Octopus Overlords

pr0ner wrote:How are these price increases enormous?

I would be paying 60% more than I am now. How is that not enormous?

pr0ner wrote:How are these price increases enormous?

I don't have them in front of me, but I believe I saw a rise from 10 bucks to 16 for the same service. How can a 60% increase not be seen as enormous?

noxiousdog wrote:

pr0ner wrote:How are these price increases enormous?

I would be paying 60% more than I am now. How is that not enormous?

Damn, beaten to the punch.

Meh. Still cheap for the amount of media we consume.

noxiousdog wrote:

pr0ner wrote:How are these price increases enormous?

I would be paying 60% more than I am now. How is that not enormous?

Percentages are misleading when talking about this dollar amount. $6 a month, on its own, is not enormous.

pr0ner wrote:

noxiousdog wrote:

pr0ner wrote:How are these price increases enormous?

I would be paying 60% more than I am now. How is that not enormous?

Percentages are misleading when talking about this dollar amount. $6 a month, on its own, is not enormous.

I agree, it's not enormous, and I could certainly afford it. I just choose not to. I could afford to have cable TV, but I choose not to have that either.

pr0ner wrote:

noxiousdog wrote:

pr0ner wrote:How are these price increases enormous?

I would be paying 60% more than I am now. How is that not enormous?

Percentages are misleading when talking about this dollar amount. $6 a month, on its own, is not enormous.

It depends. $6 a month for a crap sandwich is enormous. And percentage based is the only relevant number because $6 is meaningless without context.

And you're doing it yourself, $72 a year sounds worse than $6 month doesn't it?

Regardless, the service is worth $10/month to me, it's not worth $16. I watch a limited amount of it, and I'll save money by cancelling altogether, or by spending $8 instead of the $10.

$72 a year doesn't sound bad to me at all.

pr0ner wrote:$72 a year doesn't sound bad to me at all.

Which, incidentally, is close to the cost of an annual membership to Amazon Prime.

pr0ner wrote:$72 a year doesn't sound bad to me at all.

Doesn't sound bad for what?

noxiousdog wrote:

pr0ner wrote:

noxiousdog wrote:

pr0ner wrote:How are these price increases enormous?

I would be paying 60% more than I am now. How is that not enormous?

Percentages are misleading when talking about this dollar amount. $6 a month, on its own, is not enormous.

It depends. $6 a month for a crap sandwich is enormous. And percentage based is the only relevant number because $6 is meaningless without context.

And you're doing it yourself, $72 a year sounds worse than $6 month doesn't it?

Regardless, the service is worth $10/month to me, it's not worth $16. I watch a limited amount of it, and I'll save money by cancelling altogether, or by spending $8 instead of the $10.

$8 a month to stream movies or $8 a month to have a wider library sent to my home sounds very much worth it to me. I'd just obsess over movies in the mail and am too cheap and lazy to build an infrastructure for streaming. I pay $5 a month for satellite radio that I hardly listen to and I think that's alright, though I must admit that's right at the top of my price point. Anything more and I'd quit.

And yet I pay nearly $40 a month for basic crappy cable... and I keep thinking about canceling and I keep not canceling it and I probably watch 40 hours of TV a month (that I shouldn't) and that 40 hours of TV bombards me with 25% or 10 hours of commercials that I, in turn, cut down on in with TiVo, that would want $10 a month to keep that service up if I hadn't paid for a lifetime subscription some ten years ago.

It's interesting how we value things. All the movies I want to see for $8 a month seems like steal to me if I am willing to maintain the infrastructure to get have that luxury.

noxiousdog wrote:

pr0ner wrote:$72 a year doesn't sound bad to me at all.

Doesn't sound bad for what?

Any subscription based service that I'd be interested in.

Or Amazon Prime as Smoove pointed out.

Smoove_B wrote:

pr0ner wrote:$72 a year doesn't sound bad to me at all.

Which, incidentally, is close to the cost of an annual membership to Amazon Prime.

