Netflix raises prices, intros new plans

I understand Netflix needs to make money. They’re not a non-profit. But rate hikes of this magnitude (60% for some, 33% for me) are just plain hostile to the customer. I think they’re making a bad business decision, and I’m going to seriously research alternatives to their service.

I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet, but last time they jacked up their rates (wasn’t it only 9 months or so ago?) I dropped my Blu-ray access and went from 3 discs down to 2.

I’m not certain which part of my account to cancel. I definitely don’t watch enough of Netflix’s content to justify paying an extra 55% to keep my current access, but neither of the two halves of the equation are that appealing. The turnaround on discs (while very fast for snail mail) is still problematic, and the streaming… er, the selection is better than it used to be, but it still sucks.

Together the two pieces make Netflix pretty compelling. Individually or at a higher price? Not so much. What-to-do?

Dropped my plan to disc-only, one at a time. Nice saving. Would have preferred to have been grandfathered in with the choice, but c’est la vie. Nobody can stream full HD 1080p with surround and even if they could, the ISPs would slap bandwidth caps and extra charges on us. Anyway, Netflix’s streaming selection is, for want of a better word, bollocks.

I wonder how much money they’ll lose through unsubscribers and people dropping their plans to DVD-only or streaming-only? Nobody in their right mind is going to pay for both now they’ve put the price up 60%.

I looked at my email and the online pricing and basically we are paying $5 more per month. So to pay what we do now we have to drop it from 2 DVDs at a time down to 1. We decided definitely going down to the 1 DVD, but may altogether just drop both streaming and DVD’s to make a statement.

I do love the article earlier on BGR that states…. “Netflix reports subscriber growth, revenue spike in Q1 2011 earnings.”

“Netflix reported revenues of $719 million, up 46% year-over-year, and a net income of $60 million, an 88% jump from the same period a year ago. The company said noted that it expects DVD shipments to decline and spending on streaming content to “increase substantially” in the second quarter and beyond.”

Wait, NET INCOME OF $60 MILLION. That was BEFORE all of this.

Let’s assume no one complained and we take the current 23.6 million members globally & add say the $5 extra we pay. 23.6million x $5.00= $118 Million in extra revenue. So if that is added to the already $719 Million, they would be taking in $837 Million. We already see they are making $60 million in profit, so they would be taking in even more in PROFIT. This is before any new subscribers.

So now what? Subscriber decline month over month.

I see why they stated they EXPECT DVD shipments to decline & streaming to increase substantially in the 2nd quarter & beyond. Now we know why they expected this.

Think for a second if we drop down to 1 DVD. We are still paying what we did before, but guess who makes more money because that is 1 less DVD for them to worry about. My guess is 1 less DVD nets them a nice chunk of change after all is said & done.

I guess we’ll see how they like people dropping service altogether.

BGR, this is actually a fantastic idea.

I’d love to see this added.  I for one, will go down to just DVDs as their streaming sucks ass anyway.

honestly I think it is more greendiculous.

I mean, I understand that costs are going up but I will most likely be canceling as that will double  my monthly cost for Netflix. Their selection for online streaming sucks and it’s not worth it to me.

I cancelled my streaming plan and will just continue with the 1 DVD at a time plan for now although I am seriously considering canceling all together.  To keep the streaming would double the cost.  I don’t have any issues streaming the content but the selection is pretty lame.

BGR, if you decided to do this, please put up a selection that says “Downgrading to fewer DVDs + streaming”. That’s what I’m doing.

Well everyone, try FAMILY VIDEO!! They have the best rental prices, great customer service and have movies the day they come out!! Why pay another one of Netflix’s price hikes for the same crappy service or visit an outdated Redbox when you could go to FAMILY VIDEO!!

We all should just cancel the plan and not doing business with Neflix.  

I just hate how they increase the pricing.  It make me feel like Netflix is the only choice we have.

Home theatre enthusiasts have a strong preference for blu-ray discs, espcially since Netflix isn’t streaming in 5.1.

Redbox offers blu-ray at $1.50/night.  This is an enormous cost savings and makes the box that much more attractive.  If only they could get a decent movie selection.

Thank God I only need streaming cause I do torrent, so its 8 bucks a month for me, but ppl are really going to redbox for a alternative ? its a $1-$1.50 a day, i personally like to watch things more than once, and it not only costs u the buck but your time and gas to go to redbox

Yeah it was nice to pay a fair price to legally obtain and enjoy movies. Back to the piratebay