Photographed by Ruby Yeh.Can you really put a price on the ability to binge-watch 30 Rock at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday morning? If you've been a longtime Netflix customer, yes, and that price has been $7.99 a month. But 17 million streamers will be paying more next month for the privilege of access to Fuller House.
Anyone who signed up for Netflix's standard subscription after October 2015 has been paying $9.99 all along. But those who had the subscription before the 2015 increase (and the May 2014 increase to $8.99) have enjoyed their Arrested Development reruns for a monthly $7.99 — and that's about to change.
Beginning next month, these so-called grandfathered customers (the term for longtime users locked into their original contract) will also be moved up to $9.99 for the standard plan. According to Business Insider, analysts at UBS estimate this will affect 37% of Netflix's U.S. subscribers — roughly 17 million people.
If you're one of those early adopters to the site, prepare to factor those extra two dollars into your monthly budget — or become part of the 3% to 4% who will consciously uncouple from Netflix over the subscription increase. A strong message to send to the service, sure, but what's another $2 when it's almost time for Orange Is the New Black to come back?
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