10 ms·

Netflix introduces new plans and price changes

135 points by evanw 15y ago

matmann2001 15y ago
Great, so if I use and want to keep BOTH services, I have to pay more to get what I already had...
evanw 15y ago
The really bad news: No more Unlimited Streaming + Unlimited DVD combines plan. --- Second, we are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming into separate plans to better reflect the costs of each and to give our members a choice: a streaming only plan, a DVD only plan or the option to subscribe to both. With this change, we will no longer offer a plan that includes both unlimited streaming and DVDs by mail. So for instance, our current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans: Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming), for $7.99 a month. The price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99). For new members, these changes are effective immediately; for existing members, the new pricing will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011.
- encoderer 15y ago
  So for folks like me, who have Unlimited Streaming + 1 Disc + Bluray, we've been paying $11.99 before taxes. Now, we'll be paying $17.99. That is a very significant increase and very unfortunate. I don't begrudge what they're doing: Weaning you off your DVD habit and onto their streaming service. But I just think they are jumping the gun. Get some more first-run content available first. As it is, I'm going to take it on the chin and pay the extra $6, but with a lot less love for Netflix, for at least a little while until I forget about this.
  - ctdonath 15y ago
    "I don't begrudge what they're doing: Weaning you off your DVD habit and onto their streaming service." Neither would I, if they weren't REDUCING the streaming service from my perspective. Dozens of movies on my streaming queue have disappeared before I could get to them - something I didn't mind so much so long as I could at least get the disc version. General consensus seems: if pretty much everything were available streaming, fine - but it's not, and it's that "not" part which is small enough to make the DVD plan too expensive yet the content is personally important enough that we'll pay anyway.
    - encoderer 15y ago
      I agree, I hate that. The nuts and bolts don't matter, bad service is bad service, but in case you're just curious, the reason that most often happens is due to their StarzPlay agreement. A lot of the decent newer movies on their service come from their contract with Starz to stream any of the movies currently playing on that network. Well, Starz only gets movies for a certain period (same as any other TV network). So when the run is over on Starz, it's removed from netflix as well. This isn't the entire story, but I've found 9/10 of the movies that are removed from my instant queue are because of this.
- bshep 15y ago
  Not happy at all. They just increased my bill by ~60% (9.99 -> 15.98), I use streaming for the most part and order DVDs when they don't have the movie for streaming. At this price point I might as well go with Vudu or some other streaming service
  - ebiester 15y ago
    Why not stick with the streaming service and get your DVDs locally? Perhaps, even from a local company?
    - matmann2001 15y ago
      I don't know where you live, but around me, all the Video Rental places are going out of business.
      - a_m_kelly 15y ago
        Try your local public library, it's free. You may have to wait a day or two for ILL or movies to get to your local branch if they don't have what you're looking for right there. There's also going to be an online listing of movie that are available in the catalog, unlike most of the now defunct movie rental places.
    - bshep 15y ago
      I'm still considering the options, but the selection on Vudu is really tempting. I actually think keeping the DVD by mail with netflix and using another streaming service will probably work best for me, most likely I will just cancel netflix before the change and pay for a month whenever I want a DVD I can't stream.
    - wiredfool 15y ago
      Around here, that means a kiosk in the grocery store. Sad to say, but the selection is even more limited than the streaming catalog. I really didn't realize how good I had it when I lived a block from Scarecrow Video in Seattle.
larrik 15y ago
Just to be clear, this affects ALL levels of membership, not just the low-end ones that are constantly being referenced. My (once standard) 3-at-a-time plan is going up to $24 in September.
wiredfool 15y ago
I'm really unclear how the 1 disk out at a time is 'unlimited'. It's more along the lines of 'either I or my wife can see our choice'. And to call their streaming unlimited ignores the lack of depth in their streaming catalog. I really only want the dvds for things that they don't stream. So, their new dvd plan is essentially a tax on me for their streaming plan not being good enough. And now, given how often I actually get around to watching something, It's barely worth it at the current price, and not worth it at 2x. [ edit quantification -- I've been a member this time for a year and a half, and just shy of half the streaming was in the first week, (two sick parents and kids to entertain will do that), and 7 titles streamed in the last year. We've gotten 7 dvds in that whole time, and watched all of 3 of them. Doing the math -- not worth $16/month. ]
- jonknee 15y ago
  It's unlimited because you can check out as many different movies as you want (building in transit time obviously). Netflix doesn't know or care you have a wife who wants a different movie, if you want two movies at once get a plan that supports that. Similarly, unlimited streaming makes perfect sense because you can stream as many as you want. The selection of their available physical DVDs is limited as well, you always have to stay within their catalog.
  - kevindication 15y ago
    It's still not unlimited (DVDs) since Netflix throttles you if you are too quick to watch and return your movies.
    - wiredfool 15y ago
      The way I run it, it's more like unlimited time on my desk, till I get sick of seeing it there so I send it back for another round.
    - bennesvig 15y ago
      At what point?
    - 15y ago
revorad 15y ago
Random aside: The Netflix blog doesn't have page titles!
dasil003 15y ago
Looking at the comments I'm amazed at how quickly the sense of entitlement sets in. Netflix cut the cost and hassle of entertainment by 80-90% over what was traditionally available from rental stores and cable subscriptions a few years ago. Big content is seeing their profits evaporate and playing hard-ball with Netflix, and all you get is whining from customers about paying $15/month.
- hnsmurf 15y ago
  I don't think they've cut costs at all. I pay them $9 a month now or whatever. I didn't spend $9 a month at Blockbuster before they existed, and I don't watch very many more movies now than I did then. Might even be less. I do it because it's very convenient, not because it's a way to save money. I'll probably switch to DVD only from them now and actually start using whatever free streaming Amazon gives me via prime. The streaming selection sucks anyway, I probably watch more on Blu-Ray or stuff I torrent.
  - dasil003 15y ago
    Of course they don't cut costs over something you don't pay for. Talk about a straw man, sheesh.
    - prakashk 15y ago
      And, of course, there could not be a sense of entitlement either, if your cost of netflix subscription wasn't less than what you used pay.
    - hnsmurf 15y ago
      It was something I did pay for, just not as much. They increased cost by increasing convenience.
      - krschultz 15y ago
        If you count 'movies I bought' + 'movies I rented from Blockbuster' they have cut costs for me. I didn't buy or rent many. But that's not what it's really about. If you cancel your cable and get Netflix, you are saving bundles of money. I know more than a few people doing that, and I am so freaking close to it I'm not sure why I waste the money on TV anymore other than for ESPN & live sports. If not for that, I'd be long gone.
eck 15y ago
TLDR: Netflix raises subscription cost 60%. The comments on the post are vicious. They are duplicitous. DVD by mail is not a separate product. It is a workaround for the fact that they have failed to license their entire library for streaming. Now they have a perverse incentive to limit their streaming library to encourage people to pay extra for DVD service. [edit] Now had they just said, "Hollywood is putting the screws to us, we need to raise our prices" I could respect that.
