Netflix raising prices on all plans in the US and Canada

Comments

• Reply 1 of 25

  rob53 Posts: 3,290member

  January 14, 2022 9:05PM

  Having difficulty considering keeping Netflix especially since I have the higher tier plan. I really don’t watch it that much since there isn’t much new movies, except for foreign ones. I have found some really good foreign movies but it’s tough reading the subtitles at times. 

  
• Reply 2 of 25

  anantksundaram Posts: 20,408member

  January 14, 2022 9:05PM

  AppleInsider said:

   Higher pricing is a key part of the streaming service's long-term strategy, particularly as competition grows from the likes of companies such as Apple TV+, HBO Max, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video.
  
  Read on AppleInsider

  Really? On what planet is raising prices when "competition grows" an optimal (long-term or short-term) strategy?

  edited January 2022
• Reply 3 of 25

  dneesley Posts: 13member

  January 14, 2022 9:09PM

  Netflix now goes on the once every three months schedule and I'll save money in the long run. That's what I do with all the channels on Amazon Prime.
  
  The whippings will continue until morale improves mentality.

  edited January 2022
• Reply 4 of 25

  waveparticle Posts: 1,497member

  January 14, 2022 9:42PM

  This company is following the same path the security company once I subscribed to. The monthly fee started like $30/month. Then it started to raise my subscription price faster and faster although I receive the same service. I called and was given exactly the same answer. Eventually when it tried to raise to $50, I switched to a new company at $31/month. After the switch this company wrote me offering me a subscription fee of $22/month. But there is no return for me. I install security to prevent being robbed. How ironic that the security is trying to rob me literally. 

  
• Reply 5 of 25

  docbburk Posts: 109member

  January 14, 2022 9:57PM

  Is it raising prices as new customer growth wanes, or potential customers deciding they didn’t want to even start a relationship with a company that hikes rates so fast?  Their moves to split current subscribers plans to sap state disc and download plans that would cost more, if they wanted both quickly followed by the increase in rates to cover the cost of streaming rights for Europe and other regions, was enough to turn me away.  Why on earth should US customers pay more so they can stream movies in Europe?  They should take out a loan, and let the European customers fees cover the cost of the rights.  Seems like they were putting a lot of the financial heavy lifting on the backs of the US customers, to artificially keep the prices low in Europe, to corner the European market as much as they can, then raise prices in Europe. Netflix, get a loan, don’t abuse your US customers. 
  

  
• Reply 6 of 25

  george kaplan Posts: 169member

  January 14, 2022 10:15PM

  All of the services are forcing the consumer into a rotation scenario: Netflix for two months on, then two months off. Same with Disney+,Hulu,  Discovery+, HBOMax, etc. I carry the high-end Netflix for the 4K content, but $240/year is way too much money for that. However, $120 for half the year? I might do that.
  
  It takes some discipline to do (and to maintain the schedule, even if some series drops you’ve been waiting to see). The objective in getting rid of cable was to save money, and the fact these services are free of contracts means you can stop and start at will.
  
  You get Netflix for one or two months, and you stripmine it. Then take off one or two months, when new content will be loaded, and when you resume on Month 3 or Month 5 (depending on whether you’re watching every other month or two months on/two months off), there will be a bunch of new movies and show episodes to watch. Some report they feel like they’re getting a better value, because with fewer choices, the consumer is more apt to use more of the active service and watch shows the owner might not have selected with 3 or 4 other options.
  
  The only constants would be Amazon Prime (since part of the annual Amazon fee) and AppleTV+ (because part of the bundle of services and storage), and the grandfathered Showtime/Paramount+ bundle from Apple. I will drop Showtime bundle that the moment they raise the price, but can’t make myself let it go so long as the deal is that strong.

  
• Reply 7 of 25

  sdw2001 Posts: 18,027member

  January 14, 2022 10:35PM

  rob53 said:

  Having difficulty considering keeping Netflix especially since I have the higher tier plan. I really don’t watch it that much since there isn’t much new movies, except for foreign ones. I have found some really good foreign movies but it’s tough reading the subtitles at times. 

  
  

  Yeah, I think that might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for me.  I started Netflix when it was 8 bucks a month and just did DVDs.  I quit a few beers ago for about a month. Now I’m paying 17.99 and I’m supposed to pay 20 bucks a month soon? I already have HBO Max through my phone plan, prime, Apple TV+, discovery+, Disney+ and YouTube TV.  There’s nothing on Netflix I’m addicted to right now. I’ll probably pick it back up for a bit when the next season of the umbrella academy comes out. 
• Reply 8 of 25

  mac_dog Posts: 1,083member

  January 14, 2022 11:40PM

  Quality entertainment? That’s rich. 

