TSUTAYA Delivery

I wrote a post about the large DVD, CD, manga rental chain called “TSUTAYA” in Japan…(click here to read it).

Well, I just saw a TV commercial for a new service they’re beginning…CD / DVD rental delivery.

To use this service, you would access their website via computer or cell-phone, order the DVDs you want, and they’ll mail them to you…then to return them, you simply place them in a public mailbox (outgoing mail is never placed in home mailboxes like it is in America. Contrary to the picture above, Japan’s mailboxes don’t have flags on them for outgoing mail like U.S. mailboxes do).

There is no membership fee to join the TSUTAYA delivery service, nor any late return fees.
And the postage for both the delivery and returning the DVD is paid by TSUTAYA.

The cost is ¥1,974 / month (about US$21*) and up to eight DVDs can be rented each month. That comes to ¥247 (about US$2.73) per DVD.

How much is DVD rentals in your city? (What city do you live in?) Leave a comment about it.

I won’t use this service, though. For four reasons:

1. I don’t rent DVDs or CDs too often.
2. There’s a TSUTAYA within walking distance from my house…I can just go there.
3. I have never bought anything online yet. I don’t feel comfortable with online shopping.
4. Although ¥247 (about US$2.73) isn’t a bad price for DVD rental…every Wednesday, TSUTAYA rents DVDs for ¥199 (about US$2.20) each (even new ones) at the branch near my house (I’m not sure if all their branches do that).
   So, if I want to rent a DVD or CD, I go there on a Wednesday.

If you live in Japan and you want to use the TSUTAYA DVD Delivery Service. Click here to access their delivery site (it’s in 日本語 (Japanese)).

* (All US dollar amounts are based on the Japanese ¥en → U.S. Dollar exchange rate on February 1, 2009.)

TSUTAYA

Do you live in Japan? Do you have a Tsutaya membership card?
Tsutaya is the biggest video-rental (I guess I should call it DVD rental now) chain in Japan.
It’s kinda like Blockbuster Video in America. (Is Blockbuster still in America? Is it still popular?)

I’ve had a membership card with Tsutaya for years now…ever since the one near my house opened.

I don’t remember what they have at Blockbuster Video in America (I don’t recall anything except videos)…but Tsutaya in Japan has rental DVDs (used to be VHS), and rental CDs (in Japan, you can rent a CD after it’s been on sale for one year (it used to be rental LPs and cassettes!)), and many branches of Tsutaya also sell CDs, DVDs, magazines, books, video games, etc.

Also in Japan, many credit cards also double as point cards / membership cards for a store. Do credit cards in your country work like that?
I have a Visa, Master Card, and a JCB credit card. They’re all point cards at different stores, too. Meaning, if I either shop at that store or use the credit card, I get points on the store’s membership card!

My JCB credit card is also my Tsutaya membership card. So, anytime that I buy or rent a CD or DVD from Tsutaya or I use the credit card…I get points on the Tsutaya card.

If I get 190 points, I can rent a DVD or CD for free. Recently, I rented the new “Indiana Jones” movie for free (I’m glad it was free! That movie’s a disappointment! 😦 ).

Did you know, though, that Family Mart convenience stores, Lotteria Fast Food restaurants, and a few other stores have recently started giving Tsutaya points to their customers who show their Tsutaya card when they purchase something?

If you live in Japan and have a Tsutaya card, don’t forget to show it when you shop at places that have Tsutaya‘s “T” logo displayed!

(Looks like mine, but this image is from Tsutaya’s website)