Let the throttling begin: Netflix raising prices almost double in Sept

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Just noticed Netflix was started enforcing streaming device limits (ie how many devices at once can stream) Guess this is so they can push their "family plan" is that is rumored

Netflix just announced that they are raising the price of their plans. They are splitting off the streaming and non streaming plans.

Stream only will cost $7.99 with no disc option
DVD only with no stream will be $7.99

Both 1 disc out at a time and stream will be $15.98. More discs out raise price more

edited to add more price
2 disc only $11.99

2disc with stream $19.98
3 disc with stream $24.99
4 Disc with stream $29.99

STAYS THE SAME
1 Disc out (2 max per month) $4.99
 
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Looks like I will have to cancel my Disc and just use streaming. It just annoys me that if there this obscure movie, I wont be able to get it on Disc. The thing for me is I am not big on new releases, I hardly ever watch new releases and popular movies, but instant has been a godsend for my TV/Bad Movie/Anime watching.
 
[quote name='lordopus99']LoTR could be hit with 28 days hold like all other new titles (released 6/28/11 - 15 days ago). New Line is under Warner Bros, who has a 28 hold period with Netflix.

My guess is the guys comment had to do with the 28 day hold period that almost all studios' new releases at this point are doing.[/QUOTE]

As I understood it, the 28 day holds are generally only for new to video releases, not for Blu Ray releases of catalog titles that have been available on DVD for years.

In any cases, there are plenty of older movies that have been on blu for a long while that they only carry on DVD. So that's not the only reason behind it, even if that is the case for this title.

I just think they don't get enough rentals of catalog titles on Blu Ray to justify them buying them on Blu rather than just offering the DVD. Which I think is absurd since they charge a fee for Blu-ray rentals which should be covering buying more titles on Blu.

I'll have to keep any eye on Blockbuster's mail rental plan. If they offer a $9.99 plan (maybe drop games since I wouldn't rent games anyway, and no instore swap options--my local one went out of business) I may switch. As is, Netflix is $2 cheaper for 1 bluray at a time, so I'll keep them for now.
 
[quote name='HYDFDEMON']I use stream much more than I use the DVD mail plan, so I'm just dropping down to stream only. Shame that they had to do this, but I'd rather see the movie I want instantly than wait a few weeks to see it anyway...[/QUOTE]

I would do the same, but my internet sucks, so the quality of the streams are SD or worse. As a result, I'm going to get rid of the streaming altogether, and keep the 1 DVD at a time plan (blu-ray added) for $10.59 a month ($9.99 plus tax). Figure I rent between 8-10 movies a month, so that's a better deal than Redbox at $1.66 a rental.

One suggestion I will make though is if you're unhappy with the price increases (effective immediately for new customers, and on September 1st for active accounts), put your account on hold. We could do some kind of petition where we're not canceling our accounts, but we're showing our disdain for them doing this. I think that would send a message if a million subscribers or more put their accounts on hold for 60-90 days.

Speaking of that, I did this recently because I'd been busy and didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth out of the service. That would be even more the case if I kept my subscription plan as it is.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yes. Not everyone is an immoral, pirating scumbag.[/QUOTE]

Not all of us can be judgemental McA-holes. Oh wait, I guess we can.
 
[quote name='ssjmichael']I keep hearing about how their new deals are "100 times" what they were before. Can someone please give me specific examples with sources of their contracts, how long they were, how much, etc..

I didn't look thoroughly into it, but the $2 Billion dollar figure people are throwing around is a speculated amount and from what I can tell, much of it is from from an agreement with Epix TV which they didn't seem to have any agreements with previously. I believe it's also a 5 year contract, I don't know how long the other agreements were for previously with other companies/studiosr. Again I couldn't find many specifics here so I'd appreciate any input here[/QUOTE]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/index.htm?iid=EL

Right now it is speculation, but it seems to be coming from somewhat legitimate sources.
 
