Amazon and Kindle pre-orders

rcuadro · 03-08-2010, 09:16 AM

I have been trying to figure out how Amazon treats pre-orders for Kindle books so I spent about 20 mins on the phone with them and thought some of you may benefit those who care

Monday: We pre-order Book A today for $10
Tuesday: The price for Book A drops to $8.00
Wednesday: Book A now cost $4.00
Thursday: Book A is now $6
Friday: Book A now cost $25.00

If the book is released on:
Tuedsay, you pay $8
Wednesday, you pay $4
Thursday, you pay $6
Friday, you pay $10

Basically the prices that matter are the one at which you pre-ordered at and the release day price. You get the lower of the two.
If you want to take advantage of anything other than those two, you need to cancel and re-purchase the book (pre-order) at the lower price.
So lets say you see the $4 price Wednesday you can cancel and pre-order again Wednesday and now you have locked in the $4 pre-order price and the book can go up to $1,000,000,000 and you still only pay $4.

I hope this is useful to some. I re-did most of my pre-orders and I think I have "saved" about $30... Yes, I have a ton of book on pre-order

EDIT: Ok, so maybe $1,000,000,000 is a little excessive

koland · 03-08-2010, 10:45 AM

Technically, the pre-order price guarantee does not apply at all to Kindle books (there is list of what does on the Amazon site). Many people have reported paying the pre-order date price, regardless of what the book does beforehand and what the book sells for on the release date.

On the other hand, Under the Dome had a low of $7.20 and everyone who bought it, including those who ordered after it went up above that number AND those who bought it under the second ASIN (the first ASIN went down to $7.20 at one point, the second never did) all got it for $7.20 if they pre-ordered (I was one of those with the second ASIN). I haven't heard of any other books where this occurred.

kevindorsey · 03-08-2010, 12:47 PM

LOL, I don't touch pre-released books. Wait at least 2 weeks after release to go after them.

pilotbob · 03-08-2010, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcuadro

So lets say you see the $4 price Wednesday you can cancel and pre-order again Wednesday and now you have locked in the $4 pre-order price and the book can go up to $1,000,000,000 and you still only pay $4.

If you pre-order and the price drops to $4 before it ships... you will pay $4. You order may not reflect the new price for 24 hours.

I've never heard that the pre-order guarantee only applies to "some" stuff. I assume it is stated up front when this is the case?

BOb

robb01 · 03-09-2010, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevindorsey

LOL, I don't touch pre-released books. Wait at least 2 weeks after release to go after them.

good plan

koland · 03-10-2010, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I've never heard that the pre-order guarantee only applies to "some" stuff. I assume it is stated up front when this is the case?

The Pre-Order Price Guarantee applies only to "stuff" when there is a notice on the product page that the guarantee is in effect. No third party stuff, as you might expect, but also some other categories are excluded. Kindle books are considered a digital product, rather than a "book" in much of their legalese in other areas of the site (but are specifically excluded from being "kindle products" due to their advertising fee structure). Here is their actual guarantee (which lists the only categories where it applies):

Quote:

Pre-Order Price Guarantee

Amazon.com's price for not-yet-released items sometimes changes between the time the item is listed for sale and the time it is released and shipped. Whenever you pre-order a book, CD, video, DVD, video game, or software item, the price we charge when we ship it to you will be the lowest price offered by Amazon.com between the time you place your order and the release date. The order summary in Your Account will reflect the lowest price within 24 hours of the price change.

Our Pre-Order Price Guarantee applies only to items sold by Amazon.com, and not to items (or prices) offered by other sellers on our site.

If your order enters the shipping process before the release date and the price is lowered on the release date, we will automatically refund your credit card for the difference between the price you were charged and the release-date price. If you didn't use a credit card to pay for your order, please contact customer service through the Contact Us button on the right side of any Help page.

I would love to see the wording changed to include Kindle books. You'll notice that the magic phrase, present on all pre-order books, just below the price, "Pre-order Price Guarantee. Learn more." is missing on all Kindle book pre-orders.

As for avoiding pre-orders and waiting a few weeks - usually a good policy, but not on some that have been discounted below the 9.99 level during the pre-order period (and that will release before a paperback is available). For this one, though, I'd wait until release day and check it again, as it should be free then (and not just in the Kindle store).

