An online retailer that isn’t Amazon, yet who asks to be paid in Amazon gift cards? That might sound strange to practiced scam-spotters, but there are apparently shoppers who don’t find that idea suspicious. They should: gift cards don’t have the same fraud protections as credit or debit card payments. [More]
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Amazon Expanding Restaurant Delivery Service To All Prime Now Markets
By 11.12.15
Just two months after launching the Prime restaurant delivery service in Seattle, Amazon plans to rapidly expand the service to 20 major cities already served by its quick-delivery Prime Now program. [More]
Amazon To Make Echo Available At Home Depot, Radio Shack, Other Retailers
By 11.10.15
Three months after Amazon announced it would allow Staples to offer its high-tech, sort-of assistant speaker online, the company says it will allow retailers to sell the Echo at thousands of locations across the U.S. [More]
Sprint Giving Away 1 Year Of Amazon Prime With Pricier Samsung Phones
By 11.6.15
When Amazon tried to sell the public on its Fire Phone, one of the inducements was that the phone, which originally cost $199 with a two-year AT&T contract, would come with a one-year membership to Amazon Prime. Sweet deal, since Prime costs $99 per year, and Amazon eventually sold the phones for a buck. The Fire Phone itself flopped, but te idea of giving away Prime subscriptions with phones may hold promise. [More]
Amazon Opens Actual Real-Life Bookstore Today In Seattle
By 11.3.15
In the last year, there have been rumors that Amazon planned to open a gadget store and package pickup center in Manhattan near the Empire State Building, and that they planned to buy the leases of some RadioShack stores when that retailer declared bankruptcy. Neither of these happened. This morning, Amazon is opening an entirely different sort of real-life store. They’re selling books. [More]
Amazon Starts Black Friday Today, Really Wants You To Subscribe To Prime
By 11.2.15
This year, Black Friday, the universal holiday honoring unbridled commerce, will happen on Nov. 27. That doesn’t mean that Black Friday is limited to only that day, though: today, megastore Amazon.com kicked off their “Countdown to Black Friday,” which is apparently sort of like an Advent calendar full of external hard drives and sneakers. [More]
Amazon Shutters Local Deals Service, Credit Card Processing Unit
By 11.2.15
While it might seem like Amazon opens a new store or launches a different service every week, the e-commerce giant announced over the weekend that it would actually close two units: one offering local deals and a small business credit card processing service. [More]
Amazon “Prime Now” Drivers Accuse Company Of Wage Theft
By 10.28.15
If you’re in one of the markets where Amazon offers one- to two-hour “Prime Now” deliveries, the courier who comes to your door may be wearing an Amazon uniform, but they might not be Amazon employees. Some Prime Now drivers in California are accusing the e-commerce giant of using their “independent contractor” status to get away without paying them a legal wage. [More]
Amazon May Launch Its Own Clothing Brand To Offer More Options For Customers
By 10.28.15
Back in May, Amazon announced it was toying with the idea of creating its own house brand for everyday items like cereal and diapers. Not content to just stay in your cabinets, the e-commerce giant is apparently on the verge of infiltrating our closets with its own private-label fashion line. [More]
Amazon Kicks Brooklyn Out Of The Country
By 10.22.15
Consumerist reader C.W. was on a simple mission to buy some permanent markers — or so he thought: he made it impossible for Amazon to ship him the desired product because he happens to live outside the United States…. in Brooklyn, which as we all know, is its own country. [More]
Amazon Planning To Hire 100,000 Temporary Workers This Holiday Season
By 10.20.15
While Amazon continues to deflect criticism of its workplace culture, the retailer announced plans to nearly double its workforce this holiday season: adding 100,000 temporary workers to its roster. [More]
Amazon Expands Restaurant Delivery Service To Portland, OR
By 10.20.15
Consumers in Portland, OR, hungry for a nice dinner, but too tired to actually head out into the world, can now order via Amazon’s newly expanded Prime restaurant delivery service. Using the Prime Now mobile app, members of Amazon’s $99/year subscription program can view participating restaurants, browse menus, place orders and track the status of their delivery. Once an order is placed, Amazon delivery drivers pick up and deliver the food within an hour or less. The service first launched last month in Seattle. [Amazon] [More]
Amazon PR And NY Times Editor Still Fighting Over Article About Amazon From August
By 10.19.15
It’s a little strange to watch representatives of two of the most powerful retail and media companies in the country have a war of words on the blogpages of the platform Medium. Two months ago, the New York Times ran an article about Amazon’s workplace culture based on more than 100 interviews with current and former employees, some of whom didn’t want to be named. Now, representatives of Amazon and the Times are engaging in a war of words over the credibility of the named interviewees, and the nature of the story itself. [More]
If You Want To Use Amazon Fresh You’ll Have To Pay $299/Year For PrimeFresh First
By 10.19.15
How much are you willing to pay to have bags of fresh produce, and other grocery items delivered to your door anytime of the year? If you live in Seattle, Philadelphia, or New York, Amazon’s hoping $299/year is the magic number. [More]
Amazon Agrees To Include Closed Captions On All Streaming Videos
By 10.15.15
Hard of hearing Amazon Prime subscribers already know that all the videos on that subscription service include closed captions, but not every video offered online by Amazon comes with captions. That is going to change after the e-tailer reached a deal with the National Association of the Deaf to expand its captioning efforts to encompass the site’s full catalog. [More]
Amazon Gets Out Of The Hotel Booking Business After Only 6 Months
By 10.14.15
Amazon Destinations, we barely knew you. The dedicated hotel booking site from the e-commerce giant closed its doors this week, just six months after opening them. [More]
Amazon Reportedly In Talks To Create Live Pay-TV Service
By 10.8.15
Amazon already offers users a variety of ways to get on-demand television programing: Amazon Prime Video allows Prime subscription members the ability to download or stream a number of shows and movies for free. Now, the company is reportedly in talks to expand its video offerings with a live online pay-TV service. [More]
Amazon Launches Marketplace Dedicated To Handcrafted, “Factory-Free” Products
By 10.8.15
Back in May, we reported that Amazon was dipping its toes into yet another marketplace venture, this one centered on handcrafted goods. At the time, the e-commerce behemoth was prepping for a showdown with the top site in the craft world, Etsy, by attempting to lure away its vendors. Fast-forward four months, and the launch of “Handmade at Amazon” is upon us. [More]
