Last week, Netflix announced that starting in May, they will raise their cost from $7.99 to $9.99.  It’s estimated that about 17 million subscribers will be affected, most of which are older customers who have been subscribed for more than 5 years.  The increase will put all subscribers in the same price bracket as newer customers are already paying  the $9.99 subscription fee.

Of course, a select ‘entitled few’ went off the rails over the increase as something that ‘isn’t fair’.   Even IGN attempted to stir the pot.

Let’s bring some of that disappointment back down to earth.

It was expected

First of all it’s no secret that Netflix was raising their prices.  They have been discussing it since 2014.  When it was announced back then, many customers got upset then and to a degree, Netflix balked at the increase they were looking for and to capitulate, raised the price of their service by $1 dollar, with the stipulation that another increase was coming.  So, those of you upset now, probably have a short memory of two years ago.

What you are paying for

Considering what we were getting from Netflix when it began streaming in 2007 (yes, it has been almost 10 years) to now, we all should have seen that a price hike was coming.  First, consider that in the early days, Netflix didn’t have a ton of content. They were at the time, competing with Hulu and were still trying to figure out the streaming side of things.  Since that time, Netflix has gone on to giving us online only, award winning shows such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and of course Daredevil and Jessica Jones.  Not only that, Netflix is stream-able on nearly any electronic device that runs the app. Even if you claim that you can’t find something to watch, there is a backdoor way to exploring the site and finding even more content.  They also offer 4K content (for a few more dollars) to those that want to take advantage of it. So, why are we upset over 2 dollars?  10 dollars for a ton of content from so many different genres vs HBO Now which will cost you $14.99 for HBO only content.  Take your pick. But original content costs money, people!  The ability to get many of these titles into their library costs money!!!  Much of which some of us aren’t paying for which brings us to…

Because some of us are doing it and we know it

Lastly, Netflix has to cover those who may not be paying for their content.  While Netflix may have nearly 30 million US subscribers, how many more do they have that are squatting on other people’s accounts?   Come on, be honest and raise your hand.  How many people have farmed out their subscription to family and friends or even traded account info to get that precious Hulu or HBO account?  It’s estimated that there are a large number of cord cheaters who are using Netflix without paying for the service.   So part of the price increase may be because of that. Netflix and some of the other streaming services had to clamp down on how many devices are able to stream their content because of this.

In the end, Netflix’s streaming service has changed by leaps and bounds over the years and as it grows they need to cover the cost.   The ‘extra money’ that we are shelling out is what keeps original programming coming out, enables for that content to be streamed in HD and the ability to watch on nearly every device possible.  Also it keeps Netflix in competition with VOD services provided by Cox Cable, Verizon FIOS and others.  Even if you consider what it costs to go to the movies nowadays, that 2 dollar increase isn’t a horrible thing.  I could see people getting upset in the price of Netflix and Chill was rising to compete with HBO, but I think the increase is just enough to keep the content coming for those of us who crave it.

With the price increase will you cut your subscription or are you ok with it?  Let us know in the comments.