Netflix Value Calculator
 |
James Joyner | Monday, April 20, 2009 |
This Netflix History Analyzer (link via Andrew Sullivan) allows one to paste in “your Netflix DVD rental history and determine how much you’ve been paying per DVD, compare it to what you would have paid somewhere else, and compute your savings.”
It’s especially helpful if, unlike our family, you use the same rental plan each month rather than changing it frequently depending on your current habits.
UPDATE: Tyler Cowen observes that simply calculating the per-unit-watched price understates the value of the service.
What I like about Netflix is that I can put a movie directly into my queue and then forget about it. It’s more a way of organizing information than a means of economizing on movie rental expenses. But why not just set up a tagging system? With Netflix, I feel some financial pressure –or should I say the desire to avoid feeling like a non-maximizing idiot? — to work through my queue at a positive rate. It keeps me watching, or at least trying, more movies than otherwise would be the case.
It also has a recommendation engine. And going to the mailbox is easier than stopping by the video rental store, wandering about looking for a movie I haven’t seen — only for it to be out of stock! — and then waiting in line to pay. That would be worth a reasonable premium above whatever it now costs to rent at a store (presuming that’s still an option; aside from a couple of seedy-looking adult video stores I drive by, I don’t recollect having seen any video stores recently).
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
Follow James on FriendFeed | Twitter | Digg
- Hasan a Muslim First, American Second?
- OTB Caption JamTM
- Taking “No” As Iran’s Answer
- Update on the Fort Hood Massacre
- OTB Latenight – Soft Cell
- Caption Contest Winners
- Breaking: Shootings at Fort Hood (Updated)
- Pentagon Expected To Ask For Supplementary War Funding. As Usual.
- Marking the Anniversary of the Embassy Seizure
- Caption Contest
Yeah, well without looking, having been subject to DirecTV's rental prices, I can tell you that getting two dvds per week via Netflix, I'm saving about $30-40 a month.
I'm only getting 38% of the possible value the calculator thinks I could from my account and I saved 135 bucks in the last 10 months.
And, as you note, that doesn't even count the value of the time I'm not spending driving to and from the store and wandering around looking for something to rent. Not to mention that I use it mostly to watch TV shows these days, few of which Blockbuster even keeps in stock.
