BY JAY NORTON, STAFF WRITER ’19 AND ALEX SOSA, LIFESTYLE EDITOR ’17
These days, it seems as if everybody has a Netflix account or shares one with someone else. Netflix, along with the many services that have popped up trying to replicate its success, has replaced traditional means of watching television for much of America. This is because of its accessibility and affordability. However, Netflix is currently rolling out changes to its pricing, which is predictably going to upset people.
Back in May 2014, Netflix raised the price of its service from $7.99 to $8.99 per month. It had claimed that users who already had an account before then would continue to pay the $7.99 price, while only subsequent accounts would experience the price increase.
Earlier this year, Netflix announced a second price increase, this time to $9.99 per month. It later clarified that this would apply to all users including those who were still paying the old price of $7.99 per month.
This is all part of Netflix’s new system, which is to offer multiple different plans for Netflix accounts. This means there will be variations in access, streaming quality and prices.
The $9.99 per month price will be applied to the “Standard” package, which is essentially what Netflix has been with any subscription until now. To some, a one or two dollar increase per month may not seem like much, but others feel upset by the price change.
Many people are complaining on social media that they are being charged more. A California man went so far as to start a class action lawsuit against Netflix over the price increase.
Netflix has yet to comment on the lawsuit or the comments surrounding the price change in general. However, questions about Netflix’s new system can’t help but be raised. How will Netflix’s membership and profits be impacted by this controversy? How will people’s reaction to the price increase change? These questions are still unanswered, but it’ll be fascinating to see what happens next.
The Buccaneer 