Netflix

[sweeps]

I've been considering trying out Netflix. (I know, not the most frugal thing in the world, but it's better than paying $9 a movie at the theater or paying $4.50 a movie at Blockbuster.)

One site that I monitor says you can get the 1 DVD at a time deal at $6/month, but when I go to the Netflix web site it says its $10/month -- which in my opinion is too much. Am I missing something? Are there any specials/bonuses that I should be aware of? Any tricks on maximizing the value I'm getting from Netflix?

Thanks.

[jodi]

I'm not sure of the cost for 1 dvd. We pay $20 for three (I think - we split it with my mom and pay her $10/month). Well worth it - not for me (I only watch about one movie per month), but for my mom and DH it is. DH will watch about 2 movies per week (8/month - about $32-40 if rented) and my mom will watch 2 or 3. The key to getting the best value is quick turnaround. My two brothers were in Netflix together, but one kicked the other out because he kept the movies too long and prevented him from getting new ones
It's really nice to have someone to share it with who lives closeby, though, if you watch about the same number of movies. For us it's a particularly good deal because the nearest video rental store is 15 minutes away, so it's just not convenient for us to rent and get the movies back in time. You can't beat the convenience of Netflix.

[lillyb]

I've got the 3-dvd deal for about $20 per month. We love movies, the hubby, daughter and I. Our movie rental place is across town (10 minutes) and costs about $5 per rental. Usually they don't have what you want anyway. *sigh* Call me wierd, but I love getting the mail and spying a movie, it's like Christams. When we're done I just stick it back in the mailbox in their nifty envelope, it doesn't cost a dime, and I don't have to run to the PO.

We're running out of movie ideas, so I've downgraded to the 2-movie deal starting next month. You can always try it and see if it works well for you.

[vsjhoc]

Check under "How much do the plans cost?"
$5.99 gets you one DVD at a time, but only two per month.
$9.99 gets you one at a time, with an unlimited number per month.

[disneysteve]

We have the 3 at a time plan for $16.99. I think it is a great deal. Admittedly, some months we really get our money's worth and other months we don't, but overall I think we've done well.

I like the 3 plan because we almost always have at least one disc waiting to be seen. That's what appeals to me about the plan. If we only got 1 at a time, when we sent it back, we'd have nothing to watch for a couple of days which would defeat the purpose in my mind.

We've had our membership since March 2003 and have been very satisfied.

[Roupey03]

We have a deal for 14.99 a month I can rent 3 a day at our local Hollywood Video. We can only have 3 out at a time. The only restriction is it can not be a new release movie.

But it seems to work well.

[autoxer]

Here are their less expensive plans:
1-at-a-time (2 a month) for $5.99
1-at-a-time (unlimited) for $9.99
2 at-a-time (4 a month) for $11.99

In my opinion the cheaper plans aren't the best deal. That is still about $3 per movie. When I signed up last year, I was going through 12 dvd's per month on the 3-at-a-time (unlimted) for $17.99, so the cost per dvd was about $1.50. I can still get them for $1 at the library, but their selection is very limited. I really like that you don't have a contract. I cancelled it through the summer and I've now signed up again on the 2-at-a-time deal.

If you love movies, then it is one of the more frugal ways to get your fix. I don't have much desire to go to the movie theatre anymore, because I know I can get the DVD in a couple months from Netflix.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by autoxer

I really like that you don't have a contract. I cancelled it through the summer and I've now signed up again.

Funny, we are just the opposite. During the summer when everything is in reruns, we watch a lot more DVDs. Now that the new tv season is getting ready to start up, we will not watch DVDs nearly as much.

If you love movies, then it is one of the more frugal ways to get your fix. I don't have much desire to go to the movie theatre anymore, because I know I can get the DVD in a couple months from Netflix.

I'm exactly the same way. My daughter is at that age when she wants to see the new releases because all of her friends are going and talking about them at school, but I really couldn't care less. I doubt I go to more than 2 movies in a typical year. I'd much rather watch them in the comfort of my family room.

The other thing we love about Netflix is renting the tv shows on DVD. You get to see them complete and uncut and without commercials. We've been able to introduce our daughter to several old classic shows that way.

[sweeps]

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that sharing the subscription seems like the best move.

Also thanks for pointing out that the $6/month only gives you 2 DVDs a month -- that's a bum deal as far as I'm concerned. I can pretty much get my Blockbuster rentals down to $3/month just by using various coupons and promotions, so I'd like to do better than that.

Any other ideas, suggestions, comments are welcome.

[sakigt]

After a few months of loving Netflix they are starting to bug me.

It usually takes 3-4 days for them to receive my DVD, then another 3-4 days to get mine.

My most recent movie was supposed to arrive on Thursday (last Thursday).

[greedy4chips]

I am not sure if Jeffrey has a link on his site for members to sign up for Netflix or Blockbuster. They pay $20 - $30 for each new member who signs up.

I have links for them, but won't post any for them. I think Jeffrey should have them posted somewhere, since many here would use them to help support the site!

[Gruntina]

I got the 3 dvd plan but split this plan with a couple of good friends since we live close by. Fortunately my friends are good at keeping up with the switching and so on so it works out really well.

Its a good deal for me because I do not have tv or cable at all.

