Do Video Game Rentals Really Save Money?

Quite awhile ago, Bargaineering launched their email newsletter. In exchange for signing up, Jim offered readers two ebooks that he’s written. One of them is called “100 Easy Ways to Save Money”. I was quickly scanning through the ebook, reading a lot of the same information that I have in other places – but neatly compiled of course. There’s things like, shop around for a new cell phone plan, eat less meat, and take advantage of high-yield savings accounts. One of the mentions on the list jumped out at me though.

34. Rent video games, don’t buy them: The same rule applies for video games.
Video games are usually $50-60 a piece (far more than movies), but think of how
many games you play in a month. Services like GameFly are probably a better bet
for you.

A few months ago, I actually did this. I signed up for Game Access, Canada’s version of GameFly. Over the three months that I had the service, I “rented” three games. Here are some of the problems that I had with the service.

Its a Service You Forget About

The beauty of online video game rentals is that there’s no late fee. You can borrow it for as long as you want, so you don’t ever have to worry about returning the game on time. Well, there’s a reason there’s no late fee. Because Game Access (and GameFly, and Netflix, etc) are a monthly service, the longer you keep a game, the more money they’re making on the rental.

Let’s say, for example, that one of these monthly services costs $20/month, and you’re allowed two rentals out at a time. If you get two new rentals every week, that is a cost of $2.5/rental. If you only get a new rental every two weeks, that’s $5/rental.

In my case, I rented three games over three months, meaning that I will have spent approximately $20/rental. That’s more expensive than my local Blockbuster, though I did keep them for longer than Blockbuster would have let me.

If You Find a Game You Like, You Don’t Want To Send It Back

This was the major reason why I didn’t get more rentals. I had a couple of games that I got that I wanted to play through, and perhaps finish before I sent them back. I had the best intentions of getting around to it, but things came up, like starting this website. In addition, I rented Lego Batman, which Ashley was all over, and so I knew I couldn’t send that one back without incurring her wrath. Now we have plans to buy it so we can finish collecting all the pieces.

A regular rental would have still let us figure out that we wanted to play more of the game – but for cheaper.

There’s a Long Turn Around Time

Yet another reason I chose to not send the games back. The one rental I did send back for another had a turn around time of 8 or 9 days. If I’m paying a monthly fee for a game, I would hope that I would get more than 75% of the month with the video game itself.

You Can’t Choose the Games You Want

You have to pick 10 games and place them in a queue, and then hope that you get a game that you actually want. For me, I was renting games for the PS3, and there are only half a dozen really good games out there. In order to get 10 on the list, you have to chose some of the lesser known and less desirable games. Then Game Access would invariably send out the games that I didn’t necessarily want to get as much, presumably because they had such lower demand on them.

All in all, I found that Game Access, while convienent, is best used for short rentals on games that you’re willing to sit down, play once, and send back. Its for those games that you are intrigued by, but would never consider buying. It definitely should not be used for long-term rentals, as you could probably buy the game, and trade it back in for 2/3 of the original price, making a “rental” that is just as cheap – if not cheaper – than an online video game rental.

Upon review of my subscription to Game Access, I realize that I wasn’t saving money, and I wasn’t utilizing their service, so I decided to quit, which was an incredible hassle. I couldn’t quit online, I actually had to call in during their Eastern daytime hours (when I’m always working) and actually get a person (I was always on hold). But it was worth it, or else my subscription would just keep automatically renewing.

What services are you continuing to pay for that you aren’t utilizing? Have you done a home services audit? Here’s how to reduce your fixed expenses in three easy steps.

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