- jonknee 15y ago
  Except their costs for DVD services are a lot higher (hence it being more than a $2 add on). Netflix wants everyone to stream, but because they haven't been able to license and not everyone is interested in streaming (bandwidth and viewing location being two obstacles) they will have to keep the DVD side up for quite some time.
  - HarbeyLong 15y ago
    It's clear Jonkee that you will defend them (multiple times on this page alone). Also your excuses are so pathetic. Enjoy the decrease in subscriptions! I cancelled mine a few months ago because the selection for streaming was pathetic and I have no interest in DVDs. What does any of this announcement do for me? Clarify that I made the right decision to drop Netflix for their horrible streaming selection when I did.
- ericd 15y ago
  Maybe they didn't want to make their already-hostile business partners (upon whom they depend to stay in business) more hostile by steering the public ire at them.
alexgaribay 15y ago
I think this is a horrible idea. I was actually thinking about upgrading my unlimited streaming plan to get the unlimited dvds option for $9.99. That price is such a good deal and I think it attracted a lot of customers because they were getting bang for their buck. But now that Netflix has announced this new pricing schema, I will definitely will not be doing so and I'm sure many customers are unhappy about this change.
vaksel 15y ago
seems nothing more than just a price hike. at the very least, they could have thrown in some good news about how they are increasing the quality of each service by adding a ton more stuff to netflix instant etc.
- seanalltogether 15y ago
  Unfortunately their streaming catalog has just decreased recently as a result of ongoing negotiations with sony. All of this is probably in preparation for the fact that streaming rights are set to increase dramatically over the next 2-3 years
eddof13 15y ago
There's actually a reason for this: http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/ http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_con... People can complain all they want, but the price increases are necessary.
- bryanlarsen 15y ago
  If it's a price increase because costs went up, then say so. We might not like it, but we'll understand. Don't spin it to pretend that they're doing something for our benefit.
sad 15y ago
This sure sets the table for spinning off the DVD rental product. Prior to this arrangement the two were practically inseparable.
jjm 15y ago
This sucks. The streaming collection sucks even more. Every time I login the only titles being added are bottom rated movies and "Mock busters". Complete crap honestly. It also looks like the meat of the customers are in these lower end plans. I have no intention of passing Netflix on as just another cable bill. We need more innovation in this space.
quandrum 15y ago
For everyone complaining in this thread, I will remind them of the article from several days ago indicating studios have increased their streaming licensing costs from ~180 million to ~1.98 Billion. If they think this price increase is enough to stay afloat, honestly, I'm impressed http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/index.htm http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_con...
- parfe 15y ago
  They should have just canceled streaming. "Sorry we cannot provide you affordable streaming service at this time. You will continue to receive unlimited DVDs. Please send any comments or concerns to Sony Entertainment."
- smackfu 15y ago
  They didn't actually raise the price of a streaming-only plan though.
evilduck 15y ago
I'm pretty sure they're just passing along the licensing costs, but as little content as I consume, this is just pushing me towards iTunes where I can outright purchase what I want, with a little more 'ownership' rights and still spend roughly the same amount per month. For heavier consumers though, $16 + a cheap Netflix streaming device is still a steal compared to satellite/cable and movie channels.
username3 15y ago
Pay $7.99 and have both by switching your plan during the month when you want streaming and when you want DVDs.
cyanbane 15y ago
I feel like this is a chicken and egg scenario between big media wanting more for their content and consumers wanting a better selection of first run movies via streaming. Netflix (at its current pricing structure I assume from the comments here) can't afford newer titles however people want a better selection in the streaming section. One's gotta give and I feel like they chose to go with letting the customer pay more in an attempt to secure better streaming titles. Unfortunately in the climate of hearing about monthly caps from ISPs I don't feel like it was the best choice. I am going to go back to physical medium, and somewhat debating if I even want to continue that. $12 is 3 decent titles from a console service or Amazon a month. A la carte will win the day. edit: clarity of second sentence.
- thecoffman 15y ago
  Contrary to what you've said here - I've never been a fan of a la carte pricing. I want the unlimited plan. When I get home from work - I generally have netflix on in the background with some documentary or other while I do housework or hack on stuff - same as I'm going to sleep. I probably play 3-4 titles every single day. Clearly a la carte pricing would not be a viable option for streaming 90-120 programs a month.
  - masterzora 15y ago
    My use case is very similar and, as such, I agree with you. Unfortunately, given unlimited plans, heavy usage like ours tends to be subsidised by people who aren't anywhere near the average usage but still pay the same amount. I'm generally in favour of such subsidies (even for services where I'm an underutiliser), but I don't believe this to be a popular opinion since it's "unfair".
silverlight 15y ago
I really think they could have done a much better job of framing the discussion around this increase. Talking about why they're doing it (not some B.S. about how "they really want to show people that they are committed to DVDs by mail") would have been appreciated. Customers are not stupid. They see right through PR speak, and you can clearly see that in the comments.
- binxbolling 15y ago
  I think your post nailed what's intriguing me right now: Netflix did a terrible job communicating these changes. It's odd to me to see such a large, well-liked company spend so much of their social capital (brand loyalty or belovedness) without better messaging. For example, in an age where bundling is ubiquitous, I think Netflix needed to have a better explanation for why one service is being split into two and why there's no discount for joining both. Netflix needed to do a two-pronged approach -- here's what we're going to do for you, and here's what you're going to do for us. We all understood the latter (we're going to pay more), but nobody gets what Netflix is offering in return.
jm4 15y ago
I wonder how many Netflix members are also Amazon Prime members. I'm currently on a $15/mo 2-disc/streaming plan. But I also have Amazon Prime. I have the Amazon channel on my Roku and have checked out the catalog a couple times. At a glance, it looks pretty similar to Netflix. It never occurred to me to use it because streaming was included in my Netflix plan and I've already been using it for years. I'm not so much bothered by the price hike. My price will go up to $20/mo. I'm not going to gripe too much considering how much I use Netflix. But now that DVDs and streaming are separate plans it creates a strong incentive for me to use Amazon Prime for streaming. I'm already paying for it so I can get the free shipping. Now I can change my Netflix plan from $15/mo (soon to be $20/mo) to $7.99/mo and get the same overall service. I wonder if they thought this through.
- russell_h 15y ago
  That was my first thought as well. I'll almost certainly drop my Netflix streaming entirely come September 1st, and just use Prime for streaming (also convenient because Amazon has a pretty good selection of newer/better content you can pay for, and this way I don't have to make sure I can play Netflix AND Prime on my home theater device). On the other hand, my guess is that the number of Prime subscribers is tiny compared to the number of Netflix subscribers. So while this could be a great opportunity for Amazon to do something about that, I don't think Netflix has to worry about losing huge numbers of subscribers to Amazon as things stand.
