Can the KSO pay for itself?

stonetools · 11-09-2011, 10:03 AM

Back when the KSO was introduced, one of the early adopters ( I think it was Tubemonkey) claimed that the KSO would pay for itself. Well, now less than a year in, does that claim stand up?

I understand " paying for itself" to mean that if you take advantage of thje Special Offers ( the SOs) , you will realize $114 in savings over the life of the device (The original KSO was $114.)

I'm issiung a friendly challenge to all you proud KSO owners:
Now let's assume that the life of the device is 2 years (my guess is that most people will upgrade after 2 years).

Based on your buying record so far, will (or has) the KSO paid for itself ?
I'm asking you to show your work, too by listing the savings you have gained forom all the SOs you have taken advantage of .

Tia,

finrind · 11-09-2011, 10:26 AM

It used to be very good at the beginning. For my first KSO, I got my money back very fast:
$10 for $20 gift card: $10
$100 for signing up for Amazon credit card: $100
$10 back if I buy one of select books: $4
-------------------------------------------
$114

That was in May-June. Now, I agree, the offers have become less attractive and require more purchases as a precondition to savings. So if you want to know "whether the claim will stand up", you need to set a time frame that you're asking about.

SteveK · 11-09-2011, 10:30 AM

Stonetools - I don't remember the specifics, but I can guarantee you my first KSO has paid for itself, and more. It almost paid for itself the first offer I took advantage of, as I received $100 for opening a rewards credit card with Amazon. I've also purchased several books for $1 each that were normally $10-$12 each, etc.

My second KSO hasn't paid for itself and probably never will, as many of the offers are limited to one per person, not one per device. Also, they seem to have fewer book related offers lately, and I'm not interested in most of the special offers they've had lately. But still, I got the KSO 3G for $139, a $50 savings compared to the normal 3G price so I have no regrets.

SteveK

stonetools · 11-09-2011, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by finrind

It used to be very good at the beginning. For my first KSO, I got my money back very fast:
$10 for $20 gift card: $10
$100 for signing up for Amazon credit card: $100
$10 back if I buy one of select books: $4
-------------------------------------------
$114

That was in May-June. Now, I agree, the offers have become less attractive and require more purchases as a precondition to savings. So if you want to know "whether the claim will stand up", you need to set a time frame that you're asking about.

The time frame is whether it will pay for itself within 2 years of purchase. Apparently, you got back your money within 3 months. Impressive! I'm hoping that if I buy it now, I'll realize $79 or $99 in savings within 2 years, even given the less attractive offers right now.

tubemonkey · 11-09-2011, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveK

My second KSO hasn't paid for itself and probably never will, as many of the offers are limited to one per person, not one per device.

My KSO has paid for itself and with more than enough left over to buy a second one. I plan on getting the Kindle Touch and am not thrilled that Amazon is refusing to honor the special offers on multiple devices. Since it'll become my primary ereader, I'm thinking about rooting my KSO to get rid of the ads. It's done its job and saved me well over $250 on products I was going to buy anyway. These are savings I never would have realized if it wasn't for my KSO.

tubemonkey · 11-09-2011, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonetools

The time frame is whether it will pay for itself within 2 years of purchase. Apparently, you got back your money within 3 months. Impressive! I'm hoping that if I buy it now, I'll realize $79 or $99 in savings within 2 years, even given the less attractive offers right now.

Depends on the offers and what you like. My KSO paid for itself in less than a month.

jswinden · 11-09-2011, 11:58 AM

My K3SO has paid for itself and it is only about 6 months old. I now have a K4SO as well and it has already provided about 1/3 of its cost back in savings. BTW, These are items I would have purchased anyway but got a discount through a KSO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I plan on getting the Kindle Touch and am not thrilled that Amazon is refusing to honor the special offers on multiple devices.

This is why I probably won't get SO models in the future unless I'm getting rid of my current SO model(s). There is little need to have multiple SO models other than the discount up front. In my experience only a single SO has been allowed to be used multiple times, and that was a recent 50% off on selected covers. They only allowed that because the SO was for specific covers for the applicable model, so my K3 got the SO on K3 covers only and my K4 got the SO on K4 covers only. Unfortunately some people noted Amazon messed up and sent K4SO customers the K3 offer instead.

Blossom · 11-09-2011, 01:41 PM

I've already saved $30 on mine back with just 3 offers.

DustyDisks · 11-09-2011, 01:51 PM

He He

All the special offers do is not for you to "save" money, but to make one spend more!
No mater how it is cut, full price or half off or more, the end result is money flying out of one's hands into another's!

Blossom · 11-09-2011, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DustyDisks

He He

All the special offers do is not for you to "save" money, but to make one spend more!
No mater how it is cut, full price or half off or more, the end result is money flying out of one's hands into another's!

Not if it's something you plan to buy anyway. All 3 offers I used were on my wishlist.

DustyDisks · 11-09-2011, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

Not if it's something you plan to buy anyway. All 3 offers I used were on my wishlist.

Good point!

Sorry I just could not resist!

alansplace · 11-09-2011, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

Not if it's something you plan to buy anyway. All 3 offers I used were on my wishlist.

