Fire Models Are Ad Supported

[heySkippy]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Yeah, Amazon's in business to make money

And it's a problem that they don't make very much money. They've got legions of fans because they sell cheap and have great customer service, but there's going to be a shareholder revolt if they don't figure out how to to turn that into better profits.

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Yeah, Amazon's in business to make money, and if they find they can get more from upselling ad removal than from ads, they'll be gone.

I'm not so sure. If Amazon is trying to grow that ad avenue, guaranteeing eyeballs is a solid way to do it.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by heySkippy

And it's a problem that they don't make very much money. They've got legions of fans because they sell cheap and have great customer service, but there's going to be a shareholder revolt if they don't figure out how to to turn that into better profits.

I don't know much about Amazon's overall profitability, but the one thing I do know is that my brother sent us a much larger gift certificate last Xmas than the year before: he said it was because he made more from his Amazon stock than he expected.

[sirmaru]

Its now official:

"Amazon Kindle HD Will Allow Users To Opt-Out Of “Special Offers” For $15."

Here is the link:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/08/ama...offers-for-15/

I purchased the Kindle Paperwhite without the Special Offers and I will now opt out for my Kindle Fire HD.

[ucfgrad93]

I'm surprised that it is only $15. It is well worth it in my opinion.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by heySkippy

And it's a problem that they don't make very much money. They've got legions of fans because they sell cheap and have great customer service, but there's going to be a shareholder revolt if they don't figure out how to to turn that into better profits.

It's not *generally* true that they don't make much money; as recently as 2 or 3 years ago they were making record profits. They've just barely made a profit the last couple of years due to expenses relating to expansion - opening distribution warehouses, but also developing new technology.

3 years ago, Amazon's stock was at 80. Now it's at 260. I don't think stockholders are complaining. (And Bezos is by far the largest shareholder).

Now whether people should be buying Amazon at that price is a different question.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

I'm surprised that it is only $15. It is well worth it in my opinion.

Personally I think there are three factors.
First - it is a a volume thing, make money on a lot of $15 dollar opt out keys.
Second -if there is that kind of volume, then there would be a lot of resentment if there wasn't a way. Even calls for congress to investigate and all that.
Third $15 is cheap enough for most not to fuss too much

Bezos is the last tech genius. Gates has retired. Jobs just died. Einstein is long gone. Schrodinger is chasing his cat. Newton's head was bashed in by an Apple in a dispute where Apple claimed it had invented calculus, telescopes and the solar system.

[JoHunt]

I'm hoping that since you can now opt-out, Amazon will do its best to tempt us with real special offers so we don't opt-out. I will gladly pay $15 (or $20) to stop seeing those stupid local deals.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by joehunt

I'm hoping that since you can now opt-out, Amazon will do its best to tempt us with real special offers so we don't opt-out. I will gladly pay $15 (or $20) to stop seeing those stupid local deals.

The local deals are already gone. I haven't seen them on my K3 for some time now.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

The local deals are already gone. I haven't seen them on my K3 for some time now.

Really?
Since I ignore that ads on the KT I hadn't noticed.
Hmm, that might explained why they valued the ads at $40 worth of subsidy last year but only $15-20 this year.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

It's not *generally* true that they don't make much money; as recently as 2 or 3 years ago they were making record profits. They've just barely made a profit the last couple of years due to expenses relating to expansion - opening distribution warehouses, but also developing new technology.

3 years ago, Amazon's stock was at 80. Now it's at 260. I don't think stockholders are complaining. (And Bezos is by far the largest shareholder).

Now whether people should be buying Amazon at that price is a different question.

The warehouses look to be springboards for faster delivery. While I'm not sure they'll do same day delivery in too many markets, next day will be more common and easier/cheaper to achieve.

Investors see all those warehouses and staff and figure that they'll translate into more sales. They'll also translate into political power. (Which will come in handy to shut up the Schumers of the world.)

Added up, more revenue and a return to the early decade margins.

[elemenoP]

What fast waffling. First they said you could opt out, then they said no opting out, and now you can opt out again. All this in three days!

eP

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Really?
Since I ignore that ads on the KT I hadn't noticed.
Hmm, that might explained why they valued the ads at $40 worth of subsidy last year but only $15-20 this year.

I used to have up to 4 or 5 pages of ads when the Locals were going strong. Now that they're gone, I down to 1 or 2 pages.

[JSWolf]

I'm hoping the ads won't have an opt-out as that is what makes the new Fire models different from the rest.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm hoping the ads won't have an opt-out as that is what makes the new Fire models different from the rest.

It may be a differentiating factor, but the complaints indicated that it was an unpopular one. Nobody wants to be differentiated by having the products they are selling be more annoying than the competition.

Annoyance does not add to Amazon's unique value proposition.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are people who would have refused to buy outright because there was no opt-out but will now buy the new Fires and not opt-out.

The old "I wanted the option even though I wasn't going to use it," scenario.