- smackfu 15y ago
  Would be nice if Apple TV supported Amazon Prime.
- ghaff 15y ago
  I'm not sure how the streaming catalogs compare (and how they're trending relative to each other) but switching streaming over to Amazon Prime come September is certainly an option I'll look at. I buy a lot on Amazon and, while I've never felt that Prime was quite worth it, it becomes almost a no-brainer for me to switch from Netflix to Prime if I can get faster shipping with no minimum in addition to streaming for ~ the same amount of money as on Netflix. (And probably switch to the limited DVD plan.)
chime 15y ago
I don't know why people are complaining so much. The company did exactly what they should have - they hiked the price to stay in business and clearly informed their customers in advance. Evidently many people were abusing the unlimited streaming + DVD subscription before and it was not cost-effective for the company to continue to offer the deal. Percentage-wise while it sounds a huge increase, it is absolutely nothing when you look at the real dollars. My cell phone bill is $100+, ISP is $70+, web hosting is $30+, and I pay $10+/month for many different web services (include many startups I found via HN). How is $8/mo for renting 3-4 DVDs a month too high? Sure, it was $2 before but you can't expect any company to make money on deals that get abused by more than a few. I'd rather have Netflix charge their customers appropriately than go out of business or start nickel and diming like airlines or cellphone companies.
- nothlit 15y ago
  I would argue that they did not clearly inform their customers. I found out about this through a post on Engadget, which led me to the Netflix blog. For a change as significant as this they should have emailed every customer. Unless they send out an email between now and then, I'll bet a large percentage of Netflix subscribers won't "discover" this change until they are suddenly billed 20% to 50% more in September.
- sologoub 15y ago
  The pricing doesn't seem all that great. Take $7.99 per month for 1 DVD out. That equals to 8 DVDs rented for one of those DVD rental boxes in a grocery store (RedBox, BlockBuster) assuming you return them the next day. In order for you to rent 8 DVDs in 30 day month, you have to be getting new DVDs every 3.75 days. So basically, in order for it to equal the cost of a comparable product, you have to get the DVD and watch it the same night, then ship it back and hope 2.75 days is enough for Netflix to ship you another one. Don't know about others here, but I don't really get time to watch DVDs during work days. This leaves the weekend, so for $8 a month, I can rent 2 DVDs per weekend and receive greater amount of entertainment during a more convenient time. So using your example of 4 DVDs per month, that's $2 per with Netflix or $1 (50% less) per with box rental services. So in terms of actual spending, you are still only saving 4 bucks (not even a cup of coffee), but % wise, you save 50%. (and yes, I go to the store regularly, so I'm not counting cost of gas in this example) Now, if they only had the latest stuff in the streaming catalog... that would be entirely different story.
seasoup 15y ago
My problem with this announcement is they try and tell their customers what a good deal this is for them when it is obviously not good for them. It's a more expensive deal then what they currently have, if they had been upfront about it and said "our costs are going up due to content providers charging more for their content" or "in order to acquire more premium content for our streaming service we need to charge more" then I think people wouldn't have such an issue. It's the worse deal + treating customers like they won't notice it that is the problem.
- mortenjorck 15y ago
  At the very least, it could have been spun as a move "to better serve our streaming customers with more premium content," which might have at least rescued the post from the level of "insulting."
jerhinesmith 15y ago
I wonder how many people now live close enough to a Redbox location that dropping the Netflix DVD service and going streaming + Redbox ends up being cheaper and affording of more DVDs/month.
- healsdata 15y ago
  Interesting point. Since Redbox is $1 a movie and the "1 movie at a time" Netflix plan is a minimum of about $.80 per movie, it really does make the two pricing plans pretty equal. The Netflix cost per disc goes up if you don't watch and return them as soon as possible. On top of that, Redbox would let you get four movies on a Friday night to watch Friday & Saturday while Netflix would require you to watch movies during the work week (to keep the price per disc equal, at least).
J3L2404 15y ago
Well maybe Zediva the video on demand service that puts DVDs in physical drives and streams them will actually stand a chance of being profitable. There was some discussion on HN about it here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2334332 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2334332 Although I still find it hard to believe this is economically viable.
wildmXranat 15y ago
I appreciate the overall disturbance in the rental and cable industry that netflix pulled off, but as a canadian ex-customer, this will not get me back. In fact, it still feels like a liability when you couple a really bad selection with our shitty bandwidth caps.
paul9290 15y ago
By looks of the comments I guess people don't understand if Netflix streamed everything they offered on DVD then A) Cable TV business model would crumble bringing down billions of dollars or B) It would have to be as costly as cable TV. Netflix streaming is great and it's turned this once illegal downloader into a consumer. Im sure in the future they will offer high priced streaming plans that offer more, but of course not too much more. Understandably Hollywood does not want to cut off a huge revenue stream and all of us entrepreneur are smart enough to know this ... the general public not so much.
ronp 15y ago
This was a botched attempt at spinning bad news into something else. If the message was more forthcoming I suspect there'd be a lot less ire. I'm unlikely to opt for a streaming+dvd plan. Hey, maybe I'll get some stuff done around the house!
elemenohpee 15y ago
> Given the long life we think DVDs by mail will have... Yes, shipping pieces of plastic around is the way of the future.
brettnak 15y ago
I find the (dis)honesty of this post baffling. I understand that they want to increase prices, whether because of greed, licensing, or other costs - I don't care. What seems extremely dishonest to me is to say that this somehow benefits the customer when it just doesn't. People want streaming w/ physical DVD as a backup for things that aren't there on streaming. This, therefore, is just a price increase.
phil 15y ago
Gee, that's a funny way to say "we're raising the price of your subscription by $5.99"
- masterzora 15y ago
  Because that would simply be untrue. My subscription price is unchanged.
Cherian_Abraham 15y ago
Does anyone share my opinion that Netflix should have taken this opportunity to clarify as to why these price hikes are inevitable, due to the sky high content licensing costs they themselves have to pay to the content providers to keep streaming possible. I didnt see any mention of this in their entire PR release and I think at least the community would have read that and not perceived this announcement as a "more money grab" and as Netflix doing what it has to, to keep offering the best content available for streaming. I think it threw away that chance and left the door open to a lot of these "entitlement" type comments that harp about how Netflix used to charge $8 per month and can never ever change that. Ever. I for one, plan to stay with Netflix and opt for the Streaming option as long as it makes sense. As for DVD/Bluray, I will go to my neighborhood Redbox. Blockbuster? You, I havent yet gotten over the $4.99 rental fee, so you stay in the shit list for a little while longer.
- natrius 15y ago
  The streaming prices didn't change, so this isn't a licensing issue.
  - paul9290 15y ago
