Weekly RoundUp 7-21-2015 (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

The price in the grid for "What We Do In the Shadows" at Amazon is for Prime members only.


Best Buy.com (and presumably in stores) has it for the same price of $16.99.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm a Prime member...which is probably why I saw the price that way. I saw nothing to indicate such specificity.


What's the price for non-Primers?

 

[Malcolm R]

Don't know. Amazon won't sell it to anyone who's not a Prime member.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Oh. I know there's a thread on this very issue. But that's crazy-ass stupid.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm a Prime member...which is probably why I saw the price that way. I saw nothing to indicate such specificity.

You saw the price without exclusivity because it wasn't restricted when you look at the page. Even when you are logged into Prime, it will say "Offered by Amazon.com exclusively for Prime members" because they want you to feel like you have the important privilege of being able to buy it from them.


Most likely, I suspect they added the exclusivity once they saw it starting to sell in significant numbers. When I bought Spirited Away shortly after its release, it was not marked as Prime exclusive, but a couple days later it was, and is still.


They'll also lift the exclusivity eventually -- Birdman and Whiplash were been exclusive to Prime members shortly after the Oscars, and now they're not.


They seem to randomly apply this to certain hot items in the hope that it will generate more Prime subscriptions (which it wouldn't.) If you've never been a Prime member before, you can simply sign up for the trial and get it, but you can only do that once, so I think the general response will be not to buy from Amazon if you're not interested in Prime and the item is earmarked as an exclusive for members.