Amazon

Changing Amazon delivery charges is a risky business

So as a one-time Amazon affiliate I received notification recently that the terms of the free delivery (Super Saver Delivery as they call it) in the UK was about to change (as of 1st May 2015). And in my opinion, it’s not a minor change at all, as they’re changing the minimum qualifying order from £10 to £20. 

Amazon super saver

Amazon super saver affiliate notice

It’s not the first change they’ve made, as the super saver delivery used to be free for all orders. They subsequently introduced a £5 cap, which quickly became a £10 limit – and this was just about acceptable, as it still meant a lot of orders could be considered impulse purchases. And if your basket fell below the £10 cap, sometime you might add something extra items that you knew you were going to use at some point (like a commodity item such as printer paper, or something that cost a couple of quid), just so you hit the minimum order level.

But at £20, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to reach that qualifying cap and it’ll take a good few commodity items to get close. 

I can understand why they’re doing it, as postage charges have increased, so they need to cover their costs. And the prices of many items has also gone up too, so from a consumer’s perspective maybe they’ll not notice the cap as much as I think they will. But from a personal perspective, I think it’ll definitely make me think twice about using Amazon if I know I have to pay postage charges. 

Forcing Prime

Some have said that in raising the limit, they’re trying to drive customers to opting for their Prime subscription. At £79 per year, that’s quite a leap of faith and an upfront commitment to the Amazon way of thinking. And for me, as a happy Netflix subscriber (better quality, more devices, better range of material IMHO) and having had the free trial of Prime – I found a worrying range of products that weren’t eligible for Prime delivery and also didn’t particularly rate their Prime TV/video services. I found their apps clunky (compared to Netflix), their range limited (although they do often have slightly better, more modern movies available) and generally the whole experience just felt a little forced.

I’d much rather they did one thing well, rather than many things in a mediocre manner. Netflix understand that and that’s why I’ve been subscribing for a while. eBay understand it too, and I think that with many of their lower ticket items continuing to be offered with free delivery (and no minimum order value) they might be the big winner as a result of this move by Amazon. At one time Play.com might have been a credible alternative, but since Rakuten have taken over, the platform has gone downhill and seems to be confused about what its raison d’etre actually is – not a smart move in such a fast moving, online, very visible world of online retail!

Convenience

So will I still use Amazon? Probably. Although the delivery charges will make me use it less. And less frequently too, which I think is an important consideration. I’ll not be going online and making an impulse purchase through Amazon any more, that’s for sure. Maybe that’s what they want? Maybe they want us to use their wish lists and basket facility more, so that they can have fewer, higher value deliveries. If that’s the case, then maybe this is a stroke of management genius.

But from a consumer’s perspective, I think they just might have shot themselves in the foot and opened the door to other, leaner, more customer-friendly operators that offer exactly what we want: flexibility, free/cheap delivery, and the ability to make impulse purchases when the moment takes us, not just when we have a sufficiently high value basket of goods.

Full Amazon Prime finally in the UK

How good is this? The UK version of Amazon has finally announced that they’re introducing the same features as the US version! This means free access to the Kindle library of 500,000 books, unlimited movie & TV streaming, and next day deliveries from Amazon’s stock. The usual price will be £79 per year, but if you sign up before 26th February (you can take a free 30 day trial if you’re unsure) – then you can get it at the reduced price of £49. The service will go live fully in 5 days. Follow the link HERE to find out more.

Daryl Gregory books

Don’t you just love it when you stumble across a book that’s just… well written, enjoyable and you struggle to put it down? Well I do, which is why I wasn’t pleasantly surprised by The Devil’s Alphabet by Daryl Gregory. It’s a contemporary fantasy story that could appeal to people who don’t normally appreciate the genre. As I was reading it, I could easily imagine it being a cinematic blockbuster… if only someone would take a risk and make a film like this.

I had the paper back version, but it’s also available on the Kindle too (HERE).

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If you like books by Harlan Coben

Once you find a good author, one that you’re happy with… you like their style and the way they build a good story, then you often want to read more of the same, or find other authors who write in the same genre and at a similar level. But knowing where to find these similar authors isn’t always easy. So, here’s a quick guide to some similar authors to Harlan Coben.

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Buying used products from Amazon and Play.com

Amazon and Play.com are two high profile sites that have addressed the ‘long tail of search’ and have built their operating model predominantly around selling high volume at low price, where small margins will collectively add up to large profits – and it’s something that seems to be working really well for them. For the regular customer, the two sites provide a first class online retail experience, often undercutting the high street and even other online retailers. However, the prices quoted on Amazon and Play.com aren’t necessarily the best prices.

As long as you’re willing to accept second hand products, then the Amazon Used and New feature and Play.com’s Playtrade offer the same familiar interfaces of these well regarded sites, but the products here are second hand. All listings include an explanation regarding the condition of the products and it’s not unusual to find used products for half the retail price, or even less!

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CODY1 is now available on Amazon’s Kindle!

How cool is this, you can now subscribe to this blog through my very own Amazon Kindle subscription (link HERE).

As with all blog, newpaper and magazine subscriptions on Kindle there’s a 14 day free trial – so what’s to lose?! It’s only 99p per month too – and there’s always new jokes, information, advice and general news being added.

To find out how to publish your own blog to Amazon’s Kindle service – click HERE – and read my other post about how to do it.

Books on Chester

Chester Eastgate clockThis ‘Books on Chester’ page brings together a collection of books and information about the historical city of Chester, Cheshire, England (UK).

There are a growing number of books about Chester now available, but it’s not always easy finding them as searching can throw up all sorts of results with authors called Chester too… so I thought it’d be easy and helpful to put this little resource together and collate the various links to Books on Chester.

I’ve added in some other helpful links too, all to do with Chester.

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Amazon Kindle 3G

Amazon Kindle 3G

Ok – I’m more than a little bit excited…

After buying my mum a Kindle for Christmas, I’ve finally ordered myself one!

Unfortunately delivery dates over the festive break mean I won’t get mine till the New Year, but it just means I can get all my ebooks in order between then and now. I have, however, had plenty of opportunity to set my mum’s Kindle up, source her some good books and have a general play around with it. My experience with it led me to order one for myself… it’s just that good!

The Kindle 3G, at £149 £152 following the VAT increase  (including VAT and delivery – click HERE to buy yours now!) is exceptionally good value and the e-ink screen has to be seen to be believed/appreciated. Anyone that’s ever had to contend with looking at a regular laptop screen in the sunlight will know exactly what I’m talking about.

Have a look at the video Amazon has put together themselves on the Kindle 3G page – it’s really quite good and helps explain fairly clearly what the Kindle is and what the features and benefits are. You can access the page by clicking HERE.

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