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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.
I am a Prime member and I can conclusively say it isn't worth the $100. Take a look at the movies/music available for Prime streaming: utter garbage. Also, not having to see "Birdman" is a bonus in my book.
I bet you are you dirty anonymous coward (aka amazon employee).
I have prime through work - if it wasn't for the free two day shipping I wouldn't order anything from there. Prime video is absolute garbage, prime plays dirty tricks with pricing to make it look like when you're getting a good deal when they fuck around with MSRP. It's ridiculous.
Amazon will be pure evil in 5 years.
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).
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
and by laws in some states beer / liquor and pharmacy can not be members only
Such policies are another good reason for having a marketplace independent of vendors through which people can search and buy whatever.
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.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
I admit that I didn't read the article, but I don't think drugs and alcohol are things which are offered exclusively to prime members.
What market have they cornered? The web is full of online markets. Amazon organizes and works their slaves a little harder to save you a few bucks here and there, but if I can't buy something from them I'll obviously just go elsewhere.
Amazon, regardless of 3rd party sellers and "competitors", have the market cornered.
Now they can drop the hammer and get away this shit!
Disgusting.
Really, Amazon has the market cornered? How. There are tons of places to buy online, not to mention brick and mortar stores virtually everywhere that sell the same games and movies.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
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.
Then I can take my business elsewhere. good day!
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Amazon is a good place to shop. It has a huge selection, decent prices and it's simple to use. But recent changes, such as forcing my to buy $25 of most things before they'll ship it and the change in TFA make it less convenient. I'll stop shopping at Amazon the moment it becomes less useful than alternatives. I can definitely see that moment approaching soon.
Lots of big companies do what Amazon is doing. They all have different words for it, but the appropriate phrase is "managed dissatisfaction". When your grocery store shuts down a register and makes you wait longer, when Amazon makes itself less convenient, when your bank demands payment for sending you paper statements, when you have to wait on hold half an hour, when you have to walk through an isle of shit you don't need to get what you want, all of this stuff. They recognize they're offering a disservice and they're betting it's not quite bad enough to make you stop going there. They aim for as much dissatisfaction as they can give you and still keep you as a customer. As someone who doesn't like being fucked with my threshold is a little more sensitive than a lot of people. Maybe if you lower yours too stores in general will fuck with everyone a little less.
My guess, though, is that Amazon's leadership are jumping the shark. They're trying to liquidate customers for short-term gain. If I'm right they'll keep milking until they hemorrhage customers and lose their hard-won reputation at which point they'll rebrand and start it all over again. Coming in five years: the totally-not-Amazon shopping network. New! Shiny!
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
Exclusive, low price items for a membership fee? If I were Costco I'd be nervous...
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Costco, anyone?
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
That's why, in some states, Costco, Sam's Club, etc, will let members of the public purchase those items without membership.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Wait a minute, I can get drugs and alcohol on Amazon with a Prime membership? Now you're talking.
It's Friday afternoon. You think I could get a 12-pack of Tequiza and an eight-ball of coke delivered by 5pm?
You are welcome on my lawn.
Who the fuck buys movies?
The fuck is wrong with you people?
Makes me sick.
-- Counting backwards since 1984!
Not to mention continually hiking up the price to qualify for free shipping.
Quick, somebody call a whambulance stat. We've got a severe outbreak of butthurt.
That's funny coming from someone that can't even be bothered to post as an actual account.. Back under the rock AC.
Amazon is getting out of control. If we had a government that actually worked, I'd half expect some anti-trust actions would be hovering around them by now. I wonder how much worse it will get?
:T:R:A:N:S:
And some of them don't charge sales tax which makes them even cheaper still.
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.
This isn't new. They've been doing this for other products for a while now.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
I love the rage here. While not a proponent of this tactic (it seems self defeating), I don't really think it makes Amazon inherently evil. I mean, at least they let you purchase most things. They could be like Costco or Sams club and not let you purchase anything without a membership (and a special credit card should you wish to use that for your purchase).
I hope all of you that are so up in arms spend as much time being made at warehouse clubs.
I've got Prime but don't use anything except the shipping. This looks like more stupidity like discontinuing Chromecast and AppleTV.
I don't use Amazon Video because the value proposition sucks, not because I have Chromecasts. I guess non-frugal people might buy more, because otherwise it would be stupid *and* unprofitable.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I'd half expect some anti-trust actions would be hovering around them by now. I wonder how much worse it will get?
In the market for online movies, Amazon is not a monopoly, or even the biggest vendor. Netflix and Apple can survive without help from government trust busters.
