When subscribers receive their last red envelopes from DVD.com — the rental-by-mail arm of Netflix still dedicated to the physical discs that made the company a household name — they can add those movies to their permanent collection.
Netflix said this week that customers could keep their final batch of DVD or Blu-ray discs at no additional cost, and that they could also request up to 10 more movies by mail as part of an everything-must-go deal.
“We are not charging for any unreturned discs after 9/29,” the company wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Please enjoy your final shipments for as long as you like!”
In April, Netflix said it would shutter its DVD service at the end of September after more than 25 years, citing a continually shrinking market. It shipped its first DVD in March 1998, at a time when Blockbuster dominated the movie rental business and most internet connections were of the dial-up variety. The company began offering a subscription streaming service in 2007, accelerating a societal shift away from physical media.
But even as streaming became the core of its business — Netflix had 238 million global subscribers last quarter — devotees to the rental-by-mail service remained. For a monthly fee (starting at $9.99 for one disc at a time), the company continued to ship its signature envelopes to a dwindling but passionate customer base. Netflix does not disclose how many subscribers are signed up for DVDs, but The Associated Press estimated that last year the total was between 1.1 million and 1.3 million.
Because of format-specific rights agreements, the company offers many movies as DVD or Blu-ray rentals that are not available on most streaming services.
“There’s quite a few movies I’ve come across that I’m kind of shocked aren’t streaming,” said Michael Fusco, a DVD.com subscriber who said he had rented more than 2,300 movies since joining Netflix in 2006.
In addition to the breadth of the physical catalog, Fusco said he appreciated common bonus features such as deleted scenes and commentary tracks by directors. “It’s a shame that streaming services haven’t really come up with anything to match that,” he said.
Current or new Netflix subscribers who sign up before Aug. 29 will be able to request up to 10 additional movies, although the company says the actual number of discs that customers receive will depend on supply. A spokesman said Netflix had not determined what it would do with its remaining inventory.