The (slight) irony with Amazon Prime is that I'm currently getting Prime shipping for free through "Amazon Mom", wherein you get free prime service if you set up auto-subscription orders for various baby products (diapers, wipes, etc.). But sadly that doesn't include Prime streaming.

So I could get it by paying for Prime, but then I'm paying $85 or whatever just for Prime streaming instead of getting it as a throw-in on the shipping, which makes it seem way too expensive.

noxiousdog wrote:

pr0ner wrote:$72 a year doesn't sound bad to me at all.

Doesn't sound bad for what?

This is silly. Any rational person understands when your service remains the same but your billing goes up 60% there better be some serious rationale, otherwise expect customers to be upset.

Percentages are the only relevant metric when discussing pricing changes with no other service changes.

Yesterday I paid X for service Y. Today I pay 1.6 times X for the exact same service Y. That should set alarms off for anyone who pays attentions to their finances, and at least requires a re-evaluation of the service at the new fee. For some (Fed etc) the service continues to be worth it. For others, not so much. And for still others, they continue to subscribe but be resentful of having to pay substantially more for the same.

I'm not saying people need to riot and burn down rain forests, but a 60% increase is a major increase, whether it's on a buck, 10 bucks, 100 bucks or a bazillion bucks.

LordMortis wrote: $8 a month to stream movies or $8 a month to have a wider library sent to my home sounds very much worth it to me. I'd just obsess over movies in the mail and am too cheap and lazy to build an infrastructure for streaming. I pay $5 a month for satellite radio that I hardly listen to and I think that's alright, though I must admit that's right at the top of my price point. Anything more and I'd quit.

And yet I pay nearly $40 a month for basic crappy cable... and I keep thinking about canceling and I keep not canceling it and I probably watch 40 hours of TV a month (that I shouldn't) and that 40 hours of TV bombards me with 25% or 10 hours of commercials that I, in turn, cut down on in with TiVo, that would want $10 a month to keep that service up if I hadn't paid for a lifetime subscription some ten years ago.

It's interesting how we value things. All the movies I want to see for $8 a month seems like steal to me if I am willing to maintain the infrastructure to get have that luxury.

I don't disagree. The problem is that once you get to the $16 price point there's other options. Red Box, Amazon Prime, Hulu+, etc.

In the grand scheme of things, $16 a month isn't that much. But, that doesn't mean that I use it that much to begin with, so I can take those entertainment dollars elsewhere. Not out of spite, but I can find a better use for them. All netflix really does for me is allow me to stream instantly to the TV through my xbox. I'll just go back to using my DVR, and if there something really important, I'll hook up a laptop to the HDMI and stream amazon prime which I'm doing already.

pr0ner wrote:

noxiousdog wrote:

pr0ner wrote:$72 a year doesn't sound bad to me at all.

Doesn't sound bad for what?

Any subscription based service that I'd be interested in.

Or Amazon Prime as Smoove pointed out.

Looking at it that way, it's $8/month (minimum, unless you're maxing out at 2dvd's /month) or $96/ year or $16/month or $192/year if you want DVDs and streaming.

About to break 2000 comments on that blog post.

noxiousdog wrote:

LordMortis wrote: $8 a month to stream movies or $8 a month to have a wider library sent to my home sounds very much worth it to me. I'd just obsess over movies in the mail and am too cheap and lazy to build an infrastructure for streaming. I pay $5 a month for satellite radio that I hardly listen to and I think that's alright, though I must admit that's right at the top of my price point. Anything more and I'd quit.

And yet I pay nearly $40 a month for basic crappy cable... and I keep thinking about canceling and I keep not canceling it and I probably watch 40 hours of TV a month (that I shouldn't) and that 40 hours of TV bombards me with 25% or 10 hours of commercials that I, in turn, cut down on in with TiVo, that would want $10 a month to keep that service up if I hadn't paid for a lifetime subscription some ten years ago.