[quote name='momouchi']http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/08/technology/netflix_starz_contract/index.htm?iid=EL

Right now it is speculation, but it seems to be coming from somewhat legitimate sources.[/QUOTE]

fucking Pachter? Are you kidding me. I thought this loser only made video game speculations


Anyway I think it's completely misleading to just say their licensing costs will go from 200 million to $2 billion. That ignores a huge amount of factors including the completely new deals that Netflix has sought out, the fact that they've expanded to other countries, the fact that Netflix made off like a bandit in those earlier deals so forth. According to that article they're expanding to 43 countries. That's pretty insane considering they're mostly just dealing with N. America right now. Expanding to Europe is going to bring them tons more revenue.
 
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[quote name='LeonSKennedy']I would do the same, but my internet sucks, so the quality of the streams are SD or worse. As a result, I'm going to get rid of the streaming altogether, and keep the 1 DVD at a time plan (blu-ray added) for $10.59 a month ($9.99 plus tax). Figure I rent between 8-10 movies a month, so that's a better deal than Redbox at $1.66 a rental.

One suggestion I will make though is if you're unhappy with the price increases (effective immediately for new customers, and on September 1st for active accounts), put your account on hold. We could do some kind of petition where we're not canceling our accounts, but we're showing our disdain for them doing this. I think that would send a message if a million subscribers or more put their accounts on hold for 60-90 days.

Speaking of that, I did this recently because I'd been busy and didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth out of the service. That would be even more the case if I kept my subscription plan as it is.[/QUOTE]

The price increase is a shame, but I use the service in place of paying 30+ or more a month for a tv service in my local area. The DVD's are nice, but again waiting a few weeks in between each movie is too much of a hassle for me and aren't worth the cost. Redbox and blockbusters usual run free movie coupons all the time so I might use them if by chance I want to see something that netflix doesn't have. Thanks for the advice though.
 
I am curious if this could help B&M video stores.

At the $9.99 price tag getting both streaming and dvd was worth it for me, but I will be switching to Hulu in the fall for season premieres. However to substitue to a dvd onlly plan for $8 dollars a month on Netflix DVD, I can average 2 dvds a weeks, so essentially $1/DVD rental, but when I go to my local rental store it is $0.75-1.50 per night. Plus side I can also rent any new release and not have to wait. I know I plan on doing it this way plus a few of my friends plan on it too.
 
[quote name='HYDFDEMON']The price increase is a shame, but I use the service in place of paying 30+ or more a month for a tv service in my local area.
[/quote]

Yeah it's definitely still a great deal for those who can ditch TV service for us. I can't ditch it as I'm a sports buff and the legal streaming options just don't cover anywhere near all the sports I watch yet.

The DVD's are nice, but again waiting a few weeks in between each movie is too much of a hassle for me and aren't worth the cost.
Click to expand...

Huh? I mail out a movie and get a new one two business days later every time--i.e. mail on Monday, get a new one on Wednesday.

[quote name='dan121887']I am curious if this could help B&M video stores.

At the $9.99 price tag getting both streaming and dvd was worth it for me, but I will be switching to Hulu in the fall for season premieres. However to substitue to a dvd onlly plan for $8 dollars a month on Netflix DVD, I can average 2 dvds a weeks, so essentially $1/DVD rental, but when I go to my local rental store it is $0.75-1.50 per night. Plus side I can also rent any new release and not have to wait. I know I plan on doing it this way plus a few of my friends plan on it too.[/QUOTE]

Problem is a lot of us don't have local rental stores any more. I'm sure there are a lot around my city, but the only one that was in the areas I frequent before was a Blockbuster and it closed down a few months ago. So my only options are Netflix (or Blockbuster's mail rentals) and Redbox.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Huh? I mail out a movie and get a new one two business days later every time--i.e. mail on Monday, get a new one on Wednesday.[/QUOTE]

Same
 
I'll just go to the streaming option seeing as that's what I use 99.9% of the time. But I'm hoping they'll at least put some better stuff up. Seems like NF used to have a lot better movies back when everyone realized NF was the best thing since sliced bread. They are bringing some childhood classics onto the TV series though, and that's pretty nifty I'll admit.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']
Huh? I mail out a movie and get a new one two business days later every time--i.e. mail on Monday, get a new one on Wednesday.[/QUOTE]

Yeah. Because you live near a distribution center. Same for me, but when BBV did their rental services it would take a week just to get the game in.
 
