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

Posted by msmash on from the that's-one-way-to-go-about-it dept.

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.

28 of 180 comments (clear)

  1. Prime membership by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

    1. Re:Prime membership by dmomo · · Score: 2

      And the flagship product of Prime, the free shipping is sort of a scam, too. You'll see many sellers on Amazon selling the same product, and surprise, surprise, the ones that are Prime eligible happen to cost more, and the increase is pretty much exactly the price of shipping.

    2. Re:Prime membership by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    3. Re:Prime membership by zero_out · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    4. Re:Prime membership by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you have a newborn at home it is a lifesaver to not have to go to a store.

      Are there statistics on how many lives were saved by online shopping?

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    5. Re:Prime membership by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      I knew it was a ripoff when they really, really, really wanted to give me 2 day shipping "for free" to try it. Shipping is expensive, even if you're a big customer like they are. If they're giving away that much to so many people, they must have a really nice profit margin on the service.

      The movie industry already tries really hard to keep from having content I would pay for. It is funny to me that Amazon wants to make movies even less agreeable to their own customers than they are to the general public.

      It really amazes me how many people they've hoodwinked into buying a subscription... to a store. Now they have this marketing idea, "look! Buy a subscription and we'll treat you like a customer, instead of like crap!" I'm just not sure this works out in the long-term, even if it does boost some numbers for a couple cycles. They might really be opening a door to competition.

    6. Re:Prime membership by Gr8Apes · · Score: 2

      Breaking it is easy, edit your hosts file and make www.amazon.com 127.0.0.1. Done.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    7. Re:Prime membership by cdrudge · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And the flagship product of Prime, the free shipping is sort of a scam, too. You'll see many sellers on Amazon selling the same product, and surprise, surprise, the ones that are Prime eligible happen to cost more, and the increase is pretty much exactly the price of shipping.

      That's because Amazon charges the seller a fee to warehouse the item in their warehouse(s) and for fulfilling the order. You have the option to get "free" shipping in a day or two days with Prime, or anywhere from a few days days to weeks if you wait for the seller to ship it themselves.

      I personally am an impulsive buyer that wants things ASAP. I have a prime membership as I order enough stuff that it pays for itself vs paying for normal shipping and not having to wait 7-10 days for the free we'll-get-it-to-you-when-we-get-around-to-it-shipping to make it's way to me. I also like that if there's any issues with the shipping, returns, etc I just have to deal with Amazon's support that's always been great for me. I've never had to pay for return shipping for a problem that wasn't my doing, something I have with other online retailers.

    8. Re:Prime membership by Woldscum · · Score: 2

      I wish Amazon would pull a Netflix streaming and/or disk subscription. Please give me a Prime shiping only option. I never use the streaming stuff. I've had prime for 10 years.

    9. Re:Prime membership by desdinova+216 · · Score: 3, Funny

      be careful talk like that could summon him.

  2. Sounds like a bad idea to me... by Fallen+Kell · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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"
    1. Re:Sounds like a bad idea to me... by jeffcox65 · · Score: 3, Informative

      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).

      I don't think they are that stupid.

      Yes, they are that stupid. I wanted to buy one of the aforementioned games from Amazon and found that they wouldn't sell to me unless I bought a Prime Membership or from one of their 3rd parties. After 10 seconds of stunned silence, I browsed over to target.com, found the item for the same price, discovered that the brick-and-mortar Target price-matches *even from their own website*, trundled down to the local target and got the item the same day instead of waiting for shipping.

      I took the time to write Amazon a nastygram, explaining that their shortsighted decision drove my sale away from Amazon to Target, that I was happier, more satisfied and received my item quicker, and that in the future I would consider that route first.

      --
      Curb your dogma.
  3. They push Prime too hard by RobinH · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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
    1. Re:They push Prime too hard by zero_out · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:They push Prime too hard by omnichad · · Score: 2

      They're trying to use the sunk cost fallacy to gain them some vendor lock-in. Tell me how that's more in the customer's favor than Amazon's.

  4. Re:getting my money's worth for prime by HumanWiki · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  5. subscription... to a store by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 3, Informative

    Costco, anyone?

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  6. Re:getting my money's worth for prime by HumanWiki · · Score: 3

    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.

  7. Re:And this is why... by transami · · Score: 2

    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:
  8. Re:And this is why... by omnichad · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

  9. Unlike Costco who lets you purchase nothing at all by ravenscar · · Score: 3

    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.

  10. Re:What? by omnichad · · Score: 2

    Convenience, crappy ISP, larger catalog, lack of rental stores.

    There is a noticeable quality improvement when watching a ripped Blu-Ray (even recompressed) over streaming from Netflix. Unless it's blockbuster kids movie, it won't be at Redbox - the rental stores are all gone. And even Netflix has shrunk its DVD catalog down to little.

    Sure, there's a greater quantity available for streaming at a cheaper price than ever before. But if I want to pick what movies I watch, what is the other choice?

  11. Re:And this is why... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    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.

  12. I don't see the problem here... by Fragnet · · Score: 2

    The more difficult the content is made to access, the more motivated people will be to copy and share it illegally. Fair enough.

  13. Amazon Won't Sell Non-Prime Numbers by scratchy_king · · Score: 2

    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.

  14. Re:Shipping sucks worse by SScorpio · · Score: 2

    If you actually have that problem. File a complaint. They give you a free month of prime each time they miss a ship date.

  15. Re:Don't want to sell me this thing? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

    good day!

    But-

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  16. Re:Don't want to sell me this thing? by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

    I said GOOD DAY!

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire