Netflix Prices To Increase In May, And You May Not Know It

LOS GATOS - If you've been a Netflix customer for awhile, you're probably used to the $7.99 debit paid to the company that's noted on your monthly bank statement.

In May, your price will increase - by two bucks.

Millions of Netflix customers will start paying more to stream their favorite TV shows and movies.

So-called "grandfathered" customers who were sheltered from an earlier May 2014 Netflix price increase of $8.99 for new subscribers, then $9.99 in October of that year, will now have to shell out an additional $2.00 per month for a two-stream, HD plan, Business Insider reported.

All customers will now pay $9.99 per month for the standard plan.

Analysts say the majority of those affected don't know the change is coming. Business Insider notes a recent JPMorgan survey that says around 80% of those that will be affected by the plan didn’t know the price hike was coming.

Business Insider says the change will affect about 37% of US subscribers, or 17 million people.

And despite customer grumbling - about 41% claim they will quit - UBS estimates that only 4% of affected subscribers at most will cancel their subscriptions as a result.

Money Magazine says customers’ reluctance to cancel their subscription makes logical sense. Money points out that Netflix costs customers 9 cents an hour when streaming videos, while a traditional pay TV package runs about 30 cents per hour of viewing.

The magazine says Netflix’s new monthly rate is still cheaper than a commercial-free Hulu subscription, which runs customers $11.99 a month, but is now more expensive than an Amazon Prime subscription, which costs $99 annually.