Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Amazon launches its own virtual currency called Coins and gives 'tens of millions' away for free to US Kindle owners



Here comes another barbarian initiative... now from the Amazonians.

Story here at The Mail.


11 comments:

Ignacio said...

I don't see as a barbarian initiative, but a marketing initiative (well, you could argue is the same lol) but this is not really currency.

It's just an other point system where there is no scoreboard keeper, apparently the 'points' are created (marked in your Amazon account) when you buy them with dollars at a fixed exchange rate, and will destroyed when 'spent' into Amazon products. The end is the same, you buy products (points) for dollars, only you end up using these points to acquire other goods offered by Amazon (which is what gives these points some value).

Probably a marketing scheme to run promotions, stuff like that already exists.

paul meli said...

"We already have money...it's called money"

Unknown said...

OMG amazon is running an unsustainable deficit.

Matt Franko said...

Ignacio,

right... but one thing I am looking for is if people start to get paid in these things...

I saw where WALMART is looking at getting customers to start to do delivery services for "store credit" like this Amazon scheme..

There will be tax implications here in the US if they start to do this....

Good one Paul.... that is the gist of what I am trying to assert here...

y, They are debasin' the Amazon!

Ignacio said...

"There will be tax implications here in the US if they start to do this...."

Can you extend this?

Anonymous said...

No different from the price discount coupons stores give away at their cash registers.

As we know, there is never a free lunch. Retailers offer coupons and discounts off their sticker prices, rather than just offering lower sticker prices, to beguile their customers with the idea that they "saved".

Calling the coupons a "coin" may be a way of further capitalizing on the Bitcoin fad and trendy Tea Party libertarian illusions of individuality and independence.

A negotiable liability redeemable only in the goods and services possessed by a single company can never be as valuable as one that is accepted universally - not unless the retailer owns everything in the economy, which sometimes seems to be Amazon's business model.

Also these "coins" are don't float but are pegged to the dollar: one Amazon coin = one US penny, so the whole system operates within the dollar system, not as an alternative to it.

Matt Franko said...

"Calling the coupons a "coin" may be a way of further capitalizing on the Bitcoin fad and trendy Tea Party libertarian illusions of individuality and independence."

Right here Dan this is probably the "Madison Avenue" thought process...

Trying to sign up some of the barbarians among us with this "affinity program" ...

With some people I guess it's "anything but the US Dollar..."

Here's Wired's take:

"http://www.wired.com/business/2013/02/amazon-coins-currency/

"Amazon Launches Its Own Currency...."

Oh boy!

rsp,

Matt Franko said...

Ignacio,

If they "pay" their customers to do local deliveries for them, they will probably have to 1099 them for these services...

Then the customers will have to pay some additional income taxes in USDs when they file their returns for that tax year...

This is probably still cheaper than WALMART hiring additional delivery staff and they can probably facilitate this entirely via the customers smart phones....

rsp,

paul meli said...

These alternative payment schemes are starting to resemble the old "company store" scams.

Next up…chain gangs and debtors prison…work off your debt.

Matt Franko said...

right Paul...

"...you load sixteen tons, and what do you get?...."

But to get there they would have to start paying people in these things and then lending in these things... this watch out for...

"Work off your WalMart credit card...."

I wouldn't put it past them...

rsp,

Adam2 said...

Microsoft is going away from this concept with their new video game console. Their customers don't like their Xbox points.