MoviePass Reveals Annual Subscription For $6.95 a Month (slashfilm.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: MoviePass seemed like the deal of the century: $10 a month to see one movie a day at the theaters? No contest. But in the three months since the start-up company seeking to disrupt the theater market with a Netflix-like service launched its new business model, MoviePass has been plagued by technical hiccups, backed-up deliveries, and potential lawsuits. As the company expanded its operations, it finally began to settle into its new subscription base of more than 600,000 users. And now MoviePass is already offering up a new deal: an up-front annual subscription of $89.95, which amounts to about $6.95 a month. But how much of a discount is it really? The MoviePass annual subscription is a limited-time promotion that will last 12 months, according to the website. Users pay $89.95 up front, plus a $6.55 processing fee. "Once your year is up, your plan will convert back into your $9.95 a month. Offer valid until it's not. Limit two per household," the MoviePass website says.

Comments

this is a pyramid scheme

[sittingnut]

on individual basis, expenses incurred by this company on behalf of a regular movie going subscriber, overwhelm its possible income.

business is supposedly built on assumption that most of its subscribers will not see even one movie a month.
but that seems foolish since subscribers who go to the trouble of paying upfront payment are likely to be people who will make use of their subscription.

so this is now basically using new subscriber cash for future year to pay for current month. so will need ever more new subscribers to service older ones. in other words, a pyramid schemes.

Re:this is a pyramid scheme

[gnick]

Some people will abuse this service but many more will see a movie or two for the first few weekends...

How is seeing as many movies as you want when you've subscribed to a service that exists specifically for that purpose "abuse"? If I'm at an all-you-can-eat buffet I don't feel guilty for eating more than their projected average customer.

Re:this is a pyramid scheme

[Anonymous Coward]

It is the gym membership business model.

Service valid until it's not

[alvinrod]

I almost wonder if this is a way to rake in some additional revenue before the company goes belly up for any variety of reasons such as result of some ongoing litigation. If they're only going to be around for another 2 months, $89.95 seems like a hell of a lot better to them than the usual $20. Just enough time for a big round of bonuses for hitting various growth targets before the corpse of the company is picked over by various jackal^H^H^H^H^H^Hlawyers.