  
• Reply 9 of 25

  iGlowEarth Posts: 48member

  January 15, 2022 4:49AM

  And fuck Netflix for cancel the popular tv series, “Away” about a mother was on 8 months trip from our moon to Mars and had to stay there for 3 years. I’ve always want to know what’s going on in Mars after they arrived there also what they had done on Mars during 3 years then 8 more months return to either Moon or Earth. 
• Reply 10 of 25

  saarek Posts: 1,563member

  January 15, 2022 8:34AM

  Hmmmm, assuming they follow this in the U.K. I think I’ll stop using Netflix. Don’t use it enough to justify another price increase.
  
  I tend to watch far more on Peacock TV or Hulu (use a Smart DNS on my Apple TV).

  edited January 2022
• Reply 11 of 25

  RonnyDaddy Posts: 35member

  January 15, 2022 11:30AM

  Way too much US made movies and not enough french translated flix. But I’ll stick with Netflix and the others.
• Reply 12 of 25

  rezwits Posts: 896member

  January 15, 2022 11:48AM

  This is really dumb in my mind, the thing they don't understand, IMHO is, they are gonna lose their Zombie accounts: i.e. accounts where people just pay the $19.99 and don't watch ONE Minute of content per month or two.  Accounts that go like 3 months without a "click."  Eventually those people will just say Meh, and disconnect.  Or they'll turn into pot shotters with one month here one month there.
  
  I mean really Disney is at $9.99 and I was connected all year.  I just cancelled Hulu and ESPN+, because I didn't watch Hulu at ALL.
  But $9.99, I know this sounds stupid, but it's a price where when you have even 1 month where you don't watch 1 show you keep the account active.  I only had one month like this I think was October...
  
  But hey we'll see... it's kinda like a previous poster said:  "They'll offer a comeback for 1 or 3 month(s) for $9.99" etc...

  
• Reply 13 of 25

  CarmB Posts: 90member

  January 15, 2022 2:19PM

  Netflix is counting on consumers being too lazy to subscribe/unsubscribe/subscribe on a rinse repeat cadence but raising prices so aggressively will motivate a progressively larger percentage of consumers to do just that. If enough do it, revenue per customer will go down, way down. Personally I think it’s a bad idea. In addition, charging so much more for 4K, when the other services include it as the latest standard, is seriously flawed. Netflix will come to regret this approach.

  
• Reply 14 of 25

  lkrupp Posts: 10,557member

  January 15, 2022 2:32PM

  Remember too that to get 4K Dolby Vision, HDR10, Dolby Atmos you must subscribe to the premium level. At $20/mo I’m not sure it’s worth it anymore. I’ll likely cancel.
  
  In my personal opinion the “cut the cord” movement is heading toward a reckoning. Add up all the subscriptions and you’re very close to a cable bundle.

  
• Reply 15 of 25

  ITGUYINSD Posts: 536member

  January 15, 2022 3:53PM

  Netflix Basic says it does not include HD.  Is HD in this case 720p or 1080p?  I can't fathom paying $10/mo and watching 480p.
• Reply 16 of 25

  zoetmb Posts: 2,655member

  January 15, 2022 5:11PM

  lkrupp said:

  Remember too that to get 4K Dolby Vision, HDR10, Dolby Atmos you must subscribe to the premium level. At $20/mo I’m not sure it’s worth it anymore. I’ll likely cancel.
  
  In my personal opinion the “cut the cord” movement is heading toward a reckoning. Add up all the subscriptions and you’re very close to a cable bundle.

  I never thought “cut the cord” made financial sense, although there isn’t much to watch on basic cable and the commercial loads are ridiculous.  

  
  

  Just a few streaming subscriptions and one is paying as much as they did for 100+ cable stations, especially since the cable companies have been shifting the pricing to the ISP side and if one drops cable TV, they tend to lose any package discounts.  If I were to drop cable TV, I think my net savings would be less than $30 (although maybe I should check again) and a huge portion of that would be fake fees, real fees and taxes. 

  
  

  I also think the industry is fooling itself by launching so many different streaming services.  Consumers will subscribe to only so many.  They can’t all survive and over the next 5-10 years, I expect some failures and some mergers, especially among the “lesser” services.  
  
  If the services see a lot of people subscribing for a month or two at a time, I wonder if they’ll start enforcing one year minimums on subs. 

  
  

  I agree with others. Netflix raising prices isn’t going to retain customers.  If you have 10m customers paying $10 each and you raise them $1, if you lose more than 10%, you’re negative on revenue and that doesn’t include those who wouldn’t subscribe in the first place because the price is too high.  IMO, Netflix would be better off licensing fewer crap movies and series and focus on quality instead of quantity.  Didn’t they spend some ridiculous amount of money to get The Office or Seinfeld, even though they’re both still on basic cable?
  
