PSA-Are you using the $9.95 monthly MoviePass to see movie? Then use it while you still can because

[Aikouka]

You get around peak pricing by buying your tickets early in the day. You can buy tickets anytime during the day just have to do it within 30 minutes of checking in. Buy tickets before 1 got an 8 showing and you probably won’t pay the surcharge.

Just to make sure I understand what you mean, do you mean to purchase tickets for earlier showtimes? I looked earlier when I wrote that post, and it seemed to me like every single showing for specific movies had the peak pricing indicator (the red circle with a white lighting bolt) on it. The only movies that don't seem to have it are Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Blindspotting, The First Purge, The Incredibles 2, and Unfriended: Dark Web. Every other movie that I see has it listed beside each showtime.

 

[Ns1]

I guess nobody told them “lose money on every sale but make it up in volume” was a joke.

 

[Wreckem]

Just to make sure I understand what you mean, do you mean to purchase tickets for earlier showtimes? I looked earlier when I wrote that post, and it seemed to me like every single showing for specific movies had the peak pricing indicator (the red circle with a white lighting bolt) on it. The only movies that don't seem to have it are Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Blindspotting, The First Purge, The Incredibles 2, and Unfriended: Dark Web. Every other movie that I see has it listed beside each showtime.

When they did come back up the afternoon every new released was put on peak. However since peak pricing was launched you can buy tickets early before they turn red(will have a gray lighting bolt instead). Have bought evening Friday Saturday showing in the morning before they went peak last two weeks in a row. Movies would turn red around 2 or 3. Last weekend peak pricing was $4.6 in dfw last week.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I guess nobody told them “lose money on every sale but make it up in volume” was a joke.

Not really.

You have loss leaders to drive business but if your average profit margin on other items for sale is great enough then the "volume" part of the equation works. (Assuming of course your cheapskate clientele buy "other" items while there, and they usually do).

 

[dud]

So at their current burn rate how many days/weeks is this company going to last?

 

[K1052]

So at their current burn rate how many days/weeks is this company going to last?

Judging by social media they're done now.

 

[Ns1]

lol ggpo moviepass. Ran out of money AGAIN? They just took out a loan at something like 25% interest too.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/n...-subscription-limits-first-run-movies-1130948

The struggling cinema ticketing service is raising its monthly subscription price to $14.95, from $9.95, to deal with a cash crunch and persistent outages.
Embattled subscription service MoviePass said Tuesday it is raising its standard membership to $14.95 per month, a big jump on its current $9.95 pricing option.

"We will be raising our standard monthly price in the near future to continue providing an attractive service to our community while accelerating our path to profitability," the service said in a statement.

MoviePass addressed subscribers after they were unable to use their subscription cards Monday to purchase movie tickets, an outage that sent stock in parent Helios and Matheson into a freefall. The movie service also confirmed that it will limit access by subscribers to first-run movies opening on more than 1,000 screens "in the first few weeks," including Mission: Impossible – Falloutcurrently.

Shares in Helios and Matheson jumped Tuesday morning on the NASDAQ Exchange to $1.81, from a 72 cents opening price, on news of the price hike for MoviePass, before quickly sliding back to 58 cents, down 27 percent on the day.

While insisting Mission: Impossible – Fallout would be made "available in the future" to subscribers, MoviePass gave no indication when. And the controversial service said it will better inform subscribers on which first-run movies will be out of bounds on their first few weekends at the multiplex so they can "make plans to see a different movie."

Upcoming releases like Disney's Christopher Robin and Warner Bros.' shark movie The Meg, to launch Aug. 10, are also expected to be off-limits to subscribers on opening weekends. And MoviePass said it could not guarantee there would be no future outages after earlier disruptions in its service.

"As we continue to evolve the service, certain movies may not always be available in every theater on our platform. We are working to fine-tune this system and will have more to share in the coming weeks," the movie service said. MoviePass, addressing mounting complaints from subscribers, said it is "ironing out the details and algorithms of peak pricing, and as we’ve shared, consumers may experience peak pricing during typical non-peak hours."

The latest outage follows MoviePass introducing peak pricing, whereby it charges an estimated $2 to $6 extra if users wish to see the most popular movie titles at the most crowded showings."This is not how the feature is intended to function moving forward, and we appreciate our members’ patience as we’re still in testing mode," the service said of its peak pricing model.

 

[K1052]

As we continue to evolve the service

 

[Paladin3]

My local theater up here in the sticks hasn't had a service charge yet, so I'm still seeing 4-5 movies per month for $9.95 like I've been doing since MoviePass first became a thing. I'm going to climb to the top rail and ride this sinking ship into the sea! "I'm the king of the movie world!"

