Scrappy UK Game Rental Service Struggles to Find its Footing
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Why Buy Games is an up and coming mail-order video game rental service that is wooing gamers throughout the UK with what are currently the least expensive monthly rentals at £12.49.
However, this North Whales based company is stumbling at the starting block due to a lack of funding. After an initial 12-month run, the company has built a dedicated subscriber base, but its owners claim that growth has been slowed by noninterest from venture capitalists.
It’s not the first company to offer this service in the UK. And as an old marketing professor of mine used to say, “If you can’t be first, be different”. The site layout and membership structure aren’t too markededly different from those of its predecessors, but its low low prices are admittedly eye-catching. Here’s a rundown of just a few of its competitors. Prices are listed for a similar package - You can rent two games out at a time with an unlimited number of rentals. The following are monthly subscription fees for this particular package:
Why Buy Games: £12.49
Swapgame: £14.99
Games Frenzy: £13.96
Gamesmonster:£14.99
Boomerang: £13.99
Gamefly runs a similar service in the US and has been very successful with this model. I can’t vouch for Why By Games (or any of these services, really), but it seems that this distribution model can save you a ton of cash if you play lots of games or share an account with a sibling/roomate/partner.