    No, but it could be netflix helping the acceleration of the DVD's demise. Also, I'm sure the additional monies made from those who still rent DVDs will be used to help support the ever increasing cost of streaming content.
  - mortenjorck 15y ago
    http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/index.htm http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_con... "Netflix has another year or two on most of these contracts, and then the game completely changes," says Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Securities. Pachter predicts Netflix's streaming content licensing costs will rise from $180 million in 2010 to a whopping $1.98 billion in 2012.
    - encoderer 15y ago
kenjackson 15y ago
Redbox + Amazon Prime is now far preferred to Netflix. Starting Sept 1st they'll see my cancellation in the mail.
Jcasc 15y ago
Consider the price of The Office Season 1-6 DVD set, $169.99. Now consider the price of HD streaming The Office Season 1-6 on Netflix, $7.99/mo. Thank you, Netflix. http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/the-office-season-1-6-dvd-gift-set/detail.php?p=282319 http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/the-office-season-1-6-dvd-g...
- smackfu 15y ago
  Missing the point. Netflix has sizable gaps in their streaming that are only filled by the DVD plan. Filling those gaps for $2 is a lot more reasonable than $8.
  - Jcasc 15y ago
    No, I get the point. The services are not equal in terms of catalogue depth. They're also not equal in terms of viewing volume. If I used the DVD plan to fill those gaps, I would be annoyed too. But I don't, I only use streaming. I suspect the majority of users were either overwhelmingly streaming or overwhelmingly DVD oriented. The cost to fill the gaps for those users wasn't adequately covered by the $2, and since they were the minority, they put a wall between the services. My point was, I still perceive $7.99 unlimited streaming as a great value for the product. Gaps and all.
m0nastic 15y ago
I pay ~100/month for cable. I've had a Netflix subscription for ~6 months. Since subscribing to Netflix, my girlfriend and I have watched less than 20 hours of television via cable. We maintain a cable subscription for pretty much the same reason people rationalize a landline phone (just in case). Netflix can raise their prices about 10x before I'd even consider not renewing my subscription. "But comparing Netflix to Cable is a bullshit comparison, the content on Netflix is way less" you might say. In theory, you are right. The content available via Instant Watch is way limited; and it has less newer content. All I know is that since we've started using Netflix, I've stopped buying DVD's (I used to order 15-20 a week from Amazon), I've stopped watching the DVD's I already own (I have about 1000 sitting in giant plastic tubs in the closet that I never dig through), and I've stopped watching regular television.
- qq66 15y ago
  You used to buy 15-20 DVDs per WEEK from Amazon? Did you even watch half of them? I'm confused.
  - m0nastic 15y ago
    They were mostly movies I'd already seen, and just wanted to have a copy of. When I first started buying DVD's, I got it in my head that I didn't ever want to be in a situation like: "Oh, I feel like watching movie X, but I don't own it." Instant gratification.
- smackfu 15y ago
  15-20 a week from Amazon? What the fuck. I know one series you may end up on: Hoarders.
  - m0nastic 15y ago
    Once or twice a year I'd prune out all the movies that I was certain I'd never want to watch again (Shallow Hal, I'm looking squarely at you). I did the same thing with CD's when I was younger. Thankfully, the universe ran out of music that I like.
smackfu 15y ago
Netflix brought this on themselves by including streaming in the plans for free to start with, which gave the message that this should be valued at $0. Now they want to charge $8 for that, and should not be surprised if there is a backlash.
brown9-2 15y ago
The oddest part to me about this pricing announcement is that the company announces a new set of plans, but only mentions the price of just one option in the announcement - the one in which prices are rising the highest (1 dvd at a time plus streaming). I am currently paying for 2 DVDs at a time plus streaming, for $14.99/month. According to the recently updated Your Account page, this will cost $19.99 in a few months, a price raise of 33%. Not as dramatic as the rise mentioned in the announcement - so why not mention that? Why make me hunt for how much other plans will be changing?
- berberich 15y ago
  I'm pretty sure that was by far the most popular plan.
mattcurry 15y ago
I've taken to getting DVDs from my local library. - I can reserve online and they'll get it from any library in the network. - Generally get new release DVDs much faster then Netflix - Get entire seasons of TV shows at once instead of a disc at a time. - Free The big negative is I have to actually go and get them, but I generally pass the library daily, so it isn't that big of a deal.
billybob 15y ago
Pricing gripes aside, by packaging DVDs and streaming separately, they'll have much clearer signals about which one users really want, as measured in dollars. I'm assuming they'll be watching the numbers for DVD rental drop until it no longer makes business sense to offer that service.
jason_slack 15y ago
I understand prices rise...I am just pissed for me is it almost $6/month for the same plan.
Keyframe 15y ago
Even at that price it's a steal. It should be at least 5x more. I really don't see how netflix pulled it off with content providers, they must have a really large user base i guess. Also, I've seen a lot of people talking about "money grab" - consider that entertainment production is a REALLY expensive sport, with each product considered a startup in its own right. Lots of them aren't successful and tag along their successful brothers.
ctdonath 15y ago
I'm on the "unlimited 2-at-a-time" plan 'cuz my wife & I have separate queues (sappy romantic comedies vs. sci-fi action). BIG QUESTION: how will Netflix handle the distribution of rather large queues now? We've spent quite some time assembling three queues (2 DVD and 1 streaming) totaling some 400 movies, and will be quite cheesed off if 2/3rds of it disappears just because the service provider encouraged/forced us to switch plans.
- kpozin 15y ago
  I'm guessing that if you backed up the queue that's about to be eliminated -- by saving a copy of the queue page to disk (as HTML, PDF, etc.) -- it would take you about an hour to reenter its contents into your remaining queue. Annoying, but survivable.
nplusone 15y ago
To those who are unhappy that customers are whining, I'd like to offer some context: The instant viewing section is almost unusable since they launched their layout redesign in early June. The only logical explanation for introducing such a poor UX is to restrict users from accessing content in the first place, to reduce costs. There continue to be a substantial number of complaints following that redesign, to which Netflix never adequately responded. Now they are raising prices on an already reduced customer experience. It's possible that Netflix could have gotten away with raising prices (with a reasonable explanation for doing so), but this change is happening in a broader context where Netflix is essentially taking its customers for a ride. I suppose I could be completely wrong. The redesign might offer a wonderful experience that somehow I can't grasp. But that seems unlikely.
whichdan 15y ago
I'd be happy to pay $15-25/mo without question if they had a better streaming library. I wonder what % of their streaming customers would pay more?
georgieporgie 15y ago
They just doubled my subscription price, for the exact same content. So, I would pay another $8 for streaming content that is mostly old, and often mediocre. It's like having TBS streaming to your PC. On top of that, their encoding is often lousy, and there's no separate way to report it.
mirkules 15y ago
I would love to be able to export my movie ratings before I cancel my account. Anyone know of a way to do this?
dh 15y ago
Really too bad to see such a large price increase, they have lost money from me.
winsbe01 15y ago
I wrote a post about why Netflix is actually doing a good thing here: http://www.bathouselabs.com/archives/yes-netflix-raised-it%E2%80%99s-prices-now-chill-out/ http://www.bathouselabs.com/archives/yes-netflix-raised-it%E...

