System and method for selling a rental media product

1 . A method for selling a rental media product having entertainment content therein, comprising the steps of:

receiving transaction data from a user interface, wherein the transaction data comprises an electronic mail address for a user;

vending the rental product from a vending apparatus to the user; and,

transmitting an electronic mail message to the electronic mail address, wherein the electronic mail message comprises an invitation to purchase the rental media product.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the rental media product is a digital video disc.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the steps of receiving the transaction data and vending the rental media product are automatically performed at least in part by a vending controller within the vending apparatus.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the step of transmitting the electronic mail message is performed by a central controller at a location remote from the vending apparatus.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic mail message comprises a uniform resource locator specifying an Internet website through which the rental media product can be purchased.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

querying a database to determine whether the rental product has been marked for sale.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

querying a database to determine a sale price for the rental product.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

receiving a user identification from the user interface.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the user identification comprises one of a series of digits corresponding to a credit card account, and a billing zip code corresponding to the credit card account.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

determining whether a predetermined period of time has elapsed since a prior transmission of an electronic mail message to the electronic mail address.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of transmitting the electronic mail message is based on a determination that the predetermined period of time has elapsed.

12 . A system for selling a rental media product having entertainment content therein, comprising:

a central controller for receiving first transaction data from a vending controller, wherein the first transaction data comprises an identifier corresponding to the rental media product and an electronic mail address corresponding to a user;

an electronic mail application for transmitting an electronic mail message to the electronic mail address, wherein the electronic mail message comprises an invitation to purchase the rental media product; and,

a purchase application for receiving second transaction data from the user, wherein the second transaction data comprises a request to purchase the rental media product.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the rental media product is a digital video disc.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the central controller is located at a first location and the vending controller is located at a second location remote from the first location.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the electronic mail message comprises a uniform resource locator specifying an Internet website through which the rental media product can be purchased.

16 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the purchase application receives a user identification from the user, wherein the user identification is one of a series of digits corresponding to a credit card account, and a billing zip code corresponding to the credit card account.

17 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the electronic mail application determines whether a predetermined period of time has elapsed since a prior transmission of an electronic mail message to the electronic mail address.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the electronic mail application transmits the electronic mail message upon a determination that the predetermined period of time has elapsed.

19 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the first transaction data comprises financial information corresponding to a financial account of the user, and wherein the second transaction data does not comprise financial information.

20 . A method for selling a rental digital video disc having entertainment content therein, comprising:

receiving a request from a user to rent the rental digital video disc;

receiving first transaction data from a user interface, wherein the first transaction data comprises financial information corresponding to a user financial account;

receiving an electronic mail address from the user interface corresponding to a specific user and related to the user financial account;

vending the digital video disc from a vending machine comprising the user interface;

determining whether a predetermined period of time has passed since a prior transmission of a first electronic mail message to the electronic mail address;

transmitting a second electronic mail message to the electronic mail address upon a determination that the predetermined period of time has elapsed, wherein the second electronic mail message comprises a uniform resource location specifying an Internet website through which the rental digital video disc can be purchased; and,

receiving second transaction data via the Internet website, wherein the second transaction data comprises a user identifier corresponding to the user financial account without any of the financial information.