Netflix raises prices in UK and US -- again

I tend to look at price increases in terms of percentages, not just the final dollar amount.
Next I figure in the value of a dollar in today's market.
After that I assess the raise in price against what other similar providers are charging for their goods. (in this case none of them are true apples to apples comparisons)

Netflix is raising its price by basically 10%. Double digit raises are pretty high within most commercial businesses on a yearly basis. When most businesses have a double digit raise that raise usually carries for quite a long time before the next raise.
To get similar offerings from other providers you will spend more, often times quite a bit more.
The value of the dollar does not make the cost of $11 per month much to spend in today's market. $11 is about 1/4 tank of fuel in my vehicle, about one layer in the bottom of a grocery bag, about one meal at a fast food place, about one movie at the theater.

Keeping track of the costs is always smart, even if the overall cost is not very high. Weighing the cost increase against the dollar alone is not the best measure of value in my opinion.

One things I would greatly enjoy being able to find out, quickly and reliable, is the true operating costs of a company.
With that information I could assess, for myself, if I feel they are overcharging or not.

 

You could always look at their financial statements, though I fail to see what relevance that technical information/analysis would have on whether or not you choose to keep subscribing.

 

If I can find out where they are spending the money as well as understand the profits being made I can better understand where my money is going.

For instance, lets say company (P) is selling a package deal. If the major expense of that package is used to purchase two channels, but I do not use those two channels, it is not a good deal for me. This is where knowing the actual costs can play a role in determining value.

Add to that the idea of excessive profits and the knowledge is even more useful. Lets say those two channels cost the provider $1/month to purchase, but they are charging me $100/month for the package. At that point the profits are too much for my value system and I will shop elsewhere.
Most providers lump so much together that it is pretty much impossible for the subscriber to determine where the money really goes.

This is a bit like going grocery shopping but instead of you choosing every item you purchase the grocery store has items pre-boxed and only marked with a price.
You choose a $300 box, pay, and go home only to find you have ten pounds of beef tenderloin, two cans of tomato soup and four boxes of macaroni and cheese. Nothing else.
While this may be fine it probably is not what you wanted to spend all your grocery money buying.

 

Besides Sneaky Pete, the only other Prime Shows I've liked are Bosch, Goliath, The Night Manager and Startup. There's quite a lot of Amazon original series I've never seen though. I just never see anyone recommend them. I'll probably keep my annual subscription because I like the free 2 day shipping. Hopefully they put out more good shows.

 

It looks like you're right. They're still pretty good on documentaries, I guess those are cheap to license and they have some good docs of their own. This is the first 101 movies I streamed from Netflix from late 2009 to late 2010. I clicked on all the links and only 7 are available streaming now - Bridget Jones's Diary, Whatever Works, Punch Drunk Love, XXX, The Commitments, Picture Perfect, Someone Like You.


001. Sphere
002. Godzilla
003. Mr. Holland's Opus
004. The Visitor
005. Mr. Holland's Opus
006. Beyond Rangoon
007. Twister
008. The Man Without a Face
009. Extreme Measures
010. Boyz N the Hood
011. As Good as It Gets
012. Dead Bang
013. The Proposal
014. Bridget Jones's Diary
015. Flawless
016. Power
017. Devil in a Blue Dress
018. Moon
019. The Fisher King
020. Flatliners
021. Whatever Works
022. Someone to Watch Over Me
023. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
024. Outland
025. Step Brothers
026. Slackers
027. Brick Lane
028. The Anderson Tapes
029. The Princess Bride
030. In the Electric Mist
031. Night Moves
032. The Fan
033. Julie & Julia
034. Iceman
035. The First Wives Club
036. Night Falls on Manhattan
037. Frozen River
038. The Rookie
039. Sleepless in Seattle
040. City of Angels
041. Days of Thunder
042. Under Suspicion
043. Guarding Tess
044. Greenfingers
045. Good Will Hunting
046. Happy Accidents
047. Heart and Souls
048. Scent of a Woman
049. Forever Young
050. Mad Dog and Glory
051. Other People's Money
052. Instinct
053. Drop Zone
054. Paycheck
055. Wonder Boys
056. The Fourth Protocol
057. The Men Who Stare at Goats
058. The Ballad of Jack and Rose
059. Dragonfly
060. Dude, Where's My Car?
061. Suburban Girl
062. Punch-Drunk Love
063. The Whole Nine Yards
064. Seven Pounds
065. Only You
066. Firefox
067. XXX
068. Amreeka
069. Bottle Shock
070. The Buddy Holly Story
071. The Sweet Hereafter
072. Cruising
073. Christine
074. Event Horizon
076. Raw Deal
077. Dead Man Walking
078. Before and After
079. Nick of Time
080. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
081. Searching for Bobby Fischer
082. Fried Green Tomatoes
083. The Choirboys
084. The Package
085. When in Rome
086. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo1
087. Rising Sun
088. The Royal Tenenbaums
089. Romancing the Stone
090. Lock Up
091. The Idolmaker
092. Heartbreak Ridge
093. Criminal Law
094. The Commitments
095. Picture Perfect
096. Legal Eagles
097. Guilty by Suspicion
098. Someone Like You
099. Of Mice and Men
100. One Fine Day
101. Against All Odds

 

I understand what you're saying and doing due diligence is an important consideration when say, choosing to invest stock in a company or even a takeover, etc, but I guess I just don't see the point in doing that if you're just a consumer of content. Either you like the content that's offered and are prepared to pay the asking subscription price or you're not. The internal machinations of how that revenue is apportioned seems irrelevant to me as a consumer.

With respect to spending, I read an article the other day where they (Netflix) said that they would be making some 80 movies next year and spending up to eight billion dollars in original programming.

 

netflix, supposedly is in big big financial trouble.

 

According to who? Just because they're spending big on original content (ie, reinvesting into the company) does not mean they're in trouble. You could then say the same thing about Tesla and Amazon way back when people wondered if they'd ever turn a profit. Netflix actually had a good last quarter.

 

article earlier in the week in our local paper about the financial woes at netflix.

 

Here's a number to ponder: As of September 30, Amazon now has 90 million Prime members who pay $99 per year for membership. 90,000,000 x $99 = $8.91 BILLION. Granted its split for music movies and shipping, but still.....

 

stunning, isn't it

 

Lordy that’s a lotta dough