135 points by evanw 15y ago

matmann2001 15y ago

Great, so if I use and want to keep BOTH services, I have to pay more to get what I already had...

evanw 15y ago

The really bad news: No more Unlimited Streaming + Unlimited DVD combines plan. --- Second, we are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming into separate plans to better reflect the costs of each and to give our members a choice: a streaming only plan, a DVD only plan or the option to subscribe to both. With this change, we will no longer offer a plan that includes both unlimited streaming and DVDs by mail. So for instance, our current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans: Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming), for $7.99 a month. The price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99). For new members, these changes are effective immediately; for existing members, the new pricing will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011.

encoderer 15y ago
So for folks like me, who have Unlimited Streaming + 1 Disc + Bluray, we've been paying $11.99 before taxes. Now, we'll be paying $17.99. That is a very significant increase and very unfortunate. I don't begrudge what they're doing: Weaning you off your DVD habit and onto their streaming service. But I just think they are jumping the gun. Get some more first-run content available first. As it is, I'm going to take it on the chin and pay the extra $6, but with a lot less love for Netflix, for at least a little while until I forget about this.
- ctdonath 15y ago
  "I don't begrudge what they're doing: Weaning you off your DVD habit and onto their streaming service." Neither would I, if they weren't REDUCING the streaming service from my perspective. Dozens of movies on my streaming queue have disappeared before I could get to them - something I didn't mind so much so long as I could at least get the disc version. General consensus seems: if pretty much everything were available streaming, fine - but it's not, and it's that "not" part which is small enough to make the DVD plan too expensive yet the content is personally important enough that we'll pay anyway.
  - encoderer 15y ago
    I agree, I hate that. The nuts and bolts don't matter, bad service is bad service, but in case you're just curious, the reason that most often happens is due to their StarzPlay agreement. A lot of the decent newer movies on their service come from their contract with Starz to stream any of the movies currently playing on that network. Well, Starz only gets movies for a certain period (same as any other TV network). So when the run is over on Starz, it's removed from netflix as well. This isn't the entire story, but I've found 9/10 of the movies that are removed from my instant queue are because of this.
bshep 15y ago
Not happy at all. They just increased my bill by ~60% (9.99 -> 15.98), I use streaming for the most part and order DVDs when they don't have the movie for streaming. At this price point I might as well go with Vudu or some other streaming service
- ebiester 15y ago
  Why not stick with the streaming service and get your DVDs locally? Perhaps, even from a local company?
  - matmann2001 15y ago
    I don't know where you live, but around me, all the Video Rental places are going out of business.
    - a_m_kelly 15y ago
      Try your local public library, it's free. You may have to wait a day or two for ILL or movies to get to your local branch if they don't have what you're looking for right there. There's also going to be an online listing of movie that are available in the catalog, unlike most of the now defunct movie rental places.
  - bshep 15y ago
    I'm still considering the options, but the selection on Vudu is really tempting. I actually think keeping the DVD by mail with netflix and using another streaming service will probably work best for me, most likely I will just cancel netflix before the change and pay for a month whenever I want a DVD I can't stream.
  - wiredfool 15y ago
    Around here, that means a kiosk in the grocery store. Sad to say, but the selection is even more limited than the streaming catalog. I really didn't realize how good I had it when I lived a block from Scarecrow Video in Seattle.

larrik 15y ago

Just to be clear, this affects ALL levels of membership, not just the low-end ones that are constantly being referenced. My (once standard) 3-at-a-time plan is going up to $24 in September.

wiredfool 15y ago

I'm really unclear how the 1 disk out at a time is 'unlimited'. It's more along the lines of 'either I or my wife can see our choice'. And to call their streaming unlimited ignores the lack of depth in their streaming catalog. I really only want the dvds for things that they don't stream. So, their new dvd plan is essentially a tax on me for their streaming plan not being good enough. And now, given how often I actually get around to watching something, It's barely worth it at the current price, and not worth it at 2x. [ edit quantification -- I've been a member this time for a year and a half, and just shy of half the streaming was in the first week, (two sick parents and kids to entertain will do that), and 7 titles streamed in the last year. We've gotten 7 dvds in that whole time, and watched all of 3 of them. Doing the math -- not worth $16/month. ]

jonknee 15y ago
It's unlimited because you can check out as many different movies as you want (building in transit time obviously). Netflix doesn't know or care you have a wife who wants a different movie, if you want two movies at once get a plan that supports that. Similarly, unlimited streaming makes perfect sense because you can stream as many as you want. The selection of their available physical DVDs is limited as well, you always have to stay within their catalog.
- kevindication 15y ago
  It's still not unlimited (DVDs) since Netflix throttles you if you are too quick to watch and return your movies.
  - wiredfool 15y ago
    The way I run it, it's more like unlimited time on my desk, till I get sick of seeing it there so I send it back for another round.
  - bennesvig 15y ago
    At what point?
  - 15y ago

revorad 15y ago

Random aside: The Netflix blog doesn't have page titles!

dasil003 15y ago

Looking at the comments I'm amazed at how quickly the sense of entitlement sets in. Netflix cut the cost and hassle of entertainment by 80-90% over what was traditionally available from rental stores and cable subscriptions a few years ago. Big content is seeing their profits evaporate and playing hard-ball with Netflix, and all you get is whining from customers about paying $15/month.

hnsmurf 15y ago
I don't think they've cut costs at all. I pay them $9 a month now or whatever. I didn't spend $9 a month at Blockbuster before they existed, and I don't watch very many more movies now than I did then. Might even be less. I do it because it's very convenient, not because it's a way to save money. I'll probably switch to DVD only from them now and actually start using whatever free streaming Amazon gives me via prime. The streaming selection sucks anyway, I probably watch more on Blu-Ray or stuff I torrent.
- dasil003 15y ago
  Of course they don't cut costs over something you don't pay for. Talk about a straw man, sheesh.
  - prakashk 15y ago
    And, of course, there could not be a sense of entitlement either, if your cost of netflix subscription wasn't less than what you used pay.
  - hnsmurf 15y ago
    It was something I did pay for, just not as much. They increased cost by increasing convenience.
    - krschultz 15y ago
      If you count 'movies I bought' + 'movies I rented from Blockbuster' they have cut costs for me. I didn't buy or rent many. But that's not what it's really about. If you cancel your cable and get Netflix, you are saving bundles of money. I know more than a few people doing that, and I am so freaking close to it I'm not sure why I waste the money on TV anymore other than for ESPN & live sports. If not for that, I'd be long gone.

eck 15y ago

TLDR: Netflix raises subscription cost 60%. The comments on the post are vicious. They are duplicitous. DVD by mail is not a separate product. It is a workaround for the fact that they have failed to license their entire library for streaming. Now they have a perverse incentive to limit their streaming library to encourage people to pay extra for DVD service. [edit] Now had they just said, "Hollywood is putting the screws to us, we need to raise our prices" I could respect that.