[Albies5]

you should try blockbuster online- its basically the same exact prices and deals as netlix- BUT you also get 2-4 INSTORE new release rentals free -depending on the plan- but thats basiclaly 9 bucks right there that you get -and if you pay 9.99 for your plan- then you really are gettign a great deal- plus you get all the movies you want for that month- its really great

[Wealthizfreedom]

Netflix is a great money saving movie lovin' hobby! We watch 2 per week and get the plan for $15.99. So with two people that is just $1 each compared to movie theatre's $18.00 matinee for 2. We live in a metro area and when we mail the movie back it arrives at netflix the next day and we get the next movie a day later....

This works well if your into movies... Also we watch all the seasons of "24" from netflix. They also let you orginize your queue of movies and they let you reserve up to 500 movies in your queue. We have 99 waiting to watch.

Have fun!!

[Dido]

I love Netflix.

If you are a first time user, get in under their "try it free" for two weeks or a month and sign up for the 3-at-a-time plan even if that's not what you want. Then go in and change your account to the option you want before the payment kicks in. You only get the free rentals once, so make the most of it.

They also allow you to put your account on hold for up to 90 days during which all of your ratings and queue remain in place but you don't get any videos and aren't charged. I watched a lot of DVDs (the entire TV series Six Feet Under this summer, then put my account on a 90-day hold the day before my next payment was due. This has me starting back up getting videos around Thanksgiving, which is when I'll watch them next after my summer glut.

I've found that they've been very good with a 3-day cycle per rental: Day 1, you receive the video (and watch it); Day 2, you put it out in the mail and send it back to them, Day 3, they receive it and put your next order in the mail, and then the cycle starts all over again. This means that you can watch two movies a week with the 1-at-a-time unlimited ($9.99) plan, four with the 2-at-a-time plan, six with the 3-at-a-time plan. The only time that I have found that they exceeded this two days was when I was borrowing a tape that was rare--an unusual documentary that they had to get from a distant facility, apparently.

It sounds from other comments like where you live matters for timeliness of delivery. I'm in a heavily-populated area of the Northeast and all buy two of the videos that I've borrowed from them have followed the 3-day cycle outlined above.

[abowers]

I've had a good experience with Netflix. I used it for about 8 months, took a break, then used it for 4 or 5 months. I've had GREAT turn around time. But it depends on where the nearest facility is.

When I was in Rochester NY, the DVDs were mailed to another address within Rochester, so they usually got my DVDs the day after I mailed them. It took 1-2 days for me to receive a new one.

Now I'm in central NJ -- the place where I return my DVDs is New Brunswick (20ish minutes away). It takes 1-2 days for them to receive my DVD and 2-3 to receive depending on when they ship it out (and my mail comes early in the day now).

Anyway, 1 movie per month with unlimited movies isn't a bad deal-- It depends how quickly you watch the movies. I watched them the same or next day as receiving them, so there was a quick turn around time. If you watch quickly - with one movie at a time - you could still easily get one movie a week, if not every 5 days or so. That's 4-6 movies, not bad for $10.

[pyotr]

I'd try it out Sweeps, if nothing else, for the experience. I'm sure you've heard of the "throttling" of high-volume users problem. If you go in with the expectation that you'll be able to view 7 movies a week on the 2-at-a-time unlimited program, you will be disappointed. But if you're expecting 2 per week, maybe sometimes 4 per week, Netflix will come through for you. Overall, not a bad deal, especially if you're into non-traditional DVDs. If you're just interested in renting the popular stuff, your local, non-franchise video stores may do better for you.

I was able to view the entire 7-up, 14-up, 21-up, 28-up, 35-up, 42-up British documentary series via NetFlix - unfindable elsewhere. Netflix has a spectacular documentary DVD collection. I saw Grave of the Fireflies and the Musashi Miyamoto Samurai series via Netflix - difficult to find anywhere. You can quit anytime and rejoin if you need a break - I'm in a 4-month-old "quit" status now, but I'll probably re-activate my account once I've accumulated enough DVDs I want to see.

[autoxer]

Originally Posted by pyotr

I'm in a 4-month-old "quit" status now, but I'll probably re-activate my account once I've accumulated enough DVDs I want to see.

During my "quit" status, I had a list in my wallet where I kept adding all of the movies that I wanted to see, then when I rejoined, I just put that list in my queue.

I also really liked getting the first season of "Lost" on DVD. Watching them w/o commercials and one after another is so much better than waiting for each episode on TV.

[sakigt]

Originally Posted by Dido

I've found that they've been very good with a 3-day cycle per rental: Day 1, you receive the video (and watch it); Day 2, you put it out in the mail and send it back to them, Day 3, they receive it and put your next order in the mail, and then the cycle starts all over again. This means that you can watch two movies a week with the 1-at-a-time unlimited ($9.99) plan, four with the 2-at-a-time plan, six with the 3-at-a-time plan. The only time that I have found that they exceeded this two days was when I was borrowing a tape that was rare--an unusual documentary that they had to get from a distant facility, apparently.
.

My turn around time USED to be 3 days, now its more like 5.

Not sure why, but if they keep it up, Ill drop them

[greedy4chips]

5 days...I thought when your returned DVD was scanned at the post office they were going to send out the next DVD on your request list. Maybe the mailman is watching the movies first? LOL