Canflix to open Ontario warehouse

[tomester]

As of late I've noticed them using "normal" large envelopes with the addresses stuck on via labels.

No red and white envelopes for a while now.

[tomester]

And today I get my very first handwritten one. Heh.

[YKdvd]

After all Canada Post does not endorse mailing CD's or DVD's through the mail system.

This isn't correct - CD/DVD is one of the examples that Canada Post uses in its "What is Lettermail" guide. ZIP is probably doing something like $4 million in postage annually (adding the others probably puts it over $5million), and if/when Canada ever gets to the same level that Netflix/BB have achieved in the US it could be 20 times that. That would be a significant chunk of lettermail volume!

[YKdvd]

Contact Canada Post and ask them if they encourage people to send unprotected CD's or DVD's through the mail system as regular lettermail.

Put it in a jewel case and that is another story.

I don't know about "encourage" - the dynamic is different for an individual customer, who has less tolerance for any particular shipment being damaged, than a company which can amortize it as a cost of business. If someone asks Canada Post it will be this, the lack of insurance, etc., that they will want to stress to the customer. But this has little to do with DVD companies, or the gratuitous shot at postal employees.

Netflix does not have their envelopes go through a traditional sorter in the USA. No company in Canada has this sort of arrangement with Canada Post. The volume just is not there.

Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes did a story on Netflix (and Reed Hastings) a while ago - part of it is available on YouTube. They toured a Netflix warehouse, and showed how they presort the outgoing envelopes (using "the same sorting machines as the post office"). So Netflix envelopes are probably getting similar mechanical stress to what they would otherwise, although doing it inhouse they can likely catch some potential mangling before it goes out.

[goingempty]

I watched that youtube video. Simply AMAZING! $50 million a month, wow unbelievable

"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by CBS Broadcasting, Inc "

[goingempty]

I found another copy here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/ ... 2059.shtml

[caehlan]

In the past few weeks (maybe 1 month now) the turn around times for me have sped up considerably. I'll drop a disc in the mail and they will receive it the next business day and ship another one out (sometimes +1 business day if I have nothing available). In May it could sometimes take up to a week to turn around.