Wooba.com Shares "Netflix Secrets"

Dan at Wooba.com posted an interesting story entitled "Secrets of Netflix - How to maximize your Netflix Rentals."

Overall, the story is an excellent series of tips for optimizing your Netflix experience, with lots of great tidbits of information about Netflix. I do have some comments:

1. Dan suggests The Digital Review for a list of new movie releases. Dan -- Hacking Netflix!!! I even link to the movie on Netflix for one-click renting.

2. I have been using Dan's trick for getting the new releases for a long time. Most new releases are available on Tuesday, but Netflix ships many of them on Monday so you have it on Tuesday. Time your returns so they get the movie back on Monday and make sure the new movie is at the top of your queue.

3. Very few movies are hard to get on Netflix now. I have more 5 movies that are "short" or "long wait" out of more than 350 movies in my queue.

4. Dan links to the seriously outdated Netflix Allocation Study, which was done more than a year ago and has not been updated to reflect the major improvements to the service.

5. He lists the Netflix distribution centers, and they have added 3 more since the story was published (Pittsburgh, PA, Baton Rouge, LA, and Columbia, SC).

6. He explains how to get 24 movies in a month. Has anyone ever achieved this? Or more than 50 movies on the 8-out plan?

7. I agree with his review of Blockbuster and Walmart. So far, both of these services are cheaper than Netflix but are having serious problems.

8. Dan talks about quitting to get a better rate. I've heard about this, but haven't tried it. I've also heard that people have complained about the price increase in an attempt to get a lower rate.

9. I also want more movie trailers. When I was using the DVD Station rental kiosk, it was great to be able to watch a trailer before renting the movie. Linking to the movie site is another great idea.

10. Estimate wait time. Excellent. There are some movies that I absolutely have to see ASAP, and I'd like to know if the movie is not going to be available for a long time.

11. Netflix is now offering a free one-month trial (send me an e-mail if you're interested and I'll send you the info).

I don't know how I missed this story, but Becky at Netflix Fan beat me to it. :-)

Comments

[Michele]

Love your site, can't believe I just found it!! Been a netflix member for a few years now, and wouldn't go back to the video store routine. I was going to get a DVR from time warner, but think i'll wait now and ask for tivo for christmas! *S*

[Anthony]

My Friend cancelled Netflix 8 days ago and as of yet they have not offered anything to keep him.

[RAYMOND KNIGHT]

I don't know if anybody has noticed but I believe NETFLIX is now engaged in what is commonly called "Interval Ticking". Lately I seem to have this problem where at 2:00PM my entry suddenly appears in an open queue entry with the statement "Shipping the next day". It is getting nearly impossible to get more than six a week on a 3-movie plan. I think this is part of there plan. Blockbuster and Walmart have there problems. I get I am stuck with NETFLIX until something better comes along.

You state:

5. He lists the Netflix distribution centers, and they have added 3 more since the story was published (Pittsburgh, PA, Baton Rouge, LA, and Columbia, SC).

I live in New Orleans, and my dvds still come from Houston, TX. Has the center in Baton Rouge open yet?

[Herbie]

I quit Netflix about two months ago.

Recently I recieved an offer to come back at a cheaper price however it was for the two out at one time/not more than 4 a month deal.

Doesn't really count though.

Baton Rouge just opened a week or two ago - it probably takes a couple of weeks to get people moved from one distribution center to another.

[Greg]

Didn't he also miss distribution centers in Indianapolis, IN; Louisville, KY; and Lansing, MI?

[Renee]

I'm on the 8 out plan and manage to get about 30-35 movies a month give or take. One month I shot up, without trying very hard, to 40. Even though the price went up I'm so addicted to just watching movies, I don't have cable, so it's hard to go back to 3 out.

I guess when my queue dwindles and I have no more MUST SEE flicks I'll drop down. Till then I'm sticking with 8 out.

[Ryan]

I did get 53 discs one month on the 8 at a time plan. But it was during the summer when there was nothing worth watching on television and when I wasn't in school. So I had a lot of time to watch stuff.

[Linny]

The Netflix site always states that they have received their dvds back from us in 1 day and also states that they shipped out new rentals this same day. However, we never get these dvds until 2 to 3 days later. For example- we mail back Monday and they receive on Tuesday and state they've mailed out new ones on Tuesday but we don't receive until Thursday or Friday! How can they always receive back from us in only 1 day but always take 2-3 days for us to recieve? All other mail we receive from Pittsburgh PA (1.5 to 2 hours away from us) gets to us in 1 day so is Netflix really holding back on us? Also, when we did the trial we received in 1 day so why no more? Something isn't right.