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The Almighty Buck Entertainment Games

Amazon Won't Sell Non-Prime Members Certain Popular Movies and Video Games (businessinsider.com) 180

Posted by msmash 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.
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Amazon Won't Sell Non-Prime Members Certain Popular Movies and Video Games More

Amazon Won't Sell Non-Prime Members Certain Popular Movies and Video Games

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  • Prime membership (Score:5, Informative)

    by 110010001000 ( 697113 ) on Friday April 22, 2016 @02:04PM (#51966091) Homepage Journal
    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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )
      At this point I use Prime mostly for Prime Music in the car and the free shipping as we order dog food and several other items from Amazon. I do occasionally watch movies on Prime if I'm working from home, but not often. As for Birdman, well, I'm a fan of Keaton (I actually enjoyed him as Batman, Beetlejuice is a classic, and even his character in The Other Guys was pretty good), but the movie was ok but forgettable. The only scene I really remember was the continuous hall shot with the live drummer.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It's not worth it for the streaming content alone, but if you order physical items a lot, the included 2 day shipping is nice.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dmomo ( 256005 )

      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.

      • Re:Prime membership (Score:5, Interesting)

        by cdrudge ( 68377 ) on Friday April 22, 2016 @03:32PM (#51966847) Homepage

        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.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by nnull ( 1148259 )
          Pretty much spot on. I never had delivery problems with Amazon. RMA is so easy with Amazon and almost zero hassle compared to other online retailers (Tried Newegg? They pretty much give you the middle finger for RMA's). As for higher prices, well, I don't exclusively use Amazon for everything, but I do weigh my options with other online retailers and Amazon usually wins out for me for the fast shipping.

      • 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.

        Oh, don't be so logical or the plebes will catch on!

        Amazon Prime subscribers enjoy FREE SHIPPING (that is – the cost is incorporated into the price of the product, obscuring the difference in price from the rubes who think that it is a "Good Idea" to "Subscribe" (AKA, indenture one's self) to a particular retailer.

      • I also see many non-Prime-eligible items cheaper than the Prime price....but surprise, the cost for (usually much slower) shipping makes up the difference, sometimes down to the penny.

        No point in not buying the Prime-eligible stuff if it's the same price but faster.

    • If you have a newborn at home it is a lifesaver to not have to go to a store. We've let it lapse and just coordinate our purchases to hit the free shipping ($49 IIRC), but if you're not using the free 2 day shipping a lot then I agree that the other incentives are weak.

    • Re:Prime membership (Score:4, Insightful)

      by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Friday April 22, 2016 @02:21PM (#51966251)

      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.

      • 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.

        I didn't know that. I was thinking about getting Prime mainly because I'd like to see The Americans and Man in the High Castle, which are not on Netflix.

        Do you know if Amazon "rotates" their streaming offerings the way Netflix does? I've noticed that sometimes a movie is on Netflix and then it's not and then occasionally it comes back.

        We were Pri

        • They do rotate their offerings. Generally the content is always available, but what is free vs paid will rotate over time.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Gr8Apes ( 679165 )
        Breaking it is easy, edit your hosts file and make www.amazon.com 127.0.0.1. Done.

      • I have used Amazon quite a bit (non-prime), and while they normally tell you that an item will take 3 months to ship, normally it is closer to the 1-3 days for us as well.

      • 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.

        • The streaming stuff was added on for "free". Yes, it's in quotes, because yes, it costs them to provide it.. However, when it started, the price of Prime didn't go up for a few years.

          BTW, I'm not meaning to _totally_ defend it, because I'm admittedly not really making the best use of it either. I often let them "bribe" me for slower shipping (with a music credit or a few other things, and now that I think about it, I think the credit for their grocery delivery expired), and I only use the video once in a

    • Re:Prime membership (Score:5, Insightful)

      by zero_out ( 1705074 ) on Friday April 22, 2016 @02:22PM (#51966257)
      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.

      • It's true that their prime streaming catalog sucks

        I dunno. I've only looked at the free streaming stuff but I've watched a good number of movies and already working through my sixth TV series. Is it perfect? Nah. But I've enjoyed it so far and the free shipping has been nice. I think Netflix is still better overall for video for now.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Luthair ( 847766 )
        If you're using Amazon that much, why wouldn't you wait a few days and batch things and qualify for free shipping normally?

