A new movie came out, a comedy titled What We Do in the Shadows. And I wanted to check the price.
So I went to Amazon and they said they were selling it for $16.99 - but only to Amazon Prime members. It wasn’t a special sale price for Prime members. They just won’t sell it to you unless you join Prime.
Interesting strategy; refuse to sell products to customers. Oh look, Best Buy is also selling it for $16.99.
When they introduced their Echo device recently, I think at first you not only had to be a Prime member but had to have an invite to buy it.
You could buy it new from other sources via Amazon for $3-$4 more.
They also won’t make Prime streaming video available for any Android device that isn’t a Kindle. This is what I am grumpy about.
You don’t need a Kindle anymore. You probably just need to update the app.
NM, responding to slightly outdated info
Just becomes an online “rewards/loyalty card” thing. I’m surprised it took them this long to try it.
It seems like they’ve flipped it on its head though. With a loyalty scheme you purchase products, then you’re “rewarded” with some worthless (until you redeem them) points or vouchers.
This seems like you have to buy the worthless (until you use it) Prime membership first, then you get to buy the product.
Is there some sort of weird psychological game they’ re playing here?
Weird. I had to go see for myself, and you’re right, it does say that. (That’s for the Blu-Ray; apparently the DVD is $19.92 for anyone.)
A little research reveals they’ve apparently been doing this sort of thing since at least December.
Interesting. They seem to really want people to get on the Prime bandwagon (which I am on, and love!)
Wonder if it’s in response to Apple Music. They released their Prime Music at about the same time. I will admit I already bought all my music from Amazon, so when I got an Echo I had a lot of music to stream from it. And then Prime Music came out and I had zero incentive to even check it out because I was already set up on Amazon. And if I was a phone sort of person maybe I’d get a Fire Phone.
And hey you had to be a Prime member to experience the “joys” of Prime Day - which really didn’t do anything except give them a chance to sell all their hardware at a slight discount. Hardware that connects to your Prime account.
Can’t you only use Pantry if you’re a Prime member too?
Anyway, I’m guessing they’ve crunched the numbers and it’s waaaaay more worth it for them to get one new Prime subscriber at the cost of 3-4 sales of a movie, than it is for them to let Joe Internet just buy the movie. Joining Prime turns you in to an Amazon loyalist, it’s true.
So…like Costco?
Sure, yes.
No, it just occurred to me (as I generally put very little thought into what I buy, as apart from food I buy very little), that Prime, Costco etc are essentially getting you to buy your own loyalty to them, that’s all.
There are several varieties of “card” here - some have post-rewards in cash or prizes or whatever for spending a certain amount up front, but many are required to get shelf discounts in the first place. (Most grocery store cards, for example.)
Up until now, Prime has bought you a very wide range of good (but not unbeatable) prices with free and often expedited shipping. The stuff they keep bundling into it, like Video and Music, adds value. This is the first I’ve heard of an actual for-sale product being limited to Prime members; I’m not sure it will work all that well for them, but as Big A just surpassed Big W in market value… I wouldn’t second-guess them.
But then, I’ve been a Prime member for years, and by the hardest, coldest metrics I can apply, it’s a huge money-saver and convenience. We buy a LOT from Amazon, down to coffee, dog food, pencil erasers and several kinds of jar kitchen goods. The numbers may not work out as well for every potential buyer, so starting to put things behind a membership wall is not, IMHO, a beneficient move.
Two different retailers, two very different aims with their programs.
Club stores originated in part to allow them to price goods below manufacturer limits - since they were technically not on open sale and weren’t generally advertised, the manufacturers were happy to have another outlet where volume made up for any slight revenue losses. That’s a trivial reason these days.
Prime and Costco are the same in that they have found a way to get shoppers to pay a certain amount up front that most will get back in savings… but many won’t, which equals a measure of profit from nowhere. But they differ in that Prime brings in customers sensitive to shipping costs and delays (mainly - the other benefits aside), while Costco brings in people who want immediate acquisition and what may or may not be overall savings.
The main reason for store cards, though, has long since become an advantage that Amazon has without having to effort itself: the ability to track every shopper’s every action. Amazon can track every click, every lingering minute on a product page, every purchase - everything you do. B&M stores could only stare through the glass at such marketing value and can only do a pale imitation of it with club and loyaty cards, but palely imitate they do. Pretty much every other aspect of store cards these days is secondary - the window dressing and “rewards” they have to offer to get people to sign up and use the cards. 
Even when I was unemployed I was able to justify paying for the Prime membership: it saves me way more than that over the course of a year even before I watch anything on streaming, to which add the convenience of unlimited cloud photo storage.
Speaking of “new things” from Amazon, check this out: News 2 Blooper: Amazon vs. WalMart - YouTube
The things you come across when you’re unable to sleep. Check out Andi’s reaction. 
I might have dropped Prime after the price increased from $80 to $100, but Prime saves me over $20 on TurboTax Home and Business. So I’m sticking with it for now.
How does Prime (specifically) save you money here?
Looking back, Prime saved me exactly $20 on it, normal price was $84.99 and I got it for $64.99. It was specifically listed as a Prime discount.
Now granted I might have gotten a better price elsewhere but it seemed to be pretty well price-fixed at the retailers I checked.
Thanks. I can’t remember seeing a Prime-specific discount, but I may not have looked all that closely.
And yes, Intuit’s stuff is all but price-fixed. :dubious: