So everyone will probably hate me now b/c I'm interning w/ BB.
Anyway, Blockbuster is doing a bunch of things to try to factor out late fees.
Blockbuster Online for example, their "Movie Pass" (which I believe is about $20 for unlimited rentals per month, no due date, no late fees. My parents use this and love it since they rent a million movies a month), and the new elimination of late fees.
What they are doing ("After that grace period ends, the chain will automatically sell them the product, less the rental fee.") is actually something that was started by Movie Trading Company (which is now a subsidary of Blockbuster... they can be found in the DFW/Houston area and other sparse locations around the country). I used to work as a shift leader & associate @ MTC, and this was actually something our customers really liked. Our rental prices were cheaper than Blockbusters, but customers still liked that they didn't have to worry about turning it in if they wanted to buy it anyway.
I believe Blockbuster is also looking into purchasing other movie rental companies in the near future.
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