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Amazon blocks non-Prime members from buying certain video games

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Re: Amazon blocks non-Prime members from buying certain video games

#91

Post by jghn »

justinlardinois wrote: post #45
newjersey wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Every unit Amazon ships probably arrives in a "Prime" amount of time anyway, giving away expedited shipping for free Just to add a note that this isn't always true. Sometimes they withhold shipping even though they have the item in stock at the nearby distribution center.

This is definitely true. Back in the pre-Prime days (ie, 5+ years ago) Amazon would send your package as soon as they possibly could, and even with the super saver shipping you'd still often get your order less than the minimum 5 days. Now I'll order something on Amazon (not a Prime member) and they'll sit on the package for a week and then overnight it to me. I'm not a fan. Paying more for faster shipping didn't use…

That is one of the two reasons I signed up for prime in the first place, I'd always get super saver and 99.9% of the time it'd arrive in 2 days. All of a sudden it started taking the full time.

I don't remember exactly what the other reason was, but it involved a one time money savings which was > the cost of a year of Prime at the time.

Re: Amazon blocks non-Prime members from buying certain video games

#92

Post by IshKebab »

DannyBee wrote: post #61
justinlardinois wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is definitely true. Back in the pre-Prime days (ie, 5+ years ago) Amazon would send your package as soon as they possibly could, and even with the super saver shipping you'd still often get your order less than the minimum 5 days. Now I'll order something on Amazon (not a Prime member) and they'll sit on the package for a week and then overnight it to me. I'm not a fan. Paying more for faster shipping didn't use…

This may be because it's cheaper/better for them to ship other orders instead of yours, since they can only handle a finite amount of orders per center at a time :)

More likely their distribution network has improved so much that it's no longer cheaper for them to ship stuff slowly, and they make money from non-prime next-day shipping.

Re: Amazon blocks non-Prime members from buying certain video games

#93

Post by 7952 »

kdamken wrote: post #81

So does anyone have a less crappy alternative to Amazon? After canceling my prime membership this year it's gotten even worse trying to use them. Their shipping fees for non-prime users are insane .

I have had good luck using random places found on Google Shopping. I always use Paypal to avoid entering credit card details and it is usually faster than Amazon. There are lots of well designed sites out their which actually show product details for more obscure things.

Re: Amazon blocks non-Prime members from buying certain video games

#94

Post by xigency »

kdamken wrote: post #81

So does anyone have a less crappy alternative to Amazon? After canceling my prime membership this year it's gotten even worse trying to use them. Their shipping fees for non-prime users are insane .

Even if you can get free shipping on Amazon items, the amount of time they spend stalling the shipment is ridiculous. It's better to boycott Amazon because of their anti-consumer attitudes.

Re: Amazon blocks non-Prime members from buying certain video games

#96

Post by adrr »

xigency wrote: post #94
kdamken wrote: post #81

So does anyone have a less crappy alternative to Amazon? After canceling my prime membership this year it's gotten even worse trying to use them. Their shipping fees for non-prime users are insane .

Even if you can get free shipping on Amazon items, the amount of time they spend stalling the shipment is ridiculous. It's better to boycott Amazon because of their anti-consumer attitudes.

I doubt they purposely stalling the shipment. When they are waving orders at their DCs. Priority of standard shipping is last. Some companies charge to be in the first waves, like newegg and their expedited processing.

Re: Amazon blocks non-Prime members from buying certain video games

#97

Post by xigency »

adrr wrote: post #96
xigency wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you can get free shipping on Amazon items, the amount of time they spend stalling the shipment is ridiculous. It's better to boycott Amazon because of their anti-consumer attitudes.

I doubt they purposely stalling the shipment. When they are waving orders at their DCs. Priority of standard shipping is last. Some companies charge to be in the first waves, like newegg and their expedited processing.

Well, there are both a Quora response and a Forbes article decrying their regression in free shipping (or non-Prime) timeliness, with some people suggesting that it is intentional. Most recently I made an order of three items from Amazon and had the chance to cancel all three items two weeks later, before it made it out the door during the "preparing your shipment" phase, and buy them from a local retailer the same day.

Several years ago, it was the case that any items bought from Amazon were processed within two to three days, and the shipping carrier was responsible for any delays. It seems like a strategy to convert more customers into $99/year Prime subscribers.

I don't know why either. It seems like they are reminding their customers that online shopping is not more convenient than the alternative.

Re: Amazon blocks non-Prime members from buying certain video games

#98

Post by ocdtrekkie »

Complained about this a year ago, few people cared: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9565929

What's so amazing is that they're only hurting their own business. Nobody sane is going to buy a $99 Prime subscription to buy a $10 Blu-ray or a $60 game. We're just going to discover that Target or Best Buy sells it online for the same price and offers free shipping, and buy it there.

Re: Amazon blocks non-Prime members from buying certain video games

#99

Post by mikeash »

pessimizer wrote: post #68
CM30 wrote: post #23

Wait, what? This is ridiculous. Amazon is a shop first and foremost, and this is exactly the sort of thing that I'll drive me to other alternatives. It's especially silly for games, where the console manufacturers offer their own stores (both for digital and physical copies of the games). Heck, if you're buying them digital, it's about as little friction as using Amazon, since they have your payment details from othe…

Here's some math for you; I don't know how much Prime is in the UK, but assuming the cost is close to the US: Non-Prime postage = $11.00, Prime for a month = $11.00. $11 - $11 = they will lose zero sales from doing this.

Non-Prime postage in the US is $0 if you spend at least $49.

Re: Amazon blocks non-Prime members from buying certain video games

#100

Post by ocdtrekkie »

__david__ wrote: post #2

This is a weird move. I think if I didn't already have prime, I'd just go somewhere else rather than be motivated to subscribe. Hopefully this is just an experiment—I suspect this is ultimately going to be self defeating.

They've been doing it for over a year, so it's very unlikely it's only an experiment. The Amazon forums thread complaining about it has 267 participants, and was started in December of 2014.

https://www.amazon.com/forum/amazon/ref=cm_cd_notf_thread?_e...

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