Sydney's Mom · 03-10-2010, 11:59 AM

[QUOTE=rcuadro;820698]
Monday: We pre-order Book A today for $10
Tuesday: The price for Book A drops to $8.00
Wednesday: Book A now cost $4.00
Thursday: Book A is now $6
Friday: Book A now cost $25.00

If the book is released on:
Tuedsay, you pay $8
Wednesday, you pay $4
Thursday, you pay $6
Friday, you pay $10
QUOTE]

Amazon.com's price for not-yet-released items sometimes changes between the time the item is listed for sale and the time it is released and shipped. Whenever you pre-order a book, CD, video, DVD, video game, or software item, the price we charge when we ship it to you will be the lowest price offered by Amazon.com between the time you place your order and the release date. The order summary in Your Account will reflect the lowest price within 24 hours of the price change.

That is not what the terms say. The paragraph above says no matter when the book is released, if you pre-ordered, you get it for $4 (the lowest price between the time you place your order and the release date). There must be a special agreement with respect to ebooks that defaults to the lower of the two prices, rather than lowest.

fugazied · 03-10-2010, 04:54 PM

Amazon is all over the shop price wise, this explains a lot!

I usually set up price watches on books I want so I receive a notification when they hit a certain price. I wish there was a way to predict the wholesale pricing, pre-orders and role on to RRP, now that would be handy.

03-08-2010, 09:16 AM	#1
rcuadro Wizard Posts: 1,686 Karma: 874275 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Device: Kindle DX	Amazon and Kindle pre-orders I have been trying to figure out how Amazon treats pre-orders for Kindle books so I spent about 20 mins on the phone with them and thought some of you may benefit those who care Monday: We pre-order Book A today for $10 Tuesday: The price for Book A drops to $8.00 Wednesday: Book A now cost $4.00 Thursday: Book A is now $6 Friday: Book A now cost $25.00 If the book is released on: Tuedsay, you pay $8 Wednesday, you pay $4 Thursday, you pay $6 Friday, you pay $10 Basically the prices that matter are the one at which you pre-ordered at and the release day price. You get the lower of the two. If you want to take advantage of anything other than those two, you need to cancel and re-purchase the book (pre-order) at the lower price. So lets say you see the $4 price Wednesday you can cancel and pre-order again Wednesday and now you have locked in the $4 pre-order price and the book can go up to $1,000,000,000 and you still only pay $4. I hope this is useful to some. I re-did most of my pre-orders and I think I have "saved" about $30... Yes, I have a ton of book on pre-order EDIT: Ok, so maybe $1,000,000,000 is a little excessive Last edited by rcuadro; 03-08-2010 at 10:12 AM.

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03-08-2010, 10:45 AM	#2
koland Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,560 Karma: 8033155 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: TN, USA Device: kindle(all), nook, nookcolor, Sony, Kobo, epic, iphone, iPad, pc	Technically, the pre-order price guarantee does not apply at all to Kindle books (there is list of what does on the Amazon site). Many people have reported paying the pre-order date price, regardless of what the book does beforehand and what the book sells for on the release date. On the other hand, Under the Dome had a low of $7.20 and everyone who bought it, including those who ordered after it went up above that number AND those who bought it under the second ASIN (the first ASIN went down to $7.20 at one point, the second never did) all got it for $7.20 if they pre-ordered (I was one of those with the second ASIN). I haven't heard of any other books where this occurred.

03-08-2010, 12:47 PM	#3
kevindorsey Evangelist Posts: 488 Karma: 258 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: kindle	LOL, I don't touch pre-released books. Wait at least 2 weeks after release to go after them.

03-10-2010, 11:59 AM	#7
Sydney's Mom Wizard Posts: 2,895 Karma: 6995721 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S	[QUOTE=rcuadro;820698] Monday: We pre-order Book A today for $10 Tuesday: The price for Book A drops to $8.00 Wednesday: Book A now cost $4.00 Thursday: Book A is now $6 Friday: Book A now cost $25.00 If the book is released on: Tuedsay, you pay $8 Wednesday, you pay $4 Thursday, you pay $6 Friday, you pay $10 QUOTE] Amazon.com's price for not-yet-released items sometimes changes between the time the item is listed for sale and the time it is released and shipped. Whenever you pre-order a book, CD, video, DVD, video game, or software item, the price we charge when we ship it to you will be the lowest price offered by Amazon.com between the time you place your order and the release date. The order summary in Your Account will reflect the lowest price within 24 hours of the price change. That is not what the terms say. The paragraph above says no matter when the book is released, if you pre-ordered, you get it for $4 (the lowest price between the time you place your order and the release date). There must be a special agreement with respect to ebooks that defaults to the lower of the two prices, rather than lowest.

03-10-2010, 04:54 PM	#8
fugazied Wizard Posts: 1,305 Karma: 1958 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPod Touch	Amazon is all over the shop price wise, this explains a lot! I usually set up price watches on books I want so I receive a notification when they hit a certain price. I wish there was a way to predict the wholesale pricing, pre-orders and role on to RRP, now that would be handy.