Netflix Announces New DVD-Only Plans & Pricing for Combined Plans

On the Netflix blog Jessie Becker announced several important changes for subscribers and new customers:

• Official announcement of the DVD-only plans: $7.99 for one-out and $11.99 for 2-out, unlimited (dvd.netflix.com).
• The DVD & streaming unlimited plans are now separated into two $7.99 plans, or $15.98 for both (replacing the $9.99 combined plan).
• The price changes are immediate for new customers, and for existing customers the new pricing will start on September 1st.

The reason behind the changes:

Last November when we launched our $7.99 unlimited streaming plan, DVDs by mail was treated as a $2 add on to our unlimited streaming plan. At the time, we didn’t anticipate offering DVD only plans. Since then we have realized that there is still a very large continuing demand for DVDs both from our existing members as well as non-members. Given the long life we think DVDs by mail will have, treating DVDs as a $2 add on to our unlimited streaming plan neither makes great financial sense nor satisfies people who just want DVDs. Creating an unlimited DVDs by mail plan (no streaming) at our lowest price ever, $7.99, does make sense and will ensure a long life for our DVDs by mail offering.

Netflix recently announced a new focus on the DVD side of the business, and they've formed a new business unit around DVD:

Reflecting our confidence that DVDs by mail is a long-term business for us, we are also establishing a separate and distinct management team solely focused on DVDs by mail, led by Andy Rendich, our Chief Service and Operations Officer and an 11 year veteran of Netflix.

You can view your current plan or select a new one at on the Your Account page on the Netflix website.

What do you think of the new pricing and plans?

Comments

[Notovny]

Even though I primarily watch streaming video, I generally think of my netflix plan as a two-DVD plan with free streaming for $14 . It's irrational, I know. With the price of two DVDs + streaming going to $19.98, it doesn't really feel worth it.

I'll probably drop to one DVD on the September Bill Date, and feel slightly fleeced at $16. I'll also probably churn through as many DVDs as I can before the hammer comes down.

[Bob Meyer]

So, instead of $10/month that I'm paying now, it'll be $16/month. I was already looking at the Amazon streaming because it was cheaper. Now that Netflix is raising prices by 60%, well, Amazon will be an even better deal.

[Some]

Now that they obliterated Blockbuster, they can start ripping off customers just like BB used to, without worrying about competition.

I LOVE netflix, so this statement from me is not ordinary. 60% increase? And I dont even get my DVDs on time and I dont even get new movies in mail anymore eventhough I pay $2 premium for BluRay. Time to cancle I guess

[Johnson1965Tony]

Halarious Netflix disabled comments on their blog 12minutes after announcing this. They have no interest in hearing customers complaints. The Netflix facebook page is already filled with thousands of pissed off subscribers.

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmd3vfZNTlUtnd-NASWHZtriN3oa8GZFCk]

So how this this affect the larger accounts? I'm on the 4-out plan, are they ELIMINATING these plans and just offering 2-out?

[JBL]

Wow, a $5 price hike for the 2-DVD out plan?? That's insane. Just a short time ago I was getting 4 DVD + Blu-ray + streaming for $22.98. I may actually cancel Netflix after 12 years.

[pwrof3]

Well, my account is currently on hold as I can't afford even the $9.99 plus taxes at the moment while I save up to buy a new home.

If I ever go back to Netflix, I will now only be getting the $7.99 DVD only plan. Streaming only is not worth it, as the selection is not big enough for me. 80% of my DVD Queue is not available for streaming.

[Tino]

To the earlier poster crying that his plan is being eliminated: it is not. Stop crying.

[UltimateOutsider]

To the person asking about larger accounts, it means that if you want to keep streaming your account price is going up (again). From the Netflix home page, go to "Your Account & Help" and then click "See membership terms & details" and you'll see the new rates.

We already cut our plan back to 3-out from 4-out. Now we may cut back to 2-out. Not like it will bother Netflix; they WANT us to switch to streaming-only, even though they have weak content compared to the pay-as-you-go services like iTunes and Amazon.

[Shalin Patel]

We have Unlimited Streaming + 3 DVDs at a time + BluRay. Our price is going up from $23.99 to $27.99 per month.

The only good thing is that my increase won't go into effect until Sept 1. By then, new TV shows and football come back. So we will cancel and move to RedBox for movies.

I can't blame Netflix though. The licensing fees they are getting charged for streaming movies is going through the roof.

[None]

No they are not elminating other plans but they're going up in cost as well. You can see the new pricing plans if you go to your account settings and go to the plans page. They still offer 3, 4, etc at a time.

Don't actually change your plan because there's a warning at the top saying that they will charge you the new price right away instead of on Sept 1, if you do.

[Shanshu73]

it's fine . i have been thinking about just doing streaming only since if there is a new title you have to get it in either monday or tues to get that flick or you have to wait a long time. if i want to see a new flick i'll either watch a cropped 6 ppv movie or a wide screen amazon ppv title.

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmd3vfZNTlUtnd-NASWHZtriN3oa8GZFCk]

Actually Netflix is firewalled (I'm at work) could some kind soul post the new multi-disc plan rates? Thanks!

