Why do people buy DVDs? Economically, it doesn’t make sense for most people. After all, a DVD costs $20, but it only costs $4 to rent it (possibly less if you commonly rent with buddies). Do people watch the movie over and over?

Couple explanations that aren’t economically sound, but make sense:

• DVDs are so cheap that people buy them on impluse without considering the economics.
• The buyer is already in the store, so why go to the rental store to get the same thing?
• People are used to buying CDs, so they’re accustomed to buying media. But of course, CDs are very different from DVDs; people commonly listen to CDs over and over, and it’s hard to rent them (libraries don’t always have the latest CDs, and some people don’t even realize that you can rent CDs at the library).
• Or, they convince themselves that they’ll watch a movie enough times to make it worthwhile, even if they don’t. After all, as I said, DVDs are cheap so a wrong economic decision doesn’t make much of a difference.
• Having a library allows you to watch your movies without driving to the store. This is also useful when people are visiting.
• Some people are collectors.

Reasons that are economically sound:

• There are a few movies that you’ll probably watch over and over. e.g. your top few movies, and kids’ movies.

An aside: I don’t buy DVDs, but I do buy books. The reason, though, is it’s hard to get new books in the library.