Netflix’s DVD subscription platform will allow subscribers to keep their final delivery of DVDs as the company prepares to close its 25-year-old service, the company announced on Monday. In April, Netflix confirmed it will be shutting down its DVD mail order option, telling existing customers in a Twitter post last week that they will receive up to 10 random discs in their final shipment.
But now, the company is taking it a step further by telling subscribers that they won’t be charged an additional fee for any discs they haven’t returned after the Sept. 29 cutoff. In a Twitter post on Monday night, DVD Netflix told subscribers: “Please enjoy your final shipments for as long as you like!”
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The offer is only available to customers in the U.S. who will have until August 29 to sign up for the extra DVDs on its DVD.com website. However, the company said in a separate Twitter post that it isn’t guaranteed that the subscriber will be selected to receive the 10 discs, but added it’s “still worth giving it a shot!”
Subscribers received an email informing them of the promotion, writing: “Let’s have some fun for our finale! The ‘fun’ is in seeing just how many discs arrive,” Collider first reported. The company added: “Rather than receiving a set amount of extra DVDs, there’s no indication of how many will arrive until they show up in their respective red envelopes.”
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Netflix’s new offer will send discs based on the movies listed in the subscribers’ queue, marking an end to the nostalgic service that managed to outlive Blockbuster, and continued to thrive alongside its streaming service, at least for a while. In 2011, Netflix co-founder and then-CEO Reed Hastings said in a blog post that “DVD by mail may not last forever, but we want it to last as long as possible,” Time Magazine reported at the time.
In 2021, the DVD service accounted for just .5% of Netflix’s non-streaming revenue had dropped to only $150 million the previous year, according to Statista.
“Moving plastic discs around costs far more money than streaming digital bits,” Eric Schmitt, senior director analyst at Gartner Research told CNN. “Removing and replacing damaged and lost inventory are also cost considerations.”
Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos announced it was shuttering its DVD service in an April blog post, writing: “Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members, but as the business continues to shrink, that’s going to become increasingly difficult. So we want to go out on a high.” He continued: “To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: Thank you.”
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