Are Amazon and Kino Feuding? (1 Viewer)

[RBailey]

I just cancelled my order of ALIAS JESSE JAMES from Amazon and ordered direct from Kino. I received a notice that I would not receive the Hope film until September 18th.

My order of THUNDERBOLT is not arriving until August 31st.

Today, I noticed on Amazon that the new release of STRANGER ON THE RUN was no longer available.

I'm going to start ordering all Kino titles direct from them. Good prices, fast delivery and excellent customer service.

 

[Will Krupp]

I just had a similar experience when I went to order IMMENSEE/OPFERGANG and UNCONQUERED. Amazon only had them available via phantom third party links (no option to buy) which I thought was strange. KINO was able to send both to me right away with no issues and at a much better price. I didn't think much of it at the time but maybe you're right and the issue is more widespread than I had initially thought.

 

[Jeff Brooks]

My order for "Shenandoah", placed in May, was supposed to be delivered this past Tuesday the 27th. I now show it "Arriving Aug 18 - Sep 16". I fussed at them and they gave me a promotional credit for $17.01, so I left the order with them. It looks like it is no longer available to order from Amazon directly.

 

[dukiejosh54]

Kino does have great delivery service but I only order from them directly when I spend enough for the free shipping. 10 dollars to ship one or two items is a bit steep. I just usually wait it out with Amazon. My The Great Gabbo pre-order didn't arrive by release date delivery like it was suppose to but Amazon did eventually ship it out a couple days later.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Kino does have great delivery service but I only order from them directly when I spend enough for the free shipping. 10 dollars to ship one or two items is a bit steep. I just usually wait it out with Amazon. My The Great Gabbo pre-order didn't arrive by release date delivery like it was suppose to but Amazon did eventually ship it out a couple days later.

Josh, off topic, but how does The Great Gabbo look?

 

[Will Krupp]

10 dollars to ship one or two items is a bit steep. I just usually wait it out with Amazon.

I agree and am usually willing to wait it out, too, but this "wrinkle" of Amazon not having availability at ALL is new (I think)

 

[dukiejosh54]

Josh, off topic, but how does The Great Gabbo look?

It looks the best I've seen it look. Picture is pretty clear but it is rough in spots with some flickering through out. Some of the shots with the big follies type numbers seem to have the rougher looking moments. One or two shots of the stage far away will look cloudy but then it switches to a closer shot that is really clear. I wonder if these were the scenes originally in color. The Sound is really good for a film this old.

 

[Joel Arndt]

It looks the best I've seen it look. Picture is pretty clear but it is rough in spots with some flickering through out. Some of the shots with the big follies type numbers seem to have the rougher looking moments. One or two shots of the stage far away will look cloudy but then it switches to a closer shot that is really clear. I wonder if these were the scenes originally in color. The Sound is really good for a film this old.

Thanks Josh. That makes sense that those would be the scenes filmed in color originally as they tend to look softer when transferred to B & W from my experience. After all, this film is 92 years old.

 

[Mark-P]

I think it’s more of a supply issue, with the few replication facilities that are left unable to keep up, because there have also been quite a few delayed street dates as well.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I'm giving up on Amazon because their postage charges (international to Australia) have gone through the roof. For one disc I checked the other day, Amazon was quoting $15 for the disc (standard thin Blu ray case) and around $16 postage! A year ago postage was around $7. Fortunately, Deep Discount seems to be holding costs in check.

 

[revgen]

I stopped ordering from Amazon because my packages kept arriving beat up and destroyed. I order from DD, Bullmoose, and Kino Lorber directly now.

 

[Sam Favate]

BTW has there been a date announced yet for Kino’s Out of Sight disc?

 

[Robert Crawford]

BTW has there been a date announced yet for Kino’s Out of Sight disc?

No date has been announced.

