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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  • 1 Posted by hedo4three2002 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    Pretty fair as we still get free streaming with ROKU. As stated in many posts about Netflix...They are one company thats gets it and is definitely not in the business of losing customers.

  • 2 Posted by willoperate4food on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    I think I'll just ratchet my subscription down a level to make up for it. I don't really need as many movies out at a given time anyway.

  • 3 Posted by mfvarallo@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:17PM EDT Report Abuse

    Nope I'm outta here BluRay is going to be the industry standard. I don't believe we should pay extra for the industry standard Blockbuster here I come

  • 4 Posted by alexgannis on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    Never like netfix when they started to advertise on my home web page.

  • 5 Posted by joseom on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:41PM EDT Report Abuse

    If blockbuster won't be charging extra....see you netflix...here I come blockbuster. Every time a company is allowed to charge extra and then people allow it....it is only a matter of time before they increase it again.

  • 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.

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