Only in states where they're doing their Drone Delivery pilot programs.
This is nothing more then a common capitalist business cycle. When you come in you look good and everyone starts to use you because you're so good. Then when you have attracted a significant amount of business you tweak things so that you are no longer as good. In fact you may become similar to what was there before or slightly worse, but you work it so that enough people cannot go back then you profit.
When people talk about the greatness of capitalism, they usually only refer to the first phase.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
The more difficult the content is made to access, the more motivated people will be to copy and share it illegally. Fair enough.
Monopsony. Plus, they are taking massive losses to drive their competition out.
... it must be true.
Already redacted.
You're kidding, right? Amazon is waist-deep in competitors. If they are too expensive for you, or you don't like their services, there is any number of places you can shop (online or off) for what Amazon sells.
You guys who scream for the government nanny every little time retail doesn't go your way are starting to scare me...
I may have misread the title...
If it was the case though, not to worry. You could just buy multiple primes to construct your non-primes.
Amazon won't directly sell internal hard drives anymore? I always seem to have to get them from a third party Amazon storefront, prime or not. Why are they so reluctant to house and store hard drives themselves anymore?
If you actually have that problem. File a complaint. They give you a free month of prime each time they miss a ship date.
Is all of "an awful lot" at no additional charge with Prime membership, or is it mostly rentals at $3.99 a piece? The article doesn't link to the original Barclays research with which I could verify the methodology of the count.
sweet! Which state is that where I can buy recreational drugs at Costco, Sam's, etc?
How does Amazon dictate the prices at suppliers can sell again, or function as the sole potential purchaser? Or do you just not know what the term monosony means?
Also, massive losses are incompatible with a substantial 5 year net income.
You're wrong on both counts.
The big difference is that Costco is by no means the dominant player in any market. Amazon has become the dominant player and is now attempting to leverage that position as consumers have fewer options.
This is a perfect time to ask: so, what are alternatives to Amazon.com? I know for music there's SheetMusicPlus.com, and also this Jet.com thing keeps stuffing our home mailbox with junk mail. NewEgg for electronics. And the "Clicks & Mortar" stores Walmart.com, Target.com, etc. (This is on the USA West Coast.) Anything else? Any other experiences? Does Alibaba.com ship overseas?
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]
B&H and their tax free, free shipping is very alluring versus Amazon. Their delivery times are decent (Not as perfect as Amazon), but pretty darn good. Their prices are also competitive. I'm surprised how much that camera store has outgrown the "camera store" into an actually cool online store.
Are they? Next time you see something from an Amazon Marketplace Seller (most of the goods on Amazon these days), try searching for the seller's name. I've found that you can often get the same thing cheaper directly from the seller's own web site. Lots of companies have an Amazon (and eBay) presence for the exposure, but because they have to pay these sites a cut of the sales they just bump up the prices.
There's also the issue on Amazon that it's impossible to find anything if it's not something very similar to their core market (books). For example, look at projectors on Amazon - they have a load of things you can filter on but most of the metadata is wrong. Filter on native resolution of 1080p and you'll get a load of results, most of which tell you in the description that the native resolution is 480x800.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
It's not completely clear cut. It might come under tying (you're not allowed to only sell unrelated products together if doing so would distort the market), but it looks as if it is most likely to just make me buy things from someone else. Most Amazon deliveries for me arrive in 1-2 days using the free super-saver delivery option, so paying extra for the same service doesn't sound very attractive. Most DVDs are cheaper on Rakuten (formerly play.com) than Amazon anyway, but if Amazon starts responding to searches telling me that they won't sell things to me then that's a good reason to not even bother searching for things there in the future.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
... Since I rarely buy from Amazon to use subscriptions. Same for Netflix and many others. I only get subscriptions if I use the services a lot.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Suddenly I feel slimy for belonging to an "exclusive" Prime. Thanks, Amazon.
The real question, so far unanswered and, at least in this forum, unasked, is why Amazon is doing this. They are not using it to sell Prime. They seem to be keeping rather quiet about it.
My first thought is that it is tied to licensing arrangements. You know... the contracts that say who gets access to what content and when. Some verbiage in some agreement that prevents Amazon from making something available to everyone, but allows it for a restricted percentage of customers. After all, while there are a LOT of Prime accounts, they are a small fraction of all Amazon accounts.
Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer, Retired
I have seen hard drives, keyboards, and soaps marked "Exclusively for Prime Members". They can do it for ANY type of item.