[Account Deleted]

Quite disappointing news, we now have to pay double for the same exact service.

I would be OK with the price increase if it meant the streaming catalog would be greatly expanded, but that doesn't seem like it will be the case. The studios are charging Netflix more for streaming licenses and Netflix is passing along that cost to the customers.

Not sure what I'll do yet, I'm considering dropping down to the $7.99 DVD only plan.

[Michael Henshaw]

This is probably the beginning of the end for Netflix. They won't be able to afford the licensing fees demanded by Hollywood without raising prices through the roof. This is second major price increase in a year.

[J L]

Unlimited Streaming + DVD: 1/1598; 2/1998; 3/2398; 4/2498; 5/3598; 6/4098; 7/4598; 8/5198.

Unlimited DVD (no streaming): 1/799; 2/1199; 3/1599; 4/2199; 5/2799; 6/3299; 7/3799; 8/4399.

Odd how the streaming plans are .98 and the non-streaming plans are .99.

[Lethargicj]

I wouldn't be as bothered by this if they'd get rid of the bluray charge. I wanted to add bluray but really didn't want to have to spend more money so I added it and dropped down to 1 disc so I could add it and still manage to save a few bucks. But now with this increase I'm paying nearly as much as I was before and not really saving anything.

They just raised prices by 60% so I'm pretty sure that should cover the blurays.

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmd3vfZNTlUtnd-NASWHZtriN3oa8GZFCk]

Thanks! WOW! So 4 out with streaming is $24.98? That means my price is going DOWN (I'm currently paying $27.99 :-)

[joshhyde]

While I hate the price increase, this makes sense for Netflix. Now, they can compete with Hulu Plus on price AND kill the DVD.

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmLnAWBHCDWScq0kJMtCBZdte0GdVwXG2U]

looks to me that netflix is on it's way out
oh well

[J L]

Sorry, the 4 out plan is $29.98. Typo.

[screwdestiny]

Wow, I'm am seriously disappointed in Netflix. They JUST increased by 3-out plan $3 in January. Now another $4 price hike? They neglect to mention this anywhere in that blog post, I had to log on to my account to see it.

Obviously streaming price hikes were just around the corner because those deals are expensive, regardless of how much streamers liked to tout that it costs Netflix $2 a DVD. Increasing the streaming only-option cost makes sense. But increasing everyone's, when you JUST increased everyone's? That's crap.

I've threatened to cancel before, but I had to put my membership on hold for two weeks while I waited for a replacement credit card and it was honestly no big deal. I used Megaskipper and watched The Mentalist, it was so easy.

It's not even that it is that expensive. Honestly, it isn't. But Netflix has been getting worse and worse recently with their customer service and the value they provide that I can no longer go along for the ride. It's been three years, but I'm going to have to cancel.

[Johnson1965Tony]

This is all part of the Netflix scam. Now they can tell investors on July25th how everthing is rosey (put off the crash until October) they can point to international expansion (epic fail) and increased monies from exsisting customers (epic fail). The wheels are comming off.

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmd3vfZNTlUtnd-NASWHZtriN3oa8GZFCk]

Gotcha thanks. So that's $29.98 4-out with streaming?

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmLnAWBHCDWScq0kJMtCBZdte0GdVwXG2U]

these companies always manage to screw them self over time ..called GREED

[Royrapoport]

@joshhyde,

I think the message here is actually quite the opposite from "killing the DVD." Creating DVD-only plans (and creating a business unit committed to DVD) signifies (to me) a resurging interest in, and commitment to, the DVD shipping side of the customer experience.

(Note that I'm not in any way addressing the effective price hike)

-roy

[Tbob1.wordpress.com]

This price hike is a bit extreme if you ask me. With tax you're looking at $18/mo for one disc and streaming. That's too much. I used to pay right around that for three out at a time. Depending on how much streaming you do, the best you can call this value for your dollar is "average". In my opinion most new release movies have sucked over the past two years anyway so I think I'll be dropping to streaming only and augment discs w/ Redbox when I must. I think Blockbuster still has a store open down the road too if push comes to shove. I fully expect streaming only prices to eventually increase someday as well and if they go too far I guess NF and me will be over. And I say all this being a fan of the service.

[mnxmfan]

Am I the only one that see's the positive here? First, it means that they are NOT abandoning DVD's, which is a good thing. Between the licensing deals, and bandwidth caps, everyone seems to be trying to kill streaming, so I am glad that DVD will remain an option. Second, I used to pay $20 a month for 3 DVD's with NO streaming from Netflix and it took DAYS to get new DVD's (one shipping center).

Now, I've been getting a deal by paying for two DVD's and getting free streaming on top of it for $15. I still watch the same, if not more, than I did with the 3 DVD plan, but was saving $5 per month. Now, they have essentially right-sized the plan, so I am back to paying nearly $20 BUT the beauty is, if I want to drop streaming, and go back to 3 DVD's at a time, I will actually pay LESS (the lowest amount ever on record) than I did for 3 DVD's when I started with Netflix.

For those complaining about subsidizing streaming, now they don't have to!