It's interesting how we value things. All the movies I want to see for $8 a month seems like steal to me if I am willing to maintain the infrastructure to get have that luxury.

I don't disagree. The problem is that once you get to the $16 price point there's other options. Red Box, Amazon Prime, Hulu+, etc.

In the grand scheme of things, $16 a month isn't that much. But, that doesn't mean that I use it that much to begin with, so I can take those entertainment dollars elsewhere. Not out of spite, but I can find a better use for them. All netflix really does for me is allow me to stream instantly to the TV through my xbox. I'll just go back to using my DVR, and if there something really important, I'll hook up a laptop to the HDMI and stream amazon prime which I'm doing already.

Absolutely. I'd not fault you for quitting over $16 a month if you don't want to justify it. For me, whom movies aren't all important, that's an extra cheap bar night a month or an extra $16 into my mortgage or savings. I'm in the same boat for my satellite radio. $5 a month is nothing, really. But when I don't use the service much going over that seems silly, when I could get an extra lunch every month that I could appreciate that much more.

My $19.99/month subscription is going up to just under $24/month...color me pissed. What that's like 2 cups of coffee that I'll have to cut from my monthly budget...fuckers.

wire wrote:My $19.99/month subscription is going up to just under $24/month...color me pissed. What that's like 2 cups of coffee that I'll have to cut from my monthly budget...fuckers.

So, as long as they just keep raising it $5/month every month it's ok cause it's just 2 cups of coffee?

noxiousdog wrote:

wire wrote:My $19.99/month subscription is going up to just under $24/month...color me pissed. What that's like 2 cups of coffee that I'll have to cut from my monthly budget...fuckers.

So, as long as they just keep raising it $5/month every month it's ok cause it's just 2 cups of coffee?

I've been with Netflix since June 2003 and my subscription rate has gone up twice maybe three time since then. This time in 2009 I was paying $16.99 +tax and now $19.99 +tax and in September I'll be paying $23.99 +tax. I believe also that at one point my subscription rate decreased sometime between 2003 and 2009. I must have missed the $5/month every month increase you mentioned.

wire wrote:

noxiousdog wrote:

wire wrote:My $19.99/month subscription is going up to just under $24/month...color me pissed. What that's like 2 cups of coffee that I'll have to cut from my monthly budget...fuckers.

So, as long as they just keep raising it $5/month every month it's ok cause it's just 2 cups of coffee?

I've been with Netflix since June 2003 and my subscription rate has gone up twice maybe three time since then. This time in 2009 I was paying $16.99 +tax and now $19.99 +tax and in September I'll be paying $23.99 +tax. I believe also that at one point my subscription rate decreased sometime between 2003 and 2009. I must have missed the $5/month every month increase you mentioned.

Zoom...

We need an over your head smiley.

I mainly use streaming, but I like having the 1-at-a-time plan to get blu-ray discs. I'm still grumpy about the blu-ray plan price hike, and even though that was probably a while ago it feels like this next hike is right on the heels. For my % increase calculation, I'm doing the math from two hikes ago to this one, which I believe comes out to a 500% increase in my customer dissatisfaction.

It's so stupid. Right now they're making a ton of money off me. I'm on the $12 one-at-a-time with blu-ray & streaming plan, same as Chaz. I rarely stream anything, but I like having it handy for the occasional times I do use it. I do not go through the physical discs very quickly, but I like being able to get a blu-ray movie now and then. I think I've had my last disc for almost 2 months, but I'm not concerned about it. $12/month is basically just on the edge of my comfort zone to basically pay for having Netflix available when I want it, like a utility. Raising it to $18/month? Forget it.

I'm quitting. Hello Amazon Prime or iTunes rentals or something.

I think it's hilarious that every time Netflix has increased prices, my reaction has been to lower my service level so that I wind up paying them less, and the difference is usually more than the amount they upped rates. Of course, since I'll be dropping to streaming only on 9/1, I guess the next step is cancelling completely. Maybe by then Amazon will have a higher-quality way to get their streaming service on my TV.

