Pre Auth Issues and Questions

There have been a few folks that have asked a few really good questions on Pre Auths. Good Questions deserve their own blog section. Mark Rudolph has taken the time from DVDNow to answer one that has been asked a few times already. So Here it is:

Joe Fusco Asked:
I am going to start soon raising my preauth to $8.00, now at only 1 nights rental. I also want to put some games in. I would like to set the preauth for games higher but I don't see a way. I can't see a $50.00 game going out on an $8.00 preauth.

Mike
Is there a way to talk to DVDnow about changing the preauth by slot like you can for rental and purchase price?

Hi Mike,

Customizing a pre-auth for per slot is not available.

Operators can use the Customize Price Data feature to set higher or lower rental rates for days of the week or for specific slots.

This is one way to set a higher pre-auth fee. However, the limitation is with the pre-auth setting. Whatever pre-auth method you choose to use will be used for all card swipes. If you select full then all rentals are pre-auth for the full sale value.

One idea that we have been working on – when the membership program is launched we plan to include a feature in which members who have a perfect track record – with no declines – will automatically be changed from Full auth to partial. New customers or non-members would be subject to full auths. There are no estimated release dates available for this.

I hope this helps.

Mark Rudolph
Operations Manager | DVDNow Kiosks, Inc.

February Movie Kiosk Slot Art from ReadyDVD

These are the movies that we have going into our machine in the next four weeks. As you can see there are a few movies that weren't available in the Slot art section. We have the Changeling going in this month and it's a Universal movie. Also, you'll see that Madagascar 2 is not from VPD this month. I had to find it on my own. Just click on the images and download them to your folder. When you pring out, use Microsoft image manager and select the 5x7 print format. These will come put great for you. If anyone would like to add any, just sent them to me.

By the way, Michelle and I just found one of the coolest tools that you will all love. We had to organize all the paperwork for our biz and a regular file just didn't work as well as the new system we have. The best thing is that it's very inexpensive to buy. We will post the URL soon with a video that Michelle is going to do to explain how it works. She's going to take a crack at doing a video. Should be fun and you'll thank her for it too.

Sincerely,

Mike Weiland

http://readydvd.com/

VIDEOS FOR SALE

I have had several people ask me now if I wanted to sell inventory of mine. As you all know I have my Host Stores sell the movies. I know there are some of you that want to sell videos though. So here's the deal. Anyone who buys videos from anyone else needs to understand that I am no way taking part in this transaction. Please make sure you contact each other and be honest with each other about the condition and the physical condition of your videos. Here's why I think this could be agreat deal for all of us:

1. Sometimes folks buy a video that we might want back
2. New comers that need inventory won't have to put RFID Tags on our movies, or even replace the boxes. That alone will save you money beccause it's already been done for you.
3. There is most often Slot Art you can download on this site for your Kiosk.

Again, Please Remember, I am not responsible for your transaction.

Thanks again for the idea Ryan Leonard
Sometimes it takes me awhile but it's still a great Idea! And to you others that have suggested By the way, you should all get a PayPal account if you don't have one yet. It makes things very easy for both parties.

Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com

Movies, How Much and What We Put In

Mike,
Any way you could get a blog going of what movies and the quantity of each title owners are putting in. I would certain post my weekly strategies. This would help everyone new and old to this venture. We could enter in something like what's below.

3 Pineapple Express (selling one on Ebay immediately after the first weekend)
2 Righteous Kill
1 Wackness
1 Babalon AD
Walmart ($105.00)

Regards,
Cedric

CANADIAN SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

There are several of you from the Great White North that have started to ask questions regarding things that apply to Canada ONLY. Ex. Credit cards I haven't heard about etc..
If Mark Rudolph or the guys from DVDNow can't answer your questions, or you want to set up a place to ask each other questions, I'll post them here. If they break into different areas, I'll seperate them for you guys.

Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com

Quick Books or Microsoft Money?

Joe Fusco recently e-mailed me and asked a question that I couldn't answer. I left it up to my lovely wife to answer since she does all the hard stuff in this business. Michelle uses Quick Books by Intuit. She has it all set up for our business. Michelle is a CPA for St. Vincent's Hospital and I'm sure glad that she loves to keep track of this business. I think this is the part that would drive me crazy. Our business is set up as an S Corporation. Here's Joe's Question:

Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com

I was just trying the Quickbooks I have again. Seems the one I got from my friend is a trial and don't work anymore. I been fooling around with both Microsoft and Quicken trials and they all seem to have the same structure. If she can give some insight on to how movies rental and sale income is added, that will be great. I don't want to take up too much of your or her time on this. I do understand the credit and debit part of it all. My problem is where to enter the credits, such as rental income.

I will chose soon between Quicken and Microsoft. Quickbooks is way to much money, unless Michelle says it's worth it. I do have an accountant for the tax part of it all but I like crunching numbers myself.

Thank You

Joe