Amazon restricting sales for Prime members only (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

Has anyone else noticed in the last day or so Amazon has suddenly marked a lot of new release items as "Exclusively for Prime members?"


Ex: Birdman, Interstellar, Big Hero 6, Mockingjay...


I am a Prime member so it doesn't affect me right now, but I don't like the idea that they won't take my money at all if I decide not to give them $100 the next time my membership expires.


I also fail to see the benefit of this for Amazon. If you are not a Prime member, you can sign up for a 30-day trial and get the item...but do they really think this makes them look good to perspective customers? Do they really think anyone will try Prime just for the privilege of buying a movie, or any other item really, that any other website or brick & mortar store will sell to you without a subscription?


This seems to be shooting themselves in the foot...


I do use Amazon a lot and no other website I know of has a 2-day shipping program for the cost they are offering. But still, this seems to be a very strange tactic and I can't see it ending well for them. What happened to their old mission to be able to sell everything to everybody?

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Well, Costco seems to be doing well by being a paid-membership-only brick and mortar store. The same is true with Sam's Club. I cannot vouch for Amazon's policy since I haven't bought anything from them for a month or so.


The new policy only applies to a handful of titles. Many others, such as The Imitation Game and Unbroken, are available to all comers.

 

[campbelldropout]

I believe there are more savings with Costco and Sam's Club membership that you don't get with Amazon prime. I mainly look at the prime for shipping savings. 90% of the items I purchase from Amazon are blu Rays. If I have to have a prime membership to get good deals I would most likely wait for an overall price drop before renewing my membership. $100 a year to get discounts or access to lower prices only On blu Rays doesn't sound like a good deal.

 

[Mark-P]

I do think this is probably a bad decision that may backfire on Amazon. Membership in Amazon Prime has always meant "perks" such as free shipping, access to a large library of free movies to stream, and more recently free music and free borrowing of eBooks. This is the first time that they have taken something away from non-members: the ability to purchase an item at all. Their reasoning is obviously to try to get more people to sign up, but it is doubtful that a non-member's reaction is going to be, "I guess I'll just have to sign up, then." It's more likely to be "Amazon won't sell me this? Fine. I'll take my money elsewhere where they want my business."


What they should have done is offer a discount on these items to prime members. A discount would be seen as a perk, not a punishment.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I'm with you Mark. Prime has always meant you get something extra, like quick shipping, free streaming. Now apparently we're going to need Prime just to get Amazon to behave like a merchant? Uh, ya gotta bribe me to get me to sell something to you.


This is a bad idea.

 

[Malcolm R]

It just means less sales for Amazon. I came across a couple items I would have bought a couple days ago, but they were reserved for Prime members, so I just won't buy them from Amazon.

 

[chemosh6969]

Well, Costco seems to be doing well by being a paid-membership-only brick and mortar store. The same is true with Sam's Club.

They aren't just brick and mortar stores. They also sell items through their websites, with lots of items being only available online.

 

[ajabrams]

They aren't just brick and mortar stores. They also sell items through their websites, with lots of items being only available online.

However, they don't sell DVD' and Blu-rays online and some of there stores, like the uptown Manhattan store (which is the closest one to me), don't carry

don't carry them.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Just noticed this thread.


I went to order THE WORLD AT WAR and noticed the special price for PRIME members.


Doesn't bother me, but then again, I am bias towards PRIME. I plan on being a member of theirs for many years to come so if the membership continues offering special benefits for the price I pay then I am all for it.

 

[atfree]

Just noticed this thread.


I went to order THE WORLD AT WAR and noticed the special price for PRIME members.


Doesn't bother me, but then again, I am bias towards PRIME. I plan on being a member of theirs for many years to come so if the membership continues offering special benefits for the price I pay then I am all for it.

