Netflix's DVD rental by mail service generated $212 million in revenue last year

[Shawn Knight]

The big picture: Netflix makes no mention of its DVD rental by mail service on its main website. Those old enough to remember that Netflix got its start by renting DVDs online and mailing them to subscribers might have simply assumed that the company discontinued that service in favor of its streaming outfit. They’d be wrong.

Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service is still alive and well. It now resides at DVD.com and apparently, it’s still doing quite well.

Netflix in 2018 had 2.7 million DVD subscribers who generated a healthy $212 million in revenue for the company. But, why? Haven’t people ever heard of streaming?

Of course they have, but the harsh reality is that streaming isn’t an option in rural areas where broadband is still lacking. The Federal Communications Commission estimates that 24 million Americans are on the wrong side of the digital divide, lacking access to broadband-speed connections.

The US Postal Service, however, can reach every ZIP code with Netflix’s iconic red envelopes.

Surprisingly, it’s not customers that live in rural areas that are Netflix DVD’s biggest customers. Spokeswoman Annie Jung said their biggest hot spots are on the coasts, like New York and the Bay Area. Turns out, customers really like the selection of movies on offer.

Unlimited plans start at $7.99 with no late fees and include free shipping / returns and the ability to cancel at any time. A premium account, yours for $11.99 each month, allows you to have two discs out at a time.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/79536-netflix-dvd-rental-mail-service-generated-212-million.html

 

[brucek]

Another advantage of the DVD & Blu-Ray service: it has a lot more titles (everything available on disc vs. just what Netflix could license for streaming), and the discs can offer superior bit rates and additional content like "making of", commentary tracks, deleted scenes, etc.

 

[kapital98]

Another advantage of the DVD & Blu-Ray service: it has a lot more titles (everything available on disc vs. just what Netflix could license for streaming), and the discs can offer superior bit rates and additional content like "making of", commentary tracks, deleted scenes, etc.

This is a major reason to have the service. When I left their DVD part for streaming, a lot of classic movies were unavailable.

Also, when did they get away with DVD.com? The last time they openly talked about separating the two businesses the internet had an uproar (Qwister -- back in 2011! Time flies).

 

[penn919]

DVD/Blu-ray rental via mail is an excellent way to grow your movie library on the cheap if you have the right software and know-how...but I suppose anyone who does would also know cost-free methods of procuring movies.

 

[Evernessince]

DVD/Blu-ray rental via mail is an excellent way to grow your movie library on the cheap if you have the right software and know-how...but I suppose anyone who does would also know cost-free methods of procuring movies.

Just from my experience ripping copies of Blu-Ray discs for myself from copies I purchased for myself, even minor scratches can completely screw up a rip. I've purchased brand new discs that had minor scuffs that threw read errors during the rip process. I can only imagine how bad ripping from rental discs would be. Unless you are using a program that will try to fix / ignore read errors, which of course produces lower quality rips.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Ripping from rental discs works perfectly about 95% of the time and it’s the DVDs which are less dependable as they get more use.

I rent for the much wider breadth of choice. Streaming is ok for popular titles and some random stuff but almost *everything* is available on disc format.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Streaming video offers objectively lower quality video and audio, and that is assuming you have great high speed bandwidth. I have 100Mbps cable, and yet if I try to stream during a popular time I will get stuck with 144p quality video for 5-10 minutes.

The part of rural users is also spot on. I have multiple family members that live in either mountains, small farm towns, or far off the beaten trail where high speed internet is a pipe dream, but the mail arrives daily.

I'm just amazed there is that much money left in DVDs.

 

[wiyosaya]

I've been happy with getting DVD/Blu-ray from my library after I started doing that last year. They keep buying new releases as they come out, and though such disks are in-demand, I have not yet had to wait more than a week for one. The best part is that if I put a "hold" on one that is not at my local library, all I pay is $0.50 per disk.

Also, the collection within the local county library system is substantial and diverse. Disks they do not have in the county library system can be gotten through inter-library loan.

There is even a limited selection of UHD Blu-ray disks, too. The loan period is generally only a week, but that is plenty of time for me, and I think there is a limit of 6-disks at a time.

 

[toooooot]

DVD/Blu-ray rental via mail is an excellent way to grow your movie library on the cheap if you have the right software and know-how...but I suppose anyone who does would also know cost-free methods of procuring movies.