AZImmortal · 11-09-2011, 03:00 PM

My KSO has more than paid for itself (bought in May), but the quality of the current offers has definitely decreased compared to some of the earlier offers. Hopefully Amazon will have some more exciting offers soon.

RainingLemur · 11-09-2011, 03:10 PM

I've asked my Kindle a few times if it wouldn't mind paying a few times. It always tries to be in "sleep" mode, but I know better.

Always needing me to pay for it... Ungrateful little turd...

koland · 11-09-2011, 05:07 PM

I'm at well north of $1,000 in savings - I was already in the market for an HDTV and my top choices were all on an early (and great) offer.

I saved more than the cost of the KSO's just on the grocery coupons (since it was not limited to one per account or any specific amount, I even bought a new KSO just to get another coupon and paid for it immediately, plus quite a bit, as I was able to do a second order after we had consumed items from the first order.

With the $79 KSO, you'd still break even in a few months, just using the $1 book offers, I suspect.

11-09-2011, 10:03 AM	#1
stonetools Wizard Posts: 2,016 Karma: 2838487 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Washington, DC Device: Ipad, IPhone	Can the KSO pay for itself? Back when the KSO was introduced, one of the early adopters ( I think it was Tubemonkey) claimed that the KSO would pay for itself. Well, now less than a year in, does that claim stand up? I understand " paying for itself" to mean that if you take advantage of thje Special Offers ( the SOs) , you will realize $114 in savings over the life of the device (The original KSO was $114.) I'm issiung a friendly challenge to all you proud KSO owners: Now let's assume that the life of the device is 2 years (my guess is that most people will upgrade after 2 years). Based on your buying record so far, will (or has) the KSO paid for itself ? I'm asking you to show your work, too by listing the savings you have gained forom all the SOs you have taken advantage of . Tia,

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Seriously considering KSO 3G Now	SCION	Amazon Kindle	32	09-07-2011 12:30 AM
KSO Screensavers	blewbot	Amazon Kindle	0	08-10-2011 05:20 AM
How to get ALL of my books on KSO?	PocketGoddess	Amazon Kindle	19	07-27-2011 08:20 AM
KSO Agreement	jupstin	Amazon Kindle	2	05-27-2011 11:08 AM

11-09-2011, 10:26 AM	#2
finrind Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Kindle 3	It used to be very good at the beginning. For my first KSO, I got my money back very fast: $10 for $20 gift card: $10 $100 for signing up for Amazon credit card: $100 $10 back if I buy one of select books: $4 ------------------------------------------- $114 That was in May-June. Now, I agree, the offers have become less attractive and require more purchases as a precondition to savings. So if you want to know "whether the claim will stand up", you need to set a time frame that you're asking about.

11-09-2011, 10:30 AM	#3
SteveK Addict Posts: 272 Karma: 1017902 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Kindle PW, PW2, Kindle3, Kobo Glo, tablets, phone	Stonetools - I don't remember the specifics, but I can guarantee you my first KSO has paid for itself, and more. It almost paid for itself the first offer I took advantage of, as I received $100 for opening a rewards credit card with Amazon. I've also purchased several books for $1 each that were normally $10-$12 each, etc. My second KSO hasn't paid for itself and probably never will, as many of the offers are limited to one per person, not one per device. Also, they seem to have fewer book related offers lately, and I'm not interested in most of the special offers they've had lately. But still, I got the KSO 3G for $139, a $50 savings compared to the normal 3G price so I have no regrets. SteveK

11-09-2011, 01:41 PM	#8
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	I've already saved $30 on mine back with just 3 offers.

11-09-2011, 01:51 PM	#9
DustyDisks Old Fart In Training Posts: 534 Karma: 2742476 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Gladewater, Texas Device: K3+3g/KFHD 7"/Nexus 7/Nexus 7.2	He He All the special offers do is not for you to "save" money, but to make one spend more! No mater how it is cut, full price or half off or more, the end result is money flying out of one's hands into another's!

11-09-2011, 03:00 PM	#13
AZImmortal Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 5555611 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G, Nexus 7	My KSO has more than paid for itself (bought in May), but the quality of the current offers has definitely decreased compared to some of the earlier offers. Hopefully Amazon will have some more exciting offers soon.

11-09-2011, 03:10 PM	#14
RainingLemur Spork Connoisseur Posts: 2,355 Karma: 16780603 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Nook Color	I've asked my Kindle a few times if it wouldn't mind paying a few times. It always tries to be in "sleep" mode, but I know better. Always needing me to pay for it... Ungrateful little turd...

11-09-2011, 05:07 PM	#15
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	I'm at well north of $1,000 in savings - I was already in the market for an HDTV and my top choices were all on an early (and great) offer. I saved more than the cost of the KSO's just on the grocery coupons (since it was not limited to one per account or any specific amount, I even bought a new KSO just to get another coupon and paid for it immediately, plus quite a bit, as I was able to do a second order after we had consumed items from the first order. With the $79 KSO, you'd still break even in a few months, just using the $1 book offers, I suspect.

Advert

Advert