The movie selling section of Gameflip has been overrun in the past months by Instawatch listings. At first it was just a few sellers but now there are many more. Due to the way they obtain Instawatch codes they can sell them at much lower prices than usual, traditional movie codes - and in higher quantities. As a result the Gameflip movie section is FLOODED by Instawatch listings. Listings for the same movies can range from a few to a dozen. And the various sellers are trying to undercut one another so it’s just listing after listing of Instawatch versions.
If you want to avoid buying them it’s almost impossible navigate the site and find something is NOT Instawatch anymore. You used to be able to come and browse or search for movies and make purchases without worrying about buying something shady. I say ‘shady’ because some sellers are not forthcoming about the fact that the movie is Instawatch versus traditional movie code. And even if they include it some way in the listing you have to repeatedly check every listing to see if it is or not.
Instawatch is a digital movie service from Vudu that gives you a digital copy of a film when you purchase a physical copy from Walmart (Vudu was owned by Walmart until it was announced that April 2020 that it Fandango was acquiring it). This is different from the usual digital code or copy of the movie that comes on a slip inside the DVD case. It is digital link that is generated from and linked to your receipt from the purchase. So when you buy a DVD you have the physical copy in your hand, a digital movie code inside the case (if it comes with one), and then another Instawatch digital copy from your receipt.
The sale of Instawatch digital codes is banned on a number of sites because it is against the terms of service and because it can be used to scam purchasers because the Instawatch copy is removed by Vudu if the original physical copy is returned. Someone can sell the Instawatch movie, have the buyer ‘redeem’ it just fine, finalize the sale, and then return their DVD to Walmart and nullify the Instawatch copy.
Not everyone that sells Instawatch does this but because some do, and because there is a possibility (reportedly) that Vudu accounts that sell or purchase Instawatch copies can be banned. Therefore buying (and selling) Instawatch copies is risky.
Please, please consider separating Instawatch copies to a different section if you are not going to ban of sale of them outright. Thank you.
