Disney is raking its customers over the coals with a 75% price hike for their annual subscription (originally $80.) People wonder why piracy is on the rise.Multiple commenters are saying I'm off base about the 75% price increase. My payment less than a year ago was $79.99. Here's the proof.

  • FUCKRedditMods@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    Disney’s desperation is showing—just look at their stock price the past 2 years… down 50%

    I’m honestly surprised they didn’t raise their subscription fees sooner. Unfortunately for them it’s a double edged sword, which will cause a lot of people to cancel and quite possibly harm them in the long run.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Meh, might not hurt them, obviously their suits don’t think so.

      What they’re trying to do is convert or lose low-value customers and make high-value customers and save bandwidth at the same time. Fewer high-value customers also has an impact on support costs.

      I did the same with my little computer support business. Doubled prices and kept the solid customers.

      I straight steal my media, so I don’t have a dog in this fight. Actually, I’m a little stunned that anyone pays for this bullshit in the first place.

      • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I did the same with my little computer support business. Doubled prices and kept the solid customers.

        Who may now seek cheaper alternatives.

        • shalafi@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          And they are free to do so! Why do I want small-time, bitchy customers who won’t, or can’t, pay? Let someone else coming up in the world take them on. I did my time, they can do theirs.

          Pick one:

          • A restaurant that charges $10 per burger, at a cost of $3 per burger.

          • A restaurant that charges $5 per burger, at a cost of $3 per burger.

          Capitalism is common sense!

          CAVEAT: When decoupled from a sense of the greater good. Which is sometimes called morality.

          • No_@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            Anyone who calls any customer “bitchy” for not staying after raising prices deserves to jump off a cliff.

            • pivot_root@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              If he meant exactly what you said, I agree. But, there is an alternate interpretation of what the guy was saying:

              You tend to get different kinds of customers with different price ranges. The ones who can afford to spend money generally don’t give a crap about what you’re billing them for, and they just want the work done properly.

              The ones who aim to get a “good deal” tend to be less hands-off and more critical about the work done/supplies used and billed for. Frugal customers take extra time and sanity to field questions/suggestions, and sometimes, it’s just not worth dealing with.

              If raising his fee filters out the latter category, it’s hard to blame him. I wouldn’t want to deal with penny-pinchers either, and simply being more expensive than the competition is an effective deterrent.

              • neo (he/him)@lemmy.comfysnug.space
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                8 months ago

                Frugal customers take extra time and sanity to field questions/suggestions, and sometimes, it’s just not worth dealing with.

                And if this is a problem for you, maybe you don’t deserve to be in business.

                • T1000@lemm.ee
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                  8 months ago

                  All businesses have cheap customers that you bend over backwards for but they still leave a bad review. Those types hurt businesses and force strategies to not have cheap customers.

                • Auli@lemmy.ca
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                  8 months ago

                  Or raise prices and don’t deal with them. Guy didn’t say he was hurting from raising prices. Man some of you guys seem to think everything should be free, wonder if you practice what you preach and work for free.

    • stewie3128@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 months ago

      Disney has for the last few decades positioned itself as a premium product at a premium price (think the entry costs for theme parks, cruises, etc.) much the same way Apple has. They clearly think their content is worth the premium, so they’re going for it.

      Also, a lot of their best films are going public domain in the coming years, so they need to maintain and grow their revenue stream somehow.

      Shedding ABC, eliminating physical media, and increasing streaming prices makes total sense if you think the way they do.