internet video and game rental software faq

Can we buy the software?: No. MMS rental point of sale software is only available as a remotely hosted service.
How do we go about branding our online video or game rental business?: The appearance of MMS is controlled using cascading style sheets. Any element of the site design appearing in the stylesheet may be customised to your preference. This includes everything from the logo, colors, background images to the color, weight, type and size of fonts. There are a number of sites where you can buy branding template packages for a very modest cost.
How about custom content?: In response to customer requests, an optional customisable sidebar feature has been implemented. It can contain any valid html content such as text, links, ads, images, etc. It is implemented as an include file. A screenshot can be seen here. Look at the right hand side of the page where it says customisable sidebar.
Can the software handle both sales and membership subscription based rentals?: Yes, each mode of operation can be individually specified by the site.
Who handles credit card processing for the rental site?: We handle the actual details of the processing. However, the merchant account and the payment gateway account must be owned by the site. This is required by the banks and charge card companies because they want to have a legal relationship with the actual owner of the funds.
When are monthly service fees due?: Monthly service fees are due on the 15th day of the month following the month of service. For example, the fees payable for services rendered in the month of January are due on February 15.
How are new rental titles added to the site?: New dvd or game titles can be added to the site using the administrator site. If a title has been added by another client site, it will be made available in the rental catalog without you duplicating the title.
Is there a prebuilt catalog of dvd titles?: Yes. This is a key feature of MMS. We maintain an automated central catalog that is shared between all sites. At the present time there are over 60,000 titles listed and made available to client sites.
How much should be budgeted for a new rental site?: Some sites start off with $10,000, but most operators are more comfortable with with a budget of $20,000. Most of this will be earmarked for acquistion of dvds or games for rent.
Do I need a fancy office?: No. Most of the dvd and game rental sites use post office boxes as their mailing address. If you look further, they are often in the cheapest rented space available or sharing space with another business. Some rental businesses are even operated out of basements.
Do I need a server?: No, because all of the server side facilities are handled by platformlabs.com
Do I have to buy every game or dvd title that we want to rent from my site?: No. We have seen sites who enable titles in anticipation of rental requests from their members without actually owning the title. They are able to do this for two reasons. First, there is a daily tracking report that tells them when they have a rental request for which they have no inventory. Second, they have arranged for quick delivery from their distributors. However, it is important to have a core catalog so that members will get quick service on at least some of their selections.
What does "copy depth" mean?: This is an industry term referring to the number of copies of each dvd or game title available for rental.
What is "title breadth": This is a phrase that we use in referring to the number of rental titles offered for selection by members.
Is there a demonstration site available?: Yes, please request the login details by email.
Will I still need a separate point of sale system on my end?: No, MMS is acting as your rental point of sale system. Manual adjustments can be handled by you on the virtual point of sale interface offered by the payment gateway provider holding your account.
Who handles the actual rental shipments?: You do. However, there are companies who are willing to handle your shipments on a contract basis.
What countries can I operate from.: You can operate from any country that you want.
I have a location and staff, but can I manage my rental business from abroad?: Yes, as long as you can obtain an internet connection for a laptop to access the reports from the management site.
Will I need to do any software programming?: No. But, you may find the services of a graphic designer helpful in creating a logo for your site.
Are there any costs for hosting or bandwidth?: No. This is all included in the monthly service fee.
Are there any limits on the amount of disk space used?: No. This is our responsibility.
Is there any software needed to run the administration site?: The administration site is run remotely on our server by connecting from your local computer using Internet Explorer. The only additional software needed is the barcode fonts for printing the barcode labels, and a free copy of microsoft wordview which is used during the printing process.
Where can I buy dvd and game rental titles?: We have created a list of vendors that we have run across in our travels, please refer to it from the table of contents.
How do I train myself or my staff on your internet pos system?: We maintain a training site which gives you the full functionality of a live rental membership site for practice purposes. It is a sandbox where you can practice without worrying about damaging a live site.

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