Screen Shot 2013-12-30 at 3.38.45 PMFor budget-conscious folks looking to get their hands on the next season of House of Cards, Netflix is shaving a buck off its usual subscription price for people who are okay with watching a lower-definition picture.

Some people who are trying to sign up for a new Netflix account are being greeted with the option to sign up for a $6.99/month plan that allows users to stream standard definition video to one device, in addition to the company’s $7.99/month and $11.99/month plans, which allow high-definition simultaneous streaming to two and four devices respectively.

netflix-imageThe new plan could attract new users to the service, including budget-conscious consumers who would otherwise be more likely to share an account with a family member — something Netflix hasn’t cracked down on yet, because doing so could negatively impact the experience of its customers.

Existing users aren’t yet able to get access to the new pricing. Adweek reports that’s because the company sees the current introduction as a way to experiment with offering the budget service to a small group, though the company plans to expand the offer to existing users in the future.

If they turn it into a permanent offering, a $7/month plan would put Netlfix’s service much closer in price to Amazon Prime, which offers free streaming of a number of shows, including its own original programming, for $79/year.

Update: Netflix provided GeekWire with the following statement via email: “At Netflix we continuously test new things. In this case we are testing a $6.99 single stream price point. Not everyone will see this and we may not ever offer it generally.”

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