[quote name='mr_bungle']Yeah. Because you live near a distribution center. Same for me, but when BBV did their rental services it would take a week just to get the game in.[/QUOTE]

Sure. But Netflix has so many distribution centers now you should get it in two business days damn near everywhere.

My parents live in the middle of nowhere in WV and they get there's in 2 business days as well.

The only people who don't get it in two days should be those getting throttled, or those in very, very remote areas.

That's always been an advantage over Blockbuster, where you tend to have longer waits if you're not near a major city and thus probably further from a distribution center. Though they may have improved that in recent years-- I haven't known anyone that used their mail rentals for a couple of years.
 
[quote name='momouchi']I'm going to keep streaming only[/QUOTE]

yeah that's what i do too but 7.99 is still kind of high for streaming only
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yes. Not everyone is an immoral, pirating scumbag.[/QUOTE]

Looking at someone's graffiti or trash in their yard is immoral too.
 
canceled and went with blockbuster. I couldnt pass up the thought of getting games and having 5 in store switch outs.
 
[quote name='eXciter1']Looking at someone's graffiti or trash in their yard is immoral too.[/QUOTE]

So is setting a group of idiots on fire.
 
Very conflicted on this. I use the DVD portion whenever I can't get a movie available on instant streaming (recently that movie was Resident Evil: Afterlife). At the same time, it also takes 2-3 business days to get a disc so I love how fast a new disc arrives. On the other hand, I too have had months pass by where I had the same disc sitting on my counter unopened.

I love the instant streaming service for catching up on TV shows (big help on recent seasons of SNL). I wish the picture quality was better and I wouldn't get the "now loading" screen as often as I do (some shows/movies are worse than others at this). So yeah, I'm leaning towards instant streaming.

Or I could say "screw Netflix" and go to Youtube and the local library for stuff. Decisions, Decisions.
 
I'm so glad I just have my PS3 activated from a buddies account. I don't need the dvds, and the streaming does me just fine. This is a pretty big price increase though. Sucks for Netflix and for us, I guess.
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']
Can anyone elaborate on this statement? It's the first I've heard about it and I'm not sure if I'm reading it correctly.[/QUOTE]

I like how you read the last sentence and then ignore the rest of the post giving links to more information about this.

There's also a lot of unhappy campers in this 7,000+ post thread over at AVS Forum. The consensus is that Blockbuster is way better at adding new Blu-ray releases to their catalog than Netflix.
 
[quote name='Xizer']I like how you read the last sentence and then ignore the rest of the post giving links to more information about this.

There's also a lot of unhappy campers in this 7,000+ post thread over at AVS Forum. The consensus is that Blockbuster is way better at adding new Blu-ray releases to their catalog than Netflix.[/QUOTE]

The thread is three years old...
 
[quote name='Frogurt.man']The thread is three years old...[/QUOTE]

And it's still going on. Go to the last page of the thread.
 
Streaming from Netflix on my Wii is pretty crummy it might be my router but on the laptop its fine. This may be an excuse to look into a roku, hulu, or blockbuster online. We tend to use redbox the most
 
[quote name='starmask2k3']yeah that's what i do too but 7.99 is still kind of high for streaming only[/QUOTE]

It's a little high but it feels alright because I can come home from work and turn on any old Star Trek episode I want. Also there are a ton of classic movies that I really enjoy. If you aren't desperate for new titles (which I'm not) then streaming is a pretty good deal, especially for TV shows.
 
And Blockbuster counters.

30 day free trial for netflix customers, and their one disc (with bluray) at a time plan is dropping to $9.99 starting (was $11.99 before I think). Game rentals are included in the plan as well.

http://www.finanznachrichten.de/20794558

I think I'll give the trial ago and if the turnaround times and selection seem the same or better than Netflix for my needs, I'll probably switch.
 
Well I was going to get DVDs again this fall, but I guess that is no longer happening. I still enjoy the streaming though, so I'll keep that. I tried the Hulu stuff but it didn't appeal to me since some of their stuff was PC only.
 
