Best places to buy and rent movies?

I was wondering if anyone knows of any other video rental spots like this one.
There’s this little rental shop over by Times Square that rents out VHS tapes and DVDs, but since they end up with extra stock, they actually sell off the tapes—or DVDs—that have already been cycled through the rental inventory. For instance, you can snag a VHS for anywhere from 30 to $15 bucks (depending on what it is), while the DVDs go for about 80 cents.
Naturally, I picked up a few for myself—there's just something great about having the physical copy at home. And honestly, I don't mind the scratches or wear and tear; I actually kind of like that vintage feel.
The thing is, this shop only has about 50 titles in stock, and I am definitely looking to expand my collection!

Does anyone know of a video store with a similar setup? I’d love to track one down and absolutely clean them out.
😉

...honestly, it just depends on the video store. You'd really have to ask the owner, though technically they're supposed to send those tapes back to the distributor once the rental period ends. But can you imagine how badly Blitz, Continental, or anyone else is craving those old tapes? Most owners probably just sell them off. Just don't expect the quality to be any good...

Everything I picked up turned out fine, except for one tape that’s giving me some trouble...

When I actually bothered to ask why they were even selling them, the story was that they just end up with too much surplus—sometimes getting ten copies of the same movie when nobody's really renting it out, or something along those lines...

So, that's their reasoning for letting them go.

It feels incredibly awkward to just wander from one video rental shop to another, cornering owners to ask questions...

Honestly, they should just put them out on display and be done with it.

Besides, I wouldn't even know where to start looking...

Well, my cousin sells tapes and DVDs at his video rental shop too; you might just not have been talking about that specific one... they even have $3.25 tapes
available.

Really? I'll head over there right away. Thanks a million for the heads-up—I'll make sure to handle everything...

And if that's the case for $3.25, then these guys are basically running large-scale robberies out in the open.

Don't sweat it, there are plenty of even pricier options out there, but they always seem to have a massive supply and plenty of sales going on too

Since you’re already familiar with those KUM video rental spots, could you point me toward their locations? I know they have quite a few branches scattered around, but I can't seem to wrap my head around where they actually are...
I’m usually hanging around downtown, so ideally somewhere in that general vicinity.
Is that KUM location right by the Damia, or am I thinking of the Spider spot? Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue.

So, I’m also on the hunt for a local video store that actually stocks DVDs (somewhere in Chicago).
Does anyone happen to know of one?

Alex Hall4 said:So, I'm also on the hunt for a video rental shop that sells DVDs (in Chicago).
Anyone know one?

Honestly, regarding VHS tapes, don't bother buying them from rental places. You're better off hitting up the staff at Hollywood; they used to carry a ton of great titles at really fair prices, and you know the stock is actually decent.
For DVDs, I'd suggest checking out IBM every now and then because they occasionally have some gems at $17. I actually picked up A Nightmare Before Christmas there for $17 just the other day.

If you're dead set on buying from a rental shop, try Altria over in the downtown area or near the suburbs; they usually have heaps of old movies in pretty good condition. If you spot something you love but it isn't marked for sale, just ask 😉
.

boldeagle3 said:Since you’re already familiar with those KUM video rental spots, could you point me toward their locations? I know there are quite a few scattered around, but I can't seem to pin them down.
I'm usually hanging out downtown, so somewhere in that vicinity would be ideal.
Is that one video store near the Damia—is it the KUM location? Or am I thinking of Spider? Honestly, I haven't a clue.

That’s definitely Spider. Also, over on the West Side—near Tratin or where the old Končarev place used to be—there are a couple of shops advertising a "permanent rental" deal.
I also know the shop right under Baschiere sells DVDs in bundles—like three movies for about $7 or so. It's always an A + B + C combo: you get one blockbuster, one mediocre flick, and then a third one that is truly bottom-of-the-barrel garbage.
Well, if that's your kind of thing... 😛

Check the Spider. Prices range from 10 to $10. There’s one at the first subway stop behind Quartic, heading toward Central Park.

There’s a shop right by Times Square, directly across from us—I can't recall the name for the life of me... and then there's Luma just behind the pharmacy near Times Square too. I remember they used to carry both DVDs and cassettes back then.

Alex Hall4 said:So, I'm on the hunt for a video rental shop that actually sells DVDs (around New York City).
Does anyone have a lead?

Check out VIDEO CENTER - located in New York City (right in Midtown Manhattan, just across from Central Park). They have a big blue neon sign and it's a massive video store! They don't carry every single movie ever made, but they have a great selection and they're constantly adding new titles to the shelves.

..they’re gonna keep offloading them on you more and more, so if you’re a movie buff, stay sharp—especially when a local video store starts shutting down. The golden age of the rental shop is slowly dying out, which means more and more of them are just liquidating their stock.

fadedsailor932 said:..they're going to be selling them off more and more often, so movie lovers, you better watch out—especially when a local video rental shop starts closing down. The golden age of the video store is slowly but surely coming to an end, which means we'll see more and more of them liquidating their entire inventory.

?

I have to respectfully disagree with you here!

Once Blu-ray and high-def streaming really take over, that's when the real shift happens. DVDs will just become like old VHS tapes—something nobody even wants to touch anymore.😬