Thats a good idea. Unfortunately I cant make myself spend ~400 for a solid raid setup for movie lib and cant store these on my PC due to lack of space.

 

[penn919]

Thats a good idea. Unfortunately I cant make myself spend ~400 for a solid raid setup for movie lib and cant store these on my PC due to lack of space.

Who said anything about raid? Movies will stream fine from a USB 3.0 drive connected to your router; however, I can't confirm the same for 4k content.

 

[psycros]

"Of course they have, but the harsh reality is that streaming isn’t an option in rural areas where broadband is still lacking. The Federal Communications Commission estimates that 24 million Americans are on the wrong side of the digital divide, lacking access to broadband-speed connections."

Let's also not forget about data caps, which are also alive and well on nearly every major ISP (sadly).

 

[toooooot]

Who said anything about raid? Movies will stream fine from a USB 3.0 drive connected to your router; however, I can't confirm the same for 4k content.

Think of all that work you did copying and backing up. You could lose all of that in a moment unless you save to more than one place. I got rid of physical copies of movies and tv shows long time ago. Raid is a must have for someone who wanna build a digital media library.

 

[captaincranky]

Thats a good idea. Unfortunately I cant make myself spend ~400 for a solid raid setup for movie lib and cant store these on my PC due to lack of space.

Well, both Seagate and WD's most basic 2 TB HDDs, when on sale, go for less than 60 dollars.

With a capacity of 4.7 GB, a single layer DVD, times 100 equals 470 GB. Which means you can store well in excess of 400 DVDs on a 2 TB drive. Dual layer movies though, are usually in the 6 to 7 GB range

If you have to have movies just to have them, obviously those are the limits at $60.00. However, with a bit of creative culling from time to time, you can maintain a decent collection of "greatest hits", so to speak.

 

[captaincranky]

Think of all that work you did copying and backing up. You could lose all of that in a moment unless you save to more than one place. I got rid of physical copies of movies and tv shows long time ago. Raid is a must have for someone who wanna build a digital media library.

IMO "getting rid of physical copies", is actually kind of dumb. Since you can store optical discs in envelopes which take up very little space, and does away with the need for RAID. With stand alone players, you're not dependent on hooking your computer to the TV either.

But, getting rid of your optical media, is really chic and trendy, I'll give you that.

And as far as RAID itself goes, you're really better off storing the backups on a different machine(s), altogether. Then too, it eats up available SATA ports, which (IMO, of course), could be put to better use for separating different kinds of data.

 

[ShagnWagn]

I totally forgot about this. I tried online streaming, but 2-channel audio makes me gag. It is seriously disturbing these online companies haven't figured out how to do surround sound. What year is it again? lol

I knew Redbox is still around. I made backup copies of my own movies, but since the MPAA/RIAA closed down Slysoft, I haven't bought any movies since. They literally lost thousands of dollars from my wallet because of their decision. I'm sure I am not the only one. I don't watch TV. I don't pay for any streaming service. I don't rent or buy movies any more. I don't spend money on media any more. How is shutting down these companies working out for you guys? LOL.

I don't steal movies any more. I haven't felt like buying the new ripping software yet so I can play newer movies on my HTPC. I haven't decided if I will ever buy movies again because of the MPAA/RIAA.

 

[thewind]

I totally forgot about this. I tried online streaming, but 2-channel audio makes me gag. It is seriously disturbing these online companies haven't figured out how to do surround sound. What year is it again? lol

I knew Redbox is still around. I made backup copies of my own movies, but since the MPAA/RIAA closed down Slysoft, I haven't bought any movies since. They literally lost thousands of dollars from my wallet because of their decision. I'm sure I am not the only one. I don't watch TV. I don't pay for any streaming service. I don't rent or buy movies any more. I don't spend money on media any more. How is shutting down these companies working out for you guys? LOL.

I don't steal movies any more. I haven't felt like buying the new ripping software yet so I can play newer movies on my HTPC. I haven't decided if I will ever buy movies again because of the MPAA/RIAA.

What software do you use? I wanted to backup my collection but cant find good software.

 

[ShagnWagn]

What software do you use? I wanted to backup my collection but cant find good software.

They changed the name to Redfox, but I haven't bought another license as I haven't bought any movies since they (tried to) shut the backup product down.
https://www.redfox.bz/en/anydvdhd.html