While streaming media services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are all the rage, they have some limitations. The biggest one of these is that it takes forever for them to get the latest Hollywood blockbusters. In some instances, a movie that exited the theaters three months ago and was released on DVD and digital download today won’t be available in streaming services for a year or two. Much of this has to deal with the licensing terms and agreements the studios have with television providers and streaming services. But also a big part of this has to do with the fact that film studios don’t want to cannibalize their home video sales–why allow a new movie to be streamed if you can sell it to people for more?
Much of this has to deal with the licensing terms and agreements the studios have with television providers and streaming services. But also a big part of this has to do with the fact that film studios don’t want to cannibalize their home video sales–why allow a new movie to be streamed if you can sell it to people for more?
This has lead me to buying movies from iTunes an increasing amount of time. Ala carte digital download services like iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon Video often times get movies the same day they come out on home video–and in some cases even weeks before.
The bad thing about buying movies on iTunes or other digital stores is the cost. Buying a movie can cost two to three times as much as a normal month of Netflix streaming costs you. But there is a way to get iTunes media like Movies, TV Shows, and even Books for less than the normal retail price. It’s possible when the studios and publishers offer a sale price for their media on iTunes. There are some times a £14.99 movie is discounted to £4.99 for 24 hours only.
Here the problem is actually realizing there’s a sale in time to grab your favorite flick at the low price–and that’s hard to do unless you are constantly monitoring the price of a movie or TV show, or book on iTunes every day. Who has time for that?
That’s why I was thrilled to find a much easier way to monitor iTunes Store sales: via a nifty app called CheapCharts. CheapCharts is hands down my most favorite app I’ve found in months. The app allows you to quickly see price changes for all the media offered in the iTunes Store, including movies, TV shows, books, and more. The easy-to-use app has probably saved me over £100 in the last month alone buying up my favorite movies from iTunes. It works by allowing you to create watch lists of your favorite movies, TV shows, and books and the app will automatically ping you when one of your watched items goes on sale.
Another great feature of the app is the ability to see all the current movies on sale–even the ones you aren’t monitoring. This has allowed me to snag some excellent deals on movies I loved that I’d totally forgotten about. So, if you want to save a MASSIVE amount of money on iTunes media, download CheapCharts and then follow these steps:
- Open the CheapCharts app.
- Tap on the hamburger menu icon in the upper left-hand corner.
- Tap on the category you want to search in (Movies, TV Shows, etc)
- Tap the Search button.
- Enter the title of the, for example, movie you want to track the sale price of.
- On the item's product page, tap the Star “Wish List” button. The item is now tracked in your wishlist.
- To view your wish list tap on the hamburger menu icon in the upper left-hand corner.
- Tap on Wish List at the bottom of the menu. The Wish List screen will appear showing you the current price and showing any prices changes. The app will then send you push notifications when the item goes on sale.
Easy, huh? As you can see, Cheap Charts is a great way to save a ton of money on the iTunes Store. If you buy a lot of media from it, I highly recommend you download CheapCharts and start tracking your media wants today.
by michaelg via Featured Articles
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