jonknee 15y ago
Except their costs for DVD services are a lot higher (hence it being more than a $2 add on). Netflix wants everyone to stream, but because they haven't been able to license and not everyone is interested in streaming (bandwidth and viewing location being two obstacles) they will have to keep the DVD side up for quite some time.
- HarbeyLong 15y ago
  It's clear Jonkee that you will defend them (multiple times on this page alone). Also your excuses are so pathetic. Enjoy the decrease in subscriptions! I cancelled mine a few months ago because the selection for streaming was pathetic and I have no interest in DVDs. What does any of this announcement do for me? Clarify that I made the right decision to drop Netflix for their horrible streaming selection when I did.
ericd 15y ago
Maybe they didn't want to make their already-hostile business partners (upon whom they depend to stay in business) more hostile by steering the public ire at them.

alexgaribay 15y ago

I think this is a horrible idea. I was actually thinking about upgrading my unlimited streaming plan to get the unlimited dvds option for $9.99. That price is such a good deal and I think it attracted a lot of customers because they were getting bang for their buck. But now that Netflix has announced this new pricing schema, I will definitely will not be doing so and I'm sure many customers are unhappy about this change.

vaksel 15y ago

seems nothing more than just a price hike. at the very least, they could have thrown in some good news about how they are increasing the quality of each service by adding a ton more stuff to netflix instant etc.

seanalltogether 15y ago
Unfortunately their streaming catalog has just decreased recently as a result of ongoing negotiations with sony. All of this is probably in preparation for the fact that streaming rights are set to increase dramatically over the next 2-3 years

eddof13 15y ago

There's actually a reason for this: http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/ http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_con... People can complain all they want, but the price increases are necessary.

bryanlarsen 15y ago
If it's a price increase because costs went up, then say so. We might not like it, but we'll understand. Don't spin it to pretend that they're doing something for our benefit.

sad 15y ago

This sure sets the table for spinning off the DVD rental product. Prior to this arrangement the two were practically inseparable.

jjm 15y ago

This sucks. The streaming collection sucks even more. Every time I login the only titles being added are bottom rated movies and "Mock busters". Complete crap honestly. It also looks like the meat of the customers are in these lower end plans. I have no intention of passing Netflix on as just another cable bill. We need more innovation in this space.

quandrum 15y ago

For everyone complaining in this thread, I will remind them of the article from several days ago indicating studios have increased their streaming licensing costs from ~180 million to ~1.98 Billion. If they think this price increase is enough to stay afloat, honestly, I'm impressed http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/index.htm http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_con...

parfe 15y ago
They should have just canceled streaming. "Sorry we cannot provide you affordable streaming service at this time. You will continue to receive unlimited DVDs. Please send any comments or concerns to Sony Entertainment."
smackfu 15y ago
They didn't actually raise the price of a streaming-only plan though.

evilduck 15y ago

I'm pretty sure they're just passing along the licensing costs, but as little content as I consume, this is just pushing me towards iTunes where I can outright purchase what I want, with a little more 'ownership' rights and still spend roughly the same amount per month. For heavier consumers though, $16 + a cheap Netflix streaming device is still a steal compared to satellite/cable and movie channels.

username3 15y ago

Pay $7.99 and have both by switching your plan during the month when you want streaming and when you want DVDs.

cyanbane 15y ago

I feel like this is a chicken and egg scenario between big media wanting more for their content and consumers wanting a better selection of first run movies via streaming. Netflix (at its current pricing structure I assume from the comments here) can't afford newer titles however people want a better selection in the streaming section. One's gotta give and I feel like they chose to go with letting the customer pay more in an attempt to secure better streaming titles. Unfortunately in the climate of hearing about monthly caps from ISPs I don't feel like it was the best choice. I am going to go back to physical medium, and somewhat debating if I even want to continue that. $12 is 3 decent titles from a console service or Amazon a month. A la carte will win the day. edit: clarity of second sentence.

thecoffman 15y ago
Contrary to what you've said here - I've never been a fan of a la carte pricing. I want the unlimited plan. When I get home from work - I generally have netflix on in the background with some documentary or other while I do housework or hack on stuff - same as I'm going to sleep. I probably play 3-4 titles every single day. Clearly a la carte pricing would not be a viable option for streaming 90-120 programs a month.
- masterzora 15y ago
  My use case is very similar and, as such, I agree with you. Unfortunately, given unlimited plans, heavy usage like ours tends to be subsidised by people who aren't anywhere near the average usage but still pay the same amount. I'm generally in favour of such subsidies (even for services where I'm an underutiliser), but I don't believe this to be a popular opinion since it's "unfair".

silverlight 15y ago

I really think they could have done a much better job of framing the discussion around this increase. Talking about why they're doing it (not some B.S. about how "they really want to show people that they are committed to DVDs by mail") would have been appreciated. Customers are not stupid. They see right through PR speak, and you can clearly see that in the comments.

binxbolling 15y ago
I think your post nailed what's intriguing me right now: Netflix did a terrible job communicating these changes. It's odd to me to see such a large, well-liked company spend so much of their social capital (brand loyalty or belovedness) without better messaging. For example, in an age where bundling is ubiquitous, I think Netflix needed to have a better explanation for why one service is being split into two and why there's no discount for joining both. Netflix needed to do a two-pronged approach -- here's what we're going to do for you, and here's what you're going to do for us. We all understood the latter (we're going to pay more), but nobody gets what Netflix is offering in return.

jm4 15y ago

I wonder how many Netflix members are also Amazon Prime members. I'm currently on a $15/mo 2-disc/streaming plan. But I also have Amazon Prime. I have the Amazon channel on my Roku and have checked out the catalog a couple times. At a glance, it looks pretty similar to Netflix. It never occurred to me to use it because streaming was included in my Netflix plan and I've already been using it for years. I'm not so much bothered by the price hike. My price will go up to $20/mo. I'm not going to gripe too much considering how much I use Netflix. But now that DVDs and streaming are separate plans it creates a strong incentive for me to use Amazon Prime for streaming. I'm already paying for it so I can get the free shipping. Now I can change my Netflix plan from $15/mo (soon to be $20/mo) to $7.99/mo and get the same overall service. I wonder if they thought this through.

russell_h 15y ago
That was my first thought as well. I'll almost certainly drop my Netflix streaming entirely come September 1st, and just use Prime for streaming (also convenient because Amazon has a pretty good selection of newer/better content you can pay for, and this way I don't have to make sure I can play Netflix AND Prime on my home theater device). On the other hand, my guess is that the number of Prime subscribers is tiny compared to the number of Netflix subscribers. So while this could be a great opportunity for Amazon to do something about that, I don't think Netflix has to worry about losing huge numbers of subscribers to Amazon as things stand.
smackfu 15y ago
Would be nice if Apple TV supported Amazon Prime.
ghaff 15y ago
I'm not sure how the streaming catalogs compare (and how they're trending relative to each other) but switching streaming over to Amazon Prime come September is certainly an option I'll look at. I buy a lot on Amazon and, while I've never felt that Prime was quite worth it, it becomes almost a no-brainer for me to switch from Netflix to Prime if I can get faster shipping with no minimum in addition to streaming for ~ the same amount of money as on Netflix. (And probably switch to the limited DVD plan.)

