GAMEFLY ANNOUNCES RATE INCREASE

Gamefly has announced that effective June 18th, they will be raising the rates for all of their rental plans by one dollar. First off, let me say that as far as I know, I had nothing to do with this one despite my earlier statement that if it were to make them start putting the cardboard inserts back in the mailers, I’d gladly pay $1 more a month for service. Chalk it up to coincidence or more likely the ever growing cost of sending out their mailers, but I think we can all agree that Gamefly isn’t hanging on my every word. (So there JG! – nyaa)

“At GameFly, we are committed to providing excellent service at prices that enable you to play all the games you want economically. However, the May 14th postal rate hike on “flat” mailers, as well as the higher cost of new console games, has significantly increased our cost of doing business.

In order to continue improving our service while facing higher external costs, we’re raising the monthly fee on all membership plans by $1. All accounts billed on or after June 18, 2007 will be charged at the new rate. Since we opened our doors nearly five years ago, this is the first time we’ve ever raised the price of our most popular two-game plan.” – Gamefly

Like the statement says, it looks like the recent increase in postal rates is threatening to put a dent in Gamefly’s business plan, and they need some way to make the cash back. It’s not all bad news from Gamefly though – the company is also advising that anyone who wants to sign up for a long term membership prior to the rate change can do so at a discount of 20% off the original plan price. That’s a great deal for anyone who has the spare cash to put down all at once, but for me, I guess I’ll just have to eat that extra dollar.