Netflix Is Raising Its Prices By Only $2 For 2019 And We Should All Be Very Thankful

Source –   Netflix is flexing its pricing-power muscle to kick off 2019 — hiking fees for all streaming-video plans for customers in the U.S.

Netflix’s most popular plan, the Standard tier that offers two HD streams, is increasing 18%, from $10.99 to $12.99 per month. The Premium plan, which provides up to four Ultra HD streams, is increasing from $13.99 to $15.99 per month (up 14.3%). In addition, the company for the first time is hiking its Basic plan, which offers a single non-HD stream, from $7.99 to $8.99 per month (+12.5%).Netflix’s price increases also will extend to about 40 countries in Latin America where it bills in U.S. dollars, including Uruguay, Barbados, and Belize. However, the rate hikes will not take effect (for now) in the region’s biggest markets, Mexico and Brazil.

Netflix had 58.4 million U.S. customers as of the end the third quarter of 2018, with a worldwide total of 137.1 million streaming members.

I know a lot of people reading this blog are going to be upset. A lot of people are going to say Netflix is fucking them over and it’s unfair, and blah, blah, blah. If you’re one of those people you need to shut your mouth. Here’s why: if Netflix wanted to raise their prices to eighty-dollars a month they could. They could raise them to one-hundred dollars a month and there’s nothing anyone could or would do about it. They’ve cornered the market. They have almost sixty MILLION subscribers and every one of them is addicted to their product. They’re the Philip Morris of streaming entertainment. I know people who don’t even have cable, they just have Netflix and the internet. So yeah, twenty percent may seem like a lot, but in the grand scheme of things it’s not.

What you should be upset about is the fact that they’re in the process of spending $13 BILLION on content that will most likely glue you to your couch for the next five years. Think about that, $13 billion. It’s only one sixth of the Bezos divorce settlement, but it’s still a shit ton of money for any company to spend on anything.

Here’s what they had to say about raising their prices.

“We change pricing from time to time as we continue investing in great entertainment and improving the overall Netflix experience,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement.

Simple and to the point, they want to enhance the user experience. Hopefully those extra few dollars per month get the job done, because once it hits $20, I’m out.