Actually I'm running out of things that interest me now. I just dropped streaming and there's a good chance I'll drop Netflix next year or so.

Just dropped it to streaming only. We never use the 1-disk anyway, but at the current price it was a nice little bonus. At the new price... Not so much...

I'm only using streaming so the price hike doesn't bother me much, but I'd definitely be pissed. I had thought about going to one blu-ray at a time but this pretty much shoots that plan down for good.

One thing I don't get is that I always see these stories about how they signed a deal with so and so but then I never really see much coming new in the queues. I keep on thinking... Next month the flood gates will totally open and yet that day never comes. I get all excited when I decent movie from the last 3 years gets put up.

Sorry, this has been bothering me all day:



Good news, everyone! Netflix jacking prices again!

I have an arbitrary price ceiling of $20 for netflix. My wife says she's fine with dropping the streaming, so we're actually in for a price cut. Nice. Most of what she streams is available from PBS anyway...plus she's an amazon prime customer.

Isgrimnur wrote:Unlimited DVDs (no streaming)

1 DVD out at-a-time	$7.99 a month
2 DVDs out at-a-time	$11.99 a month
3 DVDs out at-a-time	$15.99 a month
4 DVDs out at-a-time	$21.99 a month
5 DVDs out at-a-time	$27.99 a month
6 DVDs out at-a-time	$32.99 a month
7 DVDs out at-a-time	$37.99 a month
8 DVDs out at-a-time	$43.99 a month

I've never understood why it gets more expensive per disc past the third disk. Shouldn't it get cheaper?

I only really use the streaming these days, so I guess I am in for a $4 discount. Huzzah!

Smoove_B wrote:Sorry, this has been bothering me all day:



Good news, everyone! Netflix jacking prices again!

Which is streamable on Netflix.

I hope this price change works out for Netflix because I dread the day when the contracts run out and we get each studio with their own subscription site. That spells market inefficiency (middlemen = division of labor = better for me, the consumer).

Besides,

RunningMn9 wrote:I only really use the streaming these days, so I guess I am in for a $4 discount. Huzzah!

This.

Now where did I put that disc....

I'll probably drop streaming due to the lack of new movies. I may cancel it all and use the local rental boxes but not enthused about that option. I'd love for on-demand to be cheaper but at $5 a movie then Netflix is the better deal. I really miss my local video stores.

Often thought now would be the time for the local mom and pop video store to make a come back. All the huge corps are going out of business and there is a demand for this service from a lot who have no internet access (poor and many seniors).

A family rented a local Movie gallery after it closed and renamed it Family Video. It stays very busy but it's a bit out of my way.

Well theyve lost me as a subscriber. I dont use the streaming all that much and wont really miss it and with the drop in cost for blurays as well as the cheap redbox alternative, I dont see a reason to keep Netflix after the increase. As far as Im concerned, they just priced themselves out my household.

Inverarity wrote:I hope this price change works out for Netflix because I dread the day when the contracts run out and we get each studio with their own subscription site. That spells market inefficiency (middlemen = division of labor = better for me, the consumer).

Besides,

RunningMn9 wrote:I only really use the streaming these days, so I guess I am in for a $4 discount. Huzzah!

This.

Now when is that movie going to be available for streaming?

FIXED

Defiant wrote:I've never understood why it gets more expensive per disc past the third disk. Shouldn't it get cheaper?

I assume it's because you're increasing the usage of their infrastructure. As part of the 1-out club, I'll have that one disc out for months before I actually watch it. If you're paying for eight out at a time, your mailman likely hates your guts.

5000 comments on that blog post. That maxed it out.

Jesus Pancake! Another 20,000 comments on their related facebook post.

Just got the email. My rate is going from $12 to $18. $12 was pushing it for the amount we use it vs. cable. Definitely out now @$18. And I just noticed that Blockbuster has on Demand/streaming as well via certain devices and phones (my Samsung TV for one).