Amazon Finally Pissed Me Off! (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

It's likely happening because delivery is all electronic, automatic, and they don't have to pay someone to process the order, pick the merchandise, pack it in a box, create a shipping label, and make sure the box gets shipped.

If they can charge nearly the same amount for an electronic file without incurring any of the extra expenses involved with shipping a physical product, why wouldn't they promote that?

 

[jcroy]

It seems they have an agenda, slowly pushing physical media out. I sound like a raving madman, shouting my physical media rhetoric from a street corner but I really don't think I'm being paranoid.

It would be so less stressful/frustrating If Amazon was transparent as to why this is happening. Then I could deal with it, and carry on.​

Amazon doesn't have to be transparent about such matters. They will only have to answer such questions if they are legally required to disclose such information.

Federal securities regulations also forbid them from disclosing such information to only their largest shareholders. (This is the biggest thing that many geeky/nerdy types completely misunderstand about companies which are traded on the stock markets).

Though with all that being said, their actions speak louder than anything they say (or don't say).

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don’t think it’s a matter of Amazon trying to push you towards one product over another. Amazon doesn’t care what you buy; they care that you’re shopping with them rather than a competitor.

I think the more likely explanation towards suggesting digital purchases and rentals is that they’re going where the market is. Physical media used to be a $20 billion a year business. Now it’s a $3 billion a year business and sinking further fast, while digital has become a $20 billion business. If you extrapolate out from that, it means that digital is doing better numbers for Amazon and is in more demand overall with their customers, which makes it more likely that their algorithms will continue to suggest it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Come on guys, we already have enough threads talking about "digital vs. physical media". We all know where the entertainment market is heading without having to repeat our individual POV in various threads. Thank you.

 

[David Norman]

I don’t think it’s a matter of Amazon trying to push you towards one product over another. Amazon doesn’t care what you buy; they care that you’re shopping with them rather than a competitor.

I think the more likely explanation towards suggesting digital purchases and rentals is that they’re going where the market is. Physical media used to be a $20 billion a year business. Now it’s a $3 billion a year business and sinking further fast, while digital has become a $20 billion business. If you extrapolate out from that, it means that digital is doing better numbers for Amazon and is in more demand overall with their customers, which makes it more likely that their algorithms will continue to suggest it.

[I hate to post since Robert asked, but I hate wasting the 20 minutes of finding the numbers so I'll apologize in advance} I promise one and down and if the mods wish to move all of this into the Digital/Disc direct threads.

By far the largest proportion of Digital Revenue was from streaming (Hulu, Disney, Netflix, I guess Amazon Prime,etc ) which Amazon has little control over by suggesting/hawking/listing one version vs another. .

Direct Digital Sales and Rentals were about the same as Physical Sales and Rentals in 2019.
Digital Sales were still 15-20% less than Overall disc sales in 2019 according to DEG (2.6B vs 3.4B )
Disc Rentals (Redbox/Netflix/Family Video) were about 30% lower than ala carte Digital rental (2.0B vs 1.4B)

Streaming seems to around 15B in 2019
Cable Sat TV 100B


More to the point -- my solution was to move 90-95% of my purchases I made through Amazon and back to other providers who provide better overall experience for me these days. I doubt my total media expenditure via AmazonUS 2014-2020 is equal to 2012 alone

 

[John*Wells]

It seems they have an agenda, slowly pushing physical media out. I sound like a raving madman, shouting my physical media rhetoric from a street corner but I really don't think I'm being paranoid.

It would be so less stressful/frustrating If Amazon was transparent as to why this is happening. Then I could deal with it, and carry on.
​

It does seem that way, and if the Internet were ever to crash and streaming couldn't be used for even a few days, it would be a big bite out of the bottom line for a lot of companies

 

[jcroy]

I don’t think it’s a matter of Amazon trying to push you towards one product over another. Amazon doesn’t care what you buy; they care that you’re shopping with them rather than a competitor.

I think the more likely explanation towards suggesting digital purchases and rentals is that they’re going where the market is. Physical media used to be a $20 billion a year business. Now it’s a $3 billion a year business and sinking further fast, while digital has become a $20 billion business. If you extrapolate out from that, it means that digital is doing better numbers for Amazon and is in more demand overall with their customers, which makes it more likely that their algorithms will continue to suggest it.

Definitely. Amazon is the ultimate highly efficient "middle man" for many product categories. Extremely pragmatic.


(Without getting heavily into politics).

Whenever I hear "conspiracy theories" about specific products being "purposely supressed" by particular retailers (such as blurays), I start to suspect it is the person making such arguments which are personally "projecting" their own personal interests/desires. Basically passing off their own personal opinions dressed up in the "veil" of an overreaching "conspiracy".

