Do you get annoyed by the "Special Offers" ads on your Kindle?

[DreamWeaver]

I have a K3, and opted in for the special offers to see what all the fuss was about. i've taken advantage of one book for $1, but so far have not been impressed with them. I'm hoping that during the shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas there will be better offers.

Me too. So far, I've only taken advantage of one book for $1. But, to be fair, I've only had the ads for about a week on my K3. If the offers don't improve, I'll probably discontinue ads at the end of the year. It's been very nice to have the choice, though!

[Mips]

 I think it's interesting that some folks see an offer for $5 off at Amazon and say, "Oh, an obnoxious ad."

   If THAT offer showed up there would be fewer complaints.  The only offers I've seen on mine are from some Boston Spa which is a total waste of transmission, some magazine I'm definitely not interested in and oh yah, some AT&T garbage screen.

It would be great to get some offer worth redeeming, especially those $ saving discounts on Amazon itself.  Now THOSE would definitely be well received but I suspect those are just the carrots to get people to buy the special offer kindles which Amazon hopes will be underwritten by more outside vendors buying ad time;  more outside advertisers which  are of no interest to me.

[Ann in Arlington]

  If THAT offer showed up there would be fewer complaints.  The only offers I've seen on mine are from some Boston Spa which is a total waste of transmission, some magazine I'm definitely not interested in and oh yah, some AT&T garbage screen.

It would be great to get some offer worth redeeming, especially those $ saving discounts on Amazon itself.  Now THOSE would definitely be well received but I suspect those are just the carrots to get people to buy the special offer kindles which Amazon hopes will be underwritten by more outside vendors buying ad time;  more outside advertisers which  are of no interest to me.

The offers come and go. . .I've taken up a few of them. . . .others I'm not interested in.  But I'm dead certain some I think are worthless are exactly what other people have been waiting for. . . .so I'm just biding my time.  I figure I'll give 'em until at least after the holidays and then decide if I'd just as soon buy out of them.  OR. . . .I might buy out on the K4, which has graphically arty stock screensavers, and turn them on on my old K3 which is, at this point, my back up reader. 

[LauraB]

I took advantage of the buy classical music mp3 for $2.  I down loaded it into my itunes library and put it on my iphone.  It was easy! This is the first time I've done MP3 via Amazon.

[Steph H]

you haven't even taken advantage of the several $1 book offers?  They're my favorites!

Yeah, I just posted in another thread that out of the $177.05 I've saved in offers since June (I don't do them all, by any means), almost $100 has been on those alone!  I try to max the savings value on those, getting books I want from the available list that are normally high in price.

[Steph H]

For those who don't want to scroll through the Special Offers thread posted earlier, here's just a sample of some of the offers that have come through, the ones I've taken advantage of so far (and I have a couple of emails I haven't used yet).  I'm in the habit of getting the email for an offer if there's even a chance I might use it, just in case, but there are many I've then not used after all.  But for instance the power & hand tools offer at the top?  I used that for flashlights. You never know what items will be included as "available" as part of an offer!


20.00   6/18/2011   Get $20 off Amazon Power & Hand Tools when you spend $30
10.00   6/18/2011   Pay $10 for a $20 Amazon.com Gift Card
10.00   6/24/2011   Spend $10 on eligible Kindle books and get a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card
10.00   7/1/2011                 Use your Visa® card to buy select Kindle books and get a $10 Amazon.com credit
15.79   7/12/2011   $1 for a Kindle book, choose from thousands of titles
10.00   7/16/2011   $10 off min $20 Kindle accessories
8.99   7/24/2011   Buy one of 100 Mysteries & Thrillers titles for $1
7.99   8/1/2011                 Buy one of 100 Humor titles for $1
5.00   8/13/2011   Save $5 at Amazon MP3
5.00   8/17/2011   Save $5 on a $10 purchase at Amazon.com
8.71   8/21/2011   Buy one of 100 Kindle books on Business & Investing for $1
8.99   9/7/2011                 Buy one of 100 Biographies & Memoirs for $1
   9/18/2011   Spend $5 and get $5 in the Amazon Instant Video Store
7.60   9/22/2011   Buy one of 100 romance titles for $1
7.67   9/30/2011   Buy one of 100 Mysteries & Thrillers titles for $1
5.00   9/30/2011   Save $5 on a $10 purchase at Amazon.com
20.00   10/8/2011   Save $20 on a $50 purchase of select bedding & bath products at Amazon.com
7.83   10/25/2011   Get a Kindle book from a list of thousands for $1, sponsored by "Anonymous" (movie)
8.48   10/28/2011   Buy one of 100 Horror titles for $1


(Yeah...I track things..... )

[Stephanie]

I just got the K3 w/ SOs from Target for $85 (Black Friday).  I'm going to try it with the ads for a bit and if I don't like them, I'll just pay the $30 to get rid of them. 

If only finding a great cover for the darn thing could be that easy!!!  (I love the M-Edge platform covers, but the reviews for the K3 ones said they made the piece that connects the front to the back too short on the K3 model...GGRRRR!!!!!)  Sorry, just needed to vent...

