Netflix to Close DVD Biz By Letting Customers Rent Up to 10 Discs at Once

Netflix DVD
(Image credit: Netflix)

Are you one of the handful of consumers still renting DVDs from Netflix? Are you worried you won't get to all the movies in your queue before Netflix shuts down DVD.com on September 29?

Well, Netflix is bending the rules a little to help you out. 

Netflix sent out an email (originally intercepted by Collider) to its dwindling DVD.com user base, informing customers that if they opt in online by August 29, Netflix will let them have up to 10 discs out at one time instead of the standard-issue three. 

“Let’s have some fun for our finale!” Netflix says in the email. “You won’t know if any extra envelopes are headed your way until they arrive in your mailbox!” 

This is not a guarantee that you'll get everything you have lined up in your queue. 

Netflix is quick to qualify its promotion with phrases like “limited quantity” and “while supplies last" -- the company is not going to augment inventory at this point for any popular titles that its customers over-subscribe to in the waning days of its DVD unit. 

DVD.com customers have until October 27 to return the rented DVDs.

It's unclear as to what Netflix will do with its disc inventory after that date. In April, right after Netflix announced the shuttering of the unit that first put it into business 25 years ago, Redbox kiosk operator Chicken Soup For the Soul Entertainment offered to buy the inventory

However, last week, Chicken Soup announced the creation of a strategic review board to explore ways the company could cut cost.  

Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!