Kindle Rewards beta

For those who don’t know yet, Kindle Rewards is a rewards program on amazon.com that rewards you for buying books. It’s for both US and international customers, but you can only get into the beta if Amazon chooses you. It was launched last year.

Initially you got 5 points for every dollar you spent on Kindle e-books and 2 points for every dollar spent on print books. The points expired in 6 months. You need 300 points to redeem $3 worth of credits you can use when purchasing Kindle e-books. Credits expires in 1 month.

Changes to Kindle Rewards on June 1, 2023

After June 1, you now get only 3 points for every dollar spent on Kindle e-books and 1 point for every dollar spent on print books. On top of that those points now expires in 3 months (points earned before June 1 still expires in 6 months). So, you still need 300 points for the credits, but you need to spend more to get enough points. And you only have 3 months to earn those points before they start expiring.

What do you think about the program? Have you participated in it, or ignored it? What about these new changes?

I have only participated on those spend-X-dollars-get-Y-points events (for example, spend $10 get 300 points). I maintain a wish list of books that I’m interested of. When one of those events comes along, I look through the list and buy the minimum amount required by the event. Preferably books that are on sale. That gives me plenty of books for little money, and free credits for next purchase.

After these changes, I think the points you get from buying books outside of events are meaningless. You earn so little, and have so little time to earn enough, that those points will just end up expiring. I think the rewards program gives little to no benefit for customers, except during those spend-X-dollars-get-Y-points events. Even then, only if the event gives you those 300 points required for the credits.