chime 15y ago

I don't know why people are complaining so much. The company did exactly what they should have - they hiked the price to stay in business and clearly informed their customers in advance. Evidently many people were abusing the unlimited streaming + DVD subscription before and it was not cost-effective for the company to continue to offer the deal. Percentage-wise while it sounds a huge increase, it is absolutely nothing when you look at the real dollars. My cell phone bill is $100+, ISP is $70+, web hosting is $30+, and I pay $10+/month for many different web services (include many startups I found via HN). How is $8/mo for renting 3-4 DVDs a month too high? Sure, it was $2 before but you can't expect any company to make money on deals that get abused by more than a few. I'd rather have Netflix charge their customers appropriately than go out of business or start nickel and diming like airlines or cellphone companies.

nothlit 15y ago
I would argue that they did not clearly inform their customers. I found out about this through a post on Engadget, which led me to the Netflix blog. For a change as significant as this they should have emailed every customer. Unless they send out an email between now and then, I'll bet a large percentage of Netflix subscribers won't "discover" this change until they are suddenly billed 20% to 50% more in September.
sologoub 15y ago
The pricing doesn't seem all that great. Take $7.99 per month for 1 DVD out. That equals to 8 DVDs rented for one of those DVD rental boxes in a grocery store (RedBox, BlockBuster) assuming you return them the next day. In order for you to rent 8 DVDs in 30 day month, you have to be getting new DVDs every 3.75 days. So basically, in order for it to equal the cost of a comparable product, you have to get the DVD and watch it the same night, then ship it back and hope 2.75 days is enough for Netflix to ship you another one. Don't know about others here, but I don't really get time to watch DVDs during work days. This leaves the weekend, so for $8 a month, I can rent 2 DVDs per weekend and receive greater amount of entertainment during a more convenient time. So using your example of 4 DVDs per month, that's $2 per with Netflix or $1 (50% less) per with box rental services. So in terms of actual spending, you are still only saving 4 bucks (not even a cup of coffee), but % wise, you save 50%. (and yes, I go to the store regularly, so I'm not counting cost of gas in this example) Now, if they only had the latest stuff in the streaming catalog... that would be entirely different story.

seasoup 15y ago

My problem with this announcement is they try and tell their customers what a good deal this is for them when it is obviously not good for them. It's a more expensive deal then what they currently have, if they had been upfront about it and said "our costs are going up due to content providers charging more for their content" or "in order to acquire more premium content for our streaming service we need to charge more" then I think people wouldn't have such an issue. It's the worse deal + treating customers like they won't notice it that is the problem.

mortenjorck 15y ago
At the very least, it could have been spun as a move "to better serve our streaming customers with more premium content," which might have at least rescued the post from the level of "insulting."

jerhinesmith 15y ago

I wonder how many people now live close enough to a Redbox location that dropping the Netflix DVD service and going streaming + Redbox ends up being cheaper and affording of more DVDs/month.

healsdata 15y ago
Interesting point. Since Redbox is $1 a movie and the "1 movie at a time" Netflix plan is a minimum of about $.80 per movie, it really does make the two pricing plans pretty equal. The Netflix cost per disc goes up if you don't watch and return them as soon as possible. On top of that, Redbox would let you get four movies on a Friday night to watch Friday & Saturday while Netflix would require you to watch movies during the work week (to keep the price per disc equal, at least).

J3L2404 15y ago

Well maybe Zediva the video on demand service that puts DVDs in physical drives and streams them will actually stand a chance of being profitable. There was some discussion on HN about it here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2334332 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2334332 Although I still find it hard to believe this is economically viable.

wildmXranat 15y ago

I appreciate the overall disturbance in the rental and cable industry that netflix pulled off, but as a canadian ex-customer, this will not get me back. In fact, it still feels like a liability when you couple a really bad selection with our shitty bandwidth caps.

paul9290 15y ago

By looks of the comments I guess people don't understand if Netflix streamed everything they offered on DVD then A) Cable TV business model would crumble bringing down billions of dollars or B) It would have to be as costly as cable TV. Netflix streaming is great and it's turned this once illegal downloader into a consumer. Im sure in the future they will offer high priced streaming plans that offer more, but of course not too much more. Understandably Hollywood does not want to cut off a huge revenue stream and all of us entrepreneur are smart enough to know this ... the general public not so much.

ronp 15y ago

This was a botched attempt at spinning bad news into something else. If the message was more forthcoming I suspect there'd be a lot less ire. I'm unlikely to opt for a streaming+dvd plan. Hey, maybe I'll get some stuff done around the house!

elemenohpee 15y ago

> Given the long life we think DVDs by mail will have... Yes, shipping pieces of plastic around is the way of the future.

brettnak 15y ago

I find the (dis)honesty of this post baffling. I understand that they want to increase prices, whether because of greed, licensing, or other costs - I don't care. What seems extremely dishonest to me is to say that this somehow benefits the customer when it just doesn't. People want streaming w/ physical DVD as a backup for things that aren't there on streaming. This, therefore, is just a price increase.

phil 15y ago

Gee, that's a funny way to say "we're raising the price of your subscription by $5.99"

masterzora 15y ago
Because that would simply be untrue. My subscription price is unchanged.

Cherian_Abraham 15y ago

Does anyone share my opinion that Netflix should have taken this opportunity to clarify as to why these price hikes are inevitable, due to the sky high content licensing costs they themselves have to pay to the content providers to keep streaming possible. I didnt see any mention of this in their entire PR release and I think at least the community would have read that and not perceived this announcement as a "more money grab" and as Netflix doing what it has to, to keep offering the best content available for streaming. I think it threw away that chance and left the door open to a lot of these "entitlement" type comments that harp about how Netflix used to charge $8 per month and can never ever change that. Ever. I for one, plan to stay with Netflix and opt for the Streaming option as long as it makes sense. As for DVD/Bluray, I will go to my neighborhood Redbox. Blockbuster? You, I havent yet gotten over the $4.99 rental fee, so you stay in the shit list for a little while longer.

natrius 15y ago
The streaming prices didn't change, so this isn't a licensing issue.
- paul9290 15y ago
  No, but it could be netflix helping the acceleration of the DVD's demise. Also, I'm sure the additional monies made from those who still rent DVDs will be used to help support the ever increasing cost of streaming content.
- mortenjorck 15y ago
  http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/index.htm http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_con... "Netflix has another year or two on most of these contracts, and then the game completely changes," says Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Securities. Pachter predicts Netflix's streaming content licensing costs will rise from $180 million in 2010 to a whopping $1.98 billion in 2012.
  - encoderer 15y ago

kenjackson 15y ago

Redbox + Amazon Prime is now far preferred to Netflix. Starting Sept 1st they'll see my cancellation in the mail.

