I love Netflix, but how the hell are they making money?

[MrAngryFace]

Seriously. The envelopes suggest my monthly fee is already going towards the first class postage, and I KNOW ill rent more than 15 a month, so where the hell do they make money? A few ads are in the envelopes but aside from that.

[Mupepe]

from the people that keep one movie for 3 weeks.

[Saint Cornelius]

I have the last disc of AD sitting on my desk at home... and it's been there for like two months. I have a feeling I might not be the only (lazy) one.

[Van Cruncheon]

thanks for keepin' my per-month at $9.99, corny!

[Saint Cornelius]

Gamefly members should also give me dap. I had Chromehounds for like three months, and I never opened it!

[Cheebs]

From people like me. I forget to send back movies I netflix for weeks at a time.

[The Fake Shemp]

Well, first off, they have a special arrangement with the USPS, so their shipping costs are low due to volume.  The deal is kept very private.  That brings me to the other part of Netflix, it is a very, very secret organization.  They constantly fear corporate espionage, because they apparently have a very cost effective and special way to sort and send DVDs inside their facilities.  I read a news article where the journalists weren't even allowed really to talk about what goes on inside a Netflix sorting facility.

And as mentioned above, the system thrives on people checking out movies and not returning them for weeks.  High volume customers are rare and that's why most people get "throttled" eventually.

[Cheebs]

Well, first off, they have a special arrangement with the USPS, so their shipping costs are low due to volume.  The deal is kept very private.  That brings me to the other part of Netflix, it is a very, very secret organization.  They constantly fear corporate espionage, because they apparently have a very cost effective and special way to sort and send DVDs inside their facilities.  I read a news article where the journalists weren't even allowed really to talk about what goes on inside a Netflix sorting facility.

And as mentioned above, the system thrives on people checking out movies and not returning them for weeks.  High volume customers are rare and that's why most people get "throttled" eventually.

well blockbuster does the same thing for their online service, no?

[The Fake Shemp]

Considering how close guarded Netflix still is with the inner workings of its facilities, I doubt this.  If it was industry standard, there'd be no reason to be so secretive.

[The Fake Shemp]

Yeah, just checking Blockbuster Online on Google News show they are obviously not using the Netflix method.  Massive user reports from the last month have surfaced saying people have not received their DVDs for weeks.  Some even stated that the service came to a screeching halt.

[MrAngryFace]

I LOVE netflix, who cares if its run by the machine world from The Matrix.

[GilloD]

Well, first off, they have a special arrangement with the USPS, so their shipping costs are low due to volume.  The deal is kept very private.  That brings me to the other part of Netflix, it is a very, very secret organization.  They constantly fear corporate espionage, because they apparently have a very cost effective and special way to sort and send DVDs inside their facilities.  I read a news article where the journalists weren't even allowed really to talk about what goes on inside a Netflix sorting facility.

And as mentioned above, the system thrives on people checking out movies and not returning them for weeks.  High volume customers are rare and that's why most people get "throttled" eventually.

My pal used to work for FedEx or UPS or whichever one hopped into bed with the USPS. They got a sweet deal as a result and hence that postage rate hike back in like '99 or '98 or whatever. It's not totally unusual.