Netflix starts charging $1-$2/month extra for Blu-ray rentals

Fri Aug 1, 2008 12:03PM EDT

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The movies-by-mail giant warned us last week that higher fees for Blu-ray rentals would be coming "very shortly," and indeed, subscribers are already seeing extra charges on their accounts. Luckily, the premiums aren't as bad as some had feared.

Engadget HD reports that some Netflix subscribers are seeing Blu-ray rental fees in the $1-$2/month range—annoying, given that Blu-ray and HD DVD rentals used to come free with any subscription package, but better than, say, an extra $5 to $10 a month.

Apparently, Netflix is still "testing" its Blu-ray price increases, hence the variation in the fees—and indeed, some (including myself) haven't seen any extra charges at all yet.

Word of the Blu-ray premium first surfaced back in April. At the time, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings justified the extra fees on the basis that "purchasing Blu-ray DVDs costs more, both at retail and wholesale, than standard definition DVDs," and that "consumers are used to paying more for high-definition content."

We'll have to wait and see what the final premium for Blu-ray rentals will be; it's still not clear whether there will be a flat fee for everyone, or a sliding scale depending on the number of "at home" movies in your rental plan.

Overall, I guess I can live with $1 or $2 a month extra—although in exchange, I'd like Netflix to boost the number of Blu-ray discs in its catalog. I only have three Blu-ray movies in my queue right now, and just one of them ("Pan's Labyrinth") is available now; "Doomsday" is a "Long Wait," and "21" is a "Short Wait."

So, Netflix subscribers—you OK with a $1-$2 monthly Blu-ray fee? Or are you thinking of jumping to Blockbuster?

Related:
Details of Netflix's Blu-ray premium emerges: $1.00 per month [Engadget HD]

 

 

Comments on Netflix starts charging $1-$2/month extra for Blu-ray rentals

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  • 7 Posted by meekgeek on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    I cannot justify this. The reason I stayed with Netflix was that they offered HD-DVD or BluRay options (on newer titles). Now to backpedal and increase the price (while studios lower the BR title prices) is more about greed and poor accountability than offering something better. two films I've been waiting to see are still unavailable. I've seen delays in receipt of returns and more scratched-return-wait issues than previously. I've 2 movies left in my queue, and when done viewing, I'm cancelling. Rant out.

  • 8 Posted by heavyboots2k on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:17PM EDT Report Abuse

    Actually, I've turned off my BluRay pref for now. Until Sony patches the PS3 so that god-awful "Can I violate your privacy *this* time?" (okay, so it actually says "Can I connect to the Internet?") goes away, I refuse to do any more BluRay. It's very annoying to me that the only two options are "Always" or "Confirm" for BluRay internet connection. WTF happened to "Never"?!? BTW, I encourage everyone to write Sony if this pisses you off too. They won't change it until enough people lean on them. Basically, my feeling is that they're trying to hassle people into always letting BluRay connect to the internet when it boots a movie.

  • 9 Posted by perkins_john_111 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    I will likely either dump Netflix for another (Blockbuster), switch my preferences back to regular def only, or opt for less movies out at one time. My DVD player upgrades the picture somewhat, not as good as Blu-ray, but good enough for most movies.

  • 10 Posted by maddramaqueen13 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    I don't think bluray will EVER be the standard, and I still woudn't go to Blockbuster, Hollywood Video all the way! And why do I think bluray will never be standard? Because too many people refuse to use sony.

  • 11 Posted by gigarath on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:09PM EDT Report Abuse

    I believe that it is just the price of converting to a new format. I also believe that there will come a day where people will say let me just stick to DVD's. I mean with the right upgradable DVD player DVD's can put out near the same quality of picture and sound. But costing you as the viewer hundreds of dollars less.

  • 12 Posted by rayeth_04 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    what do you mean bluray will never be the standard? Sony is not the only bluray manufacturer if u dont want to purchase a sony then heck u can choose a samsung or a panasonic. bluray will be the next standard cant u see the trend? players becomes cheaper as time goes by and so will the blu ray movies. I dont believe u wouldn't choose bluray over standard dvd's if u can afford it.

  • 13 Posted by scott0521@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    I think the article hit it on the head... If they intend to start charging extra for Blueray they need to increase the number of DVDs they carry in this format. Either there's a very long wait before you get the movie you want(sometimes very, very long), or they don't offer the Blueray version of the flim when you add it to your list. The worst scenario is when they do offer the blueray version, you wait weeks for it, and when it finally arrives it's in standard format. That's happened to me three times and it's very frustrating. I wouldn't mind paying a small premium for Blueray, but only if they make needed improvements.

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