Well, I wrote the following as a comment on some other guy's website but it didn't work. I couldn't bear to just delete something I had spent a minute-and-a-half typing out, so I thought I would post it on my blog, despite the fact that it will be neither comprehesible nor of interest to anyone who visits my site.

Blockbuster does suck, and, thanks to its new focus on pushing sales and promotions rather than improving its core buisness, it sucks more now than it ever has. I see alot of employees (I am one too) defending Blockbuster in this thread, but Blockbuster really is the home of poor customer service. Sure, overall, the majority of customer claims regarding late fees end up being false, but no individual customer should ever be treated as as a liar.

Regarding $100 DVDs, no video store anywhere ever pays $100 for any DVDs. DVDs are priced for sell-through and have been since the inception of the format, which is one of the reasons for its success.

Secondly, although studios would love to create a two-tiered DVD pricing system by requiring rental outlets to pay higher prices, there is a facet of copyright law called "right of first sale" which says that once you buy a legal copy of a copyrighted work, you can rent it or resell it or do whatever you want with it. So no rental outlet is ever paying more than retail for a DVD. Never.

Thridly, even in the case of VHS, which was and is still generally priced as a rental format, Blockbuster is not paying that $100 MSRP. Blockbuster has used its size to arrange very lucrative co-op agreements with the studios and pays something more like $7 for a $100 VHS tape. Mom and Pop chains, of course, have to pay full price, which is why all the ones in my area have died before the iron grasp of the 'Buster.