[VictoriaP]

So far, I'm unimpressed and even a bit annoyed by the Special Offers. I thought the ones at the bottom of the home screen would take up less room than they do, but I feel like I'm losing a fair bit of screen real estate to them that would be better used showing me another Collection or two. And nothing appealing has come up so far.

I'm going to try and stick it out a while longer, because I really don't want to spend the extra $40 (Touch), but after just a day, they irk me so much, I suspect it's going to take a really spectacular deal to make them worth hanging onto in my case. Looking just at Steph H's list of what she's taken advantage of, most of the ones I'd have been inclined to use were last summer, which makes me wonder if they gave out better deals back then to lure people in?

Still, I don't regret having tried the special offers version out, even if I do end up spending the $40 to "upgrade" and remove them.

[nogdog~6op6ou]

I don't find them annoying so far, since it's just the screen-saver -- which I really don't spend much time looking at -- and one item at the bottom of the Home screen. Now, if that home screen offer was animated, that might be annoying; but since I've already taken advantage of two of the offers whil only having had my KT for 3 days so far, I guess they're not bothering me.

[Eltanin Publishing]

I just wish there was some way to stop seeing an ad once you'd taken advantage of it.

I agree with this - I already have an Amazon Visa, so it's a little annoying to keep seeing the ads for that.

And FYI, there is a $5 off a $10 purchase special offer in the lineup - I can't say when it will appear, but it's in the system files.

[VictoriaP]

I agree with this - I already have an Amazon Visa, so it's a little annoying to keep seeing the ads for that.

And FYI, there is a $5 off a $10 purchase special offer in the lineup - I can't say when it will appear, but it's in the system files.

Good to know!

I will say I'm a bit happier now that the Local Seattle deal for acupuncture is gone. Nothing against it, I've used acupuncture before, but the picture of needles standing up on someone's back REALLY didn't do it for me. 

The replacement ad for a local holiday lights tour is a huge improvement.

[PaulGuy]

In a word, no.

[Ann in Arlington]

You know you can change the pictures you see. . .even for the same products. . . .go to MYK and edit "your kindle screensaver preferences". 

[cheshirenc]

I have a k2.  I am considering a Touch and unsure i I want SO or not.  I went under "manage my kindle" and "subscriptions" and cannot seem to locate how to add special offers on my k2.

I guess if I can't "try out" the offers on the k2, I can buy thr Touch with SO and buy out if I don't like them.

[sebat]

I have a k2.  I am considering a Touch and unsure i I want SO or not.  I went under "manage my kindle" and "subscriptions" and cannot seem to locate how to add special offers on my k2.

I guess if I can't "try out" the offers on the k2, I can buy thr Touch with SO and buy out if I don't like them.

I don't believe it's an option for the K2.

[Sage]

I don't think you can "opt-in" to Special Offers on the Kindle 2.  You might want to go ahead and try the Touch with SO and then "opt-out" if you don't like them. 

I got the SO Touch because of the cost savings, but I like having the option to pay my way out if the advertising starts getting too annoying.
I'm not sure if Amazon gives a refund if you purchase the Touch without Special Offers, and then decide you want to "opt-in" later.

[VictoriaP]

You know you can change the pictures you see. . .even for the same products. . . .go to MYK and edit "your kindle screensaver preferences". 

I'm giving that a shot right now. I just wish there was a way to say, "don't bother sending me XYZ  (AT&T, movie related, Dove soap, acupuncture) ads because you're wasting bandwidth".

Now, the chocolate.com ad I have up right now is so attractive, I'd vote to keep it forever! 

[Ann in Arlington]

I'm fairly certain you can't opt in to SO's on the K2. . .but you should be able to tell pretty easily. . .if you can, it will say so on your MYK page.

[JETaylor]

They don't bother me in the least.  I guess because I spend about zero time looking at the Kindle when it's not activated to be read.  And spend about 1 collective minute a week looking at the Home screen.

Ditto!

[Zell]

I have a K3 without the SOs and believe the ads would drive me crazy.  I'd have to take them off.

[geniebeanie]

On the wifi I make it dissapear because I had to enlarge the print.

[Ann in Arlington]

On the wifi I make it dissapear because I had to enlarge the print.

I'm not sure I understand?  Changing the print size only affects the book print, not the home screen/menu. 

Unless you have put on a third party update (hack) to change that. . . .but I wouldn't think that would affect the appearance of the SO's. . . .if it does, it's definitely against Terms of Service. 

I know the main developer of the 'screensaver hack' has said he won't do one that will remove the SO's and, to my knowledge, he's not yet figured out how to on the Basic Kindle yet anyway.  Not that there's been as much clamor for one as there aren't any classic authors for people to complain about on this version.

[geniebeanie]

Not the home screen but when I am reading a book on the kindle you do not see the ads.  I  buy a lot off of amazon and do nto  need ads to show me what to buy, I just do not read them.

[Luvmy4brats]

Not the home screen but when I am reading a book on the kindle you do not see the ads.  I  buy a lot off of amazon and do nto  need ads to show me what to buy, I just do not read them.

The ads aren't in the books at all, so they won't show up while you're reading regardless of the font size. They are only on the screensaver and the bottom of the home page.