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‘I refuse to pay more than $8 a month’: Customer shows Disney+ monthly bill. Then she reveals how to lower your subscription cost

Disney+ got rid of one of its most economical bundles. So this customer decided she would cancel her subscription, but then Disney+ said, "Not so fast."

How affordable is Disney+?

Disney+ is a streaming platform with all your Disney faves from Pixar, National Geographic, Marvel, and more. In 2024, prices went up on several plans by $2. Additionally, it removed one of its most affordable bundles, the Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Bundle Legacy, that came with no ads and premium features. Its website notes this change but mentions that subscribers who already have this plan won't have the bundle revoked.

Disney+ is not the only one raising its prices. Netflix also raised its prices this year from $15.49 to $17.99.

Subscription hacks

Is there any way to overcome the rising price of streaming subscriptions? If you're lucky, yes. Emjineer (@emjineering) explains how she got away with paying as low as $2 a month for Disney+, although the lowest subscription is $9.99 a month.

"Life hack for next time the streaming services go to raise their prices, just say no. I'm serious. It works. Remember how last year Disney+ raised all their prices? See, I actually canceled my subscription. Then a couple weeks later Disney was like, 'Hey, would you be willing to pay $2?' and I was like, 'OK. I'll pay $2 for 3 months,'" Emjineer explains.

After the three months, Emjineer says she was going to cancel her subscription when Disney said it was going to reinstate the full price. And again, Disney knocked on their door asking if she would pay $5.99 for three months. Emjineer agreed, and when Disney wanted to raise the price again after the three months were over, Emjineer canceled her subscription, again. Then, Disney asked if Emjineer to pay only $2.99 this time. Emjineer says she agreed, and Disney even threw in Hulu this time.

Emjineer's video has over 3,500 likes and over 50,000 views.

Viewers weighed in with their varied experiences being offered promotions after canceling subscription services.

"Not here. They just let me cancel," said one comment.

"Except Netflix they don’t care," another said.

"Audible is doing this right now!! Run!! .99¢ a month for 3 months! You’re welcome," said someone else.

"I want the legacy pricing option back $80 annually ... otherwise it’s not worth it," another person said, to which Emjineer responded, "The whole reason I canceled in the first place was because they removed this option. They would have gotten more money from me had they left it alone."

Why the spike in prices?

Besides corporate greed being something that will never go out of style, it seems that subscription-based media companies like Disney+ and Netflix are in an awkward place that is causing prices to go up for consumers.

Now that subscription services are the norm and companies have poured millions into their own production studios, their business models are changing to meet the growing demand for content.

"After a decade of spending money like it was going out of style because all investors cared about were subscriber numbers, Hollywood players of all sizes have found themselves needing to actually make money to stay in business," reports the Verge.

Apparently, cheap subscription prices are a thing of the past, as companies know they no longer need low prices to buy folks into the concept. Now that they've got us, the focus is on making money.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Disney+ for comment via email and to @Emjineer for comment via TikTok and Instagram message.

@emjineering I refuse to pay more than $8 a month. I am curious to see how long I can keep this up. At the end of this promotion, I will have successfully dodged the price increase for 9 months. #notsponsored #disneyplus ♬ original sound - Emjineer

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The post ‘I refuse to pay more than $8 a month’: Customer shows Disney+ monthly bill. Then she reveals how to lower your subscription cost appeared first on The Daily Dot.