Amazon Won't Sell Non-Prime Members Certain Popular Movies and Video Games (businessinsider.com)

An anonymous reader writes: If you're not an Amazon Prime subscriber, you will no longer be able to purchase certain popular game titles and movies, according to a report on game blog Videogamer. One of the benefits of Amazon's Prime program is that it gives members exclusive access to some items. This selection includes a rotating roster of popular video games, Blu-rays, and DVDs. Non-Prime members in the US can't buy titles such as Oscar-winning "Birdman" on Blu-ray or "GTA V" for PS4 from Amazon. This initiative, which has been going for quite some time, affects customers in the UK as well (though the selection is different). Non-Prime customers can still buy these titles from third-party sellers on Amazon's platform, but not from Amazon directly.

Comments

Sounds like a bad idea to me...

[Fallen Kell]

Seriously think about it. Someone is searching on the INTERNET to purchase a popular item. If amazon won't sell it to random customer, there are 20-100 other stores that gladly will. All you have done is lose business which could have also resulted in additional sales for other items at the same time of the purchase (as well as all the additional marketing information that was lost from the sale which seems to be the real money anyway now).

They push Prime too hard

[RobinH]

The amount of pushing they do of Prime is what really turns me off of it. When someone comes to my house to sell me something, I know it's likely not in my best interest because they've invested considerable time and energy to come and solicit me, so they're likely to take a big cut, and I'm better off finding the product on my own if I can. It's the same with Amazon Prime - they seem to want to push it on me so bad that it must be a really valuable sale for them, which likely means it's not a good deal for me.

Re:They push Prime too hard

[zero_out]

In general, I agree with your premise. That's why I never buy the extended warranty on anything. A store wouldn't offer the warranty if it didn't result in a net profit for them. If I can't afford a replacement for an item breaking, then I can't really afford the item in the first place. For Amazon, selling you a prime membership is better because it removes the shipping cost from the equation when a customer is considering whether to purchase an item from them or not. That turns into more gross sales, and also allows Amazon to make up the difference through economies of scale. As a customer, is that better for you? You no longer have to worry about shipping costs, so purchasing items through Amazon is more convenient. You also don't have to plan a trip to the store, which can also be more stressful and expensive if you have kids. How much is your time worth for you? How much wear do you put on your vehicle, and spend on gasoline, when you drive to the store? These answers are different for each of us, but I think more of us fall on the side of prime membership being beneficial for us than those who don't.

Re:Prime membership

[93 Escort Wagon]

I am a Prime member and I can conclusively say it isn't worth the $100.

I agree with your sentiment... I'm still a Prime member, but it's mainly out of laziness. I keep intending to look through my past orders, see what I really needed to get in three days (that's not a typo - Prime two-day shipping slides to three, more often than not) and then compare the costs of paying for shipping those items with the cost of Prime.

Also, Prime video itself IS garbage. They claim they've got all these shows, but only a subset are actually included for free - generally the first few episodes. If you want to see the rest, you have to pay more.

This latest dick move from Amazon is basically Bezos banking on the laziness of people like me. I have gotten used to just going to Amazon first when I'm shopping online - and habits are hard to break. But I think I'll start trying to break this one.

Re:Prime membership

[zero_out]

I'm a prime member, and I find it to be immensely useful. When I calculate how much money we save, prime membership is clearly worth it. On average, the items my family (i.e. my wife) shops for cost significantly less through Amazon than through a brick-and-mortar store. The only advantages that a brick-and-mortar store hold for us are the absence of shipping fees and delivery times. With prime membership's included 2-day shipping, those shipping fees become a small fraction of the prime membership cost, and 2-day shipping delivers the items sooner than I can schedule a trip to the store and buy them. Altogether we save time and money. It's true that their prime streaming catalog sucks, but that's not the main reason for most people to purchase a prime membership. Prime streaming, by itself, is definitely not worth $100/year.

Re:getting my money's worth for prime

[HumanWiki]

I'm glad I signed up for Prime. I signed up and I buy some of those items. Thanks, Amazon!

Oh piss off.... Sh*t like this isn't going to get them any fans and in fact, as of the most recent update, they've back pedaled on the Video game lock out thing. Being a Prime member should be about getting better prices, faster shipping and such.. Not f*cking non-Prime members from buying items completely.

What?

[abuelos84]

Who the fuck buys movies?
The fuck is wrong with you people?

Makes me sick.

Re: Prime membership

[Anonymous Coward]

So you blame Amazon because you're too lazy to cancel prime? You sound like one of those bitchtard millinials. In the same amount of time you cried like a bitch you could have canceled your account instead but you CHOSE not to.

Go fuck you, lazy bitch ass.

Re:And this is why...

[omnichad]

Anti-trust? What can't you buy at a dozen other places? They're just forcing people to buy elsewhere. So they're busting their own trust.