[quote name='ssjmichael']Nice, might finally get a BB trial. It's just too bad there aren't any BB locations anywhere near me[/QUOTE]

Yeah, my closest one closed down as well. But being in a big city there are still a few around. The closest is about 2.5 miles away, but with traffic and traffic lights it's about 15 minutes each way to get there and it's not on my path to work or where I usually shop so I wouldn't use it much.

But I'll still do the free trial when they put it up on the site. Even without the in-store exchanges there are still a few advantages like being able to rent games, not having the 28 day wait for new releases that Netflix has, and I've read else where that they have a better selection of Blu Rays for older movies (where it seems Netflix isn't getting Blus and only having DVDs for a lot of older titles lately).

My only concerns are still getting the 3 day turnaround every time (i.e. mail on Mon., get a new movie on Wed.) and how the selection of things like documentaries and foreign films are. To be fair, I generally only watch award nominated films in those categories so I imagine they probably get most of those.
 
I know price hikes suck, but I don't get the outrage. We all knew they were wanting to move away from physical discs & focus on streaming. We've sort of been treating Instant Queue as a free add on to the existing disc service which was basically saying it doesn't have a value. In the overall value proposition the streaming service is certainly good enough to warrant $8 a month in my opinion. It may not be a complete selection of everything you want, or all the new releases, but personally I've never had a problem finding something I want to watch. Sucks there's no bundle discount, but even a $6 increase for the 1 disc plan + streaming isn't a lot of money. I see people waste more money on stupid shit all the time.

If nothing else this move will increase competition and hopefully make Netflix flesh out their instant queue service even more.
 
Funny reading comments in all the news articles that say something like "I don't even use streaming and the prices are going up!!!!" Some people jump to conclusions. Didn't see that here though. Cheaper if you do one or the other and doing both is cheaper than anywhere else. Saying you are going to cancel to switch to a program that doesn't have streaming, less selection, and costs more is really dumb.

Anyways Blockbuster's 1 dvd/1 game out at a time plan is really good for the first couple months. Think it is only $10 a month. Then the prices go up after the introduction period to at least $30 a month. You also spend time/gas going there and they might not have what you are looking for in stock. I used to use it and it was great. Bad part was that they do get movies sooner, but finding them in stock the day after it releases is very hard to do.

@dmaul1114 Blockbuster has a pretty good collection of Blu-Rays and DvDs, but not foreign films. That was the one thing I hated about Blockbuster.
 
[quote name='bob101910']Funny reading comments in all the news articles that say something like "I don't even use streaming and the prices are going up!!!!" Some people jump to conclusions. Didn't see that here though. Cheaper if you do one or the other and doing both is cheaper than anywhere else. Saying you are going to cancel to switch to a program that doesn't have streaming, less selection, and costs more is really dumb.

Anyways Blockbuster's 1 dvd/1 game out at a time plan is really good for the first couple months. Think it is only $10 a month. Then the prices go up after the introduction period to at least $30 a month. You also spend time/gas going there and they might not have what you are looking for in stock. I used to use it and it was great. Bad part was that they do get movies sooner, but finding them in stock the day after it releases is very hard to do.

@dmaul1114 Blockbuster has a pretty good collection of Blu-Rays and DvDs, but not foreign films. That was the one thing I hated about Blockbuster.[/QUOTE]

Where exactly does it say that the $11.99 price is just an introduction period?
 
I'm glad I can now (could I have before?) get DVD only and not have to pay for streaming. For me, it's going from $20 down to $15. So I'm not complaining.
 
[quote name='bob101910']
Anyways Blockbuster's 1 dvd/1 game out at a time plan is really good for the first couple months. Think it is only $10 a month. Then the prices go up after the introduction period to at least $30 a month. [/quote]
So False. No introduction period, no price hikes.

You also spend time/gas going there and they might not have what you are looking for in stock.
Click to expand...
*picks up phone* Hey do you have this movie? (sure we do) Thanks I will be there soon can you hold (sure we can for 1 hour) Goodbye *hang up phone*

Where was the time/gas in that scenario?