 

[clamum]

I think I'm locked in at a lower rate for a year (well, like 6 months or something now) so I don't think this price hike affects me. I think. And I can kinda understand their $2-$6 fee for popular movies at popular times, it at least makes some sense, but the whole "barring people from opening weekend" thing doesn't make sense to me.

Moviepass is what you would call a DUMPSTER FIRE:

 

[ImpulsE69]

I'm still really confused how they thought this was going to work...on the other hand, I never messed with moviepass but I've made a boatload from HMNY due to the hype.

 

[Paladin3]

Got this in my email today. They're basically saying to pay your monthly subscription and they will let you know later what you can go see. No firm guidelines for what will be extra or blocked. If I get locked out of seeing what I want when I want I'm dumping movie pass.

"Dear MoviePass Members,

First and foremost, I want to personally apologize to each of you for the inconsistencies and unreliability of our service over the past few days. Additionally, I regret our lack of proactive communication with you during this time; we are working hard to improve the communications to our community moving forward.

Over the last several days, we’ve begun making changes to our service that will help us continue to offer our members a high-value, low-cost, in-theater movie experience.

We believe that the company we have built — the fastest growing subscription company in history with more than 3 million members — has revolutionized the movie industry in the U.S. The first half of 2018 saw the total box office grow by almost 10 percent compared to last year, and we know MoviePass is responsible for a significant portion of that unprecedented growth.

In order to continue growing our service and maintaining a high level of financial discipline, we need to make some modifications:

• We must reduce availability for big new-release titles, such as Mission: Impossible - Fallout and other popular new releases, at least for a while as we adjust the business model. We are working on making this more clear in the app so you know which titles are available.
  
• Showtimes that are offered through our service will vary from day to day, and every showtime may not be available. We encourage you to check the MoviePass app for showtimes before you leave for the theater.
  
• While our customer service team has made great strides of late, we still have a long way to go to provide the most responsive customer service experience for you. In the meantime, access to immediate support may become limited. However, we are working to prioritize the requests of members who are at the theater and introduce more self-help tools, as well as focus our resources on fixing glitches and bugs in the app.

Finally, we want to be as transparent as we can with these changes and any future changes. We are committed to giving you the best experience. We count on your support and loyalty while we implement these necessary steps for the company you’ve grown to love.

Thank you for your understanding and patience, and we’ll be in touch with more updates as we have them.

Mitch Lowe, CEO of MoviePass"

 

[dud]

Their current business model is unsustainable. The customer is making out like a bandit while the company is going down the crapper. Management is going to have to alter their model for the company to survive. This will involve taking various steps noted in the Mitch Lowe email posted by Paladin3 previously. These "restrictions" to the wide open service (all you can see for $10/month) are not going to go well with customers who have been spoiled by the previous movie "buffet" business model. Only time will tell if enough people stay onboard to allow the business to stay viable. Me thinks that a lot of people would pay more for less IF it economically suits them to do so. Will that reduced user base, spending more money be enough to keep the business afloat? That is the question ...

 

[draknon]

Here is my complete experience with MoviePass so far.

I signed up for MoviePass as soon as they started the $9.99mo "service". After 2 months or so, they sent me an offer for an entire year for $89.99. I jumped on that offer as well. I'm a light user of the service only seeing 2-3 movies a month and I often go see discounted matinees as I prefer to watch movies when it's less crowded. I've been happy with their service.

Their customer service is very SLOW. But, they do eventually get to you. I had a billing issue when I switched to the annual plan. It took a week without a reply before they fixed it. I had also lost my card early this year. I had to wait about 10 days for a replacement. They didn't charge me the $10 lost card fee though.

Shortly after Ready Player One came out, they started a limit of 1 viewing per movie. I thought this was acceptable though they like to say "any movie, any time, any day." I also follow MoviePass on Twitter and they would often promote comments about people watching movies several times. Soon afterwards, they decided that you would also have to submit a pic of your ticket stub as well. I thought this was odd and assumed it was to prevent some form of fraud that they were being taken advantage of. The app makes it very easy to submit so, it's not a big deal. They implemented surge pricing which is BS but currently it doesn't apply to me since I'm on a yearly plan. I don't even understand why they would have a surge charge at all since they pay the same amount no matter how many seats are sold.

Then the Mission Impossible issues happened. Leading into and through the weekend, almost every movie was listed as a surge price and Mission Impossible was completely unavailable. Now, I live in a small town where the theatre almost never fills. There should never be a surge listed here. This is where I found out they had run out of funds and had to get an unfavorable emergency loan. It became clear that blocking M.I. and adding high surge prices to every showing was designed to prevent/persuade subscribers from using the service. This pissed me off and they have heard from me.

