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If you’ve been sharing your Netflix password with people outside your household, you may soon be charged an extra fee for your generosity. Netflix has announced that it is testing a new fee for people outside your household who are logging into your account.
About the New Netflix Fee
As recently as 2017, Netflix encouraged users to share their accounts with others. That’s right, a mere five years ago, Netflix tweeted “Love is sharing a password.”
Love is sharing a password.
— Netflix (@netflix) March 10, 2017
But times are changing and Netflix is changing as well. The company has announced that it is cracking down on password sharing.
Netflix is testing a new fee for accounts in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru that charges for users outside the household. In these countries, Netflix is now charging these fees per Extra Member:
- 2,380 CLP in Chile
- 2.99 USD in Costa Rica
- 7.9 PEN in Peru
With this new fee, Netflix would allow up to two users outside the household to be added to an account. These Extra Member sub-account users can keep their Netflix profiles but will get new login information and passwords.
Find out about a new Netflix feature => Netflix Adds a New Perk — Free Games for Subscribers
If a user that had been using a shared password wants to set up a brand new Netflix account, they can transfer their profile to the new account. In the new account, their profile will retain their watch history as well as Netflix recommendations.
Netflix Official Statement
On its blog, Netflix made the official announcement:
We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account, with features like separate profiles and multiple streams in our Standard and Premium plans. While these have been hugely popular, they have also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, accounts are being shared between households – impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.
So for the last year we’ve been working on ways to enable members who share outside their household to do so easily and securely, while also paying a bit more. And over the next few weeks, we’ll launch and test two new features for our members in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru.“
See Netflix blog, Paying to Share Netflix Outside Your Household
This Is Only a Test
So far, Netflix has not announced when, if ever, the new fee will be expanded to accounts in other countries around the world. But if Netflix gains additional revenue from this new fee, then it likely will expand the fee worldwide. One Wall Street firm predicts that Netflix could gain an additional $1.6 billion in revenue from this new fee. See, Variety, Netflix Could Reap $1.6 Billion per Year by Charging Password-Sharing Users Extra Fees, Analysts Say
Netflix users may prefer a change to the fee structure instead of a rate increase that affects everyone.
Stay tuned to The Wonder of Tech for further updates!
Learn about downloading Netflix videos for viewing offline => Netflix Now Lets You Download Videos
What Else We Need to Know
In its announcement, Netflix does not define “outside the household” leaving the new fee structure open to interpretation. For example, will Netflix charge this Extra Member fee for children who are away at college? What if a family has more than two children away at college?
If a family member is on an extended military deployment, would he or she be charged an extra fee for watching outside the household?
If a family had more than one home, such as retirees who head to warmer climates in the winter, would they be charged a fee for their second home?
What if someone watched Netflix at work (hey, it happens), would they be charged an extra fee?
How about watching in your Tesla as you’re waiting at a charging station? See, Netflix Help page How to use Netflix on your Tesla touch screen display
If and when Netflix expands the fee for Extra members, it may provide the answers to these questions.
Your Thoughts
Do any people use your Netflix account outside your household? Would you prefer an additional fee for Extra Members outside your household instead of a rate increase for everyone? Should Netflix make exceptions to its fee for Extra Members?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
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*Tesla Photo by Malte Helmhold on Unsplash
They allowed you to do this to boost their viewer count, now they want to charge you for the feature they implemented purposely. Inflation is caused solely by greed.
Hi Ruchi, That’s an interesting perspective. You’re right, from their earlier tweet, they did seem to encourage password sharing. Now, Netflix is looking to charge for it plus restrict it. The outcome of this testing will be interesting. Perhaps this new fee will never be expanded to the rest of the world. But that may also mean higher subscription fees for everyone.
Yea i read about this, and even though I dont share, i know a lot of people do and it’s gonna impact negatively. I hope they withdraw from this “test” and allow the sharing as it is right now.
The Tesla / Netflix article is scary, I hope it only works when the car is not moving 🙂
Hi Praveen, Yes, I can understand why Netflix doesn’t want to encourage password sharing (even though they previously did). But I do think they need to test the restriction to allow for college students, military members deployed away from home, and others within the family to share an account.
Don’t worry about Tesla drivers distracted by watching Tinder Swindler. See, Mashable No, you can’t watch Netflix while driving your Tesla
Hi Carolyn
I guess it had to come. I know a lot of people that share their entertainment subscription with friends and family members. If it is possible and even easy to cheat, there is always someone that will do this. Before we got streaming services like Netflix people was ripping DVD for friends and family.