when did "special offers" become the default?

[mand]

I've seen a brand new kindle for sale at a good price, an unwanted gift. The seller says it's a year old.

Last time I looked, you can't buy a new one from Amazon without the ads, the "special offers". A while before that, you could get one without special offers for £10 more. Does anyone know if a year is long for this one to be *without* the ads?

I don't want the ads!

On this forum I see that Amazon will remove the special offers for $20 which may be £10 or £15 after purchase (though this doesn't always run smoothly). Still a nuisance, and this one I've seen is a lot cheaper anyway. But if it does have the ads and if I do buy it, will Amazon still deign to remove them?

[Tarana]

Yes, you can buy one without the ads. I think you pay an additional $20 to eliminate that feature. You can change it at Amazon once you have registered it. If your seller bought this kindle WITHOUT ads, talk to customer service about what you need from the original owner so you don't have to pay extra to remove it.

The ads are very unobtrusive on the ereaders, but can be annoying on the Fire.

If the original had ads, once you have registered your device, go to Manage Devices, click on your device. Then select Special offers. An option to Unsubscribe from Ads comes up AND once you click on 1-click, it will immediately charge your account $20. You will then be ad-free. This works on any device you buy, used or not, so long as it wasn't blacklisted (I don't think you can register a blacklisted device anyway).

It seems so sad that someone does not want an ereader for a gift. sniff. Of course, that is how I got one of my keyboard kindles. Virtually unused with a nice leather cover and she sold it to me for $30 because she preferred paperbooks. It's just too strange. I got my Mom's nano that way as well...unwanted gift. So strange.

[mand]

Thanks Tarana. On Amazon UK, there are no longer any available without the ads. But it's good to know it's so easy to get rid of them. (Unobtrusive they may be, but I bet they'll still obtrude for me. )

I'll check with the person selling whether they've ever registered it, but I don't think so, and to be blacklisted it would have been stolen, yep?

Methinx I may have got myself a good deal here.

[soulfuldog]

The Kindles are still sold with and without special offers on Amazon.co.uk? The only one where there is no mention of ads is the Voyage (and I presume it is sold without any ads as standard). Even the Fire tablets are sold with and without ads, although you don't see those options until the add to basket and configure button is clicked.

Basic Kindle - £59.99 is the default price 'With Special Offers', or £69.99 'Without Special Offers'
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KDRUCJY/

Just be aware that there is a possibility the one you have spotted may well be with ads and you'll have no way of knowing until you buy it, and then may have to pay £10 to have them removed by Amazon. Also, there is a risk to buying second hand, if the Kindle has been lost or stolen, it could be blacklisted, and then when you go to register it, you won't be able to do so.

[mand]

Ah, it didn't occur to me to try adding to basket - I just put "kindle" into the search field and only saw ones listed as "Includes Special Offers". That makes it much better - I could also choose white if I want.

However I may still take the gamble. The seller seems honest, and I can report her if not. Depending how the bidding goes it will be half that even including postage, and it is new, unopened. I can let you know in 24 hours whether I braved it.

[soulfuldog]

Good luck, there are plenty of honest sellers out there, and if it's a well-known auction site and you are paying by paypal, there are options there to cover you if it goes wrong.

[Cinisajoy]

I know on the US website, there are two boxes on the kindle page.
With special offers, without special offers.

[mand]

It isn't as obvious on the UK site.

When I clicked on the department (because I hadn't come to it that way before but only through search), it landed me straight onto a product page headed " Kindle, 6" Glare-Free Touchscreen Display, Wi-Fi (Black) - Includes Special Offers". The button has "Configure and add to basket" instead of just "Add to basket" (which I didn't even glance at). If you scroll right down, or click to jump to, the comparison table showing Kindle, Paperwhite and Voyage, the prices are shown "From £..." - those are the only clues.

Anyway, I did bid in the last 30 seconds but I didn't win. And yes, it was eBay and I was trying to avoid too many people leaping in on that auction.

Before spending the real, Amazon amount, I'm going to wait for my trusy ol' Keyboard to die completely instead of only 50% as it has done so far.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mand

Thanks Tarana. On Amazon UK, there are no longer any available without the ads.