  Half the productions seem like low budget rip offs of other films, sometimes with similar names.   
• Reply 17 of 25

  kiehtan Posts: 40member

  January 16, 2022 1:06AM

  I'm tired of Netflix's constant price increases. I've been a subscriber since 2013 and it's just not worth the price anymore. My membership is now officially canceled. Bye Netflix. 

  
• Reply 18 of 25

  sdw2001 Posts: 18,027member

  January 16, 2022 4:03AM

  zoetmb said:

  lkrupp said:

  Remember too that to get 4K Dolby Vision, HDR10, Dolby Atmos you must subscribe to the premium level. At $20/mo I’m not sure it’s worth it anymore. I’ll likely cancel.
  
  In my personal opinion the “cut the cord” movement is heading toward a reckoning. Add up all the subscriptions and you’re very close to a cable bundle.

  I never thought “cut the cord” made financial sense, although there isn’t much to watch on basic cable and the commercial loads are ridiculous.  

  
  

  Just a few streaming subscriptions and one is paying as much as they did for 100+ cable stations, especially since the cable companies have been shifting the pricing to the ISP side and if one drops cable TV, they tend to lose any package discounts.  If I were to drop cable TV, I think my net savings would be less than $30 (although maybe I should check again) and a huge portion of that would be fake fees, real fees and taxes. 

  
  

  I also think the industry is fooling itself by launching so many different streaming services.  Consumers will subscribe to only so many.  They can’t all survive and over the next 5-10 years, I expect some failures and some mergers, especially among the “lesser” services.  
  
  If the services see a lot of people subscribing for a month or two at a time, I wonder if they’ll start enforcing one year minimums on subs. 

  
  

  I agree with others. Netflix raising prices isn’t going to retain customers.  If you have 10m customers paying $10 each and you raise them $1, if you lose more than 10%, you’re negative on revenue and that doesn’t include those who wouldn’t subscribe in the first place because the price is too high.  IMO, Netflix would be better off licensing fewer crap movies and series and focus on quality instead of quantity.  Didn’t they spend some ridiculous amount of money to get The Office or Seinfeld, even though they’re both still on basic cable?
  
  Half the productions seem like low budget rip offs of other films, sometimes with similar names.   

  I’m still saving money.  Had FiOS tv and internet with home media dvr and HBO for $185 a month.  Now I have 300mbps internet for 55, YouTube tv for 65, Disney+, Prime, Discovery+, Netflix, Peacock (just got it)  and Apple TV.  If I bail on Netflix I’m still under what I was spending.
  

  
• Reply 19 of 25

  rezwits Posts: 896member

  January 16, 2022 11:48AM

  kiehtan said:

  I'm tired of Netflix's constant price increases. I've been a subscriber since 2013 and it's just not worth the price anymore. My membership is now officially canceled. Bye Netflix. 

  Well the thing is 75% (rough general guess) of the "new" content is Foreign, like 10 different countries worth, I mean how does this work? That each subscription has to pay for 10 other countries films/shows??
• Reply 20 of 25

  mylovino Posts: 22member

  January 16, 2022 3:35PM

  docbburk said:

  Is it raising prices as new customer growth wanes, or potential customers deciding they didn’t want to even start a relationship with a company that hikes rates so fast?  Their moves to split current subscribers plans to sap state disc and download plans that would cost more, if they wanted both quickly followed by the increase in rates to cover the cost of streaming rights for Europe and other regions, was enough to turn me away.  Why on earth should US customers pay more so they can stream movies in Europe?  They should take out a loan, and let the European customers fees cover the cost of the rights.  Seems like they were putting a lot of the financial heavy lifting on the backs of the US customers, to artificially keep the prices low in Europe, to corner the European market as much as they can, then raise prices in Europe. Netflix, get a loan, don’t abuse your US customers. 
  

  Not sure where you get the info from, besides the fact that the way you formulate the allegation itself is sort of questionable. Anyway, I just googled and found right away a ranking of costs of 2021 on comparitech.com where the US was listed on position 11 (for the standard package), and all other 10 before that are European states. I leave it at that regarding the non fact based statement, not much more to say other than that I could argue the fact that actually digital US companies are not paying much tax outside the US while cashing in quite some revenue, something you may want to consider in the future before jumping on other nations outside the US.  
  
  But I agree at least to the fact that a constant price increase, likely to finance more and more blockbuster material with highly paid stars, which in terms on entertainment time is rather little compared to classical series material, is probably not the way to go, but I assume the market will sort this out as usual.