Can We All Just Pay Netflix And Move On?

The Netflix price hike for those who want DVD rentals and unlimited streaming just won't go away. Everywhere I turn, someone I know or an article I read mentions the 60 percent hike, and soon after that, complaints arise.[Image credit: Justin Litton]

Look, I'll be the first to admit that if I had both DVD rentals and unlimited streaming right now, I wouldn't be too pleased either. Regardless of the amount, it's never good to see a bill go up.

But let's face it: Netflix is still offering the best deal in the business.

For just $15.98 per month, Netflix customers can stream the service's growing library of content and rent as many DVDs as they want. If those same people decided to only use Netflix's streaming service and get DVD rentals elsewhere, depending on how many films they plan to rent each month, they could lose out.

For instance, let's say someone decides to save the $7.99 from Netflix's DVD plan and rent discs from Redbox instead. Assuming that person brings back the DVDs they rent the next day, they'll be spending $1 each time they go to the kiosk. If they only rent a few DVDs, they'll save money on the deal. But as soon as they hit the eight-DVD mark, they're spending just as much as they did with Netflix. And as soon as they go beyond that, Netflix becomes the better offer.

If those same people say that they don't want to use Redbox or Netflix and would rather rent films from their cable provider, it would be an even bigger mistake. After renting just a few films, which typically range in price from $3.99 to $5.99, those customers would have lost money.

Although I don't believe Netflix handled the price hike well and it still hasn't done enough to explain the reasoning behind its move, the company's offering is still the cheapest and most desirable option in the business, as far as I'm concerned. And it's about time all the critics out there realize it.

Sorry, but this has gone on long enough. Netflix has already said that it won't change its price, and as we've shown here, it's still not a bad deal. Realizing that, why are so many people still complaining? Is it ideal? No. But it's not awful either.

Like it or not, your Netflix bill is going up 60 percent, and there's really nothing you can do, other than cancel your DVD rentals. But if you do that, you could lose out, depending on how many films you rent each month. And if you cancel your Netflix service entirely, you'll lose access to what has become the best streaming-video service in the business.

I realize you might be mad about the price hike, but it's time to just pay up and move on.