Now, I've seen enough movies that I won't be upset if they fold and I don't get my entire year for the $90 I paid. But, I would be seriously hesitant to renew if they are even still around when that time comes. I certainly hope that they are able to pull through and find a solution that works for everyone. I'm glad that I have taken part in MoviePass's service.

Being a MoviePass member does create a few issues though. At my local theatre, you can't buy tickets ahead of time through MoviePass. My theatre also uses assigned seating that you pick when you purchase your ticket. It's hard to coordinate with friends on going to see a movie. A few of my friends joined MoviePass on monthly subscriptions after I told them about it. We would go see movies together when we could. Early this year, Costco started to sell 1 year MoviePass subscriptions for $90. This was great and I had recommended to friends/family/co-workers that they should go this route if they were going to join. Costco tends to stand behind what they sell and I have heard that Costco is providing refunds if requested to members that Joined through Costco.

 

[Ns1]

Shares of MoviePass parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics slid an astonishing 56 percent on Thursday to just a dime apiece.

The stock is now down a remarkable 99 percent in a matter of weeks, having briefly traded above $20 a share after a one-for-250 stock split. At the end of trading on Thursday, Helios and Matheson sported a minuscule $169,000 market cap.

daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn

 

[madoka]

daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn

It was fraud:

https://www.businessinsider.com/mov...ndian-company-accused-of-massive-fraud-2018-7

 

[Wreckem]

Well I’m out. After these changes and the impending price hike you have an essentially overpriced worthless serivce. Pulled up movie pass this morning all new releases are grayed out. All currently eligible show times for purchase for movies I can see are all evening showings and are already at surcharged peak pricing.

 

[JujuFish]

Their customer service is very SLOW. But, they do eventually get to you.

7 months later and I still haven't heard back from their customer service. I think I have to disagree with your second sentence here.

 

[Stopsignhank]

The stock is now at $0.07. This is AFTER a 1 to 250 stock split. So pre-split price this would equate to $0.00028.

The real question is, who is going to continue to pay the now increased price of $14.95 this month.

 

[Paladin3]

Just opened the app to see what was playing at my local theater, which has six screens. Three movies were completely blocked, 2 I had to pay extra if I wanted to see them, and the only movie I could see without paying extra was The Spy Who dumped me.. Pretty underwhelming.

I cancelled my subscription telling them the new pricing structure sucks. I was warned three times that if I cancel I will not be able to resubscribe for at least 9 months. Nice f-off parting message.

 

[Ricochet]

Since I got the 1-year subscription through Costco I told them that the service is pretty much defunct and Costco took my card & refunded me in full without issue. I'm signing up for A-List.

 

[Sonikku]

Just opened the app to see what was playing at my local theater, which has six screens. Three movies were completely blocked, 2 I had to pay extra if I wanted to see them, and the only movie I could see without paying extra was The Spy Who dumped me.. Pretty underwhelming.

I cancelled my subscription telling them the new pricing structure sucks. I was warned three times that if I cancel I will not be able to resubscribe for at least 9 months. Nice f-off parting message.

Honestly, I don't see them still being around in 9 months.

 

[Zorba]

Basically it is the same business model as $10 dollar gyms. Get a ton of people to sign up, that pay monthly, but never actually show up. The difference is people don't like going to the gym and get memberships because they think they should or will, then they are too embarressed/upset with themselves/lazy to cancel. With movies, the only people that will buy this are people that like going to movies, and if they don't end up using it, there is no guilt in cancelling.

Also the marginal cost of someone coming into the $10 gym is basically nothing and having people in there working out is good for the sales team. The marginal cost of someone going to a movie with this pass is $10+, or more than monthly membership.

 

[Paladin3]

Basically it is the same business model as $10 dollar gyms. Get a ton of people to sign up, that pay monthly, but never actually show up. The difference is people don't like going to the gym and get memberships because they think they should or will, then they are too embarressed/upset with themselves/lazy to cancel. With movies, the only people that will buy this are people that like going to movies, and if they don't end up using it, there is no guilt in cancelling.

Also the marginal cost of someone coming into the $10 gym is basically nothing and having people in there working out is good for the sales team. The marginal cost of someone going to a movie with this pass is $10+, or more than monthly membership.

The math is easy to do and see it'a a losing game, but the company was supposed to make the money up on the back end by selling customer data generated via their app. From the beginning it sounded like they had pretty unrealistically high hopes for how much revenue it would generate, and now it's obvious they fell a little short.

The fact that they got so many investors to drink the cool-aid and take the ride with them is either a testament to their sales skills and/or human stupidity/greed.

 

[Aves]

I switched to AMC A-List the day it became available and never looked back. I still get the emails from MoviePass and it’s interesting to see what changes they keep making to try to stay afloat.