The flat rate
At the launch in September 2002 there was one model: 19.90 EUR a month, up to three DVDs at a time, sent by post. There were no late fees, no rental periods, no shipping costs including the return, no surcharge for new releases and no long contract. The membership could be cancelled monthly.
Members kept a wish list in the member area. After registration and payment, the first three films of the list went out. When films came back, the next ones followed.
The website
The website and its back end ran on classic ASP with VBScript and SQL Server 2000.
- Search by title, actor and director, A to Z index, up to 25 genres.
- Top lists, previews and new arrivals.
- Wish lists with priorities, from which shipping picked the next titles automatically.
- Registration with an activation code and a member area.
- Payment by credit card, bank transfer or direct debit, with automatic renewal and a system for returned debits.
- A partner program with automatic commission accounting, vouchers and customer referrals.
- Customer ratings and reservations.
- Shipping with a return label and an interface for special printers.
- DVD data by web service.
Nice and exciting project in the early 2000s.