UPDATE 22/05/17: Netflix has issued a statement refuting that their price experimentations have only been happening on weekends:
“Reports that we are testing ‘weekend-only’ pricing are inaccurate and entirely false. As our statement clearly states, this testing varies in length and time and the fact that some members saw this test on a weekend is completely unrelated.”
ORIGINAL STORY: Bad news bingers: Netflix Australia has been secretly flirting with changes to its cost plans, meaning a price hike could very well be on the horizon.
As Fairfax reports, the streaming giant has been quietly jacking up its pricing models on weekends (when, as we all know, the urge to binge strikes hardest) in a bid to test just how much the country’s Netflix chillers value their media content.
The service has confirmed it’s experimented with upping Aussie prices by as much as AU$3 over Saturdays & Sundays, boosting its Basic plan from AU$8.99 to AU$9.99 a month, its Standard plan from AU$11.99 to AU$13.99 a month, and its Premium plan from AU$14.99 to AU$17.99 a month.
“We continuously test new things at Netflix and these tests typically vary in length of time,” the company says in a statement. “In this case, we are testing slightly different price points to better understand how consumers value Netflix. Not everyone will see this test and we may not ever offer it generally.”
Netflix has declined to comment any further on the nature of their test, but have been quick to emphasise that they’ve not made any formal changes to prices either locally or globally.
But that could soon change with the Turnbull Government rolling out their so-called “Netflix Tax” from July 1st this year.
The Coalition is set to extend Australia’s 10 percent GST to include “intangible supplies”, effectively impacting all forms of digital content including Netflix.
And while the company has not yet confirmed whether it plans to pass the 10% tax on to consumers, its recent flirtation with price hikes suggests it’s at least mulling over the idea and stealthily testing the waters.
A decision to do so would be especially shitty given the fact that Aussie subscribers only have access to about 40 per cent of the content available in the US Netflix library, effectively meaning we’ll be paying more, for less.
