PSA: Amazon Prime 20% off preorders + new releases

[purbeast0]

not sure if everyone is aware so i figured i'd make a thread about it since this forum is dead for the most part anyways, but yesterday amazon announced that from here on out a new benefit of prime is that you now get 20% off preorders for physical copies of games. and then you get 20% off the price up to 2 weeks after release.

i had street fighter 5 and uncharted standard editions preordered yesterday when i heard this news so i canceled my order then reordered them for the cheaper price. however, they sent out emails about this new feature and said they will take 20% off any open preorders that you currently have, so this wasn't really necessary. i also have the sf5 and u4 collectors editions preordered, which were $100 and $120, so that will be a nice chunk taken out of that price as well.

here is the email for those of you who aren't prime members and did not receive it.

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

Thank you for your recent purchase of a pre-order game.

As a Prime member, you enjoy 20% off the list price on physical games during pre-order through two weeks after release. Your Prime Exclusive Savings will be automatically applied to your existing pre-order(s). Your Prime Exclusive Savings will be automatically applied to your existing pre-orders within 5 business days. To verify, please visit "Your Account > Your Orders > Order Details" and look for the discount marked as "Prime Savings."

Thanks for being a Prime member.

Amazon.com Video Games

link to it on their site below

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_ex_n...&bbn=13584215011&ie=UTF8&qid=1452636953&ajr=0

 

[Lil Frier]

Seems to match the main benefit of Best Buy's GCU. I wish it worked on digital, then I might be interested. Otherwise, GCU's $30 for 2 years, and it offers other benefits, so I'll be sticking with it.

Still, nice to see others trying to counter GCU and drive down prices. I find this really interesting as well, since so many people have previously defended the $60 price point for games. It seems retailers can get by just fine at $48, if they're willing to do this. It beats having to put them on-sale constantly, I suppose.

 

[purbeast0]

well this isn't about "us or them" like most people like to make everything out to be on a console forum. this is just an added bonus that has been added to a service which many people already have.

 

[Homerboy]

yeap! Super cool. PC games as well (though only physical media, and not download codes which makes no sense at all)

When you pre-order do they charge immediately? Or not until game is available?

 

[purbeast0]

you don't get charged (with anything at amazon) until the item ships.

 

[Homerboy]

you don't get charged (with anything at amazon) until the item ships.

Thanks. Never pre-ordered from Amazon... for anything.
Gonna go order The Show 16 MVP edition immediately!

Edit: Just realized -- if I get the MVP edition, I think my son and I will argue over who gets the extra stuff

 

[purbeast0]

Thanks. Never pre-ordered from Amazon... for anything.
Gonna go order The Show 16 MVP edition immediately!

Edit: Just realized -- if I get the MVP edition, I think my son and I will argue over who gets the extra stuff

i meant when you purchase anything from amazon, preorder or not, they do not charge you until the item has shipped.

 

[smackababy]

This is a pretty good deal, especially if you buy collectors editions of things and already partake in prime.

I do wish it was for digital downloads though. I tend to buy as much digital as possible. Though, a lot of PC games are simply steam installs.

 

[Aikouka]

I ended up going... maybe a little crazy with the pre-orders. In some of the cases, I use the pre-orders as sort of "bookmarks". I do have Best Buy's GCU, but I prefer not paying for the items upfront. The biggest discount was on the Overwatch collector's edition. It's definitely nice taking a $130 game eek down to $104!

I went with...
Kingdom Hearts III
NieR: Automata
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir: Storybook Edition
Overwatch: Collector's Edition (PC)
World of Final Fantasy
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8
Legend of Zelda (Wii U)
Final Fantasy XV
Final Fantasy VII Remake

 

[digiram]

This may very well be the golden age of gaming, lol

 

[007ELmO]

I ended up going... maybe a little crazy with the pre-orders. In some of the cases, I use the pre-orders as sort of "bookmarks". I do have Best Buy's GCU, but I prefer not paying for the items upfront. The biggest discount was on the Overwatch collector's edition. It's definitely nice taking a $130 game eek down to $104!

I went with...
Kingdom Hearts III
NieR: Automata
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir: Storybook Edition
Overwatch: Collector's Edition (PC)
World of Final Fantasy
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8
Legend of Zelda (Wii U)
Final Fantasy XV
Final Fantasy VII Remake

Damn, nice list. I hate pre-ordering when things are question mark days away (AKA anything square touches). Kingdom hearts 3 for release on December 30th, 2016. Cough, interesting day...

 

[Lil Frier]

I ended up going... maybe a little crazy with the pre-orders. In some of the cases, I use the pre-orders as sort of "bookmarks". I do have Best Buy's GCU, but I prefer not paying for the items upfront. The biggest discount was on the Overwatch collector's edition. It's definitely nice taking a $130 game eek down to $104!

I went with...
Kingdom Hearts III
NieR: Automata
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir: Storybook Edition
Overwatch: Collector's Edition (PC)
World of Final Fantasy
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8
Legend of Zelda (Wii U)
Final Fantasy XV
Final Fantasy VII Remake

Just so you know, you don't have to pay upfront with GCU. If you do the order online, it'll charge you right away, but it's just a short-term placeholder. They'll take the pending charge for the game off the next day or so. It's only in-store where you have to pay beforehand. But yeah, it's an annoying aspect of their system, and even that temporary hold has caused problems for people in the past.

 

[rh71]

yeap! Super cool. PC games as well (though only physical media, and not download codes which makes no sense at all)

When you pre-order do they charge immediately? Or not until game is available?

Interestingly, a game like PVZ GW2, when selecting PC (not PC download) is still a download and the discount still applies.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZGPISQ2/ref=twister_B00ZKZYKMO?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for heads up.

