Kindle Rewards/Kindle Points

[ZodWallop]

Dave Duncan's four book A Man of His Word series is on sale, 1.99 a pop and Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore is $3. That's my $10 in one day. Then back to Kobo I schlep.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I'm just reporting what I saw. But I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon stretched the truth.

Hasn't it got to the point that it is surprising when they don't stretch the truth?

But to give the devil his due, that says "Prime Day Deal", it soesn't say anything about prime membership required.

[ZodWallop]

I don't know. The Prime Exclusive up at the top of the image seems pretty clear to me. It was the title of the email.

[j.p.s]

Sorry, didn't notice, just homed in on the blue rectangle.

[odamizu]

It's funny because the subject line of my email is also "Prime Exclusive" and the email itself says "Prime Day Deal", but I'm not a Prime member!

[Hollow Man]

I'm a Prime member, and I am signed up for Kindle Rewards emails, but I've only gotten one about these things way back. So thanks for pointing them out!

[sufue]

I got it too, but mine says between July 6 and July 13. Given that everyone else seems to be July 12, I'd probably believe that...

[bookmonster]

Just got an email. 2x Kindle Points when purchased between 12:00am and 11:59PST on July 14th

[nabsltd]

Got the notice e-mail for 2x Kindle Points on July 25th (PST times as usual).

[DuskyRose]

400 points for completeing the $20 punch card. Starts today, but didn't see when it ended.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

400 points for completeing the $20 punch card. Starts today, but didn't see when it ended.

Ends August 1. Be sure to activate!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Ends August 1. Be sure to activate!

July 31 for me.

I was hoping for another 200 for $10, or even 300 for 15. $20 is a lot for me to spend at once and nothing on my wishlist is all that compelling, i.e., it's all been sitting there for a long time.

I will probably hold out, although I also have got to start being aware of exploding points.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by issybird

$20 is a lot for me to spend at once and nothing on my wishlist is all that compelling, i.e., it's all been sitting there for a long time.

Same here, but I decided to go ahead simply because it's the best RoI. Even at 3x points, $20 spent only gets you $1.80 in credit. With the punch card, I get $4 in credit for $20 spent.

Overall, that's 20% off. I could just wait and hope for a 20% off (or better) sale on a few books on my list, but that may never happen.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

Same here, but I decided to go ahead simply because it's the best RoI. Even at 3x points, $20 spent only gets you $1.80 in credit. With the punch card, I get $4 in credit for $20 spent.

Overall, that's 20% off. I could just wait and hope for a 20% off (or better) sale on a few books on my list, but that may never happen.

I wrote out a long post looking at the value of the discount which is somewhat less than 20%; at best, it's close to 19% taking into account the 60 points you also get. But a random touch wiped the post and I can't face doing it all again. In short, the value of the discount depends in how much you spend to get the 400 points and more perniciously, involves spending yet more money to be able to round up the 160 points on the first transaction combined with the points earned when spending the $3 credit you do get up front. Initially, the discount is only worth 13% at most, i.e., a $3 savings on purchases totaling $23. Calling it a $4 credit when you're going to have to spend more money to get that last buck is playing Amazon's game for them.

It reminds me of a pyramid scheme, because you have to keep spending more and more to use up the discounts earned each transaction. To get the maximum discount, you need to spend all your points on similar bonus days (not just 2X or 3X). And watch out for expiring points!

Of course you're right in that even 13% is a good discount on books that never go on sale. But sometimes I get tired of spending money to save money when it seems as if the savings never accrues. Anyway, I may hold out and hope for a 300 points bonus on a $15 purchase, which at least lets you cash out (mostly) right away (ignoring the 45 ordinary points).

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by issybird

Calling it a $4 credit when you're going to have to spend more money to get that last buck is playing Amazon's game for them.

This is really only true if you stop buying books altogether. As long as you have stuff on your wish list to buy, then eventually you'll hit the next 300 point milestone.