 

[TheSteig]

Im finding it easy to order from Kino to reach $50 for free shipping. They have enough movies for me to get my total to $50.00. They also ship their products early. It's much easier to order from Kino directly. I had the same problem with Amazon with products being out of stock, and gave up on them.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I've had a slew of cancelled orders with Amazon recently and I believe they were primarily not Kino discs but from a variety of other companies. The Groove Tube was one I preordered, got the best price, and Amazon never seemed to have it and cancelled my order. I believe they still don't have it and Bullmoose has had it in stock from release day and have multiple copies of it. You can get it from them for a couple bucks more than the low Amazon price.

I don't know the cause but discs available at other retail outlets have oddly either not been available at Amazon or they push back the delivery date for a month or more. I get these emails from Amazon asking me to take action on the order, select to wait or cancel. On most I have selected to wait but the discs never come and then Amazon cancels the order themselves. On one order they finally gave me a delivery day then on the day the order was supposed to be delivered they cancelled it. Amazon has sort of become a joke with preorders. Yes, you preorder and get the best price but what good is that if the disc never ships?

Bullmoose has been the best option for me. They have free shipping at $35.00 and they are right here in New England so everything gets here quickly. They also seem to have in stock all the stuff Amazon does not have. Bullmoose is just a small New England based chain but they perform far better than Amazon does. Better customer service, better delivery, better selection, just better. Amazon has become quite a disappointment.

 

[JPCinema]

I noticed that with my order of ROAD TO SALINA. I cancelled the order and purchased it on KINO NOW streaming station. This morning I purchased THE GREAT GABBO and NANA on KINO NOW. All 3 titles were $9.99. The PQ is excellent.

 

[Will Krupp]

I don't know the cause but discs available at other retail outlets have oddly either not been available at Amazon or they push back the delivery date for a month or more. I get these emails from Amazon asking me to take action on the order, select to wait or cancel. On most I have selected to wait but the discs never come and then Amazon cancels the order themselves. On one order they finally gave me a delivery day then on the day the order was supposed to be delivered they cancelled it. Amazon has sort of become a joke with preorders. Yes, you preorder and get the best price but what good is that if the disc never ships?

Here's something that occurs to me. Now, understand this is JUST a guess so please, treat it as the musings of someone who REALLY doesn't know anything.

I would bet money on the fact that, due to its sheer size, Amazon likely gets a steeper discount from publishers than other distributors do. During normal, non-pandemic times, the publishers can make up that difference in discount with the amount of product that Amazon moves. With the limited availability of initial discs due to various shortages, however, that benefit disappears. I would bet that the publishers prioritize distributors paying them a higher wholesale amount to maximize the return on their initial investment and deliveries to Amazon get shifted to lower on the pole.

Does that make any sense?

 

[Malcolm R]

I would also guess that the titles released by Kino sell a very small number of copies for Amazon, for the most part. In the grand scheme of Amazon, they're likely very low priority for fulfillment.

And honestly, if you can't get to $50 for free shipping with all the tltles Kino has to offer directly, there's something wrong with you. I usually go there with the intent of ordering just enough to trigger the free shipping, and before I know it I'm up to $80-$120.

If you've absolutely already ordered everything you want from the past releases, just wait a month or so for some additional releases to bulk up your order. Or as noted above, check out Bullmoose with the $35 minimum and choose from other non-Kino titles, as well.

 

[Doug Wallen]

My order for "Shenandoah", placed in May, was supposed to be delivered this past Tuesday the 27th. I now show it "Arriving Aug 18 - Sep 16". I fussed at them and they gave me a promotional credit for $17.01, so I left the order with them. It looks like it is no longer available to order from Amazon directly.

Same with me, was really looking forward to receiving this on the 27th. When I never received a shipping notice, I wondered what the issue might be. Haven't raised a fuss and will wait it out but will use another source for Kino product ongoing.

 

[yimitz]

My order for "Shenandoah", placed in May, was supposed to be delivered this past Tuesday the 27th. I now show it "Arriving Aug 18 - Sep 16". I fussed at them and they gave me a promotional credit for $17.01, so I left the order with them. It looks like it is no longer available to order from Amazon directly.

I got the same notification. This was supposed to be a surprise birthday present for someone this weekend. I cancelled my Amazon order and ordered it from Kino instead.