Jcasc 15y ago

Consider the price of The Office Season 1-6 DVD set, $169.99. Now consider the price of HD streaming The Office Season 1-6 on Netflix, $7.99/mo. Thank you, Netflix. http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/the-office-season-1-6-dvd-gift-set/detail.php?p=282319 http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/the-office-season-1-6-dvd-g...

smackfu 15y ago
Missing the point. Netflix has sizable gaps in their streaming that are only filled by the DVD plan. Filling those gaps for $2 is a lot more reasonable than $8.
- Jcasc 15y ago
  No, I get the point. The services are not equal in terms of catalogue depth. They're also not equal in terms of viewing volume. If I used the DVD plan to fill those gaps, I would be annoyed too. But I don't, I only use streaming. I suspect the majority of users were either overwhelmingly streaming or overwhelmingly DVD oriented. The cost to fill the gaps for those users wasn't adequately covered by the $2, and since they were the minority, they put a wall between the services. My point was, I still perceive $7.99 unlimited streaming as a great value for the product. Gaps and all.

m0nastic 15y ago

I pay ~100/month for cable. I've had a Netflix subscription for ~6 months. Since subscribing to Netflix, my girlfriend and I have watched less than 20 hours of television via cable. We maintain a cable subscription for pretty much the same reason people rationalize a landline phone (just in case). Netflix can raise their prices about 10x before I'd even consider not renewing my subscription. "But comparing Netflix to Cable is a bullshit comparison, the content on Netflix is way less" you might say. In theory, you are right. The content available via Instant Watch is way limited; and it has less newer content. All I know is that since we've started using Netflix, I've stopped buying DVD's (I used to order 15-20 a week from Amazon), I've stopped watching the DVD's I already own (I have about 1000 sitting in giant plastic tubs in the closet that I never dig through), and I've stopped watching regular television.

qq66 15y ago
You used to buy 15-20 DVDs per WEEK from Amazon? Did you even watch half of them? I'm confused.
- m0nastic 15y ago
  They were mostly movies I'd already seen, and just wanted to have a copy of. When I first started buying DVD's, I got it in my head that I didn't ever want to be in a situation like: "Oh, I feel like watching movie X, but I don't own it." Instant gratification.
smackfu 15y ago
15-20 a week from Amazon? What the fuck. I know one series you may end up on: Hoarders.
- m0nastic 15y ago
  Once or twice a year I'd prune out all the movies that I was certain I'd never want to watch again (Shallow Hal, I'm looking squarely at you). I did the same thing with CD's when I was younger. Thankfully, the universe ran out of music that I like.

smackfu 15y ago

Netflix brought this on themselves by including streaming in the plans for free to start with, which gave the message that this should be valued at $0. Now they want to charge $8 for that, and should not be surprised if there is a backlash.

brown9-2 15y ago

The oddest part to me about this pricing announcement is that the company announces a new set of plans, but only mentions the price of just one option in the announcement - the one in which prices are rising the highest (1 dvd at a time plus streaming). I am currently paying for 2 DVDs at a time plus streaming, for $14.99/month. According to the recently updated Your Account page, this will cost $19.99 in a few months, a price raise of 33%. Not as dramatic as the rise mentioned in the announcement - so why not mention that? Why make me hunt for how much other plans will be changing?

berberich 15y ago
I'm pretty sure that was by far the most popular plan.

mattcurry 15y ago

I've taken to getting DVDs from my local library. - I can reserve online and they'll get it from any library in the network. - Generally get new release DVDs much faster then Netflix - Get entire seasons of TV shows at once instead of a disc at a time. - Free The big negative is I have to actually go and get them, but I generally pass the library daily, so it isn't that big of a deal.

billybob 15y ago

Pricing gripes aside, by packaging DVDs and streaming separately, they'll have much clearer signals about which one users really want, as measured in dollars. I'm assuming they'll be watching the numbers for DVD rental drop until it no longer makes business sense to offer that service.

jason_slack 15y ago

I understand prices rise...I am just pissed for me is it almost $6/month for the same plan.

Keyframe 15y ago

Even at that price it's a steal. It should be at least 5x more. I really don't see how netflix pulled it off with content providers, they must have a really large user base i guess. Also, I've seen a lot of people talking about "money grab" - consider that entertainment production is a REALLY expensive sport, with each product considered a startup in its own right. Lots of them aren't successful and tag along their successful brothers.

ctdonath 15y ago

I'm on the "unlimited 2-at-a-time" plan 'cuz my wife & I have separate queues (sappy romantic comedies vs. sci-fi action). BIG QUESTION: how will Netflix handle the distribution of rather large queues now? We've spent quite some time assembling three queues (2 DVD and 1 streaming) totaling some 400 movies, and will be quite cheesed off if 2/3rds of it disappears just because the service provider encouraged/forced us to switch plans.

kpozin 15y ago
I'm guessing that if you backed up the queue that's about to be eliminated -- by saving a copy of the queue page to disk (as HTML, PDF, etc.) -- it would take you about an hour to reenter its contents into your remaining queue. Annoying, but survivable.

nplusone 15y ago

To those who are unhappy that customers are whining, I'd like to offer some context: The instant viewing section is almost unusable since they launched their layout redesign in early June. The only logical explanation for introducing such a poor UX is to restrict users from accessing content in the first place, to reduce costs. There continue to be a substantial number of complaints following that redesign, to which Netflix never adequately responded. Now they are raising prices on an already reduced customer experience. It's possible that Netflix could have gotten away with raising prices (with a reasonable explanation for doing so), but this change is happening in a broader context where Netflix is essentially taking its customers for a ride. I suppose I could be completely wrong. The redesign might offer a wonderful experience that somehow I can't grasp. But that seems unlikely.

whichdan 15y ago

I'd be happy to pay $15-25/mo without question if they had a better streaming library. I wonder what % of their streaming customers would pay more?

georgieporgie 15y ago

They just doubled my subscription price, for the exact same content. So, I would pay another $8 for streaming content that is mostly old, and often mediocre. It's like having TBS streaming to your PC. On top of that, their encoding is often lousy, and there's no separate way to report it.

mirkules 15y ago

I would love to be able to export my movie ratings before I cancel my account. Anyone know of a way to do this?

dh 15y ago

Really too bad to see such a large price increase, they have lost money from me.

winsbe01 15y ago

I wrote a post about why Netflix is actually doing a good thing here: http://www.bathouselabs.com/archives/yes-netflix-raised-it%E2%80%99s-prices-now-chill-out/ http://www.bathouselabs.com/archives/yes-netflix-raised-it%E...