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Posted by Sam Rouse on 02/12/06 01:40
In article <sfCdndRUjaZXFnPenZ2dnUVZ_tqdnZ2d@comcast.com>,
Derek Janssen <ejanss@nospam.comcast.net> wrote:
> afn03488@afn.org wrote:
> >>
> >>>.... I'm assuming they meet the volume requirements for the
> >>>rates quoted and the pieces qualify for the single ounce rate.
> >
> >>That second part is probably the issue. Although I'm not familiar with
> >>Netflix mailers, a DVD plus a fairly flimsy cardboard sleeve weighs
> >>about 35 grams, which would put it just over the limit.
> >
> > Which would add 48 cents to the round trip cost.The mailers I have
> > seen are more like paper than cardboard. In as much as a DVD itself
> > about 0.6 ounces, I suspect NetFlix has speced their mailers to remain
> > under the limit while limiting loss thru breakout of the contents.
>
> Back before the national-scale '01 rehab, they used to use cardboard
> mailers:
> I can remember them experimenting with five or six unworkably elaborate
> --and expensive--safe-mailing ideas (how about a plastic envelope with
> foam inserts?) before settling on their current short-sheeted paper
> envelope that keeps the disk in place, with no room for movement or
> damage, and still keep within letter-weight limits.
>
> Which postage issue might also explain the "Hey, why don't they rent
> 2-disks together anymore?" complaint of several years ago...
Yup. Since they're now getting a lot of their discs made specifically for them,
I wish they'd convert the double discs to flippers, but I imagine that the
studios would charge some kind of royalty or other price uplift that would still
make it unprofitable.
It's also worth pointing out that in the beginning, their only distribution
center was in San Jose, which meant 2 and sometimes 3 days in transit each way,
even here on the northern left coast. It still seemed like a good deal,
compared to the local alternatives. These youngsters don't know how good they
have it - "why, when I was your age...." :)
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