Live data from Hacker News

Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

gigaom.com

31–40 of 50 posts

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#31
post #27
post #6

I think this has been a long time coming. $8 a month is very, very cheap for legal streaming video. Single episodes cost $2 or $3 when bought outright, and Hulu Plus exists at the same price point but with a tremendous amount of ads (getting near to broadcast-level). It has been an absolute bargain for a while, and will remain so at $10/m, in my mind.

It's cheap, but I wouldn't pay much more for it. There really is very little I find worth watching on Netflix. A couple of TV series, and few random other things. I hardly ever watch a movie.

Well, hopefully the increase in prices will allow them to compete a little better for the good content (either buying what's already out there or producing more of it themselves).

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#32
post #30

Look, if it's possible to pay under $20 a month for unlimited downloading from a usenet provider, and take advantage of existing services to stream media to almost all devices, is it really worth it to pay Netflix for a subpar library?

As a developer who expects people to pay me for the software that I create for them and not just take advantage of me, I have no problem rewarding content creators for the entertainment they provide. My Netflix subscription probably works out to be about 25 cents per movie / TV show that I watch. I'm as little interested in pirating this content as I would be paying someone who works at a movie theater $20/month to sneak me in through the back door.

It's a good product. They ask a fair price. I'm happy for them to take my money. Amazon, Redbox, and movie theaters also take my money when I want something Netflix doesn't offer.

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#33
post #6

I think this has been a long time coming. $8 a month is very, very cheap for legal streaming video. Single episodes cost $2 or $3 when bought outright, and Hulu Plus exists at the same price point but with a tremendous amount of ads (getting near to broadcast-level). It has been an absolute bargain for a while, and will remain so at $10/m, in my mind.

> $8 a month is very, very cheap for legal streaming video. Media pricing is subjective. Yes, its cheaper than buying outright on iTunes; but its still more expensive that pirating it. It'll make a great pricing experiment. Everyone values content differently. EDIT: Easy on the downvotes y'all. I don't pirate my content, I'm saying people will .

Any price is more expensive than pirating it. Nobody is going to compete with piracy on price.

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#34
post #6

I think this has been a long time coming. $8 a month is very, very cheap for legal streaming video. Single episodes cost $2 or $3 when bought outright, and Hulu Plus exists at the same price point but with a tremendous amount of ads (getting near to broadcast-level). It has been an absolute bargain for a while, and will remain so at $10/m, in my mind.

This is really a false equivication.

The price of $2 or $3 per episode does not itself justify that the cost of Netflix streaming should increase.

I could create an alternative service that charges $50 or $100 per episode, and the existence of such an absurd service does not itself imply that Netflix should charge $20/month.

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#35
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> $8 a month is very, very cheap for legal streaming video. Media pricing is subjective. Yes, its cheaper than buying outright on iTunes; but its still more expensive that pirating it. It'll make a great pricing experiment. Everyone values content differently. EDIT: Easy on the downvotes y'all. I don't pirate my content, I'm saying people will .

Any price is more expensive than pirating it. Nobody is going to compete with piracy on price.

Personally, I find the most interesting thing is that the quality of pirated content is often superior to that aquired by legal means.

If the legal distributors can't compete on price, and refuse to compete with quality or convenience, what else have they got?

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#36

I'd be really curious to see an aggregate demand curve for Netflix. Find out its elasticity and see how much price increases help/hurt its revenue. Personally, I think I would pay up to $30/month for it.

At $20 I leave unless the quality of movie/documentary/show options increases. Frankly, I'd pay $40 a month if they had better selections. I also think about canceling my service, but then I remember it costs so little. I rarely watch it now though outside of house of cards and super extreme out of ideas boredom.

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#38
post #24
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I'd pay a couple bucks more a month for twice the selection. I'm a film nut and love a lot of old titles that aren't available. My Disc queue is way more interesting than my streaming queue

If they added more older/rarer/foreigner films I'd happily pay more than they charge now (vs. not subscribing currently)!

I wonder if the reason they don't have a lot of the older films is due to the fact that digital rights were never fleshed out? If so, I'd be curious to know if that's the type of thing that can be resolved (and how).

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#39

I'd be really curious to see an aggregate demand curve for Netflix. Find out its elasticity and see how much price increases help/hurt its revenue. Personally, I think I would pay up to $30/month for it.

I mostly use Netflix + Amazon, where I rent movies or buy recent TV episodes from Amazon for a small fee and use Netflix for general exploration and children's programming. If Netflix could offer me the rentals and TV episodes for an additional fee, I'd happily use it... I generally prefer their experience over Amazon's, and Netflix is rock solid for me vs. Amazon's occasional failures at prime time (YMMV, of course). But they've really bought into this "one fee for everything" model, and, well, I guess that made sense three or four years ago, but I fear it may be the hill they die on. Instead they seem to prefer some sort of ideological purity and for more of my money to go to Amazon every month, even though I actually spend more clock time with Netflix.

Re: Netflix will raise streaming prices for new members this quarter

#40
post #32
post #30

Look, if it's possible to pay under $20 a month for unlimited downloading from a usenet provider, and take advantage of existing services to stream media to almost all devices, is it really worth it to pay Netflix for a subpar library?

As a developer who expects people to pay me for the software that I create for them and not just take advantage of me, I have no problem rewarding content creators for the entertainment they provide. My Netflix subscription probably works out to be about 25 cents per movie / TV show that I watch. I'm as little interested in pirating this content as I would be paying someone who works at a movie theater $20/month to s…

I have no problem paying people for content. However, if I'm not able to get the content I want, I don't feel as good.

The problem isn't trying to save money. It's accessibility.

Post reply on HN