Who is Amazon trying to kid?

Cafe Society
1

I don’t have the right network but I’m thinking about checking out the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. So I went to Amazon to see if they had any information on when it’s coming out on DVD.

Now, I knew it hadn’t been released yet. And I saw they don’t have a release date for it. No problem.

But according to Amazon “What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?” 77% of the customers bought a copy of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Which must have been difficult for them what with it not having been released yet.

And under “Frequently Bought Together” I’m told that a lot of people have been buying an unreleased copy of Avatar along with their unreleased copy of Spartacus.

2

Um, there’s a “pre-order” button right there. What’s the big deal if they count preorders as purchases?

3

Being as you’re giving them no money and they’re giving you no product and there isn’t even a promise on when the product might be available and either party can cancel the “sale” at any time, I’d say it’s a pretty nebulous form of transaction. It’s the equivalent of me going to a Ferrari dealership and telling a salesman I’m going to buy a new Ferrari when the 2011 models come out and he agrees to sell me one if I show up on that day with the money.

4

But you’re giving them your credit card info for a pre-buy, aren’t you? You’re pretty committed to it at that point.

5

You can cancel the transaction at any time before the item ships.

6

You can cancel an order before it ships even when it’s not pre ordered, though.

7

And you can return it after it has been delivered! So they shouldn’t count it as sold until 90 days after delivery!

8

They’re not claiming it was ‘sold’, they’re claiming it was ‘bought’.

9

There are plenty of legitimate beefs about Amazon. I don’t count this as one of them. Sorry.

10

You’ve just described the business practices of every car dealership on the planet.

11

I think his point (sorry if you didn’t miss it and I’m explaining what you already know) is that the “transaction” described doesn’t constitute any kind of sale.

12

I got it. 'Twas a mere jest.

13

At a guess, no-one.

14

Just an FYI, Sparticus: Blood & Sand is on Netflix on demand.