      • Prime streaming, by itself, is definitely not worth $100/year.

        In fact, Prime streaming is available as a standalone for $10/year.

    • 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

      • subscription... to a store (Score:4, Informative)

        by NotQuiteReal ( 608241 ) on Friday April 22, 2016 @02:53PM (#51966545) Journal
        Costco, anyone?

        • I admit, I have a Costco membership. Unlike Amazon, Costco's prices are generally actually cheaper enough to justify it (except for things where no-name-brand substitutions are acceptable, in which case you're better off somewhere like Aldi).

          • I did pay $5 for a lifetime membership at Bi-Mart.

            The thing about costco, most of the good prices are on large quantities of things, and I just don't burn through a lot of crap, or eat a bunch of processed food. I don't need a shopping cart full of toilet paper, I don't use disposable napkins, I don't go through giant boxes of envelopes, etc etc. And when I was in there with a member one time, and the electronics weren't cheaper than online; or even well labeled. They had a giant display of small office air

            • The deals on food are okay, but I think what put my membership over the edge into being worth it for the last two years was a mattress (last year) and car tires (this year). And also gas.

              • I went to a local place (American Mattress) and the cheapest memory foam mattress was also the firmest. The exact opposite of spring mattresses! Its nice to pay the least money for the nicest offering for once. We at least sat on every mattress in the place. I can't imagine making that sort of purchase from the selection at a box store!

                Tires, similar thing. If a place requires a membership for anything having to do with my car, I can't imagine accepting lock-in, not being able to easily transfer the benefit

                • We at least sat on every mattress in the place. I can't imagine making that sort of purchase from the selection at a box store!

                  Costco has a really good return policy. I didn't have to worry about making a decision based on only sitting on it in the store; I could have slept on the thing for a year and then still gotten a full refund if I decided afterwards that I didn't like it.

                  Gas, I check the prices and I can say that Cosco is consistently in the top 5 cheapest for my area. But they're never substantially

                  • You say you're not locked in, but each sentence you write demonstrates another aspect of lock-in.

                    Nobody said that buying these subscriptions forces you to only buy from them; it disadvantages choice.

                    Nobody said, "you bought a store membership you're a slave now." That would be silly. You theoretically could still shop somewhere else. That isn't being debated.

                    The idea that you're saving money does seem to require a belief that costco has a lower profit margin than their competitors. This isn't true, but they

      • 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.

        They don't need a huge profit margin. I'm sure they have one, but the biggest benefit of getting you signed up for prime is when you're buying something you'll most likely just go straight to Amazon rather than go somewhere else because after all, you've already paid for the 2-day shipping.

        • They don't need a huge profit margin. I'm sure they have one, but [promotional comments]

          See, that is exactly what I'd expect them to say. We didn't have to have a big profit margin, but we do, [blah blah blah other subjects].

          If they make any net profit on an optional service upgrade that doesn't change the product received, then I'm over-paying. And it isn't a form of insurance, it doesn't standardize a risk factor.

          What you said makes no sense from the consumers perspective. "Gosh, its worth it for me because by locking myself in, I'm already locked in!"

          The benefit of not being locked in, you

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by SeaFox ( 739806 )

      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

      Must be an awful lot [businessinsider.de] of garbage.

      • 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.

    • This was exactly my experience in the year I tried Prime. I didn't order enough for the shipping savings to justify the cost, and all the video content I wanted I could already get on Netflix.

    • Well at least I'm not missing anything. I don't use the streaming because Amazon won't make their streaming service Chromecastable. They want you to buy their Fire crap...

  • Sounds like a bad idea to me... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Fallen Kell ( 165468 ) on Friday April 22, 2016 @02:07PM (#51966121)
    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).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mwvdlee ( 775178 )

      The assumptions seems to be that people make purchasing decisions based on the store they want to buy at rather than the product they want to buy.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by geek ( 5680 )

      I was already migrating more to other online stores out of moral objections to Amazon anyway. This just sorta seals it for me. I don't want to have any affiliation with them and I've been a member since 1999. If they can lose me they can lose anybody.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Eloking ( 877834 )

      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.

