price of one etc.?
  • Is it really the right time to be getting into the game rental business? Not only have you got Blockbuster and Lovefilm operating but soon you will have game streaming services such as Onlive...can you make it worthwhile?
Hmmm, that's a bigger post than I was meaning but the points came to mind as I was writing it...hope they are useful. :)
 
thanks bigcheese,

the admin and space side wont be an issue, we have software that is designed to do rentals so thats ok, the big problem is keeping it legal, I'm really struggling to find any info thats relevant.
 
arfur said:
thanks bigcheese,

the admin and space side wont be an issue, we have software that is designed to do rentals so thats ok, the big problem is keeping it legal, I'm really struggling to find any info thats relevant.
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Blockbuster order in huge bulk and still have to charge £6.25 for a week and they only make a profit once it rents 10 times.

As for making sure you get them back nip into blockbuster and ask for a membership form, all the t+c's are on the back page, they could help
 
If you have a rental shop then you have to only rent 'Rental Only' DVDs, clearly you aren't permitted to rent 'Retail Only' DVDs.

You can get Rental DVDs from most of the main UK wholesalers. There are specific companies out there that will sell you Rental DVDs (if you have physical premises) and allow you to have a rolling line of DVDs, ie; return one, get a whole load back. Kind of sale or return but once you are done renting them you give them back for newer movies. So they therefore retain physical ownership of the products.

You can however just buy the Rental versions from the wholesalers, they aren't cheap though.
 
arfur said:
how do you stop people robbing the games?
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You'll never stop people being able to steal the games from you, but you can take steps to ensure that the likelihood of this happening is greatly reduced.

A very thorough set of T&Cs, drawn up with the aid of a solicitor, would be the first place to start. However, you might find it tricky to enforce this 'contract' to anyone under the age of 18, so that might pose some problems for your fledgling rental business.

You've then got to find some way of verifiying the identity of your customers so you A) know who you're dealing with and B) know where to send the debt collectors when they decide not to return the stuff they've rented. As you'll probably be restricted to people over the age of 18, I'd ask for some form of photographic ID with their address on (i.e. a photocard driving licence) or a passport and a utility bill, etc.

And lastly, you'll probably need to keep their payment card details on file (there are various issues surrounding this that the solicitor will be able to advise you on) or find some other way of ensuring you can easily 'collect' any late fees, fines, etc.

Ultimately you've got to remember that someone will screw you over at some point, so don't forget to build that into your business model when you're drawing it up. But as long as you can 'afford' to lose the odd thing here and there (and waste time trying to track the buggers down) you'll be okay.
 
glitch said:
You'll never stop people being able to steal the games from you, but you can take steps to ensure that the likelihood of this happening is greatly reduced.

A very thorough set of T&Cs, drawn up with the aid of a solicitor, would be the first place to start. However, you might find it tricky to enforce this 'contract' to anyone under the age of 18, so that might pose some problems for your fledgling rental business.

You've then got to find some way of verifiying the identity of your customers so you A) know who you're dealing with and B) know where to send the debt collectors when they decide not to return the stuff they've rented. As you'll probably be restricted to people over the age of 18, I'd ask for some form of photographic ID with their address on (i.e. a photocard driving licence) or a passport and a utility bill, etc.

And lastly, you'll probably need to keep their payment card details on file (there are various issues surrounding this that the solicitor will be able to advise you on) or find some other way of ensuring you can easily 'collect' any late fees, fines, etc.

Ultimately you've got to remember that someone will screw you over at some point, so don't forget to build that into your business model when you're drawing it up. But as long as you can 'afford' to lose the odd thing here and there (and waste time trying to track the buggers down) you'll be okay.
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For under 18's you could get a parent or guardian to come in , get their ID and then have a form saying they give permission for their child to rent games on their behalf but they are ultimately responsible for any fees which may incur.
 
sanaxe1 said:
For under 18's you could get a parent or guardian to come in , get their ID and then have a form saying they give permission for their child to rent games on their behalf but they are ultimately responsible for any fees which may incur.
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Yeah, that would work. There's a few niggles that would need sorting (age ratings on games, who is paying the bills, etc) but providing they signed the T&Cs and passed the checks, it ought to be fine.
 
Does anyone know if there definitely is a version of games that are for rental? I cant find any info on them and none of the suppliers I contacted know about them.
 
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