Rip in Love film by post

Marvel1

Just had this email

We have very much enjoyed delivering the LOVEFiLM By Post service to you. However, over the last few years we’ve seen a decreasing demand for DVD and Blu-ray rental as customers increasingly move to streaming. Due to this, we will be closing the LOVEFiLM By Post service on 31st October 2017

Gutted, I loved the service, as they had movies and tv shows that are not available on Netflix or Prime, and i have many more to watch. I Will now cram as many as I can now until then 3 discs at a time, so average 6 a week

Torry_Quine

Gutted, I loved the service, as they had movies and tv shows that are not available on Netflix or Prime, and i have many more to watch. I Will now cram as many as I can now until then 3 discs at a time, so average 6 a week [/QUOTE]

I got the same and will miss for the same reasons. Not surprising though.

Marvqn1

Aren't the movies and tv shows you watch available on online streaming services?

DCFC79

Marvqn1 wrote: »

Aren't the movies and tv shows you watch available on online streaming services?

Some are yes but maybe not all.

Not everyone will have access to a streaming service so Lovefilm was useful.

Marvel1

Marvqn1 wrote: »

Aren't the movies and tv shows you watch available on online streaming services?

Not all of them, i will run a lost later of what's on my list of what i don't think will be on there, any sites to check that doesn't require signing up to browse?

eeetee

Ah this is a shame. As a customer since it's pre- amazon days I have enjoyed it's DVDs and now blurays. As a bit of a cinema geek I like the bonus features that aren't present when you steam, and saves a lot on buying them to own. I guess I will be making more use of eBay from now on haha

[Deleted User]

I had no problem putting rental video cassettes in my old VHS machine, but I was always loathe to put rental discs in my DVD/Blu Ray player.

I think the delay caused by postage was another reason it was never popular.
Instant streaming and the availability of cheap discs in supermarkets made the failure of this business model inevitable. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.

Neil_Jones

On the plus side you can get £15 off the Firestick as a loyalty thanks via the code in the email. But since I've been on a legacy deal dating from before Amazon bought the company and it's never gone up in price from £4.07 a month (Amazon did carry the prices over and hold them for existing customers when they merged the rental lists from Lovefilm to your Amazon account) so in all honesty I'm surprised it's still making any money.

I don't think there's many companies now who do DVD rental now is there? Cinema Paradiso seems to be the only other one. Many of the others that were around years ago were either powered by Lovefilm or bought by Lovefilm.

[Deleted User]

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Cinema Paradiso seems to be the only other one.

Probably ready to close imminently too.

HogMan

Used to really like Lovefilm, but stopped using them a couple of years ago due to the increased ease of streaming and the fact that it could take ages for a high priority film you wanted to see to be sent.



The fact that Netflix was a similar price (albeit with a more limited choice) helped that decision.

bertikusmaximus

Generally, I am an advocate for using technology (for example, I stream music using Google Play and haven't bought a CD in probably 10 years) but I'm devestated about this. I've been a customer of Lovefilm since 2007 and it has been really good.

Contrary to the comments here, or what Amazon will lead you to believe, I think DVD rentals aren't a dead business model. Reasons being:

1. Lovefilm has a much better catalogue than the streaming services. I considered moving over to Netflix recently, but I found that the range of shows is nowhere near what I can get on Lovefilm. And likewise, I tried the Amazon Prime trial but was disappointed to find it's catalogue is also limited and I can't use a Chromecast with it and would need to get a Fire stick. In all, I think streaming services suffer from being fragmented (i.e. if you want to watch both Bosch and House of Cards, you'd need both Netflix and Amazon, whereas both are avaialble easily on DVD);

2. Streaming isn't convenient for everybody. Some people have poor quality internet connections, or don't see the need for having fibre when a normal connection is fast enough for most applications (as in my case). Others also may be confused by streaming and prefer using DVDs/physical media;

3. The service has suffered from Amazon's prioritisation of streaming services. It is incredibly difficult to find the rental lists/Lovefilm account page on the Amazon home page. I therefore suspect this has resulted in some users thinking the service was cancelled some time ago and no longer using it/paying for it. Likewise, Amazon has left this to become a 'forgotten' service, so it's no surprise subscriptions have flatlined; and

4. It's very good value for money. I believe a Lovefilm subscription is only around £4 for the most basic package.

All in all, I am very sad; although there is hope that Cinema Paradiso might provide an alternative option.