Pretty much sums up my attitude as well. With the amount of product of I get using Prime (BD's, toiletries, just about anything I buy online I generally look to Amazon first) plus Prime movies, my annual fee is the best money I spend each year. Anything I get extra like these "exclusives" is just icing on the cake.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Well put, Alex.


And I have to really hand it to Amazon...


They did jack up the fee on us.


However, for the past year I have seen them add more special perks for Amazon Prime Members, as if they were saying, "Yeah, we jacked up the price but we are going to make that extra money worth it to you."


I love Amazon as a company. They really take care of their customers.

 

[Mark-P]

Just noticed this thread.

I went to order THE WORLD AT WAR and noticed the special price for PRIME members.

Doesn't bother me, but then again, I am bias towards PRIME. I plan on being a member of theirs for many years to come so if the membership continues offering special benefits for the price I pay then I am all for it.

Not "special price" for members Ron, but "you must join the club to purchase this at all" which is what non-members are balking over. It's one thing to be told you have to pay a bit more but another to be turned away all together.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Oh, Mark, I completely misunderstood that.


Wow. So they are withholding product from those who are not members.]


Okay. My apologies. I don't agree with this practice at all even though I am a member.

 

[Mark-W]

And there are too many complaints as of late about the employees being treated poorly.

• Amazon Worker Forces Changes as Labor Board Settles
• Brutal Conditions In Amazon's Warehouses - Business Insider
• Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon's sick brutality and secret

I am trying to buy at Costco whenever I can and then I try WolfeVideo (for LGBT titles) before I give up and visit Amazon or eBay.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

And how about the effect on customers of many years' standing who live overseas and gain NO benefit from prime membership. There's no such thing as free shipping to Australia! It just means we're being told we're no longer welcome.

 

[schan1269]

And there are too many complaints as of late about the employees being treated poorly.

• Amazon Worker Forces Changes as Labor Board Settles
• Brutal Conditions In Amazon's Warehouses - Business Insider
• Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon's sick brutality and secret

I am trying to buy at Costco whenever I can and then I try WolfeVideo (for LGBT titles) before I give up and visit Amazon or eBay.

Working in one of these warehouses(though not Wal-Mart nor Amazon) productivity is king. I don't get where this "increased piece per hour" comes from with wallyworld and Amazon.

There is an auto parts store warehouse near us that has no air and won't open its' dock doors either.

We get temps in that have worked there or Wal-Mart/Amazon(there is a small depot in the county I live in) and all say the same thing...

"The numbers here are brutal. But at least the managers take into account excessive heat/cold/humidity when productivity drops"

We also quarterly evaluate personal productivity. Amazon/Wal-Mart/"un-named auto part" evaluate weekly. We won't terminate over low productivity for 6 months...and it has to be 6 straight.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

And there are too many complaints as of late about the employees being treated poorly.

• Amazon Worker Forces Changes as Labor Board Settles
• Brutal Conditions In Amazon's Warehouses - Business Insider
• Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon's sick brutality and secret

Sounds like conditions at the Postal Service to an extent

 

[jimmyjet]

i have never noticed any item that i could not buy


but it doesnt make any difference to me


i wont pay anyone a member fee


i just end up getting the best deal that i can


if any particular store does not sell something to me, then that just means they dont have it for sale for me, and so nothing to consider


i wasnt even aware that amazon had a membership plan - most places that i have seen with a membership plan require one to be a member. you cant shop there at all, if you arent a member - so they dont get any business from me

 

[Mike Frezon]

i just end up getting the best deal that i can

An Amazon Prime membership might result in a better deal for you than just ignoring it (simply because it's a "membership").


It would just depend on your buying habits and a simple determination of annual shipping charges from Amazon for you against comparative pricing of Amazon versus where you might otherwise shop. There can be other considerations, too...such as the programming available through Amazon Prime...especially since you like to watch content via your computer.

 

[bigshot]

To be honest, I don't know why anyone with a home theater *wouldn't* be a member of Prime. There are just too many advantages.