 

[Lil Frier]

Interestingly, a game like PVZ GW2, when selecting PC (not PC download) is still a download and the discount still applies.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZGPISQ2/ref=twister_B00ZKZYKMO?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for heads up.

IDK what they send you with that. However, if there's a retail box, it would work. I mean, it worked for me when I got Warlords of Draenor with Best Buy's GCU, and that's just a code and a big patch, if I remember correctly.

 

[rh71]

IDK what they send you with that. However, if there's a retail box, it would work. I mean, it worked for me when I got Warlords of Draenor with Best Buy's GCU, and that's just a code and a big patch, if I remember correctly.

Yeah looks like we do get a package...
Product Packaging Notice: This product includes a download code in packaging, no physical media disc included.

But at least we still receive it on release day... (is this how all pre-orders work - I'm guessing yes)
FREE Two-Day Shipping --get it on its release day: Tuesday, Feb. 23.

 

[007ELmO]

Preorders should get stuff a day early, why not? Especially with digital downloads. I suppose midnight is good enough.

Is that a BMW X5 in your avatar? I always wanted an X3-M model where the body panels and bumper trim were the same color.

 

[Subyman]

Good job Amazon. I hardly ever preorder anything and $48 is still higher than I spent on nearly any game. Seems like Amazon discounts games and preorder heavily anyway, so may this is a way for them to bring uniformity to their offerings.

 

[Imported]

Wish I could use it with digital downloads.

 

[slag]

Wish I could use it with digital downloads.

Me too. I don't know why they exclude digital downloads.

 

[Aikouka]

Just so you know, you don't have to pay upfront with GCU. If you do the order online, it'll charge you right away, but it's just a short-term placeholder. They'll take the pending charge for the game off the next day or so. It's only in-store where you have to pay beforehand. But yeah, it's an annoying aspect of their system, and even that temporary hold has caused problems for people in the past.

Ah, thanks for the info. I thought that it charged the entire thing if you purchased it online (Best Buy lets you pre-order for pick-up in store), but I know that the store requires a small deposit (like other B&M pre-orders).

In my opinion, Best Buy still has two large advantages: timing and returns. Amazon does give you two weeks after release to get the 20% off, which is nice if you want to wait for reviews. However, then you have to wait probably until Wednesday through Friday to get the game (depending on when reviews come out). With Best Buy, you get the game whenever you go into the store, and there is no two-week limit. Also, if you decide you don't want the game, Amazon will charge you to ship it back. Best Buy doesn't do that.

 

[Topweasel]

Ah, thanks for the info. I thought that it charged the entire thing if you purchased it online (Best Buy lets you pre-order for pick-up in store), but I know that the store requires a small deposit (like other B&M pre-orders).

In my opinion, Best Buy still has two large advantages: timing and returns. Amazon does give you two weeks after release to get the 20% off, which is nice if you want to wait for reviews. However, then you have to wait probably until Wednesday through Friday to get the game (depending on when reviews come out). With Best Buy, you get the game whenever you go into the store, and there is no two-week limit. Also, if you decide you don't want the game, Amazon will charge you to ship it back. Best Buy doesn't do that.

Prime Pre-orders are same day as release (side comment sometimes it auto selects 1 day for the prime 1 day which for a game is like $4, but standard free 2 days is still same day). Obviously you are still at the mercy of the delivery man (1PM work 3PM home for me generally), and not the same as grabbing it at midnight.

Also what Amazon is stating is that their price is guaranteed lowest minus 20% up to 2 weeks from release. Not that the 20% can be gathered post release. Amazon has a low price guarantee on pre-orders. At the end of the transaction either after shipping it or delivery, they refund you the lowest cost they offered during the pre-order. So lets say you pre-ordered Mass Effect 4 at 59.99 but they offered the pre-order at 49.99 as part of a sale or gold box. They would charge you $60 and then refund 10 almost at the same time. In this case if you had prime, it would be $48 for a $60 game and if they offered it at $50 after you pre-ordered it (but before the release), they would charge you $48 and then immediately return $8. The 14 days days just means that even if it stayed at $60 the entire Pre-order time but sometime afterwards they lowered the price to compete with lets say walmart within two weeks they would price match you at that price-20% ( so again sale at $50, they would return $8).

Edit: eewh nvm. While I already do amazon for my pre-orders. Deal isn't as good as it seems. Deal is 20% less than list ($59.99 for example). If the sale price drops below that ($48) up to two weeks after release, amazon will match it. No 20% off sales. So basically if you are buying a normal AAA game priced at the normal $60. It's 48 dollars for you unless the sale price is less than 48.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Me too. I don't know why they exclude digital downloads.

They don't control pricing on digital games. They just offer the code, you have to pay whatever PSN or XBL or Steam says it will cost on their storefront. On physical boxed copies they buy the games from a distributor and can charge whatever they want.

 

[Aikouka]

Prime Pre-orders are same day as release (side comment sometimes it auto selects 1 day for the prime 1 day which for a game is like $4, but standard free 2 days is still same day). Obviously you are still at the mercy of the delivery man (1PM work 3PM home for me generally), and not the same as grabbing it at midnight.

My point was that waiting for reviews, which usually come a day or two before release, prior to purchasing may push your delivery date beyond the release date. For some, that may not be a big deal, but if you really want to play it ASAP, that's an inconvenience. If you want to mitigate that with Amazon and pre-order anyway, you have to pay for the return shipping to return the item if you end up not wanting it.

 

[007ELmO]

My mailman didn't deliver a package because the neighobor's dog scared him.

 

[rh71]

Amazon and pre-order anyway, you have to pay for the return shipping to return the item if you end up not wanting it.

Well you could say that it wasn't as advertised on their website and it's a free return. A bunch of other options too - you're not SOL. Just sayin'.