Help on How it Works
When I rent a set of videos, do I get one week *PER* video?
You get to keep each DVD for no more than one week. If you get DVDs 1,2, and 3 in a set on the first of the month, you must send them all back by no later than the 8th of the month. If you want one week with *EACH* dvd, we recommend that you order them one at a time.
How much does it cost?
Most videos cost $9.99 per week. This includes shipping in both directions (i.e. you don't need to put stamps on the video when you're done; return postage comes in the box with the video).
Some premium videos cost $14.99 per week.
How does SmartFlix calculate 'one week'?
If the video arrives at your address on a Monday, you must put it in the mail on or before the following Monday.
If the video arrives at your address on a Wednesday, you must put it in the mail on or before the following Wednesday.
...you get the idea.
Do you ship outside of the US?
We ship to the US and Canada.
Are all videos in stock at all times?
We have multiple copies of many of our videos, and we try to have most things in stock at any given time, but from time to time, all copies of a given title will be out to customers. If you place an order and the video isn't available for immediate shipment, we will contact you and tell you when you can expect the video. If you don't want to wait, we'll refund 100% of your money, immediately.
After I place an order, how long until I get the videos?
We ship orders Monday through Friday, except for US Post Office holidays.
When an item is in stock, orders placed by 11am EST ship the same day. In-stock items in orders placed after 11am ship the next weekday morning.
Orders to US addresses go by USPS First Class Mail, which takes from 2-7 days, in the vast majority of cases.
Orders to Canadian addresses go by USPS First Class mail, which may take a few days longer than shipments to US addresses.
Orders ship from Massachusetts.
Shipments to the west coast, Alaska, and Hawaii can take an extra day or so.
When I order a set, what order do I get the videos in?
Some sets do not have an obvious order, for example: lathe and mill, which you can view in either order. In these cases, we do not require that these ship in order. We may ship both items together, or we may ship them in order, or we may ship them out of order.
Other sets do have an obvious order: for example "basic, intermediate, advanced", or "part 1, part 2, part 3". We always ship such sets in order. You may receive all the videos in one package, or you may receive the videos spaced out over time...but if this happens, we'll never ship them out of order. You'll always get part 1 before part 2, and part 2 before part 3.
Note that we are unable to ship out videos in a set in a staggered order. That is to say, when you order a set, we may, at our option, ship the entire set in one box. We understand that you may prefer to have more time to view each video and don't want to rush through the set in one sitting. In that case, we suggest that you rent the first video, return it, then rent the next video, etc.
Can you tell me the tracking number for my order?
Because orders are shipped via the US Post Office, either First Class or Media mail, and because neither First Class nor Media mail issue tracking numbers, we can not give you a tracking number. Sorry.
What are the terms and conditions?
You can find them here
Do you ship to Puerto Rico / APO / FPO addresses?
Yes!
Do you ship to Canada?
Yes! Things to keep in mind:
1. Shipment times may be slightly longer to Canadian destinations than to American destinations.
2. SmartFlix is not equipped to print Canadian postage on our return shipment stickers. Canadian customers are responsible for affixing proper postage. This may require a trip to your local post office. Note that this will increase your total cost to rent.
3. Prices are as listed, in American dollars.
What if I want to use the videos in a school?
We can probably help you. Under the US copyright law SmartFlix is allowed to rent out the physical copies of videos that we own, but we do not have the ability to license for-profit public performances of the physical copies of the videos that we own. However, if you are doing this in a government or non-profit school, for educational purposes, and do not charge admission, you are not required to get a license. Here is the law:
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101
To perform or display a work "publicly" means -- (1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or (2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times.
and here is the educational exemption:
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#110
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, the following are not infringements of copyright: ... 2. Section 110(2) (Nonprofit Educational Broadcasts of Non-dramatic Literary or Musical Works): a. The broadcast must be a regular part of the systematic instructional activities of a governmental body or a nonprofit educational institution; b. The performance must be directly related and of material assistance to the subject matter being taught in the broadcast; and c. The broadcast must be made primarily for reception in the school or governmental classroom or by persons who because of...
If your use conforms to the educational exemption, please go ahead and rent videos!
Do you sell videos?
We might in the future, but right now we don't. In the mean-time, if you're interested in purchasing a video, please contact us and we can tell you where to purchase it.
Why do you not ship to my country? Can't you make an exception?
In order to ship our videos, we need to
(a) understand the customs fees, workarounds, and waiting periods
(b) understand the shipping fees in each direction
(c) have legal recourse in the event of a loss of DVDs. In the US and Canada, etc., we have legal reciprocity for small claims courts, debt collection firms, etc.
(d) understand the legal liability we might face for renting out instructional materials that might have liability implications (i.e. a customer could follow instructions and harm himself or others; we have to understand what liability that puts on us in each legal climate)
(e) understand any legal restraints on video content (are firearms, knife, etc. videos legal in each country ? Might certain words be considered obscene in some areas?)
(f) ensure that our videos are region-encoded correctly
(g) instruct our staff on different shipping procedures
To justify the research and work for each country, we have to expect a very large volume of business.
To date, we have only decided to ship to a few countries, primarily the US and Canada.
In the future, we hope to ship to more countries.
If you have any question not answered above, please check the main help section or send us mail.