Goodbye tiered internet, hello tiered postal service. The USPS is apparently sick of Netflix's patented DVD mailers clogging its sorting machines and has decided to charge the DVD rental company 17 cents per envelope to cover the estimated $61.5 million extra processing costs over the next two years.
After an audit, the USPS concluded that 70% of the mailers "sustain damage, jam equipment and cause mis-sorts during automated processing". The extra charge will cut Netflix's average monthly income from $1.05 to just 35 cents per customer. Ouch! So, expect prices to rise, or, more likely, a quick redesign of the mailers. Plain brown envelopes, perhaps. Just don't mix them up with any other DVDs you receive in "discreet plain packaging".
Postal Rate Hike Could Put the Squeeze on Netflix [Epicenter]
PDF report [USPS]
Netflix: Postal Service Inspector General Proposes Applying Surchage To DVD Mailers [Tech Trader Daily]