Bad part was that they do get movies sooner, but finding them in stock the day after it releases is very hard to do.
Click to expand...
Blockbuster system is really easy to figure out for in-store. Tuesday through mid-Thursday all new releases in stock. Mid-Thursday through Monday majority new releases in return box i.e. arrive at open. Never had issues with getting movies following this setup.

After writing all this, all I can think of is that you are confused between the In-Store Game Pass and the Mailer program i.e. the program Dmaul mention for 9.99.

[quote name='Zaku77']Dies blockbuster do streaming with that offer? [/quote]
Blockbuster doesn't offer any streaming plans. The only streaming they do is like a pay-per-view type gig.
 
[quote name='bob101910']Funny reading comments in all the news articles that say something like "I don't even use streaming and the prices are going up!!!!" Some people jump to conclusions. Didn't see that here though. Cheaper if you do one or the other and doing both is cheaper than anywhere else. Saying you are going to cancel to switch to a program that doesn't have streaming, less selection, and costs more is really dumb.

Anyways Blockbuster's 1 dvd/1 game out at a time plan is really good for the first couple months. Think it is only $10 a month. Then the prices go up after the introduction period to at least $30 a month. You also spend time/gas going there and they might not have what you are looking for in stock. I used to use it and it was great. Bad part was that they do get movies sooner, but finding them in stock the day after it releases is very hard to do.

@dmaul1114 Blockbuster has a pretty good collection of Blu-Rays and DvDs, but not foreign films. That was the one thing I hated about Blockbuster.[/QUOTE]

I find it equally funny when someone speaks with authority on a subject and has no idea what they are talking about.

I've had Blockbuster online for two years now. You, sir, are so wrong that I don't even know where to begin. I have the 3 disc option and it costs me $19 a month. Not $30. Not $40. It costs $19 and has for two years.

With that, I get free in-store rentals, free blu-ray rentals in-store or online (Netflix charges extra, no?), free game rentals and I get special coupons all of the time for either free movie/game rentals or discount coupons on used items in the store. Now, Blockbuster does not offer streaming although that may change I have been told... but I'm not holding my breath for it. I don't care if they do or do not offer it, tbh. But, my plan definitely does NOT cost $30+. That much I know for a fact. And it is 3 discs, the 1 disc option is like $14-15.

What you have likely confused (and then made up a story to fit your narrative for the rest) is that Blockbuster does have a promotion where you get to use their service at the start for $9.99 for an introductory offer and then it does raise in price after that introductory period. But it doesn't balloon to $30+. It goes to $19 if you have the 3 disc option and even lower if you have fewer discs.
 
[quote name='Zaku77']Dies blockbuster do streaming with that offer?[/QUOTE]

They do not stream movies (yet) unless you pay for them individually. With the blockbuster online pass you get the following:

1, 2 or 3 DVD's/Blu-Rays/Games at a time and you can rent online or in-store (however, games must be rented online only I believe... I have never tried to rent one in-store -- I rarely rent games, anyway).

I have personally never had an issue with finding new releases at blockbuster. As far as foreign films go, they don't have a huge stock of them but they do have a good selection of the best ones. For instance, I've rented Ivan the Terrible, Gomorrah, Che, Let the Right One In etc... from their foreign films section. So, it is not like they don't have ANY foreign films. But they don't have really obscure ones if you are into that sort of thing. If they are big foreign films, odds are blockbuster has them.
 
Netflix Income Statement:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=nflx

I think everyone has a right to be outraged.. they've seen exponential growth for a long period of time. However, I believe they've wanted to do this for a while.. they own such a majority of the movie rental market and have such a large subscription base, they're well positioned to get away with doing this now.

I honestly hope it gives rise to competition. Stock is down 4%.. I hope it continues to drop and I'll pick up a few shares. :) I seriously can't think of a good enough reason to justify the cost.. the arguments of studios upping their licensing or an increase in infrastructure to support a larger streaming user base are garbage. Additionally, they could have at least justified the streaming costs by at LEAST offering a larger selection to stream (let's face it.. it's not like you're getting a ton of newer movies available for streaming, and some of the TV selection is only a season at a time).
 