[mnxmfan]

And also, if I wanted to drop streaming, I would actually pay $3 LESS per month for the 2 out plan than I was paying before.

[Steve Irving]

Oh crap...so my 2 out and streaming plan cost is going from $15 a month to $20......a 25% increase for the same product, that is insane.

My account's been on hold for a month, I re-activated it this morning. Will have to see if I can get all the DVD's on my list in the next 6 weeks (doubt it).

[Johnson1965Tony]

The street running a poll. Over 50% of customers say they will cancel subscription.
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/11182195/1/will-you-pay-more-for-netflix.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

[Brennokbob]

Has anyone heard how they will be addressing gift accounts?

I have a one year subscription that was gifted to me back in December so I still have 5 months left. The plan they purchased for me was 1 DVD out with streaming. You can't get refunds on the gift subscriptions and the subscription was paid for in advance so I don't see how they could change the terms during the remaining 5 months.

[me.yahoo.com/a/ecWbZuN4oeOrIpIOiykMyZVQB45YMVcSufEC]

I love this. Goodbye crappy streaming service!

[Aztex77]

I will be canceling Netflix Sept 1. I have Redbox up the street, Amazon and other choices. BTW Streaming will still be the 2nd rate movies and only PCM audio. What a deal!

[Sanzarq]

My biggest complaint with Netflix lately has been their total "retrenchment" from "true" customer service.

Having joined in the summer of 2000, I'm virtually a charter member. I started out as a "4 out at a time" DVD customer, and was "grandfathered in" at the "3 out at a time" price when they had their first price increase.

I used to be able to send Customer Service an e-mail, requesting DVD titles that they didn't carry. Oftentimes they would add these films to their library in short order (or even answer if they couldn't or didn't want to).

I joined Blockbuster & Wal-Mart on several occasions (FREE TRIALS for 30 days) to rent the stuff Netflix didn't carry. I wrote them about what I was doing and they started adding a lot of esoteric films to their catalog, so I dropped their competitors.

If I had a DVD in my number 1 position for a few weeks that they couldn't fulfill, they'd would send me a 5th DVD as sort of an apology.

When streaming first started, I would notice a problem on some films & send them an e-mail & they would fix the problem quickly.

Well, now they've squashed Blockbuster (Wal-Mart gave up long ago). You can't e-mail anyone anymore - you're only option is to talk to some Customer Service rep, who promises "to relay your concerns to a higher authority". Yeah, right.

In the meantime, Netflix has become fixated on streaming & has stopped supporting a lot of smaller DVD distributors, no longer carrying a lot of new or catalog releases from companies like VCI, MONDO Macabro, Dark Sky, Mya, etc., etc., etc. They aren't replacing worn out discs that are still available in the marketplace for sale, simply listing a growing list of catalog titles as "unavailable".

Their streaming library is littered with B-features that most users will never view (although I've watched a number of these), but they routinely add foriegn features without supplying dubbed or sub-titled copies. If you call to complain, nothing is ever done.

Then they mess around with the Instant Watch queue so that you can't sort anything, delete anything, etc., but when you call to complain you get nowhere.

Now, I'm faced with a 50% price increase come September 1. And there is no way to get satisfaction from their Customer Service Department when you complain, because no one is empowered to do anything.

I want Reed Hasting's physical Office mailing address and his e-mail address. This blog would provide a great service by posting those little pieces of info somewhere. I'm tired of messing around with peons & I want to go right to the top. I'm not sure this bozo is paying any attention to what he's let happen to his company. And I don't give a crap what kind of licensing fees he has to pay for streaming, 'cause I didn't ask for that in the first place.

I might be better off going to Amazon for that, at the rate NF is going.

In other words, I'M NOT HAPPY!!!!!

[J L]

Yes, the $29.98 plan is 4-out plus streaming.

Personally, I'm dropping down to a DVD only plan. Redbox isn't an option because I don't watch many current, box office movies and I'm pretty sure those Redboxes don't have classic and foreign cinema in them.

I hate the price hikes but I still save way more money by renting through Netflix than I would blind buying everything I want to see. My purchases have gone way down but I've still gotten a great film education.

[Brian Ernst]

Goodbye, Netflix. You just shot yourself in the foot. 60% increase, ridiculous.

[BrentP]

They're raising my current plan (1 DVD + streaming with Blu-ray) by $8/mo. That's a price hike of 80%. They're lucky that Cable is still way more expensive but another price hike and I'm jumping ship and just going to get myself some satellite.

[nez]

To rich for my blood. I'll likely downgrade to streaming only, or maybe switch to DVD only plan periodically to fill the gaps.

[kh99]

No one likes to pay more, but basically it's been an incredible bargin up till now, the streaming was essentailly added for free and the prices never really went up. Now we're seeing it. And what a surprise, Johnson1965Tony (jolly?) is here to declare it a disaster.

Those who were thinking of going to Amazon or elsewhere - go ahead. You still won't get DVDs and you won't get anywhere near the selection for streaming.

It's still a bargain. But it will make me decide - I only kept the 1 disc out because it was so cheap, now I'll have to decide if it's worth $7.99.