A little while ago, NetFlix got greedy. The company boosted membership prices by nearly 60% and dropped one of its most popular plans – the $7.99 DVD plan. For some reason or other, NetFlix execs didn’t see the mobs of angry subscribers coming when they changed rates and plans, but the company is now trying to make things right again. Like traveling back to the past, NetFlix has, once again, introduced the $7.99 DVD-only subscription plan. That’s right, you can get your NetFlix DVDs for $7.99 once again.

For many NetFlix subscribers, this deal is the only deal that ever mattered. Sadly, a number of these subscribers no longer have NetFlix after the last debacle. Will NetFlix subscribers of old flock back to the service now that the company is offering up a decent DVD deal once again? Only time will tell, but there might be a few reasons why this plan will appeal to some who once used the NetFlix service.

Streaming Only Works If…

So, NetFlix decided to concentrate most of its efforts (and membership plans) on the NetFlix streaming service. This made a good deal of business sense, since it’s much more cost-effective for NetFlix to offer streaming videos as opposed to sending out DVDs. On top of the cost-efficiency, NetFlix also had the advantage of charging customers more for streaming services (while actually spending less). As you can see, this seemed like a win-win deal for NetFlix. Only, two things happened: some customers didn’t want to stream and those that did were largely disappointed with Netflix’s streaming selection.

To date, NetFlix still doesn’t offer as many streaming options as DVD options, and this is one of the main reasons why some NetFlix clients may go back to the $7.99 deal. No, NetFlix probably won’t cash in on this deal (sending out DVDs is significantly more expensive for the company), but it’s one way to try and win customers back. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how many people jump on the new, old, $7.99 DVD deal.

A Cheaper Combined Deal?

One of the chief NetFlix consumer complaints is that purchasing a streaming plus DVD package is too expensive for most people to afford. Thus, people are choosing between a DVD plan and the streaming plan. Now, those who aren’t satisfied with the current streaming offerings are certain to go back to the cheaper DVD plan. As you can see, NetFlix isn’t going to win with this scenario unless the company offers a cheaper combination deal. At one point, a streaming plus DVD deal was offered for around $10, but that deal faded when NetFlix changed things around awhile back.

If there’s a startup lesson (or any business less at all) to be learned from everything that’s happening with NetFlix, it’s that becoming too greedy never works out. Now that NetFlix has angered some of its loyal customers, will the company be able to get those clients back by reintroducing the $7.99 deal once again? Only time will tell if NetFlix can truly backpedal, but I’m guessing that some people aren’t willing to trust the company again (after all, most people did wake up to find that their existing cheap DVD deals were significantly more expensive not too long ago!).