I am ok with the price increase despite it being a pretty big jump. The way I see it is this way - Comcast, in order to get a discount on my internet with them, has me subscribing to cable(internet without TV is $65, internet WITH TV runs about $50). Realistically, on my bill it says my TV service runs about $18. What do I get with Basic Cable? 5-9 local/network channels, countless Spanish Channels, countless Asian network channels, countless shopping channels. Doesn't include the lackluster OnDemand either.


Netflix - I spend $16, I get the dvd selection plus an absurd amount of shows and movies I can stream, many of which were shows I grew up with or shows that put today's garbage to shame(though that isn't hard to do). Obviously, the value is all relative. If I can stream all 13 seasons of King of the Hill, the 90s X-men and Spider-Man cartoons, 4 seasons of the Twilight Zone, 8 Seasons of Monk, and everything else on my Xbox, my Android phone etc, I'm comfortable with $16.

This increase was inevitable; Netflix continues to grow and it's the unfortunate side of business for consumers.
 
Problem I have with it is that especially if they are trying to go to streaming only then they will have that much less overhead to pay for yet... they are raising prices?? Yeah... profit.
 
[quote name='polly']I know price hikes suck, but I don't get the outrage. We all knew they were wanting to move away from physical discs & focus on streaming. We've sort of been treating Instant Queue as a free add on to the existing disc service which was basically saying it doesn't have a value. In the overall value proposition the streaming service is certainly good enough to warrant $8 a month in my opinion. It may not be a complete selection of everything you want, or all the new releases, but personally I've never had a problem finding something I want to watch. Sucks there's no bundle discount, but even a $6 increase for the 1 disc plan + streaming isn't a lot of money. I see people waste more money on stupid shit all the time.

If nothing else this move will increase competition and hopefully make Netflix flesh out their instant queue service even more.[/QUOTE]

The problem is that they already did a price hike at the beginning of the year and have done a greater one now, without adding value.

As I said before, I will be keeping streaming because that is what has the most value right now to me. That being said, they are going to be losing out on the money they would have made from me because I'm not a power DVD watcher. For me, there are other options that are going to be cheaper for the amount I use it.

I think those power users are actually more likely to keep their DVD plans and drop streaming. It will be interesting to see how the finances work out for them, but I think ultimately we are going to have a lot of people drop one plan or the other. Whether that reduces enough costs to them to get an overall gain is an open question.
 
[quote name='lordopus99']*picks up phone* Hey do you have this movie? (sure we do) Thanks I will be there soon can you hold (sure we can for 1 hour) Goodbye *hang up phone*

Where was the time/gas in that scenario?[/QUOTE] Time doesn't stop for a phone call. You make a good point, but just realize time doesn't stop for anything!
 
[quote name='polly']I know price hikes suck, but I don't get the outrage.[/QUOTE]

You know what outrages me the most? The fact that they're trying to BS me and sell me on the idea that having to pay for two separate plans is a good thing and will somehow benefit me. Don't hand me a line of shit, tell it to me like it is. If costs are going up and you have to raise your prices, then so be it, I can accept that if you tell me honestly. But don't try to pull the wool over my eyes.

I don't really buy the "costs are going up" argument, though, simply because Netflix has said nothing of the sort. All of the speculation regarding cost increases and contract difficulties with the studios has come from journalists and other third parties who are privy to no inside information whatsoever. If that's what's going on, I want to hear it from Netflix.

The other thing that outrages me are the games that Netflix has played in the past. When they made the deal that they wouldn't get new release discs until a month after the release date, they claimed that it would somehow magically help them to improve their streaming service with new and better titles. Frankly, I haven't seen it. Sure, they're adding new titles all the time, but they've always added new titles. I don't believe that the rate or quality has increased significantly. And for the most part, the titles that they're adding are still older titles. Most of the newer ones that they are getting are second-rate titles that no one wants to watch. And they're still losing titles all of the time too. They made similar claims when they raised rates back at the beginning of the year, and again, nothing really came of it. At least they're not promising things that they don't intend to deliver on this time, I guess.