 

[Johnny Angell]

Definitely. Amazon is the ultimate highly efficient "middle man" for many product categories. Extremely pragmatic.


(Without getting heavily into politics).

Whenever I hear "conspiracy theories" about specific products being "purposely supressed" by particular retailers (such as blurays), I start to suspect it is the person making such arguments which are personally "projecting" their own personal interests/desires. Basically passing off their own personal opinions dressed up in the "veil" of an overreaching "conspiracy".

I do believe that 3D was singled out to fail. The providers have done every thing they could do (short of not selling it...wait, they’re not selling it in the US) to ensure it fails. Charged more for it, required a TV purchase to get certain movies, not utilizing 3D to it’s fullest, discontinuing 3D displays. We’ve come to the point where American manufacturers are not satisfied with a good profit, it’s got be humongous profit, otherwise it’s not worth their time.

Yeah, I’m a fan of 3D so make of it what you will.

 

[BobO'Link]

I do believe that 3D was singled out to fail. The providers have done every thing they could do (short of not selling it...wait, they’re not selling it in the US) to ensure it fails. Charged more for it, required a TV purchase to get certain movies, not utilizing 3D to it’s fullest, discontinuing 3D displays. We’ve come to the point where American manufacturers are not satisfied with a good profit, it’s got be humongous profit, otherwise it’s not worth their time.

Yeah, I’m a fan of 3D so make of it what you will.

I'm not a fan of 3D (mainly due to an eye issue that makes it difficult to see and, due to that, causes major headaches). Still... I agree. The manufacturers only gave it a half hearted attempt and even did that quite poorly with, yet again, competing technologies, heavy glasses/goggles, and other issues that just drove the average person away. Because of the way it was handled, both in theaters and at home, I'm not surprised it failed but think if it could ever be done "right" there's a huge market.

But that's not Amazon's fault... like other vendors they can only sell what's provided.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I do believe that 3D was singled out to fail. The providers have done every thing they could do (short of not selling it...wait, they’re not selling it in the US) to ensure it fails. Charged more for it, required a TV purchase to get certain movies, not utilizing 3D to it’s fullest, discontinuing 3D displays. We’ve come to the point where American manufacturers are not satisfied with a good profit, it’s got be humongous profit, otherwise it’s not worth their time.

Yeah, I’m a fan of 3D so make of it what you will.

Johnny,

I don't think it's in anyone's best interests to intentionally support the failure of a format they helped introduce.

The failure of 3D is nobody's fault other than the consumer who didn't buy into and continue to support its releases.

If the studios were making money on the releases, you would have never seen them fold.

But the studios weren't making money on their releases and as a result, the display manufacturers had no reason to continue charging a premium to make the sets that supported a format the majority didn't want.

I don't even think the manufacturers were making a decent profit.

 

[Robert Crawford]

So now we've move on from "digital vs. physical media" to "3-D conspiracy theories". Maybe, it's just me, but this thread doesn't have to go off the rails discussing two subject matters that have been discussed "ad nauseam" in various threads.

 

[jcroy]

So now we've move on from "digital vs. physical media" to "3-D conspiracy theories". Maybe, it's just me, but this thread doesn't have to go off the rails discussing two subject matters that have been discussed "ad nauseam" in various threads.

In the absence of heavy handed moderation, this style of topic drift shouldn't be too surprising.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Well then, I guess "heavy-handed moderation" is what you'll get.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Here's part of a chat transcript with an Amazon agent that just infuriated me:

Currently there alot of changes with the essential items because they can only be purchased through an amazon business account due to the pandemic

 

[Todd Erwin]

 

[Tony Bensley]

View attachment 70810

Oh, FFS!!!! G*ddamn business bureaucracy at its worst!

 

[Todd Erwin]

Oh, FFS!!!! G*ddamn business bureaucracy at its worst!

The statements came from a chat agent, so it's likely not 100% accurate.

 

[Malcolm R]

Thank god my chips arrived on time. I guess auto-deliveries are "essential," though I guess it's also food.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Oh, FFS!!!! G*ddamn business bureaucracy at its worst!

The statements came from a chat agent, so it's likely not 100% accurate.

I sure hope not. Thanks for that insight, Todd!

 

[BobO'Link]

Thank god my chips arrived on time. I guess auto-deliveries are "essential," though I guess it's also food.
View attachment 70815

Those sound very good... right up my alley... and available on subscribe 'n save (and they have jalapeno ones too)... and the "Ninja Ginger" sounds good (although way overpriced)... must resist...