Not true. See, for example:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KDRUCJ...v_shopall_k_ki

Notice there are two boxes below the price? "With Special Offers", and "Without Special Offers". All the other Kindle models are the same.

[mand]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not true. See, for example:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KDRUCJ...v_shopall_k_ki

Notice there are two boxes below the price? "With Special Offers", and "Without Special Offers". All the other Kindle models are the same.

Well, with this you really did make me think it was me being dense. But I just tried search on page with F3, first for '£' and then 'special'. There isn't any indication that you have a choice about the ads. Under "other features" it even says: "Get special offers - You’ll receive special offers and sponsored screensavers directly on your Kindle. Offers display on the Kindle screensaver and on the bottom of the home screen when not in use—they don’t interrupt reading." - not you *can* get special offers or you *can* opt to remove them.

This was going through your link.

The search picked up "Configuration: With Special Offers" on the reviews. Which if I'd really gone into detail, would have been a clue that configuring before purchase was the trick. You also can't tell there's a choice of colour, until going through the "Configure and add to basket" button. I didn't know they came in white until yesterday - and I'm glad as I will prefer it.

Maybe it's different in different browsers (can't think why it would be), but I've been using both Firefox and Chrome while shopping around.

For clothes etc, I'm very used to the way they display the colour and size options and would have expected this to follow the same pattern. Amazon can be very annoying sometimes. At least this hasn't all been some hallucination in my own head.

Anyway I hope this thread is useful to someone else who had given up on being able to buy without the ads!

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by mand

Before spending the real, Amazon amount, I'm going to wait for my trusy ol' Keyboard to die completely instead of only 50% as it has done so far.

Since the (removable) Special Offers only appear when I pick up a Kindle I don't care.

Being able to eliminate the splash "Free Trial Kindle Unlimited Now" would be worth something. My joining Prime accidently (I was unregistering and reregistering and missed tapping 'NO' the third time) cost Amazon some money because I ordered some groceries which turned out to be incorrectly described.

As you are in the UK note that used, with warranty, Kindles are readily available.

These are Kindle Keyboards with free 3G browsing but others are available.


https://uk.webuy.com/product.php?sku...A#.VA4limNKOpo
https://uk.webuy.com/product.php?sku...B#.VA4l2GNKOpo

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mand

Well, with this you really did make me think it was me being dense. But I just tried search on page with F3, first for '£' and then 'special'. There isn't any indication that you have a choice about the ads. Under "other features" it even says: "Get special offers - You’ll receive special offers and sponsored screensavers directly on your Kindle. Offers display on the Kindle screensaver and on the bottom of the home screen when not in use—they don’t interrupt reading." - not you *can* get special offers or you *can* opt to remove them.

This was going through your link.

How very odd. I see two large rectangular boxes immediately below the price: "With Special Offers" and "Without Special Offers". Just the same as the selections for size, colour, etc, that you get with clothes. That's with both Firefox on my PC and Safari on my iPad.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How very odd. I see two large rectangular boxes immediately below the price: "With Special Offers" and "Without Special Offers". Just the same as the selections for size, colour, etc, that you get with clothes. That's with both Firefox on my PC and Safari on my iPad.

As do I, which was I attached a screenshot showing the boxes to my previous post. Even when browsing on my mobile I see a box immediately below the price with the option to select between with or without offers (both Chrome). Not sure why mand is seeing something different to the rest of us?

[mand]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Not sure why mand is seeing something different to the rest of us?

Maybe Amazon just doesn't like me.

[mand]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

As you are in the UK note that used, with warranty, Kindles are readily available.

These are Kindle Keyboards with free 3G browsing but others are available.


https://uk.webuy.com/product.php?sku...A#.VA4limNKOpo
https://uk.webuy.com/product.php?sku...B#.VA4l2GNKOpo

Never heard of CeX! How do they manage prices like this, with a 24 month warranty - how can they make that work as a business model? Hm.

ETA: Found loads of online reviews. Don't like the look of them if the device had any kind of fault.