Finally, I also feel that if they're going to raise the rates this way, they should do away with the extra charge for blu-rays. Back when blu-ray was new and expensive, it might have made sense, but prices are dropping to the point where they're at near parity with DVDs. The minimal extra cost for blu-rays (which I'm sure is even more minimal for them, given the bulk they buy in) doesn't justify charging the extra amount. I could stomach this increase a lot more if they would simply do away with that.

[quote name='TheLongshot']The problem is that they already did a price hike at the beginning of the year and have done a greater one now, without adding value.[/QUOTE]

Yup, that pretty much sums it up exactly.
 
[quote name='bob101910']
Anyways Blockbuster's 1 dvd/1 game out at a time plan is really good for the first couple months. Think it is only $10 a month. Then the prices go up after the introduction period to at least $30 a month. [/quote]

As other's have said, we're talking about their mail rental service. It was $11.99 a month for one disc out at a time with blu ray (same as netflix). With this new deal it will be $9.99--same as netflix's new 1 disc only plan with blu ray.

@dmaul1114 Blockbuster has a pretty good collection of Blu-Rays and DvDs, but not foreign films. That was the one thing I hated about Blockbuster.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I searched for a few foreign films and documentaries I have in my Netflix queue currently and just from that found and handful Blockbuster Online didn't have.

So I won't bother with giving it a trial right now. I mainly watch disc rentals from Netflix anyway, and I'm happy with the selection and 3 business day turnaround I always get. So I can just drop streaming and get 1 disc with blu ray for $9.99 and actually save $2 from the $11.99 I've been paying for it.

The other perks to Blockbuster I don't apply much to me either. I don't have much interest in renting games, and the one location that was along my normal driving path went out of business so I'd rarely do in store exchanges.

Anyway, the Netflix streaming was nice to have when I'm bored and want to watch things between disc rentals, but not worth the added cost currently for me since I stream something once or twice a month at most. If they really improve the selection and start getting more recent releases on streaming, I'll reconsider and maybe add it back. But for now I'll be fine just going disc only after August.
 
[quote name='arcane93']
Finally, I also feel that if they're going to raise the rates this way, they should do away with the extra charge for blu-rays. Back when blu-ray was new and expensive, it might have made sense, but prices are dropping to the point where they're at near parity with DVDs. The minimal extra cost for blu-rays (which I'm sure is even more minimal for them, given the bulk they buy in) doesn't justify charging the extra amount. I could stomach this increase a lot more if they would simply do away with that.[/QUOTE]

I do agree with that. There's no reason for that extra charge anymore. Even moreso since Blu-ray new releases still tend to stay on long wait for a few weeks, and they seem to not be getting a lot of older movies on Blu-ray lately and just sticking with only carrying the DVDs.

That said, Blockbuster is stupid to tout that they don't have a Bluray fee when their disc plans cost the same as Netflix's do after the fee. At least for the one disc plan, haven't checked the 2 disc plans--Netflix was $11.99 after the $2 fee for the one disc, and Blockbusters 1 disc was $11.99 as well. Now Netflix's is $9.99 with fee, and Blockbuster's is $9.99 for Netflix members who switch over in that deal.

So they fee doesn't bug me too much since there's not a cheaper competitor for mail rentals of Blu-ray discs. If Blockbuster really wanted to get people like me, they'd make their 1 disc at a time plan $7.99 and include Blu-rays. Then they can tout that they offer Blu-ray at no extra charge. But I know they think having games and in store exchanges add value to their service over Netflix. But those aren't things that appeal to me personally.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Then they can tout that they offer Blu-ray at no extra charge. But I know they think having games and in store exchanges add value to their service over Netflix. But those aren't things that appeal to me personally.[/QUOTE]

Bluray and games does appeal to me though. Netflix streaming wasn't very good anyway. I could go for a trial wit Blockbuster.
 
I have been doing streaming only since March 2011. Haven't had cable/sat for about six years and have been stickin' to the net for entertainment. Streaming works for me since I haven't seen shows like 24 or Prison Break at all.
 
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