      I'm guessing that they'll make sure they offer the lowest price possible to cover the aftertaste of the membership pill, kinda like CostCo.

      If all of those product are like, 5$ less on amazon and you made a dozen of those purchase in the last months, my guess is that you'll start to be jealous of your neighbour that have access to all those cool discount and 1-day shipping.

      Of course, you want to start a price war, be sure you're ready to fight for it. My guess is that amazo

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        Lowest price? Only if you don't include used copies (which, for movies, would be a pretty silly thing to not include). There was one movie that I wanted to buy on Blu-Ray that Amazon did this with. I moved it to my "items to buy later" list. After six months, it was still a Prime exclusive, so I gave up and bought a "Like New" copy from a third-party Amazon merchant for less than half what Amazon was charging for a new copy. So not only did they fail to entice me to come back to Prime (which I dumped

        • Even then they're not always the lowest-priced vendor. Unless it's something relatively trivial, I do shop around - lots of places either match or beat Amazon's pricing with free shipping.

          • Even then they're not always the lowest-priced vendor. Unless it's something relatively trivial, I do shop around - lots of places either match or beat Amazon's pricing with free shipping.

            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.) An

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by jeffcox65 ( 631467 )

        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 Amaz

        • It is sort of odd that this would be with games and movies where the prices rarely fluctuate much between vendors until they are rather old.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          I think the main reason is Amazon may be getting allocations of product - i.e., they order 1000 copies of some game, and they are only given 200.

          Now, if you have 200 copies, what are you going to do? You could make it first come first serve, or you could try to benefit those in your custom "club" plan get first shot as your most "loyal" of customers.

          After all, the goal is to have everything in stock if you have Prime, and for slow-moving stuff (Amazon has metrics on how fast stuff sells and how fast it'll b

          • You could make it first come first serve, or you could try to benefit those in your custom "club" plan get first shot as your most "loyal" of customers.

            The interesting thing is that more and more vendors are coming to the understanding that the "loyal" customers are often the easiest ones to piss on without consequences. Disney's been doing that for years.

    • The issue is that it's both a carrot and a stick. In many cases the items they're selling exclusively to Prime members are also being sold at a discount that puts them below the price of other retailers.

      For instance, I needed a sprinkler last year for my lawn. The best match for our needs was one that cost over $75 everywhere we checked online...except Amazon, which sold it exclusively to Prime members for $25. That purchase alone paid for me to renew my Prime membership for the first time in years (since A

  • Such policies are another good reason for having a marketplace independent of vendors through which people can search and buy whatever.

  • They push Prime too hard (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RobinH ( 124750 ) on Friday April 22, 2016 @02:20PM (#51966239) Homepage
    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 (Score:4, Insightful)

      by zero_out ( 1705074 ) on Friday April 22, 2016 @02:40PM (#51966411)
      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: (Score:2)

      by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

      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.

      As others below said, it's about driving people to purchase items off Amazon, not necessarily to make money off of Prime itself. For example, about a year ago when I was living in my rental house with a small lawn I bought a (admittedly smaller and lighter than normal) electric lawnmower off of Amazon. At it's size shipping would have made it not worth the cost, but because I got free shipping I purchased it from Amazon instead of going to a local store. Of course, the house I just bought has an even sma

  • Then I can take my business elsewhere. good day!

  • Exclusive, low price items for a membership fee? If I were Costco I'd be nervous...

    • Exclusive, low price items for a membership fee? If I were Costco I'd be nervous...

      Low price items? There's a reason we call it the "$200 store" around here. You spend at least that much every time you shop there.

  • This isn't new. They've been doing this for other products for a while now.

  • 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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Luthair ( 847766 )
      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 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.

  • I don't see the problem here... (Score:3)

    by Fragnet ( 4224287 ) on Friday April 22, 2016 @04:37PM (#51967329)
    The more difficult the content is made to access, the more motivated people will be to copy and share it illegally. Fair enough.
  • ... it must be true.

    Already redacted.

  • 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.

  • ... 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.

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