Netflix - Rant thread #732,899

[Anthony P]

1. It started with this holding back movies on release day nonsense...okay, so Redbox did the same thing.

it is not 100% Netflix/RB's fault Theissue is they wanted to pay less for the films and the studios said "OK, but only if you agree to a month wait"

Don't get me wrong, with the other points I can understand the frustration: you pay more for your disks while they reduce the service (month wait and buying less disks) in order to save money on what they pay studios in order to have the $ to subsidize the DL service they are launching.

[Wings80]

Netflix still one of the top ten stocks.


http://ir.netflix.com/stockquote.cfm

http://www.cabot.net/News/2010/11/Leading-stocks.aspx

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by bl@derunner

my impression is that as the memberships went up Netflix didn't want to pony up for the extra discs to keep providing the same level of service.

no, the issue is that when Netflix was disk only they where very profitable, you can only get so many movies a month, so the math is easy (i.e. average person in plan Y does X movies a month that means X*S$ in feas to the studios and X*P$ for postage+ ( fixed costs (i.e. the secratary, the guy in the warehouse...)/#users) and you can determine the price they need to charge. On the flip side with DL it changes, the guy that did 10 movies a month (from what you said) now can be at home and watch that in a day or a weekend and if he went from 10 movies a month to 50 that means that the part of the fee that was 10*S$ becomes 50*S$.

Also all these companies (Netflix, RB, BB...) have profit sharing deals with studios, that means that Netflix does not pay 75$ like when VHS was around and "for rental" was expensive, they don't pay MRSP, they don't pay 30$ for the BD like some retail places, they don't pay 20$ like it might be on Amazon and they don't pay wholesale. They pay a token price per disk (close to replication cost) which we will call R$ and then an agreed upon amount S$ per rental, so if the film goes out to 5 people before it brakes it cost them R$+(5*S$ ) and if an other copy went out 20 times it is R$+20*S$

[Septimus Prime]

I'm pretty happy just using Redbox and/or Blockbuster Express every once in a while. I don't dig paying subscription fees.

[720pDude]

A previous responder gave a link for BB online, I signed with them.

1. Cheaper than NF and no extra fee for BLU RAY!
2. 5 Free in store exchanges a month
3. E coupons for free rental
4. They also rent games

So, with them and Rebox, I think I'll be okay for my movies on blu fix.

I seldom used the NF watch instantly and dont stream, cuz Ive seen everything there is basically that interests me.

Up til last year, and after 10 years of renting/buying, Ive seen the older stuff, so now all Im interested in are new releases.

[Lacit170]

Originally Posted by 720pDude

A previous responder gave a link for BB online, I signed with them.

1. Cheaper than NF and no extra fee for BLU RAY!
2. 5 Free in store exchanges a month
3. E coupons for free rental
4. They also rent games

So, with them and Rebox, I think I'll be okay for my movies on blu fix.

I seldom used the NF watch instantly and dont stream, cuz Ive seen everything there is basically that interests me.

Up til last year, and after 10 years of renting/buying, Ive seen the older stuff, so now all Im interested in are new releases.

check back in 6 months and let us know how BB works out for ya....

[Beta Man]

Inception is on it's way..... did I wait a month??? "SURE" but during that month I watched a ton of other stuff....... I don't mind the wait times.... if it's something I can't wait a month for, I just buy it

[Lacit170]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

Inception is on it's way..... did I wait a month??? "SURE" but during that month I watched a ton of other stuff....... I don't mind the wait times.... if it's something I can't wait a month for, I just buy it

Exactly! i base movie release dates on when i can get em on netflix anyway lol...so theyre always out on time!

with most new movies sucking anyway, i dont care when i get around to em

[rockstarnati]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

Inception is on it's way..... did I wait a month??? "SURE" but during that month I watched a ton of other stuff....... I don't mind the wait times.... if it's something I can't wait a month for, I just buy it

OMG. You waited a month for Inception?

You must be a person of incredibly strong will.

I bow to you, Sensei.

[Bl@deRu>>er]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

no, the issue is that when Netflix was disk only they where very profitable, you can only get so many movies a month, so the math is easy (i.e. average person in plan Y does X movies a month that means X*S$ in feas to the studios and X*P$ for postage+ ( fixed costs (i.e. the secratary, the guy in the warehouse...)/#users) and you can determine the price they need to charge. On the flip side with DL it changes, the guy that did 10 movies a month (from what you said) now can be at home and watch that in a day or a weekend and if he went from 10 movies a month to 50 that means that the part of the fee that was 10*S$ becomes 50*S$.

Also all these companies (Netflix, RB, BB...) have profit sharing deals with studios, that means that Netflix does not pay 75$ like when VHS was around and "for rental" was expensive, they don't pay MRSP, they don't pay 30$ for the BD like some retail places, they don't pay 20$ like it might be on Amazon and they don't pay wholesale. They pay a token price per disk (close to replication cost) which we will call R$ and then an agreed upon amount S$ per rental, so if the film goes out to 5 people before it brakes it cost them R$+(5*S$ ) and if an other copy went out 20 times it is R$+20*S$

Interesting, I didn't think about the streaming/downloading angle.

BUT, I can't give it that much credit, thinking back on all the crap they were trying to push through download when I was a member. I remember looking through the downloads to try to justify staying with them, and just found page after page after page of garbage that you don't even hear about bombing at the box office. If paying fees to studios that put out that kind of sh*t is what caused the big drop off in physical disc availability, they're not just money grubbing, they're money grubbing idiots that won't be seeing my money any time soon.

They're making too much money to be idiots, so without seeing the books from the inside, I'm sticking with them skimping on the discs as their membership numbers soared.
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[The_Donster]

Don't feel bad Beta. We bought the disc over a month ago and just got around to watching it last week I swear, the more I read the negativity, the more I want to say baby want a BOTTLE?!?!?!?

[Kurri]

i cancelled my netflix last month. Reason being:

1. Release date way behind Blockbuster Online
2. Streaming is a horrible selection of movies, TV shows are pretty good, but i have seen what I want to see
3. Pay extra for bluray! This is just ridiculous, especially when you have to wait for new releases.

I went to blockbuster and so far so good. Even though things in my queue say short wait, they have been shipping immediately. Also, the instore exchange is very nice to have on the weekends.

Just my 2 cents. I know most people swear by netflix

[OrlandoEastwood]

In my whole situation with my Netflix DVDs not arriving, see my thread about that, after I changed my name on my account, all my DVDs have arrived on time. The only problem I have had so far is one cracked DVD disc. That's it. For $16 a month with 2 DVDs at a time, that's with the tax added in mind you, I'm happy with it. The way I see it, if I watch the movies when I get it and send them back the next day, I can get 16 movies a month. So, that's $1 a movie. Plus add in the amount of movies streamed that you've watched.

If you watch a lot of movies like me, the average price per movie watched should be about 50 cents per movie. That's 32 movies a month. So, 16 movies on streaming and the two at a time sent back the following day, that's 32 movies. I like it. I don't have time to run back and forth to the video store to find that the movie I am wanting to see is not in.

And, FYI, I don't really use Netflix for new releases. My queue is consisted of mainly foreign flicks and horror flicks. The only new release that I have gotten, only because there was no wait on it, was The Last Exorcism. I'm going to give it a watch tomorrow morning before I head to work.