Amazon has 'Gold Box' of goodies
E-tailer offers products based on previous purchases.
By Ann Donahue -- Video Business, 6/17/2002
JUNE 17 | If you are an avid buyer of DVDs on Amazon.com, you may be one of the lucky ones chosen for deep discounts on new releases as part of the e-tailer's new sales promotion.
Amazon account holders now find a "Gold Box" that looks like a treasure chest in the upper right-hand corner of the site when they log in. Inside the box are five discounted items, tailored for the customer based on previous purchases.
Despite initial reports that items in the company's "core" areas of books, music and movies would be excluded from the offer, DVD aficionados have reported finding titles such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for $12.79 and Vanilla Sky for $5.40.
A spokesperson for Amazon did not immediately return calls seeking clarification of the company's Gold Box promotion, which kicked off last week.
Customers have one hour to decide whether to buy any of the five items in the Gold Box. Once an item is passed up, the discount will not be offered again. A group of five new items will appear the next day.
It doesn't guarantee that DVDs will be offered even if you do regularly purchase DVDs through the site. You may rue the day you bought that bread maker for your mom for Christmas, since it may sentence you to Gold Boxes full of things like poultry shears and Teflon baking sets.
Beyond the new promotional campaign, Sony has named Amazon an "authorized Internet dealer" of its consumer electronics goods, which means the e-tailer will soon offer a broader selection that includes computers, monitors, digital cameras, PDAs and mini-disc players.
A deal on selling Sony DVD players has not yet been reached, although products can be found via Amazon's previously announced link with Circuit City that allows for in-store pick-up.
Also, Amazon has reduced the price of goods required for its free shipping offer to $49 from $99. Certain items are not included in the deal, including toys, videogames and accessories, baby products and merchandise offered through the e-tailer's deal with Target Stores.
To get free shipping, items must all be shipped to a single address in the U.S. The company started offering free shipping on items that totaled more than $99 in January.
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